The knives are out for the Vhembe District Municipality’s political management team, comprised of the executive mayor, Tshitereke Matibe, Chief Whip Tshifhiwa Dali and Speaker Mavuyisa Fungheni, as well as the newly appointed municipal manager, Ms Nndanduleni Makhari, as the South African Municipal Worker's Union (SAMWU) is calling for their immediate removal.

During a media briefing held at the Khoroni hotel in Thohoyandou on Friday to clarify the confusion surrounding the protest actions affecting the SAMWU members, the general secretary of the union, Mr Simon Mathe, said he and members of the union no longer regarded Matibe as the real mayor of the Vhembe district but as the “outgoing executive mayor”  as the union is working to remove him and his team.

“Matibe did not hesitate to go to the media and claim that the late payment of municipal workers was due to technical challenges. The reality was that the municipality had run out funds to pay salaries because they failed to convince the treasury department of the need for irregular expenditure [that occurred] through their corrupt activities. Towards October, November and this month, the salary section reported the poor state of the finances, which threatened the collapse of the district municipality under his leadership,” said Mathe.

According to Mathe, in some months workers were not paid on their normal pay day and this was a worrying factor for workers, because they did not know if they would get this month's salary in time and they could face a bleak coming Christmas.

The troubled Vhembe District Municipality has received a disclaimer audit report for three years in succession, and in the 2014/15 financial year, the district was regarded as one of the “worst-performing” municipalities, with poor financial management and maladministration, he added.

The union is also worried about the appointment Makhari. According to Mathe, she has a bad track record. She worked at the Tshwane Metro as chief financial officer and acting municipal manager, and she was forced to resign because there were serious allegations against her, he added.

Executive Mayor Matibe admitted that the financial situation in the district was a worrying factor, "but we are doing our best to improve the situation, so that the municipality can receive a clean audit in the next financial year."

Meanwhile, the SAMWU Vhembe district strike, which started on Friday two weeks ago, is set to continue this week.