Cape Town EPWP workers go weeks without pay as City investigates delays

Ask AI 3minExpanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers in Manenberg and Wynberg say they have not received their salaries for more than a month.

Thirty-four Expanded Public Works Programme participants in Manenberg and Wynberg have been affected by delayed salaries, leaving workers struggling to cover basic expenses. The City says outstanding payments should reflect in their bank accounts by Friday.

After four years of unemployment, securing a job last month should have brought some financial relief for one Manenberg worker. Instead, she says she has spent weeks working without being paid, leaving her struggling to make ends meet.

She is among 34 participants in the City of Cape Town’s Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) Swimming Pools Project in Manenberg and Wynberg who have been affected by salary delays.

The workers, employed through the City’s Recreation and Parks Department, say they have been left under financial pressure while waiting for payments. The City has attributed the delays to administrative problems and says it is working to ensure all outstanding wages are paid by Friday, October 30, 2026.

“I was sitting at home unemployed for four years. I got the job last month. Now it feels like working for free, but all I can do now is pray that they pay us so I can sort out my stuff,” the worker said.

The worker said she did not blame her supervisors, believing the problem lay at the City’s head office.

“We can’t blame our supervisors because they did their part, the issue is at the head office,” she said.

Another affected worker said employees had raised concerns after missing payments for two fortnights.

“They promised us that payments would be received on Saturday, but until this moment, we haven’t received any money. It has been a story after story, and we are in dire need of our money,” the worker said.

The delays have left workers struggling to cover household expenses while waiting for the wages they say they are owed.

Hopeful Leaders Democrats’ City of Cape Town mayoral candidate Yumna Alexander said she had contacted the City about the delayed payments and was asked to provide details of the affected workers.

She said she had supplied the information but had not received a further update.

“This is a very frustrating issue. Our people are already struggling, and the cost of electricity is a battle on its own. Now we have people who have been working for six weeks without a salary or any income, which makes the situation even more frustrating,” Alexander said.

She said some workers had been forced to borrow money and take on debt without knowing when they would be able to repay it.

“They are forced to borrow money from other people and go into debt, with no assurance of when they will be able to pay it back. I have emailed the City and the Premier about this,” she said.

The City’s Recreation and Parks Department said it deeply regretted the difficulties experienced by the workers and was treating the matter with the utmost seriousness.

It confirmed that 34 EPWP participants working on its Swimming Pools Project in the affected areas had been affected.

Of those, 33 were scheduled to receive their first payment on October 10, 2026, while the remaining participant was due to be paid on October 24.

The department attributed the delays to administrative challenges, including incomplete or unclear identity information, incorrect banking details submitted by applicants and errors during the uploading of data.

It said EPWP payments involved several offices and stakeholders, each responsible for completing specific tasks accurately and within prescribed timeframes.

The department confirmed that the necessary funds were available and said there had been no financial mismanagement relating to the matter.

The department said the electronic funds transfer (EFT) process had been initiated to pay all outstanding wages as soon as possible.

It also said it would review its internal escalation processes to ensure similar issues were brought to senior management’s attention sooner.

The City said it was working to ensure that all outstanding payments reflected in the affected workers’ bank accounts by Friday, October 30, 2026.