Councillors accuse PM’s Office of bad faith in salary dispute

‘MATHATO SEBOKA

MASERU – The Committee of Disgruntled Ward Councillors has publicly condemned the Prime Minister’s office, dismissing its official response to their grievances as a “phony” document that fails to address their demands.

The rebuke follows a letter from the Chief of Staff in the Office of the Prime Minister, Sofonea Shale, dated September 3, addressed to the committee’s secretary, Tumelo Leboto.

In an interview this week, the committee’s chairperson, Motebang Matona, expressed the group’s collective dismay.

“To our great disappointment, the letter does not answer any of our grievances,” Matona stated. He contends that their original petition never reached the Prime Minister’s desk, alleging that staff within the office have “ulterior motives” for intercepting it.

“The response we received does not address the issues the councillors are complaining about. Instead, it talks about the interests of the individuals who filtered the message,” Matona charged.
The councillors’ attempts to engage the government began months ago. They had planned a peaceful march on July 23 to hand-deliver their petition but called it off after officers from the PM’s office – identified as Makubakube, Teboho Sekata, and Shale – contacted them on July 7.

The officials reportedly asked the committee to abandon the march in favour of a direct meeting with the prime minister.

The committee agreed, on the condition that a meeting was convened before the scheduled march date. However, no such meeting was arranged, and no further communication was received from the prime minister or his office.

The councillors’ primary grievance is a demand for a significant salary increase, from their current take-home pay of M4 500 to M20 000 per month – a raise of over 400 percent. Their campaign began with letters to the local government minister, Lebona Lephema, and the local government Principal Secretary, ‘Mamphaka Mabesa, which they say were ignored.

As a further step, they formally tabled their grievances with the Clerk of the National Assembly, requesting that their proposed salary hike be included in the 2025/2026 national budget. To date, they have received no feedback on any of their correspondences.