Cosatu livid at mooted 3.8% salary hike for municipal bosses

Municipal bosses and councillors in more than half of the country’s municipalities where service delivery is at risk of collapse are set to receive up to 3.8% salary hike.

But the gazetting of the increases by Thembi Nkadimeng, the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta), has irked trade union Cosatu, which has vowed to fight it to the bitter end.

According to the gazette, Nkadimeng approved salary increases that would see some mayors earning up to R1,501,351 per annum and speakers and deputy mayors earning up to R1,212,520.

These salaries are for grade 6 municipalities such as metros.

The grades are determined by population, budget and geographical size of a municipality. Grade 1 municipalities are the smallest, and their mayors are set to receive up to R836,690 while deputy mayors and speakers will earn R675,723 .

Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke in May – while releasing her audit outcomes – warned that service delivery was at risk of collapsing in more than half of the country’s municipalities due to cashflow crisis.

“When we analysed the financial statements of the 217 municipalities with audit opinions other than disclaimed or adverse, we found 56% of them to have indicators of financial strain. If not attended to, this can result in significant doubt about their ability to continue operating,” said Maluleke.

“The financial position of 70 (29%) of the 241 municipalities where we completed our audits was so dire that they had to disclose significant doubt about their ability to fully operate in future.”

Cosatu spokesperson Matthew Parks said they were going to take their opposition on the salary increases to parliament.

“We are opposed the increases for four reasons. First, we have seen a decline of financial good standing of municipalities, and second, many municipalities are collapsing and they cannot provide basic services and this has resulted in companies to close and retrench workers.

“Third, we have seen 36 municipalities in six provinces failing to pay their employees on time, except for Western Cape, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal. Fourth, in Tshwane, the employer has refused for two years to give workers increases. Most municipalities are in financial trouble,” he said.

Cosatu equally voiced its opposition to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s approval for a 3% salary increment for all public office bearers including members of the independent constitutional institutions, judges, magistrates and traditional leaders for the financial year 2022/2023.

Cogta spokesperson Legadima Leso said Nkadimeng made the determination after considering the recommendations of the Independent Commission on Remuneration, and after consulting MECs for local government. Leso said politicians had not received pay hikes in the previous financial year.

“This [pay increase] is for the 2022/23 financial year, commencing 1 July 2022. Increases are also subject to approval by the respective councils and taking into consideration the cost-saving measures.”

He said the process to gazette the increases took time as Nkadimeng had to wait for the commission to engage with provincial Cogtas, National Treasury and all the stakeholders. It took time, and it’s only now that after she had engaged with everybody else… and the remuneration committee having made the recommendations, is then that she signed the upper limits in terms of the law.

He, however, said municipalities were legally obligated to check whether they can afford to pay the increases.

The City of Tshwane, which is embroiled in a wage dispute with its workers, said its managers and councillors would not be getting increases after the council passed a budget with zero increases in May.

Tshwane mayor’s spokesperson Sipho Stuurman said the city yesterday went to the bargaining council to present its case “with a very detailed 1,400-page case for why we are seeking an exemption for salary increments”.

Craig Adams, the deputy general secretary of trade union Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union, said they had noted the increases of municipal office bearers issued by the minister.

Adams said they would monitor closely three municipalities – Enoch Mgijima local municipality, Newcastle local municipality and Tshwane metro – that have applied for exemption to ensure they don't implement salary increases for office bearers.