Africa-Press – South-Africa. City of Tshwane employee salaries will come under the spotlight at the bargaining council next week after the City decided that it would not grant increases due to the City’s poor financial status and the budget the council approved this year.
The City filed a salary and wage increase exemption application with the South African Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) on Thursday and will meet the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) and South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) on 23 August.
In July, a meeting between Mayor Cilliers Brink and Samwu turned violent when Brink announced that the City could not afford increases.
Brink told workers that the City could not afford the R600 million that the 3.5% and 5.4% salary increases would cost.
Fifteen people were arrested during the violence.
The City approached the Labour Court and secured an interim interdict on 28 July, which declared the workers’ strike unlawful and unprotected.
On 3 August, the city issued 41 letters of intention to dismiss workers participating in the unprotected strike.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, the City issued a statement saying that its SALGBC application was “anchored on irrefutable evidence of its financial position”.
The main reason why there was no budget appropriation for salary and wage increases for the 2023/24 financial year was that the City did not have the money.
“The unfunded budget was approved by the majority of parties represented in council at the end of May this year, and the funding plan was given the green light by both provincial and National Treasury.
“The City is working hard to stabilise its finances through, [among other things], reducing expenditure and increasing the revenue collection rate to 95%, as directed by the National Treasury.”
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