Africa-Press – South-Africa. City of Joburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda will now earn R1.5 million, representing an increase of almost R55 000, after the council approved recommendations to raise salaries.
On Tuesday, the government of local unity, the name given to the ANC, EFF and PA alliance, and the DA agreed on a salary increase while the EFF and ActionSA voted against it.
The salary increase was voted on just five days after the fire that killed 77 people living in a city-owned hijacked building. It also comes about three months after the council approved a mega R80.9 billion 2023/24 budget, with tariff hikes of 2% for property, 9.3% for water and sanitation each, an electricity tariff increase of 14.97%, and a refuse tariff increase of 7%.
“In light of the situation that we are facing in this country, councillors are the most neglected people, and we support the upper limits [report on salary increases], which should be given to them as part-time workers” said ANC councillor Tefo Raphadu.
He joked that councillors would like their salaries on the 15th instead of the end of the month.
“With due respect, can we be paid by the 15th so that councillors, when the petrol goes up – can be catered for,” he said to the laughter of the caucus.
The EFF spoke against the increase, saying that “as a socialist party”, they were against the widening gap between the rich and the poor.
“The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer. As we represent the poorest of the poor [we reject the report],” said EFF councillor Lorraine Zitha.
After the vote, which saw the DA and the ANC vote the same way for once, councillor Raphadu picked up the mic again.
“Speaker, we appreciate the principled position taken by the EFF and those who did not accede to the request made by the majority of the councillors – so, we are requesting that when the money comes in, can GCSS [Group Corporate and Shared Services tasked with the function of payroll] note them on the side,” he said as the speaker turned off his mic.
Speaker Colleen Makhubele then joked: “They can find a cause to donate their increase to so we can see that they’re not taking it.”
Before the council vote, Gwamanda gave a speech about the deadly inferno, saying that the council would take action to deal with hijacked buildings.
He said the Group Forensics and Investigation Services (GFIS) had 188 cases before it involving hijacked or bad buildings.
Thirteen of these buildings belong to the city, and other spheres of government own five.
Meanwhile, the National Treasury announced cutbacks in a 15 August meeting in response to a worse growth outlook relative to what was expected in the 2023 budget.
“National Treasury should work with all government departments and relevant stakeholders in national government, as well as with provinces, to identify immediate measures to reduce the level of government spending and maintain a sustainable fiscal framework,” the Treasury said.
“Provinces are advised to introduce the same measures for their departments and public entities. National Treasury will soon engage with the South African Local Government Association and municipalities to implement similar measures.”
Responding to this, Joburg Finance MMC Dada Morero said the municipality, and not the National Treasury, ran its own budget – adding that the increase was “quite small”.
Once again, Tuesday’s sitting began late as the council, which was called at 10:20, did not have enough members to meet quorum.
The council sitting is supposed to start at 10:00 and must have half the number of councillors plus one. For quorum in Johannesburg, the council needs 136 of the 270 councillors to be in the house.
When the speaker did the count, there were 135 councillors in the house. Besides the many who could not make the short-notice meeting, the Speaker was told that the EFF members were still having breakfast.
As the rules of the council dictate, the council must wait 20 minutes before a recount.
If the quorum is not met, the council, which costs the city R600 000 per day, cannot occur.
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