FOLLOWING the news that eThekwini city manager Sbvu Sithole is the second highest paid official int he country, despite the city’s poor standing with the office of the Auditor-General, the DA is now calling for outcomes-based bonuses in eThekwini.
According to DA caucus leader in eThekwini, Zwakele Mncwango, Sithole’s annual package of just over R2,75 million means he banks more than President Jacob Zuma. “Following his assessment he received a non-pensionable bonus of R180 000 which is disturbing as the city’s poor management of its finances as per the A-G’s findings doesn’t warrant this,” said Mncwango.
He said the DA believed the city needed to adjust its stance on senior manager assessments. “They need to realize that on top of ensuring proper services to constituencies, their main goal is to achieve a clean audit as this indicates that finances are being handled properly. The problem with eThekwini is that by the time the A-G report is released, they have already assessed their senior managers. What then happens is that these managers get massive bonuses and then the A-G’s report shows that the city’s purse has been mismanaged during the year. Obviously this means that senior managers did not deserve to get bonuses in the first place and something needs to change.”
Mncwango said the DA was proposing that all senior managers in eThekwini be assessed after the A-G report is released rather than before. “The DA believes that senior managers’ bonuses should be outcomes-based and also linked to whether the city gets a clean audit or not. I have written to Co-operative Governance MEC Nomusa Dube in this regard and I trust that she will give this proposal the consideration that it deserves,” he said.
