Mounting opposition to Durban senior officials’ salary hikes
The Democratic Alliance and Inkatha Freedom Party, are calling for the increases to be scrapped and the budget to be re-written before it is passed into law.
OPPOSITION parties in Durban are unhappy about the proposed salary increases for senior officials in the eThekwini Municipality.
According to the next financial year’s budget, the Medium Term and Expenditure Framework 2020/2021 to 2022/2023, senior officials are set to receive a 6.5 per cent salary increase effective from 1 July.
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The Democratic Alliance and Inkatha Freedom Party, are calling for the increases to be scrapped and the budget to be re-written before it is passed into law.
The salary increases cannot be justified when the city is facing an economic calamity from the national lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic, said opposition parties.
According to the budget, referring to the Salary and Wage collective agreement for the period 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2021, the Municipality is currently locked into a three-year agreement with regards to salary increases which requires a provision for a 6.25 per cent increase in salaries and a further 0.5 per cent for notch increases.
However, with regards to (the) operating budget, due consideration was taken of the current economic climate and cost containment regulations.
Accordingly, the increase in expenditure was restricted to approximately 5 per cent.
On top of the salary increases, senior officials will also see incremental gains on their performance bonuses, cellphone and housing allowances plus other benefits.
In terms of major operating expenses, only salaries and allowances saw an increase from last year from R11,5 billion (2019) to R12,7 billion (2020).
This has in part, according to the budget, led to the rise in refuse removal tariffs along with the conversion of agency staff to permanent and the increased cost of refuse bags.
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Nicole Graham, leader of DA”s eThekwini caucus, has written to the city asking for the salary increases to be removed, calling it “unacceptable.”
“In the real world, beyond sheltered government employment, people are taking pay cuts and businesses and families are desperately trying to find ways to make ends meet,” she said. “Very little relief has been offered by the eThekwini Municipality to those struggling and tariffs are set to go up again by exorbitant amounts.”
The budget is set to be tabled for vote later this month at the Durban executive council where the ANC holds a majority.
As set out in the Budget, these are the current and proposed salaries per annum for selected high ranking officials, not including contributions, performance bonuses and allowances:
Position2019/ 2020:
Municipal Manager R3 527 167 / R3 546 945
Speaker R994 150 / R1 179 472
Chief Whip R884 680 / 761 543
Mayor R1 184 930 / R1 460 420
Chief Finance Officer R1 835 716 / R1 956 856
Chief Operations Officer R2 211 695 / R2 211 185
Chief Informations Officer R1 246 145 / R1 334 587
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