The matter was heard in the urgent council meeting on 30 June. The South African Local Government Association (Salga) determines the salaries of councillors and other office-bearers annually. The upper limits of salaries are calculated according to the grading of each municipality in terms of its size.
The council decided that implementing the upper limits on the salary guidelines would be within the budget. The council approved a 7.12 per cent increase on their salaries, considering there were no increases in the past two years.
The executive mayor will now get an annual salary of R920,656, while the speaker will get R736,530. The chief whip and each mayoral committee member get an annual salary of R690,808.
The chairperson of MPAC (the Municipal Public Accounts Committee, which oversees the municipal finances) gets R670,243, while all the other councillors will each get annual salaries of R291,356.
The councillors also get a cell phone allowance not exceeding R3,400 per month and extra money for out-of-pocket expenses.
None of the councillors or political parties raised their voices over the increases. An EFF councillor, Mr Leroy Legabe, asked the council to look into providing stationery for the councillors too.
