Mayor Herman Mashaba has revoked the decision to increase his chief of staff’s salary, saying it will now follow a new process that will go through the City Council and have council’s oversight.
The concerns raised by the African National Congress caucus about the increased salary have previously been shot down by the current administration. Jolidee Matongo, the party’s regional spokesperson, had said the proposed increase of the chief of staff’s salary was irregular and not linked to performance because the new administration had been in power for less than a year.
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However, according to mayoral spokesperson Luyanda Mfeka, the chief of staff position was recently returned to its original grading after its downgrade in 2014. “This [current] decision was taken due to the previous incumbent not having the necessary qualifications as prescribed by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs,” he said.
Upon appointment, Mfeka said the current chief of staff’s salary was set at the bottom end of the remuneration level of the previous scale, pending the completion of the City’s grading process.
“Subsequently to the completion of the grading process, the executive decision was to restore the position to its full authoritativeness. This was signed off by the City’s top authority including the City manager and the group head of corporate and shared services at the time,” Mfeka said.
But during the budget speech on 23 May, the matter was brought up by the Economic Freedom Fighters caucus leader Musa Novela. This prompted Mashaba to announce the decision to revoke the increase.
The chief of staff reports to the mayor and the City manager. He oversees the offices of the Members of the Mayoral Committees, specialised advisor positions and the command of the coalition, Mfeka said.
