Do you think Joburg mayor should get a salary increase? Debate over Dada Morero’s R80k raise

Three months after taking office, the mayor of the City of Johannesburg Dada Morero is due for a salary increase.

Last week councillors in the City voted in favour of salary hikes for the Executive Mayor, Speaker of Council, and ordinary councillors. 146 councillors voted in favour of the increases while 70 abstained.

This means the mayor could earn R1 585 052, up from R1 501 351 in the 2023-2024 financial year.

The Speaker of Council Nobuhle Mthembu could also take home R1 280 117. She currently earns R1 212 520.

Members of the mayoral committee will get R1 205 851, while ordinary councillors get R593 610 and chairpersons of committees R1 108 610.

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These increases still need to be approved by the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Jacob Mamabolo.

DA opposes increases

DA caucus leader in Joburg Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku told The Citizen on Monday that it is against dishing out salary increases while the city is struggling financially.

The City is currently in a legal battle with Eskom over debt owed by City Power.

It is also in the process of securing a new building for its staff after it was revealed that the Metro Centre is not suitable for occupation.

“Councillors should not be getting an increase. Service delivery in the City of Johannesburg is collapsing and there are water issues,” she said.

“The city should be spending money on fixing the water crisis and repairing traffic lights and street lights timeously to avoid smash and grabs and accidents at robots.

“Lastly, the city should stop using money for VIP protection outside the allowable limit,” she said.

ANC in support of the salary increase

The ANC in Johannesburg said it sees nothing wrong with the salary increase.

Regional spokesperson Masilo Serekele told The Citizen on Monday that the salaries were below inflation.

“The new salary levels have been gazetted by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) in October 2024.

“The three percentage point increase is below inflation and the cost of living,” he said.

He said added it was realistic and reasonable.

While inflation has averaged around 4% over the last few months, it dropped by one percentage point last month to 2.8%.

‘The mayor is still new’

Political analyst from the University of South Africa (Unisa) Dirk Kotze told The Citizen on Monday that salary increases should not be a priority for political office bearers.

“The mayor is an elected public representative this is not his profession. This is not his career so he should not depend on this salary.

“In the past mayors including in the City of Johannesburg would receive an honorary remuneration on top of what they are doing in their private lives,” Kotze said.

Kotze said salary increases for the mayor and other political office bearers could send a wrong message to the public.

“The mayor is still new, he must prove himself before claiming any rewards,” he said.

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