Mayors' salaries to top R1m
2011-12-20 21:45
Johannesburg - Salaries of mayors of the country’s major cities will top R1m for the first time after a 5% increase.
Qualifying mayors include Parks Tau (Johannesburg), Kgosientso Ramokgopa (Tshwane), Mondli Gungubele (Ekurhuleni), Patricia de Lille (Cape Town), James Nxumalo (Ethekwini), Thabo Manyoni (Mangaung) Zukiswa Ncitha (Buffalo City) and Zanoxolo Wayile (Nelson Mandela Bay).
The mayors will now earn R1 012 467, up from R964 255, and backdated to July this year, according to a government gazette by Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Richard Baloyi.
For mayors to qualify for the cool R1m-a-year salary, their municipalities need total income above R2bn and populations of more than 550 000.
According to the gazette, the lowest-paid mayor, who is a full-time councillor in a local municipality, will earn R556 251 a year.
Mayors who are part-time councillors will earn between R305 938 and R556 857 depending on the size of the municipality.
Other councillors (deputy mayors, speakers and ordinary councillors) will get between R809 974 and R166 675, depending on the size of their municipalities and their full-time or part-time status.
Independent Municipal and Trade Workers’ Union president Stanley Khoza said the councillors’ increase was normally more than that of workers.
In 2009, municipal workers got 6.08% in their three-year agreement, which ends in June next year.
Negotiations for a new deal are expected to start in February.
SA Municipal Workers’ Union spokesperson Tahir Sema said councillors sought an above-average increase they did not deserve when many municipalities were experiencing cash flow problems.
Sema said councillors had applied for a 20% increase earlier this year at the SA Local Government Association (Salga).
“They don’t have people’s interests at heart,” he said.
Attempts to contact Salga were unsuccessful.
