Municipal unions confirm a 3.5 percent salary increase deal with Tshwane, though critics warn the agreement may strain city finances.
The long-awaited wage increase agreement between the City of Tshwane and its municipal workers has finally been signed, following various delays and negotiations behind closed doors.
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) and the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union confirmed an agreement was signed early yesterday.
Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya, along with the unions and members of the EFF, hosted a briefing last month, announcing salaries will increase by 3.5%, with effect from the beginning of March to both basic salaries and benefits.
Tshwane signs wage deal with municipal workers after delays
Moya also said backpay will be paid over three years, calculated from 1 July 2021, on basic salary only.
DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink said the increase would lead to more power cuts, more water outages and more potholes, because less money would be available for infrastructure and service delivery.
“We’re privileging municipal salary increments over service delivery to residents, many of whom don’t have jobs because they live in broken cities,” Brink said.
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“This includes Joburg.
“The ANC knows the cheques they are writing will be cashed when they are no longer in power.”
The DA in Johannesburg last week formally served the City of Joburg with legal papers to stop the implementation of an unfunded R10 billion salary agreement concluded with Samwu, which threatens to push the municipality deeper into a financial crisis.
DA concerned about deal
DA Joburg caucus leader Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku described this decision as fiscally reckless and irresponsible.
“The DA is not opposed to fair and lawful wage negotiations, or inflation-aligned increases. However, any salary adjustment must be responsible, budgeted for, with proper financial analysis, and aligned with the city’s financial reality before final signed agreements,” she said.
Samwu Gauteng secretary Mpho Tladinyane clapped back, saying the agreement reached in Johannesburg is not a reckless or arbitrary wage increase, as portrayed by the DA.
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The implementation of the politically facilitated agreement (PFA) is intended to correct long-standing salary disparities, affecting thousands of workers in the municipality, he said.
“The recent decision by the DA to serve legal papers to stop the implementation of this agreement confirms what workers across the country have long known: the DA has consistently positioned itself as a political formation that is hostile to workers and their rights,” Tladinyane said.
The developments in Johannesburg must also be understood in the broader political context of similar positions taken by the DA in other municipalities, most notably in Tshwane.
Years of litigation
“In Tshwane, the DA-led administration refused to implement legally negotiated wage agreements and dragged workers through years of litigation.
“Today, the same party seeks to interfere in Johannesburg in an attempt to prevent workers from receiving the financial adjustments from the PFA, concluded after extensive negotiations.”
The City of Tshwane had not commented by time publication.
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