Johannesburg - Municipal workers across the country are in line to receive a 4.9% salary increase from July 1 following an agreement unions signed with the SA Local Government Association (Salga).
The wage hike follows a meeting at the SA Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) between the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu), the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) and Salga.
Employees in most of the country’s 257 municipalities will have their pay and any benefits or conditions of service increase by 4.9%, according to the SALGBC.
The bargaining council granted the Beaufort West Local Municipality an exemption from implementing the increases due to its dire financial situation.
The parties to the SALGBC – Salga, Samwu and Imatu – reached a 3-year agreement in September to effect a 3.5% salary increase in 2021 as well as pay hikes linked to projected consumer price inflation (CPI) in 2022 and 2023.
The SA Reserve Bank projected CPI to be 4.9% this year.
Municipal workers also secured a once-off payment of R4 000 for employees earning less than R12 500 and R3 000 once-off for those getting paid R12 501 and above, in terms of the deal.
According to the SALGBC, the minimum wage in the local government sector will now be just over R9 000 a month, up from R8 620.
The home owners’ allowance will also increase from about R960 to just more than R1 000 a month while the employer’s contribution to medical aid will be above R5 000, up from R4 773.
Municipal workers’ salary increases come as Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has decided not to alter the upper limits of the total remuneration packages payable to municipal managers and managers directly accountable to municipal managers.
Dlamini Zuma has announced that after consulting the SALGBC, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, Public Service and Administration Minister Ayanda Dlodlo, the MECs responsible for local government and Salga, she has determined that a 0% cost of living adjustment for municipal managers and managers directly accountable to municipal managers.
Municipal managers earn a minimum of between R1 million and more than R3.9m depending on the category of the municipality.
Managers directly accountable to municipal managers are paid between R815 000 and R3.1m – also depending on the council’s category.
loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za
Political Bureau