The cash-strapped Tshwane metro has elected to continue to fight against paying historical wage increases to city officials, a dispute that was started by ousted mayor Cilliers Brink.
The municipality approached the labour court in November over its refusal to implement a 3.5% salary increase for employees in 2021 and another 5.4% wage increase in 2023, citing a lack of funds. It did not have the R600m needed to implement the wage agreement.
In a media briefing on Monday, Tshwane executive mayor Nasiphi Moya said: “The city has been navigating significant financial challenges that necessitate tough decisions regarding wage increases under the Salga [SA Local Government Association] collective agreement.
“On 21 and 22 November 2024, we appeared before the labour court to review decisions by the panellist dismissing our applications for exemption from the 3.5% and 5.4% wage increases for the first and third years of the agreement, respectively. We believe these decisions overlooked the city’s financial constraints and broader implications for service delivery.”
Moya said these matters remained under judicial consideration, and “we are optimistic that the court will recognise the city’s unique financial challenges. Judgment was reserved in both matters”.
“We remain open to engaging with unions and other stakeholders to explore sustainable solutions. However, our primary responsibility is to ensure financial stability while fulfilling our commitments to residents.”
Brink, who has been credited for his efforts in trying to turn the city’s finances around, said this was good news for the metro and showed that “reality has hit home for the ANC-led coalition in Tshwane” in deciding to proceed with the legal matter.
In the 2021/22 financial year, the metro received an adverse audit opinion. In 2022/23 it registered irregular expenditure of R10bn, though its audit opinion improved to a qualified one.
“Forgoing these increases is essential to the city’s financial recovery, including its ability to catch up with Eskom debt. Settling the Eskom debt, in turn, is essential to clearing the city’s credit record to enable infrastructure spending,” Brink said.
“While both the ANC and ActionSA voted in favour of forgoing salary increases in 2023, they later tried to weaponise the matter against my mayoralty. ‘Just pay the workers’ was a familiar attack on me and my colleagues when we were making difficult decisions about the city’s financial recovery, despite the ANC and ActionSA voting against the increases.”
Brink said the ANC had actively raised expectations that the increases would be paid once it was in charge.
“A few weeks ago, Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya insisted that the increases would be paid regardless of the ‘modalities’. This is good news for the city, but it will require more difficult decisions.... This is why it is essential for Tshwane to continue with the Tshwane ya Tima campaign started by the previous city government to improve billing and collections,” Brink said.
“Like forgoing salary increases, Tshwane ya Tima is another difficult, but necessary, undertaking to get Tshwane out of trouble. In opposition, the DA will continue to support the difficult measures we undertook in government to achieve Tshwane’s financial rescue.
“The ANC and their coalition partners might well conclude that it was easier to try to derail these efforts in opposition than it will be to implement them in government.”
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