The DA has called on Tshwane to take on review a decision by the SA Local Government Bargaining Council (Salgbc) that the metro should pay backdated salary increases to its workers, saying the ruling was flawed and financially ruinous as it could cost the capital city at least R1.4bn to implement.
Business Day reported on Monday the metro’s application to be exempt from implementing a 3.5% wage deal reached with labour in 2021/22 had been dismissed again by Salgbc, a platform for the employer and unions to discuss and agree on wages and other conditions of employment.
The bargaining council ruled on Friday that the metro had to comply with the wage agreement and effect the necessary adjustments and payments, “including all back pay within six months of the award [or ruling]”.
DA Tshwane spokesperson on finance Jacqui Uys said the decision “is not only legally flawed — it is financially ruinous. If not taken on review, the decision will be paid for by residents in the form of deteriorating service delivery and infrastructure”.
“On a conservative estimate at least R1.4bn one-off, without taking into account the escalation in benefits that have been approved in the succeeding financial years. In addition, the city will have to find about R400m extra in every succeeding financial year beyond the baseline payout,” Uys said.
“The DA believes that ... the city has strong grounds to take the decision about the 2021/22 salary increases on judicial review to the labour court. Failure to do so would derail the city’s entire financial recovery process.”
Uys said the DA would write to city manager Johann Mettler to publicise the metro’s exact assessment of the costs of implementing the latest bargaining council award, “a fact which will confirm that the backdated salary increase is completely unaffordable and places the financial sustainability of the municipality in serious jeopardy”.
Responding to Business Day, Tshwane said it noted the ruling, adding that Mettler, together with the executive, “will consider all aspects on the implications of the award and thereafter communicate its decision”.
The Salgbc ruling marks the second time the city failed in its attempt to be exempt from implementing the 3.5% wage deal. It comes five months after acting labour court judge Sean Snyman’s ruling on Tshwane’s wage exemption applications regarding the 3.5% wage increase for 2021 and a 5.4% pay hike for 2023.
For the 2021 wage agreement, Snyman had ruled the metro’s exemption application needed to be heard again before another exemption panellist was appointed by the bargaining council.
Regarding the 2023 wage deal, the acting judge said the capital city had to be granted exemption from implementing the pay deal on the basis of affordability. The SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) said it was appealing against this specific part of the ruling at the labour appeal court.
Samwu, the biggest union in the local government sector representing 160,000 of the country’s estimated 350,000 municipal workers, ended its four-month illegal work stoppage in Tshwane in November 2024, during which municipal property such as garbage trucks and other infrastructure was vandalised and destroyed.
Samwu members were demanding the metro implement a 5.4% wage increase, the last leg of a three-year wage agreement signed at the SA Local Government Bargaining Council in 2021.
The city, which had refused to negotiate with the union, had argued it did not have the R600m required for the agreement and unsuccessfully applied to the council for an exemption. It then approached the labour court, which called for a rehearing.
On Monday, Samwu general secretary Dumisane Magagula said: “The SA Local Government Bargaining Council has now, unequivocally and for the second time, upheld the rights of workers, directing the city to pay workers the overdue 3.5% salary increases that were supposed to be effected in July 2021.”
He described the ruling as a “legal defeat for the city” and a “triumph of justice over executive arrogance and a validation of the workers’ dignity”.
“For years, while the city played endless legal games, workers in Tshwane and their families have been subjected to severe and unjust economic hardship.
“These delays forced our members to face soaring costs of living without the crucial salary adjustments that were legally due to them. This hardship was not just a misfortune; it was a direct consequence of the employer’s deliberate actions to shirk a binding collective agreement.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.