Tshwane Faces 10-Day Deadline to Pay Workers’ 5.4% Salary Increase

The City of Tshwane has been served with a compliance order by the SA Local Government Bargaining Council, demanding payment of a 5.4% salary increase to workers as per the collective agreement reached with labour unions. The order was issued after the municipality failed to honour its part of the salary agreement concluded on September 15, 2021 as reported by IOL.

Zamanguni Khuzwayo, the council’scouncil’s labour and compliance manager, stated in the order that the municipality had failed to implement the 5.4% increase to benefits and conditions of service, which ordinarily increase with an employee’s salary. This led to workers protesting the streets after not receiving the increase on July 26.

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The Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) and the SA Municipal Workers’Workers’ Union (Samwu) will closely monitor the municipality’smunicipality’s compliance with the salary and wage collective agreement within the given 10-day period. Imatu expressed concern that the City had yet to budget for the increase, despite the salary and wage agreement being concluded with the SA Local Government Association in 2021, with the 5.4% salary increase set to take effect from July 1, 2023.

Imatu welcomed the granted compliance order, emphasising that the City of Tshwane must abide by the salary and wage collective agreement and cannot disregard its terms. Melita Baloyi, Imatu’sImatu’s chairperson in the Tshwane region, expressed disappointment that the union had to resort to a compliance order to ensure the 5.4% salary increase is implemented, highlighting the challenges posed by a sluggish economy and rising costs in transportation, school fees, water, rates, and electricity tariffs.

Samwu urged the City to comply with the order to avoid denying workers their salary increases for the second time in three years. The union will monitor the implementation of the order while continuing the fight for the performance of the 2021 3.5% salary increase that the City previously failed to implement.

Mayor Cilliers Brink addressed striking workers, assuring them that the council agreed on a mandate to seek an exemption for the salary increases. He emphasised that the decision was not taken lightly and aimed to ensure the continued provision of services in the City, which rely on the efforts of its workers. Brink assured that the City has a record of paying salaries on time and expressed his commitment to avoiding any financial difficulties that could hinder salary and pension payments.

City spokesperson Selby Bokaba acknowledged the compliance order and stated that the City could not pay the salary and wage increases due to liquidity challenges. The City made it clear that it was in the process of filing an exemption application to pay the increases, with the filing scheduled for August 10, 2023.

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