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The Johannesburg executive mayor, council legislature speaker, mayoral committee members and committee chairpersons are due for a salary hike, which was approved in council on Wednesday.
The council held an extraordinary meeting to deliberate over one item on the agenda — the determination of the upper limits of salaries, allowances and benefits for the 2024/25 year as per the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers Act.
A total of 248 councillors debated the contentious matter brought before the council to propose pay hikes for members serving in the executive and legislature, much to the dismay of councillors on the opposition benches.
The report brought for council approval, which TimesLIVE has seen, stated the objective is to request council to approve the recommendations to implement the upper limits of salaries, allowances and benefits of the different members of the City of Johannesburg.
“The salary and allowances of a member of a municipal council is determined by that municipal council by resolution of a supporting vote of a majority of its members, in consultation with the member of the executive council responsible for local government in each province, having regard to upper limits as set out in the notice, the financial year of the municipal council and affordability of the municipal councils to pay within the different levels of remuneration to councillors,” reads the report.
The Freedom Front rejected the proposal, describing the upper limit and increase of 2.5% as a move that is going to worsen the city’s financial situation.
The DA also criticised this move, having taken the austerity fight to the courts a week ago to challenge a proposal by the executive to increase their blue light and protection perks.
“The policy we are challenging would see the mayor and his executive driving about the broken roads with bodyguards and blue lights, at a cost wildly outside the allowable upper limits. And residents will be forced to pay for it,” DA caucus leader Belinda Echeozonjoku said.
“When residents call the city’s public safety department, it’s a miracle if the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) arrive. Yet the ActionSA-EFF-ANC coalition wants to allocate protection services to politicians,” Echeozonjoku said.
Despite the criticism, the city maintains it has conducted the necessary affordability measuresit believes can accommodate the proposed remuneration percentage increases.
“The City of Johannesburg has a total income of more than R2,191,737,000 and therefore, is allocated 50 points in compliance with item 2 of this notice. Furthermore, the city has a total population of more than R2,229,001 and thus is allocated 50 points in accordance with item 3 of the notice. The sum of allocated points exceeds the total points in terms of Item 4 of the notice, and this factor therefore places the municipality at grade 6,” reads the report.
ActionSA and the Patriotic Alliance noted the report with all its contents — both parties serve in the governing coalition.
The EFF and the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) rejected the increasing of upper limits, while the IFP supported the recommendations of the report.
COPE, GOOD, African Transformation Movement (ATM), African Independent Congress (AIC), Pan African Congress (PAC), UDM and Al Jama-ah supported the report.
A total of 146 councillors voted in support of the increase in upper limits, with 33 rejecting the pay hike proposal and 70 councillors choosing to abstain from the voting process.
TimesLIVE