Samwu said it is ‘outraged’ that Tshwane’s councillors got a salary increase while the wages of the city’s employees have stayed the same.
The South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) has threatened to make Gauteng “ungovernable” during the G20 Summit later this year if its members do not get salary increases.
“Gauteng will be ungovernable. There will be no G20 here in Gauteng,” said Lehlohonolo Maphatsoe, Samwu’s chairperson in Tshwane.
Tshwane councillor salaries increased
The union said this during a press conference on Friday. It is unhappy that the Tshwane council voted to increase the salaries of the metro’s councillors, while the salaries of the city’s employees have remained the same.
In addition to its demand for a hike in the City of Tshwane employees’ salaries, Samwu also wants the increase in the councillors’ salaries to be reversed.
Tshwane councillors were recently given a 5% salary increase.
Around the same time, the council also applied for an exemption to increase worker salaries. Samwu said the City of Tshwane had previously agreed to increase its employees’ salaries by 3.5% in 2021 and 5.4% in 2023.
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Samwu’s Tshwane secretary Donald Monakhisi said the union is “outraged”.
“It exposes the hypocrisy and blatant disregard for the sacrifice of frontline municipal employees who keep our communities running under difficult conditions,” he said.
“It is unacceptable that elected representatives have chosen to prioritise their own pockets, even as workers endure the rising cost of living, unsafe working conditions and wage stagnation.”
Protesting employees dismissed in 2023
The union is also demanding the reinstatement of 43 employees who were dismissed after a protest in 2023.
“We have 43 employees at home, but they did not see the need to call a special council to reinstate the workers, but they call a special council for their increase,” Maphatsoe said.
The G20 Summit will be held in Johannesburg in November. Other G20 events will be held in Tshwane and Ekurhuleni during this period.
The summit will be attended by the leaders of the world’s economic powers.
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