Tshwane pins hope of reversing R489m wage increase on Labour Court
“The wage increases are unaffordable because the metro does not have collected revenue or cash reserves from which to pay increases,” it said.
The Tshwane municipality was hoping that the Labour Court would reverse a R489-million wage increase for its employees, even though it had initially agreed to the increase almost a year ago.
According to corporate and shared services MMC Kingsley Wakelin, the metro was struggling financially and wanted to be exempted from the pay rise “for [only] one of the next three years”.
The metro agreed to the 3.5% increase with the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) and South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) back in September 2021.
Since then, the metro however wanted the increase reversed and brought it to the Tshwane council.
The Tshwane council voted against the increase being approved and the metro then went to the South African Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGC) to have it rejected.
Unfortunately for the metro, the bargaining council said the increase should go through.
The metro then went to the Labour Court, hoping it would reverse the bargaining council’s decision.
The trade unions, in turn, applied to the bargaining council yet again.
This time it asked that the metro pay the increases while the Labour Court was still pending. The bargaining council said that the increases should held off until the Labour Court has made its decision.
In its legal papers, the metro argued that if it was not exempted and had to pay the increases, it would be in breach of the Municipal Finance Management Act.
This act prohibits operational expenditure that was not budgeted for and approved by the council.
“The wage increases are unaffordable,” the metro’s legal papers read.
“The metro has not collected revenue or cash reserves from which to pay the increases.”
The ANC and EFF wanted the increase to be approved, but were outvoted by the coalition government.
“The metro should keep its promise of the signed agreement,” said Mokgokela Boshielo, a former metro official who is now an ANC ward councillor.
“The municipality cannot afford a poor attitude by staff; neither can we expose this municipality to relentless labour disputes.”
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