The amounts that some of South Africa\u2019s millionaire municipal managers earned in the 2014\/15 financial year have been revealed in a parliamentary reply.<\/p>\n
Salaries range from a modest R598 031 per year by the Mutale municipal manager, to the eye-watering R3 076 954 million a year for Tshwane\u2019s municipal manager, according to the thick document detailing pay and perks for that year.<\/p>\n
The information was contained in a reply on Tuesday to a question on the salaries of municipal officials. The DA submitted it to the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta).<\/p>\n
Comment was not immediately available from Cogta. DA MP Kevin Mileham said the party\u2019s MPs had been trying for some time to get the breakdown.<\/p>\n
The party believed that in many instances, the salaries were out of line with the managers\u2019 performance.<\/p>\n
Many had not met minimum competencies and should not be in their position, he said.<\/p>\n
He cited the legal dispute over the smart meter programme in Tshwane which the metro was advised against, but went ahead with anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lack of accountability in local government and the department and minister are not taking these things seriously,\u201d said Mileham.<\/p>\n
Asked whether the R2.2m salary for the municipal manager in the DA-run City of Cape Town was justified given the housing and sanitation problems, Mileham said there was no denying the city had problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cMake no bones about it. But it is still the best-run municipality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It had received awards, had a good credit rating, and a stable rates base.<\/p>\n
A competent person was needed to run it, and the salary had to be market-related.<\/p>\n
The SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) was dismayed by the high salaries. It repeated earlier concerns that the amounts were out of proportion to the salaries of ordinary municipal employees.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is disgusting,\u201d said Samwu spokesperson Papikie Mohale.<\/p>\n
Samwu was campaigning for their salaries to be cut so municipalities could spend more money on services and increase general workers\u2019 salaries. The money could go towards boosting staff numbers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe they are overly and unnecessarily inflated to the point that the money that they get cannot be justified in any way,\u201d said Mohale.<\/p>\n
In Mohale\u2019s view there was no correlation between good remuneration, and good service delivery. He reiterated a call for a review of the determination of upper salary limits.<\/p>\n
On the other end of the scale, Extended Public Works Programme workers earned between R50 to R70 a day. The sectoral determination for ordinary municipal workers was R6 700 a month.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe money should be spent on more staff and infrastructure,\u201d said Mohale.<\/p>\n
Here are some of the salaries for municipal managers countrywide for that year.<\/p>\n
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