A STRIKE by municipal workers could be on the cards as negotiations over salary increases continue to falter, and the DA-led City of Tshwane fights for an exemption from paying higher salaries to workers.

The SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) expressed outrage after the South African Local Government Association (Salga), the employer body representing the country’s 257 municipalities, revised its wage increase offer to the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) and SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu), from 3.5% to 3.75%.

The union rejected the revised offer which came during the second round of negotiations between municipal workers under the South African Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) and Salga.

Samwu General Secretary, Dumisane Magagula, blamed Salga’s hard stance for municipal unions preparing for possible mass action. Samwu and the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) have rejected the employer’s claim that they could not afford a higher increase.

Imatu is also fighting the City of Tshwane’s refusal to implement the salary increases for 2023/24 and its application to review and set aside the SALGBC’s September 2023 decision, to dismiss the municipality’s bid to be exempted from paying higher salaries to its staff.

The increases were due in July last year, but instead the City of Tshwane applied for an exemption to the SALGBC’s national exemption committee.

According to papers filed at the Labour Court in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, the City of Tshwane wants to be exempted from the salary increases, claiming that implementing the pay hike would cost R602 million that it had not budgeted for.

It also wants the matter to be referred to a SALGBC commissioner other than Eleanor Hambridge, who presided over the matter.

In its arguments, the City of Tshwane claimed that effecting the salary increases would amount to violating the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), which prohibited operational expenditure not budgeted for and approved by the council.

Such expenditure, the municipality argued, would be unlawful and unaffordable as it did not have the reserves and was unlikely to collect enough revenue to afford the wage increases. The municipality only held cash of about R275m at the end of June last year while its debt stood at more than R16.2 billion.

In the Labour Court, Imatu disputed that implementing the salary increases would be unlawful, unaffordable or in breach of the MFMA.

The union maintained that the SALGBC correctly found that the City of Tshwane could afford the salary increases. ”The evidence properly before the decision-maker (SALGBC) was that the approved 2023/24 budget allocated R12.6bn to employee costs, whereas employees had cost R11.5bn in 2022/23.

“The conclusion that council had adopted a budget which afforded the R602m salary increase was accordingly one that a reasonable decision-maker would reach,” Imatu said in its opposition to the municipality’s review application.

The union indicated that all papers had been filed in the matter and they were waiting for the Labour Court registrar to assign a hearing date.

The Labour Court battle comes as workers in 66 financially distressed municipalities appear unlikely to receive salary increases if Salga gets its way during the current wage negotiations.

Salga has tabled an offer of a 3.75% across-the-board wage increase as part of a five-year salary and wage collective agreement linked to inflation. In addition, employees earning R22 000 a month or less will receive a once-off ex-gratia payment of R3 000.

The Association said: ”Salga has been mandated by the country's municipalities to negotiate a salary and wage agreement and cost-of-living adjustment amid unfavourable economic conditions and dwindling municipal financial revenue.“

Many municipalities are financially distressed, facing severe challenges that impede their ability to provide basic services and maintain financial stability.

Part of Salga's mandate is to shield those financially distressed municipalities from being bound to implement the wage increase,” the association said this week.

According to media reports, Samwu’s central executive committee resolved in February to demand above-inflation increases because of the rising cost of living.

It also resolved, among others, to seek a one-year 15% or R4,000 wage increase, whichever is greater.

loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za