SANDILE MOTHA
DESPITE facing crippling financial strain, the ANC led uMgungundlovu district municipality on the KwaZulu – Natal region is pressing ahead with their ambition to increase salaries for its senior management and councillors.
This was confirmed to Inside Metro this week by some councillors who are livid, saying funds should instead be rechannelled to desperate and destitute families who have been hit hard by the aftermath of Covid-19.
Bukelani Zuma, an IFP councillor in the district municipality said his party had exhausted all internal avenues in the council but were defeated by the ANC majority.
“As councillors we serve on the mercy of the public who elected us to power to be their voice. Our district has a huge number of child headed homes. I’m inundated every day with calls from families who are struggling to make ends meet. They are hungry all they want is food. My plea was that let our salaries remain where they are and channel money to poverty stricken communities,” said Zuma.
Zuma added that the municipality was bankrupt and cannot afford the proposed salary increments.
The breakdown of the salary structure for the 2020/21 draft budget was approved by council last week.
It sees the mayor Thobekile Maphumulo’s annual remuneration jumping from R 1 006 726 to R 1 046 260 while her counterparts both the deputy speaker receiving R 837 597 from the previous salary of R 805 382.
Ordinary councillors will be rewarded with an annual package of R 331 335 as compared to the R 318 898 they received in the 2019/20 financial year.
The proposal will then be sent to Sipho Hlomuka, MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs who will either give the proposal green light or reject the proposed salary adjustments.
The Democratic Alliance told Inside Metro that it had already written to COGTA MEC requesting that he nullifies the proposal on grounds of unviability.
“We want the MEC to immediately intervene in order to prevent a crisis and human catastrophe. As it stands, the municipality is operating on a zero budget. It does not have enough money in the bank and if this proposal is granted, for the next six months it won’t be able to pay salaries,” said Bongumusa Nhlabathi, DA uMgungundlovu caucus leader.
Nhlabathi labelled the move as tantamount to spiting in the face of the poor and citizens who has been hit hard by Covid-19.
“What we see is an uncaring government hell bent to line up their pockets at all costs,” he said.
Senzelwe Mzila, provincial COGTA spokesperson said they had not yet received any correspondence from the DA.
“However the MEC will weigh the financial position against the increases, this include the service delivery performance of the municipality before signing on the dotted line. The MEC will not at any point grant salary adjustments which are unsound and unsustainable,” said Mzila.
The uMgungundlovu district is the mother municipality and under it wing houses local municipalities such as Impendle, Mkhambathini, Mooi-Mpofana, Richmond, uMngeni, uMshwathi and the capital city of KZN uMsunduzi.
The district has been characterised by corruption, miss governance and maladmistration problems as ANC factions jostle for the control of the resources in the district. This fierce contestation has rendered the local municipalities ungovernable with various councils such as uMsunduzi and Mooi-Mpofana collapsing.