Mathe said these increases come at a time when municipal workers are “heavily underpaid, whereas those sitting in air-conditioned offices [are] swimming in pools of money”.
“These increases are extended at a time wherein municipalities are intensifying their strategy of delivering services through the use of the Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP), hence their reluctance to fill vacancies,” Mathe added.
He said it was a “shame” that EPWP workers’ salaries were increased by R4,31 per day.
“It does not make sense how a municipal manager can be remunerated 180 times more than the least-paid employee in the sector. These are the people who are responsible for the real business of service delivery.
“We maintain that the ridiculous and highly-inflated salaries given to municipal managers could should be redirected towards service delivery and for better remunerating municipal workers,” he said.