The monthly minimum wage for the local government sector will increase to R11,100, and the salaries homeowners’ allowance, and employer medical aid contributions of the nation’s 295,000 municipal employees will all increase by 4.75%.
The homeowners’ allowance will rise from R1,170 to R1,225, the minimum wage will rise from R10,600 to R11,100 in all 257 municipalities starting in July, and the employer’s medical aid contributions will increase from R5,971 to slightly less than R6,100.
The wage agreement which was signed in September 2024 after lengthy negotiations at the SA Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC), includes the increases.
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Municipal managers were notified on Friday by SALGBC General Secretary Bill Govender that the bargaining council has requested that all municipalities follow and execute the increases.
The September 2024 agreement allows any municipality to request an exemption from implementing any of the deal’s provisions within 30 days of the municipality’s budget for the 2026–2027 fiscal year being approved, or by June 30, whichever comes first.
The 2026–2027 portion of the agreement was signed by unions representing City of Tshwane employees The 3.5% was not put into effect in July 2021 after the municipality obtained an exemption, which was then examined and referred back to the SALGBC.
The exemption was rejected at the bargaining council after the unions were successful, and the municipality was mandated to implement back pay and modify employee wages within six months.
The City of Tshwane, which is currently on a path of financial recovery, appealed to unions because the nearly R1.1 billion that needed to be paid within six months would put the municipality under extreme financial strain.
The Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) in Tshwane claims that organized labor and the municipality worked together to find a workable solution so that the 3.5% pay and benefit adjustment could be put into effect at the start of this month.
According to the terms of the settlement agreement, the 3.5% salary increases that have been overdue since July 2021 will be paid between June of this year and February of 2029.
According to Imatu, payments will start with the lowest level employees and end with the highest level employees.
The 5.4% pay increase for the 2023–2024 fiscal year is still the subject of another disagreement among City of Tshwane employees.
Imatu stated that after they contested the Labour Court’s ruling to exempt the city, the case is presently before Judge President Mogomotsi Edwin Molahlehi of the Labour and Labour Appeal Court.
The SA Local Government Association and the SA Municipal Workers’ Union are among the parties to the SALGBC that are starting talks to reach a new collective wage curve agreement.
In the event that negotiations are successful, uniform pay scales for all municipalities may be established.
The management consultancy 21st Century, located in Rosebank Johannesburg has been entrusted with helping the SALGBC develop the pay scales by gathering and analyzing the current payroll data for each employee from all municipalities.
The bargaining council cautioned that failure to submit the required information compromises the accuracy of the sector analysis and delays the progress of the wage curve negotiations.
