Note to Editors: Please find an English soundbite by Cllr Jacqui Uys, here
The City of Tshwane’s Deputy Executive Mayor and MMC of Finance, Eugene Modise, needs to keep eyes on the financial recovery of the city of Tshwane when negotiating to reach a settlement on historical wage disputes with Trade Unions in the city, and not hang Mayor Nasiphi Moya out to dry.
The financial performance of the City for the first quarter of the financial year, under the DA Government, showed improvement. But the improvement the DA-led coalition delivered is now at risk. The new Moya/Modise-administration needs to build on this momentum and not enter into financial commitments that will hamstring the progress.
Under the DA’s Mayor Cilliers Brink, the city’s collection rate grew from 79% at the end of the first quarter in 2023/2024 to 89% in the same period 2024/2025.
This was achieved by ensuring that the City collects on accounts due, by means of a transversal financial project management office. This office was set up specifically for revenue management, a first of its kind in the country.
These gains in collecting more revenue than were budgeted for, standing at R200 million for the first quarter, needs to be used by the new ANC-ActionSA-EFF coalition to reduce the city’s budget deficit, and deliver services, and not be spent on new wage expenses.
The DA, when in government, deemed salary increments for the 2021 and 2023 financial years to be unaffordable. This decision was, at the time, supported by both the ANC and ActionSA. We urge the Moya/Modise administration to continue with the Labour Court cases exempting the City from the wage agreements made by the Bargaining council for those periods.
There is no benefit to be gained by workers if salary increases are paid one month, just to have the City rendered unable to make payroll the next month.