Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration chairperson Mxolisi Kaunda has hailed the five-year wage agreement between the South African Local Government Association (Salga) and municipal labour unions, saying the agreement should ensure the stability needed to improve municipal efficiency and effectiveness.

Kaunda noted the dire state of many municipalities, which he said required “passionate and dedicated” personnel who were committed to providing quality services to residents.

The agreement will see employees receive a 6% increase in the 2024/25 financial year; salary increases will be set at Consumer Price Inflation plus 0.75% for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years; and salary increases will be pegged at Consumer Price Inflation plus 1.25% for the 2027/28 and 2028/29 financial years.

“Now the wage agreement issue has been put to bed, it is essential that workers contribute to the stabilisation of the local sphere of government to ensure that municipalities are functional and deliver quality services,” Kaunda stated.

He emphasised that it was imperative that municipalities worked for the benefit of the residents as mandated by the Constitution.

He noted that the agreement was reached with due consideration of municipalities’ constrained finances.

“By improving services, the workers will positively contribute to municipalities’ ability to bill for services to ensure a positive cash flow for municipalities. With the salary increase issue now history, it is important that workers eliminate the nonchalant attitude to service delivery,” he said.

He said one of the contributory factors to the low collection of municipal levies and taxes was the poor-quality services that residents received, which he said impacted on their willingness to pay for services rendered.

Kaunda also noted the agreement’s intention to meaningfully address the problem municipal workers had in accessing housing.

He welcomed the terms of the agreement that will see employees earning R22 000 a month or less and who do not receive any form of housing allowance, benefit from a once-off payment of R2 000 in the first year of the agreement.

“…following that, an investigation, to be concluded by March 2025, will explore ways in which housing conditions for South Africa’s municipal workers can be significantly improved, which must also be commended,” Kaunda said.

He also welcomed the commitment from labour unions to find methods to optimise productivity within the sector.

“It is only through collaboration that municipalities can be strengthened, and services improved. This should be an era of effective service delivery to our people; they expect nothing less and we dare not fail,” said Kaunda.