Task team preparing recommendations after completing salary comparisons across 4 metros

A task team which was set up to compare the salaries of employees of four municipalities has completed its research and is preparing a report with its recommendations on the way forward.

In February and March this year a municipal employee’s dissatisfaction with a perceived wage gap resulted in weeks of protests. The task team was established to conduct a salary benchmarking exercise with other metros following the disgruntled municipal employee’s dissatisfaction.

The eThekwini Municipality and Cooperative Governance of Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) has now completed its benchmarking process.

At the time of the protests, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) had intervened in a bid to resolve the matter. This led to the establishment of a task team led by CoGTA and comprising members of city management and labour representatives, which was responsible for comparing salaries across four metros.

Task team chairman Tebogo Motlashuping said their mandate was to conduct a benchmarking exercise in order to determine and address employee concerns.

“The task team has been hard at work since April working with the city to bring back stability and restore service delivery,” said Mr Motlashuping.

“The team embarked on a visit to these four metros to determine their performance and salary scale. The exercise was quite a good learning experience for all participants, which we believe will assist to pave the way forward and yield a desired outcome.”

The task team is currently consolidating and preparing a report with recommendations. Employees will be kept abreast of further developments, Mr Motlashuping said.