‘Who is fooling who?’ Ekurhuleni workers ask after Masina fails to deliver on pay hike promise

Workers at the Ekurhuleni Municipality are fuming after Mayor Mzwandile Masina promised massive pay hikes from April‚ but payday has come and gone and they claim he has failed to deliver.

“There is a lot of tension in Ekurhuleni. Traffic officers‚ emergency workers and disaster management; everybody is affected and some are threatening a massive strike‚” said one municipal employer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

On April 4‚ Masina met with workers at a Boksburg stadium where he made the pay hike announcement publicly.

“The first thing we did was to say let us go and compare ourselves with other metros.... We found that in Ekurhuleni‚ if you are on T-scale 2 as an example‚ you are currently earning R93‚816 per year‚” Masina said in a recording heard by TMG Digital.

“In Ethekwini‚ on the same level‚ they earn the same - R93‚768. In Nelson Mandela‚ R131‚412; in Buffalo City‚ they are on R93‚768; in Cape Town‚ they are on R112‚704; in Tshwane‚ they are on R119 000. So effectively‚ in Ekurhuleni‚ we are moving you - if you are on T–scale 2 - from R93‚816 to R140‚822.”

The T-scale referred to the task or job grade.

Workers on a T-2 scale were usually those responsible for keeping the City streets and parks clean.

They earned around R7‚818 per month and were expecting to now earn about R11‚735 from April 25.

Masina announced that those on a pay scale of R103‚140 would have their salaries bumped up to R158‚514 per annum.

Those on T-10 scale‚ who usually earned R259‚992‚ were now expecting R363‚276.

Increments for managers were to de determined through a performance management agreement.

When Masina made the announcement last month‚ he said the matter was already a done deal.

“This is effective from 1 April 2017 moving forward‚” he said.

“So in order to ensure that even beyond our time‚ no one comes to sabotage you as workers‚ we are putting measures in place. There is a council decision that has been taken in that effective. We have resolved on these issues‚” he said.

But come payday‚ Masina was out of the country and unable to give answers as to why he had allegedly failed to deliver on his promises.

Instead‚ his spokesperson‚ Gugu Ndima could not account for the alleged discrepancies and referred questions to the City Council.

Municipality spokesperson Themba Radebe‚ however‚ said Masina had delivered.

“The council resolution has been implemented‚” said Radebe.

All but 2‚000 employees on the T-scale who were being paid above labour market had received the increments‚ he said.

Radebe claimed that people had perhaps had their own “interpretations” and expectations following Masina’s announcement last month‚ but “no one was worse off”.

Letters detailing each employees personal increment had been attached to their payslips‚ said Radebe‚ adding that each case was unique.

“One thing to note is that not everyone is on the T-scale. This was a scale which was implemented in 2010 that people have been complaining about‚” said Radebe.

But some municipal workers are convinced that Masina was not fully briefed on the pay hikes before he announced it to workers.

“It doesn’t make sense. Not everyone got the increment. We got a few hundred and those who got decent increases are the new employees and management. Ekurhuleni is the lowest paid municipality and we continue to be left behind‚” said another employee.

Meanwhile‚ workers union Samwu said Masina had excluded them in his big announcement and acted on his own accord outside of the bargaining council.

“One of the clauses is that the municipality cannot go to workers without following processes so Masina violated his own agreement with the municipality when he went straight to employees‚” said Thokozani Nkosi‚ regional secretary of the SA Municipal Workers' Union.

Nkosi said they were now left do deal with Masina’s “mess which was now the burden of the union”.

“After his promises‚ workers are angry. Some have found that the housing allowance of R350 which they previously received is no longer being put in.

“Other grievances are that [according to Masina’s salary announcement] someone who started last month will get the same increment as someone who has been in the same job for seven years‚” said Nkosi.

He claimed Masina jumped the gun when he made his promises last month.

“It just won’t happen‚” Nkosi said.

Municipal workers were meant to convene‚ possibly on Wednesday‚ when they would discuss a plan forward.

“The workers are clear that this has nothing to with unions but promises of mayor. They want to know who is fooling who... And no doubt‚ service delivery will be affected‚” Nkosi said.