eThekwini council was righting a wrong by bumping up metro head’s salary to almost R4m, says mayor

eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda defended the municipal manager’s salary increase to R3.9 million and backed the controversial R1.7 million payment for an awards ceremony for municipal employees.

• eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda has defended the municipal manager’s salary increase to R3.9 million.
• Kaunda also backed the controversial R1.7 million payment for an awards event to honour municipal employees.
• The DA will ask the Auditor-General to investigate whether the payments for the events are tantamount to wasteful expenditure.

eThekwini ANC Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda has defended municipal manager Musa Mbhele’s salary increase and the controversial R1.7 million spent on an awards event for municipal employees.

Kaunda addressed the media on the day News24 broke the story about council passing, in a closed meeting, a proposal to increase Mbhele’s salary to R3.9 million – a notch below President Cyril Ramaphosa’s annual R4.1 million pay.

The council approved the waiver application for Mbhele to place him on the maximum of the upper limits of the total remuneration package of R3 993 439.

Kaunda said there had been “a lot of noise” about the application. 

READ | eThekwini in disarray but votes to pay controversial city manager almost as much as Ramaphosa

He said: 

Kaunda added: “We’re correcting that. We’ve approved the decision and the application will go to the Cogta minister, who will make a determination on the upper limit.”

In the same council meeting, the ANC/EFF-led eThekwini council approved almost R11 million for the sponsoring of awards, a hip-hop festival, the commemoration of national holidays and picnics among other events. 

Kaunda told journalists: “We have noted the concerns raised by the awards. It is a normal practice that every organisation motivates their employees and boosts their morale.”

He said while it was important to take action against “lazy” employees, an event like the City Stars awards, which cost R1.7 million, motivated those who serve communities selflessly. 

“The awards serve to inculcate ethics in the public service as well as promote a culture of functionalism in the sector,” Kaunda said. 

Speaking at the media briefing, Mbhele echoed his political boss on the City’s awards for employees.

He said most of the money would be used to pay for the venue hire. 

Kaunda said the council’s leadership wasn’t surprised by opposition parties’ stance on the payments for the events as they had not voted for the recently passed R65.5 billion budget.

He said it was “incorrect” and “mischievous” to suggest that the City had redirected a budget meant for other services.

Opposition political parties questioned the municipality’s priorities as the metro began spending R11 million on what they called “useless” awards and festivals.

The DA said it would ask the Auditor-General to look into whether around R11 million spent on items constituted wasteful expenditure.

The council passed the item, which proposed spending R11 million on mainly arts and culture events, at an ordinary council meeting on Thursday.

READ | ANC-led eThekwini council asked to approve almost R11m for awards, hip-hop festival, picnics and more

In a video statement, DA councillor Sakhile Mngadi said: “It’s clear the City has no intention of turning [things] around. It’s clear that when a voice of reason is speaking, the powers that be in eThekwini aren’t willing to listen.”

He said the City was foregoing its prime mandate to deliver services amid debilitating water and electricity issues. 

“In the face of all of this adversity, the City continues to pump millions of our funds into these useless, wasteful expenditure items that have no return on investment for the council and residents.”

He said the DA would also report the matter to the Public Protector.

African Democratic Change leader, Visvin Reddy, led the opposition parties’ rejection of the sponsoring of the events in council.