Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa has suggested better pay for municipal councillors so they can focus on the jobs they were elected to do and not seek other income sources.

He made the comment during a high-level dialogue held yesterday in Midrand, Johannesburg, with political parties as part of the ongoing review of the 1998 White Paper on Local Government. Hlabisa stated that the review aims to revive municipalities and ensure they are run like businesses.

He said there is a need to consider better pay for councillors, senior managers, and municipal managers, especially to attract them to work in rural areas as part of the review.

Hlabisa noted that many municipalities are in a dire state.“Local government is where policies become services and promises because infrastructure and governance become tangible. Local government must be capacitated and financially resourced.

“The state of our municipalities leaves much to be desired, and we know that the majority of our public holds the opinion that municipalities are not doing well. Year after year, the audit outcomes show that few municipalities receive a clean bill.”

He explained that many municipalities face challenges, and the geographical locations and funding models of the municipalities are at the heart of these issues.

“We need to adopt a style where our municipalities are run like businesses. But to do so, we need to make a bold and new approach to structuring, funding, and remuneration of councillors.“If our councillors are paid peanuts, they will spend most of their time on other jobs and only pay lip service to service delivery. The issue of the remuneration of councillors should be a matter that must be engaged.”

“The issue of the municipal manager and section 56 employees is critical. If you want to attract competent engineers, accountants, and municipal managers to deep rural municipalities, the remuneration must compensate those people so they will be eager to go and serve our rural municipalities.“When we review the white paper, these are the issues that we must engage with honestly and come up with recommendations,” the minister said.

He also mentioned the importance of engaging traditional leaders to ensure their maximum participation in municipalities to advance democracy in the country. Hlabisa further warned that building local government is now a make-or-break moment.

The call for better pay for councillors was met with mixed reviews, with a ratepayers group describing such a move as unwarranted. A councillor in a metro, such as the mayor or chairperson of the committee, could earn close to a million rand a year, while ordinary councillors in smaller municipalities could earn around R200 000 a year.

Anthony Waldhausen of the Msunduzi Association of Residents, Ratepayers, and Civics in Pietermaritzburg stated that such a proposal would be unjust.

“We disagree completely, as they are being paid well and with other perks currently.“There should be a review of what councillors are being paid; for example, why ward councillors and PR councillors are paid the same. We don’t know what roles and responsibilities the PR councillors have, and they should be paid less than the ward councillors.”

A councillor in the Impendle Local Municipality in the KZN Midlands stated, “Our municipality is very small; it does not have many of the things that generate money for municipalities, like water. So a councillor earns about R23 000 per month, and after deductions that include pension, tax, car allowance, and cell allowance, the councillor is left with about R14 000.”

The Democratic Liberal Congress (DLC) leader Patrick Pillay in eThekwini Municipality said salaries were adequate.“Councillors are sufficiently remunerated and take our ratepayers for granted. They cannot be contacted nor are they available to attend to critical issues of the communities they represent.”

Councillor Abbas Warasally in the Alfred Duma Local Municipality, however, said better pay could minimise corruption.“I personally believe that by doing so, it will cut down on corruption, and councillors will focus on service delivery as well as the needs of their communities. Presently, some councillors take on a second job to make ends meet, thus leaving communities unassisted. The only full-time councillors are those who are office bearers, whereas the rest are part-time contract workers.”

Professor Pundy Pillay from the Wits School of Governance said while better pay for councillors may be a positive move, he questioned where the budget for this would come from.

“It might change the behaviour of councillors. The minister might have a point about the increase, but he should clarify where the money is going to come from.”

He added that with the current funding model, money is predominantly spent on the national and provincial governments, leaving very little for local governments. Furthermore, he said while in theory municipalities can generate revenue, this was largely true for metros and not for the smaller, poorer municipalities.

Regarding the challenge of attracting skilled professionals to work in rural areas, Pillay expressed scepticism about salaries bringing in talent.

He noted that, due to the scarcity of skills, qualified individuals tend to prefer positions in the private sector as well as in the national and provincial governments.

“The best chance is to recruit people coming from those areas, as they will be more committed,” he said.

THE MERCURY

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