ANA reports that the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday it would oppose proposed salary hikes at Gauteng’s Emfuleni municipality, arguing that the money should instead be used to improve services.  

According to the party, the increase would amount to R55,119,785 being spent on salaries for councillors, which would exceed the allotted budget for salary increases for councillors by R4,127,068.25.  “The increase means that councillors will receive roughly R55,000 per month, however, the bulk of this increase will go to the mayor, speaker, chief whip and mayoral committee members,” the DA claimed.  It asserted that councillors did not deserve the salary increase.  Residents in the municipality, which includes areas such as Vanderbijlpark, Sebokeng and Vereeniging, recently went for days without water after the municipality defaulted on its payment agreement with water entity Rand Water.

• Read this report in full at The Citizen
• Read the DA’s press statement in this regard at Politicsweb

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