Sunday Tribune reports that according to Comfort Khumalo, mayor of Big Five Hlabisa Municipality in northern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), mergers of rural municipalities put a severe strain on municipal wage bills due to bloated staff complements.

Khumalo is on the verge of completing his first term, which was formed after the previous local elections by the merging of the then The Big 5 False Bay and Hlabisa local municipalities. The council, which is predominantly rural with thriving tourism attractions such as Isimangaliso Wetland and Umfolozi Big Five Nature reserve among others, has an annual budget of R95 million. Khumalo said that after the merger of the two municipalities the wage bill ballooned, with a huge chunk of the budget going towards paying salaries. “We have a challenge with paying salaries, the merger led to bloated staff. About 52% of our budget goes to paying salaries, we have taken a decision that we will no longer hire new people unless it is a critical post. We are on 52% while the threshold is at least 45% according to the co-operative government department, which is very huge. On top of that, the municipality is owed R50m by the government, private business and residents,” he indicated. Khumalo pleaded with customers and the government to pay their outstanding debts, saying the municipality relied solely on government grants for survival.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Siboniso Mngadi at Sunday Tribune

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