By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The City of Tshwane has won its Labour Court battle against paying 2023 salary increases to its municipal workers.
This comes after a failed bid by the SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) and the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union to force the City to honour the salary agreement pending the court case.
The City approached the court after its exemption application from a wage agreement with the unions was dismissed by the SA Local Government Bargaining Council on April 8.
In an arbitration ruling dated August 24, 2022 the bargaining council ruled in favour of the City’s move for a review application in the Labour Court, challenging the April 8 verdict.
In last week’s ruling, senior panellist Yusuf Nagdee criticised the April verdict which dismissed the City’s exemption application “without hearing the reasons for exemption, and in particular did not decide the affordability of the increases”.
Nagdee said the panellists in April needed to conduct a financial inquiry based on the financial information that the Tshwane Metro was required to include in the application.
“The purpose of the financial inquiry is to determine whether the employer can afford to implement the provisions from which it seeks an exemption, “said the ruling.
In its application, the City said that failure to exempt it from the agreement would force it to spend R489 million in increases, in breach of the statutory prohibition of the Municipal Finance Management Act.
According to the metro, the act in question prohibits operational expenditure that is not budgeted for and approved by the council.
Democratic Alliance (DA) Tshwane caucus leader Cilliers Brink welcomed the Labour Court’s ruling, saying it allows the city to redirect funds toward stabilising finances and improving service delivery.
“It’s clear from this victory that it was worth it to stand our ground to fight for residents, to fight for the idea that the municipality exists to serve residents, not the politicians or folks who work for the municipality”
Brink added that the decision was not intended to punish workers but to prioritise basic service delivery for residents.