Salary boost for eThekwini Municipality workers, City reaches agreement with SAMWU

The eThekwini Municipality has reached an agreement with labour unions to increase workers' salaries.

The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) in eThekwini has announced a landmark settlement agreement on benchmarking, following sustained union advocacy to address pay parity, among other issues. The agreement means that workers will now be paid the same as their counterparts in other metros across the country.

The agreement will cost the municipality an additional R500 million a year. To counter that expense, the City is proposing to reduce overtime and introduce a shift system.

The union and the municipality had been locked in a prolonged dispute over pay disparities in eThekwini compared to other municipalities. Workers had previously complained that they were being paid significantly less than their counterparts in other metros.

The agreement also averted what could have been crippling industrial action during the City’s busiest period of the year, as the union had threatened to declare a dispute and down tools.

A strike would have disrupted water, electricity, refuse removal, and sewage services.

In a statement, the union said, “This agreement will benefit most eThekwini Municipality employees, with lower grades receiving proportionally significant adjustments. The settlement will be implemented from July 1, 2026, with back pay effective from April 1, 2026.”

“SAMWU has long highlighted severe wage disparities between eThekwini and other major metros. For example, the lowest-paid worker in eThekwini earns about R11,500 monthly, compared to over R15,000 elsewhere,” the statement said.

A report on the settlement agreement between SAMWU and the municipality stated that cost-cutting measures are necessary to ensure the budget exists to fund the additional costs. It said the parties agreed that the employer’s overtime spend is to be reduced by 50%, meaning a reduction from R700 million to R350 million per annum.

“The employer further contended that the shortfall, after cutting down on overtime, had to be made up by the parties agreeing to implement a shift system. They sought to have agreement on the broad principles upon which a proposed shift system should be based. The parties agreed on the need for a shift system, which is required and feasible given the legal framework and requirements of the employer to discharge its constitutional and legislative responsibilities,” the report added.

The report stated that the parties agreed to consult with each other meaningfully to determine an appropriate shift system for the various environments within the municipality. They committed to increasing productivity in the various directorates to a minimum of 75%, in accordance with National Treasury’s requirements.

The report stated that the date of commencement will be April 1, 2026, and the effective implementation date will be July 1, 2026. The employer agreed to paying back pay to those employees who qualify for the months of April to June 2026.

DA councillor Thabani Mthethwa said they believe that any agreement reached should not collapse the municipality financially, which is why they support a financial analysis being conducted before anything is implemented to ascertain whether the municipality can afford it.

Mayor Cyril Xaba said last week that he was pleased that a strike had been averted.

THE MERCURY