CITY OF CAPE TOWN: THE ELUSIVE 17% SALARY HIKES - TRUTH OR FAKE NEWS?
Dear Mike
Soon after Social Media reports revealed the top management of the City of Cape Town is to receive a 17% salary increase later this year, Cllr Johannes van der Merwe issued a press release on behalf of the City of Cape Town stating this information was not correct. He claimed the figure displayed was a “typo” in an addendum to the Budget and should read 7.1%.
A search through all 1804 pages of the 2018/19 Draft Budget by members of the action group STOP COCT Dear Cape Town, found no mention at all of this 17% increase. We can only assume a table with comparative salaries as published in the draft budget, was posted on the Facebook Group STOP COCT. This table indicated a 17% increase in some instances and was probably the source of information for the City's media release and subsequent apology.
Questions now arise as to why the architects of this Budget issued an apology for figures not present in the Budget – is there more than one version of this document available, considering the cover page of the proposed draft for comment reflects “Volume 2”?
In any event, STOP COCT has sent a letter to the City requesting a complete withdrawal of the Draft Budget in its current form as it is unacceptable to expect the public to peruse a document containing an unknown number of errors. The City must correct the mistakes and resubmit the Draft Budget for Public Participation.
We, therefore, urge the City also to extend the current Public Participation window to provide the public more time to present meaningful input after accurately analysing the complicated 1804 pages of the Budget.
The Mayor's address on Wednesday focused on the proposed 2018/19 Draft Budget and began with her call for the increases to be lowered. She mentioned the City has to date received 24 900 emails from the Public to make their voices heard over the massive increases in the City’s tariffs. It is important to note this is not a petition but the first step in an essential legal process. And here's the best bit; each comment must, by law, be acknowledged and considered by the City. Had this been a petition, they would treat it as a single comment.
In an email sent out to residents on Wednesday, the Mayor urged the Public to make their voices heard via the Public Participation Process which ends on 4 May 2018.
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