At least four municipal managers received remuneration packages exceeding R1-million last year — closely matching or exceeding that of President Thabo Mbeki, according to Treasury statistics released on Friday.
The municipal manager of eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal received a package of R1,091-million in the 2004/05 financial year, while elsewhere in the province his counterpart in Msunduzi (Pietermaritzburg) earned R1,031-million.
The municipal manager of the Ehlanzeni district municipality in Mpumalanga received a package of R1,203-million, and that of the Kaapse Wynland district municipality in the Western Cape R1,018-million.
Mbeki earned R1 056 453 in the past financial year.
The municipal remuneration figures are contained in a report on local government budgets and preliminary expenditure outcomes for the year ending in June.
The figures might not include provision for bonuses and other benefits, a Treasury official said.
The report is the first to be published under the provisions of Section 71 of the Municipal Finance Management Act.
The outcomes reported are for those municipalities that have been working closely with the Treasury on financial-management reforms, the Treasury said in a statement.
”Over time, it is anticipated that as financial-management systems improve not only will municipalities submit financial data on time, but the quality of the data will also improve.”
Other high earners included the municipal managers of Nkangala in Mpumalanga (R996 194), Cape Town metro (R928 800), Ilembe in KwaZulu-Natal (R923 368) and Ekhurhuleni metro in Gauteng (R917 494).
The municipal manager of the Tshwane metro in Gauteng earned R857 280, and his Johannesburg counterpart R845 972.
The statement said the report highlights sluggish spending on capital budgets, ”which reinforces the need to accelerate the roll-out of infrastructure”.
The Gert Sibande municipality in Mpumalanga had the lowest level of capital expenditure, with 22% of the budget used. The municipal manager of the area earned R744 485.
Municipalities that reported spending most of their capital budgets include Johannesburg (106%), Tshwane (98%) and Emalahleni in Mpumalanga (90%), the statement said.
The combined budgets for local governments for the 2004/05 financial year amounted to R101-billion, of which R17-billion was allocated to capital projects and R84-billion to operating functions. — Sapa