Cape Town - The provincial secretary of Cosatu, Tony Ehrenreich, has challenged mayor Patricia de Lille and Premier Helen Zille to declare their income and expenditure over the last six months.
This after he revealed his income on Friday and how he spends the salaries received from his positions as Cosatu’s provincial secretary and as an ANC councillor.
He also provided a monthly breakdown that detailed how he disbursed his income to certain areas for support and donations.
Ehrenreich’s total income after deductions as Cosatu’s provincial secretary amounted to R21 224. His total income after deductions as an ANC councillor amounted to R26 310.
Some of Ehrenreich’s expenses included:
- R4 000 to four board members.
- R4 500 to support proudly South African projects and the transportation fees for HIV/Aids projects.
- Making R 5 000 available for the payment of office support to assist in workers cases.
- R10 000 in tax on council payments.
- R500 transport fee.
- R1 000 to help a family who lives in his holiday house in Kleinmond.
- Giving R1 000 as donations to people in need.
In his challenge, he told De Lille and Zille to equal or better his actions as they “earn more extravagant salaries”.
He said there was a “huge problem” in terms of inequality.
Ehrenreich said that the problem around the low wages of the production workers also caused a structural problem in the economy “because we are not creating more consumers, people who do not have disposable income work in factories”.
“They can just about cover basic services, transport and the kids’ school fees.
“There is no additional income so they cannot buy stoves or TVs or even a computer.
“Things that are essential to a modern society,” he said.
Ehrenreich added that citizens should start holding politicians to a higher standard.
“They (politicians) are capitalists and that is in their blood to exploit people, and we have got to fight that as unions.
“If you take on the public office you have got to serve some kind of public values.
“You cannot take the same high wages and say you are serving the public.
When asked if the premier and mayor would follow suit, Zille’s spokesman Michael Mpofu said Ehrenreich was free to do as he pleases: “We will not be drawn into his cheap publicity stunt.”
De Lille’s spokeswoman, Pierrinne Leukes, said Ehrenreich found another way to use the plight of the poor for his attention-seeking purposes.
“The mayor makes many donations both in her mayoral (through the mayoral fund) and personal capacity.
“She just does not feel the need to receive constant recognition for it.
“All city councillors’ declarations of interest are publicly available on our website in the interest of transparency.”
Cape Argus
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