Rustenburg – The mayor of Rustenburg, Mpho Khunou, and members of his mayoral committee (MMCs) will take a 30% salary cut to put towards Covid-19 relief efforts in the city.
Municipal spokesperson David Magae said Khunou, speaker Sheila Mabale-Huma, single whip Levy Mokwele, municipal manager Victor Makona and all MMCs would take a 30% salary cut for up to three months.
"The municipal manager is currently consulting all directors with a possible contribution towards the relief fund, which will be used for various interventions around Rustenburg," he said.
The move followed President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement that he would take a 33% pay cut for three months, along with Deputy President David Mabuza, ministers and deputy ministers.
The money will be donated to South Africa's Solidarity Fund, which has been created to enable citizens and businesses to contribute to the fight against Covid-19.
The board and management of multinational mining group Sibanye-Stillwater also said they would donate part of their remuneration for three months to the Solidarity fund.
"In support of the president's call for unified action and in solidarity with our employees and other South Africans during this difficult time, the board and executive management of Sibanye-Stillwater have therefore unanimously elected to contribute a third of their remuneration for the next three months to the national Solidarity Fund," the company said.
However, the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) said municipal workers would not be participating in the salary cut challenge.
The union stated that, unlike politicians, municipal workers were among the lowest-paid employees in South Africa and simply did not have money to put towards the fund.
"We will therefore leave this challenge to politicians as we are not prepared and will not subsidise operations of employers," Samwu general secretary Koena Ramotlou said.
African News Agency (ANA)
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