Hundreds of King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality workers downed tools on Tuesday and staged a protest outside the municipal offices in Munitata, the headquarters of the Mthatha-based council.
Workers told the Dispatch they had uncovered what they described as salary discrepancies, alleging that municipal manager Ngamela Pakade and senior directors were paying themselves salaries aligned to a grade 6 municipality, while general staff continued to be paid at grade 4 levels.
Municipal grading in SA determines remuneration and resource allocation, with grade 1 representing the smallest municipalities and grade 6 the largest and most financially robust, typically metropolitan areas or major urban centres.
Protesting workers sang “we also want our monies”, chanting songs laden with profanity directed at the municipal leadership.
What is even worse is that they have also [allegedly] back-paid themselves
SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) KSD chair Thembisile Nobanda said labour unions had established that senior managers were earning salaries aligned to a grade 6 municipality.
“When we inquired about this, asking why only senior managers must be paid as per grade 6, they insisted KSD municipality was still a grade 4 municipality,” he said.
“But a document they crafted shows that the municipality is graded as a grade 6.
“Now our problem is that they are not the municipality by themselves. This municipality is made up of everyone, including staff.
“It cannot be that while we work for the same municipality, [some] are earning salaries based on a category 6 grading while others are earning as per category 4.
“What is even worse is that they have also [allegedly] back-paid themselves.”
Nobanda claimed senior managers had benefited by millions of rand.
“When we approached them, they insisted the municipality was a grade 4 municipality, which means they wrote documents and [allegedly] paid themselves huge salaries,” he said.
He said the matter had been kept from employees until staff noticed the higher salaries and began making inquiries.
They were then told that senior managers’ salaries were handled by the South African Local Government Association (Salga), while the department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs dealt with councillors’ remuneration, and workers’ salaries fell under a bargaining council.
“We want them to use the same English they used when they wrote to have their salaries paid, so that as employees we can also earn grade 6 municipality salaries,” Nobanda said.
Independent Municipal Allied Trade Union KSD chair Inam Mkile said the issue of senior managers being paid according to a higher municipal grading had been rejected several times when brought before council.
“We have heard they received a collective amount of more than R6m once this was approved.
“We are saying how can a few then benefit?
“We should also be getting money. But there is no explanation coming to us,” he said.
Mkile said several municipal documents now reflected KSD as a grade 6 municipality.
He accused management and mayor Nyaniso Nelani of attempting to mislead workers by claiming the municipality was still in the process of applying for an upgraded grading.
KSD municipal spokesperson Sonwabo Mampoza confirmed that Pakade had scheduled a meeting with protesting workers at the Mthatha Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
Mampoza said the protest formed part of ongoing pickets by disgruntled employees over the municipality’s grading and salary structure.
Refuse collection was also disrupted in several areas on Tuesday due to the strike action.
In 2025, KSD’s application to be upgraded to a rural metropolitan municipality was rejected by the Municipal Demarcation Board, which described the municipality as financially and administratively dysfunctional.
The board said the municipality had a low population density, limited economic development, was largely rural, and relied on a single economic node.
Daily Dispatch
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