Municipal salaries increased by almost R7bn between 2013 and 2014
- Published on 27 Aug 2015
- HR Pulse News Desk
The amount paid on salaries for municipal employees across the country increased by nearly R7bn between 2013 and 2014, Statistics SA indicated on Tuesday.
This was despite the fact that the number of municipal employees had decreased by 1,229, from 307,216 in 2013 to 305,987 in 2014, Statistician General Pali Lehohla said. The statistics included the salaries of full-time and part-time employees in metropolitan, district and local municipalities.
Lehohla said the drop in positions was due to some employees being moved to provincial government as well as the termination of some vacant and part-time posts. Gauteng spent the most on salaries, with R22.1bn last year, while the Northern Cape spent the least in 2014 with R1.7bn. The report also revealed that there were 44,674 vacant municipal positions countrywide in 2014.
The Free State had the highest vacancy rate at 26.6%, the North West followed second with 19.4% and Limpopo in third place with 19.2%. The departments with the highest vacancies across all the municipalities were Roads and Transport, Community and Social Services, as well as Electricity. District municipalities, in particular, were in urgent need of staff in electricity departments, with a vacancy rate of 43%.
