The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) did not support the adjustment of the highest compensation notch for managers of the Merafong Local Municipality (Carletonville, Fochville, Wedela).
The municipal council, however, steamrolled it through despite receiving a qualified audit for the 2024/2025 financial year and a warning from the Auditor-General (AG) that previous instructions were ignored and record-keeping is inadequate.
This upward-adjusted compensation notch, which applies to all office-bearers including the executive mayor, the municipal manager and heads of departments, covers salaries, allowances and other benefits.
The Freedom Front Plus made it clear that the additional money that will now be spent on compensation could have been put to better use, such as improving service delivery and settling overdue accounts, including Rand Water’s account seeing as the utility has already imposed restrictions on bulk water supply.
Merafong’s residents and loyal taxpayers should no longer have to bear the brunt of rash decisions for which they must pay while deriving no benefit.
