QWAQWA – Maluti-a-Phofung Municipality is heading to the Constitutional Court in a desperate final showdown over 183 municipal workers whose salaries were illegally hiked from the lowest grade to middle-management level.
Executive Mayor Tumelo Thebe dropped the bombshell during the outgoing council’s final sitting at the new council chamber on Thursday, 15 October, warning that the wage bomb will cripple the municipality if implemented.
“We have 15 days to say whether we are taking the matter up or how we are accepting them,” Thebe said.
“This matter will affect the interests of the community outside.”
At the heart of the scandal is a controversial salary adjustment that catapulted general workers from Post Level 15 – the lowest rung – to Post Level 4, a massive leap that comes with a fat pay increase.
The upgrades were signed off by former acting municipal manager Sam Makhubu in August 2023, stemming from a 2022 deal with organised labour known as the Lala Nathi agreement, signed on 14 June 2022.
Thebe questioned whether the workers even qualify for the positions they now hold, while MMC Mamorena Bohlale warned of devastating financial implications for the cash-strapped municipality.
EFF councillor Mahlomola Majake told council the matter cannot be dumped on the next council.
“This matter needs to be looked at timeously and not left as a problem for the incoming council,” Majake said, pointing to a letter circulating in the municipality that has workers already expecting compensation.
Chief Whip Moeketsi Lebesa traced the chronology of the saga before declaring: “Victory or death.”
The municipality has been losing in court at every turn. SAMWU took MAP to court to defend its members:
– 19 January 2026: Labour Court dismissed MAP’s review application
– 27 May 2026: Application for leave to appeal dismissed
– 29 September 2026: Labour Appeal Court refused MAP’s petition for leave to appeal
Now the ConCourt is the last throw of the dice.
Thebe stressed that considering an approach to the Constitutional Court is not the same as filing papers – but the clock is ticking, and the incoming council will inherit the R-millions headache if MAP blinks.
