COUNCIL BOSS WHO EARNS MORE THAN THE PREMIER
ADM municipal manager says he is living permanently in an upmarket hotel because ‘he is not earning stones’
Meet the manager of a cash-strapped district municipality who earns more than his MEC boss, or for that matter the premier — and not that much less than the president.
Thandekile Mnyimba, the Amathole district municipality’s manager, earns a cool R2.4m a year — R500 000 more than his boss, co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) MEC Xolile Nqatha. This means he can easily afford a lifestyle that includes living permanently at Hemingways Hotel.
Mnyimba says his generous salary is thanks to the municipality having been illegally recategorised prior to him joining it, meaning salaries were hiked and his had to go up accordingly, or he would have been earning less than his underlings.
Dispatch understands Mnyimba’s topnotch salary is one of the matters Cogta will be investigating when it scrutinised the ADM crisis as early as January.
Mnyimba’s salary increased twice since he took over the manager position on June 1 2017.
But he sees nothing wrong with this as he is contractually entitled to an annual 10% increment.
In 2019, he received an increase of just more than 6%, raising his salary to R2,451,707.04.
This means he is earning more than Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane who, according to the gazetted upper limits of December 2018, earns R2,260,409.
MECs earn about R1,977,795 a year. Mnyimba was manager of the Ikwezi local municipality and the Ngqushwa local municipality before taking the reins at the ADM.
In a two-hour interview, Mnyimba told the Dispatch the ADM had been a category 6 municipality, but his predecessors had “illegally” registered it as category 7 — which automatically upped the salaries of staff across the board, from general assistants to the municipal manager.
He said his predecessor earned R2.1m despite the gazetted upper limits being R1.7m.
He also blamed this on “recategorisation and standardisation”.
“On the first day I came to work, sitting with the executive mayor, the chief whip and speaker, discussing other issues, the matter of salary was also discussed.
“Remember if I was to take R1.7m, there were directors who were at R1.8m already.
“That would mean that my subordinates were earning more than me,” he said.
He said he would in fact have been happy with getting R1.7m as his salary had been a mere R1.1m at the Ngqushwa local municipality.
“Now the executive mayor was faced with this challenge.
“The solution the Troika came up with was that they have to put me at R2.1m and I must correct this thing going forward.
“So, this was not my decision — you are mischievous to say I increased my salary,” he said.
Several whistle-blowers have written to the Cogta MEC accusing Mnyimba of staying at “flashy hotels” at the expense of the municipality.
They said he was living at Hemingways Hotel, which he did not deny. “I don’t ask you where you stay and it’s my private life. Yes, I am staying there and I am paying it from my pocket — I am not earning stones.”
Speaking from his posh office at Waverley Park, Mnyimba did not mince his words, blaming the salary problem on his predecessors.
He said people who were running to the media with tales about him were planning to sabotage his plans for turning the municipality around and dealing with officials who were slackers.
“As I’ve indicated, everyone’s [salary] was pushed up according to the upper limits at the time I joined.
“The municipality manager was supposed to be at R1.7m, but the incumbent at the time was at R2.1m,
“I had to earn the same,” he said.
He said the directors at the time were earning R1,8m, outside their limit of R1.1m.
“Also, there are general managers here who were earning more than the directors. “How do you best deal with that?
He said many letters and reminders about the situation to former MEC Xasa, and current MEC Nqatha, were not responded to.
“These letters, which include all you are asking about, were sent to Xasa and the current MEC, but there is no response,” he said.
Mnyimba said he was actually entitled to an annual increase of 10% but this year had only got 6.5%
“because we saw the status of ADM”. “Our raises [including directors] are governed by the council, but we want to be responsible leaders, ” Mnyimba said.
Cogta spokesperson Makhaya Komisa reiterated this week that they intended investigating the situation at the ADM.
“There’s a lot that is going to be investigated there as per the information provided by whistle-blowers to the MEC,” he said this week, but refused to confirm if Mnyimba’s salary would form part of the probe.
He is earning more than EC premier Oscar Mabuyane who... earns R2,260,409. MECs earn about R1,977,795 a year