Johannesburg’s new deputy mayor, Loyiso Masuku, at the ANC Joburg regional conference on 3 December 2025 in Sandton. Picture: Gallo Images/Sharon Seretlo The ANC in Johannesburg has failed to secure a R10.3 billion wage deal for its affiliate union, the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu), during an adjustment budget vote on Thursday. The Citizenpreviously reportedthat Samwu and the municipality had agreed on the figure of R10.3 billion, based on accumulated debt resulting from a 1995 halt to salary progression, as well as the gap between the pay packages of senior officials and employees on the ground.
The union had described this salary agreement as a “crystallised sum of human suffering.” This agreement, described as the Proposed Framework Agreement (PFA), was expected to be funded over a three-year period. But a number of questions have been raised on it, including whether the agreement will only benefit workers affiliated to Samwu. Speaker of council Margaret Arnolds said 58 councillors abstained from voting for the adjustment budget, while 67 councillors completely disagreed.
Those who agreed to this were 117. According to Arnolds, the item needed 136 votes to pass. Following the result, the ANC’s deputy mayor Loyiso Masuku stood up and said: “We would also like to inform Samwu that the EFF, the DA, and ActionSA rejected their salary wage implementation.” She said this because the EFF, their coalition partner, together with ActionSA, had abstained from the vote, while the DA and Freedom Front Plus (FF+) rejected voting for the PFA and the budget.
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Opposition parties responded furiously to Masuku’s statement, with some saying they “did not answer to Samwu”. They even accused the ANC of trying to score“one loaf” for Samwu.This stems from an allegation that Samwu had demanded the R10.3 billion deal in order to campaign for the ANC in the lead-up to the local government elections.
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