R4
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Rural areas: FREE • Platteland: GRATIS
30 November 2012
Fear lessl y the tr uth
It was a memorable occasion when AFB Makhado celebrated the Hawk MK 120’s first 10 000 hours in the air. At the Hawk’s controls were Brig Gen John Bayne and Lt Col Kevin Ogden from 85 Combat School. The Hawk was successfully introduced as a lead-in-fighter-trainer. Ogden is seen here in the cockpit of one of 85 Combat Flying School´s Hawk MK 120’s. Photo: LiN News/Zoutpansberger November 2012
VANDAG BINNE
• AgriLimpopo se HUB praat oor arbeidsake • Nog bedrog met grondeise oopgevlek
Hier is die Republiek!
Master Chef to visit Tzn page 9
Giyani runs dry!
Not a damn!
The gloves are off. The decision on Tuesday night by the city council of the Greater Tzaneen Municipality to introduce “dramatic” salary increases across the board, as well as the decision to appoint a municipal manager whose qualifications are not in line with what was asked for in the formal advertisements for the job, have at least one councillor, Ms Anza van Vuuren (DA), steaming (see page 3). Tuesday night’s meeting was in many ways rather chaotic. • Councillors could not be heard, mainly because they did not speak into the microphones.
• At one stage the speaker and the mayor seemed to be rattled by a request for a division to vote for or against the new salary increases.
• Mayor Dikeledi Mmetle reprimanded the DA’s leader in the council and member of the executive commitee, Ms Rene Pohl, for voting against the appointment of the acting municipal manager in the vacant post. Dikeledi said Pohl has supported the appointment in the Exco meeting and she could not understand how Pohl could make a U-turn when the matter came up in die council meeting. Meantime, the ANC majority voted en masse for the introduction of new salary
meer op bl 16
maybe when hell freezes over... or the GTM come their senses
scales that will result in increases of up to 40%. The estimated cost of this for the GTM will be between R30 million and R35 million per annum. It is unimaginable how and where the GTM will find money for this. Rumor has it that the
bulk of the extra money required for salaries will come from the electricity department’s budget — which would spell disaster for Tzaneen and/or the rural areas. Level 15 labourer (many of them illit-
erate) will henceworth earn between R7 310,69 and R8 019 per month — up from the present R6 010,64. This represent an increase of almost 40% and this is the pattern through all the levels to level 3 (managers).
A manager’s salary will increase from the current R263 766,24 per annum (R21 980,52 per month) to between R362 597,79 per annum and R386 020,80 per annum (R32 168,40 per month). These amounts don’t include fringe benefits such as pension, medical, telephone subsidy, car subsidy, housing subsidy etcetera. Meanwhile the wasteful and fruitless expenditure of the GTM is rapidly climbing, especially since the municipality is losing one court case after another — at costs running into millions of rands (between Claude
see page 15
Wheatley and the Sasekani Road legal cost is expected to be well in excess of R3,5 million). Residents of Tzaneen will have to bite the bullet and pay up, or else... since the future looks pretty grim. The Bulletin also has information indicating that the GTM might get a disclaimer from the Auditor General for the past financial year. This could be the first step towards the appointment of an administrator to try and save the GTM from total collapse. • We will publish more shocking facts and figures next week.