The City of Cape Town has admitted that a typing error has landed it with a major reputational headache. This followed claims of senior management receiving salary increases for the 2018/19 financial year of 17% and more.
“This is incorrect. The City has budgeted for an increase of 7,1% for the 2018/19 financial year,” said the City in a news release, Monday, attributed to Councillor Johan van der Merwe.
The red-faced bungling bureaucrats went on to explain that the fake news – had been their own creation.
“Regrettably, an error crept into an external annexure table in the City’s tabled (draft) budget. The typo caused the figure to read 17% and not 7,1%,” van der Merwe announced.
“The City sincerely apologises for this error. Such errors really are uncharacteristic of our budgets. This has not impacted on the budget numbers and amounts in any way.
”The figure was only stated in one particular table, which serves as an annexure to the budgeted amounts-related information. This reporting error will be corrected when the final budget is adopted in May 2018.
“The 2018/19 Medium Term Revenue and Expenditure Framework, prepared with provision for salary increases, reads as follows:
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
| 7,10% | 6,60% | 6,40% |
“We hope that this sets the record straight. It would be regrettable if organisations and lobby groups continue to espouse this information, which has now been publically corrected, in their efforts to advocate against the City’s budget and proposed vital tariff increases,” van der Merwe insisted.
There have, indeed, been complaints about the initial, inaccurate, reports that top City officials would be receiving 17% pay hikes.
“The impact of the current water crisis is clearly evident in this year’s budget. There is a need to increase our water and sanitation tariffs substantially to enable us to continue supplying water and providing sanitation services. No profit is made from tariffs,” said Van der Merwe.
“The City has already reprioritised some R2,6 billion of its existing budget and the tabled budget includes strict budget cuts and curtailment in an effort to help the City to pay for the effects of the worst drought in recorded history.”
No typos were spotted in the news release.
