Africa-Press – South-Africa. Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) bosses are set to cash in an annual salary of more than R2 million should Parliament rubber-stamp a retrospective salary increase of 3%.
After deliberation, the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs concurred with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s determination on the, “… remuneration adjustment”, of IEC commissioners that a retrospective salary increase of 3% be implemented for the chairperson and other full-time commissioners for the 2021/22 financial year.
This equates to a total remuneration of R2 498 817 for the chairperson of the IEC and R2 175 568 for full-time commissioners.
Details of the salary increase were contained in the committee’s report on determining the remuneration of IEC commissioners for 2021/22.
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The report is dated 23 August and was released two days later.
In June, Ramaphosa wrote to the National Assembly (NA) requesting lawmakers to consider the draft notice of determination of the salaries and allowances of members of various institutions, including the IEC.
“The president received the annual salary recommendations for the Public Office Bearers of the Independent Constitutional Institutions from the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers.
“The commission, having considered amongst others the state’s wage bill and the impact of public office bearers’ salary increment on the fiscus of the country, recommended a 3% salary increment for all public office bearers for the financial year 2021/22,” the report reads.
The IEC remains without a chairperson, but in May the committee adopted a report recommending that the National Assembly reappoint Glen Mashinini as a commissioner of the IEC.
Mashinini’s original seven-year term as an IEC commissioner expired in April. He was appointed as a commissioner in April 2015, and in September of that year, former President Jacob Zuma appointed him as chairperson.
Section 7(2) of the Electoral Commission Act 51 of 1996 provides that the IEC’s full- and part-time commissioners are entitled to annual salaries and allowances or benefits.
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One part-time IEC commissioner is a judge and is remunerated in terms of the Judges’ Remuneration and Conditions of Employment Act 2001 at a daily or hourly sitting rate calculated on a basic salary of a judge of the high court.
“The committee recommends that the National Assembly approve the notice determining the remuneration of the commissioners of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC),” the report read.
In June, Ramaphosa approved a 3% increase for public office bearers on the recommendation of the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers.
It is the first increase MPs and MPLs have received since 2019.
Parliament defended the increases for its MPs following a public outcry with unions such as Cosatu describing the increases as tone deaf.
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