President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand on 2 June 2024. Picture: Nigel Sibanda / The Citizen
The African National Congress (ANC) has confirmed it will table a motion in the National Assembly (NA) to debate President Cyril Ramaphosa’s salary increase.
The motion will be heard in the National Assembly next week.
The ANC said Ramaphosa has not had a salary increase since he first became president in 2018 and even after the May 29 elections.
ANC Deputy Chief Whip Doris Dlakude told The Citizen the president has not had a pay increase and that a motion will be debated in Parliament on the recommendation.
“It is part of the programme.”
The House on Tuesday is also expected to approve a recommendation from the justice committee for a 2.5% salary increase for judges.
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The budget for the Presidency in 2023/24 after the elections indicated that the President’s salary would remain unchanged at R4.2 million.
In 2018, when Ramaphosa took office for the first time, he pledged to contribute half his Presidential salary to a fund to be managed by the Nelson Mandela Foundation which will direct resources to the many small social projects scattered across the country.
In May this year, the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers recommended a 2.5% increase for public office bearers for the 2024/2025 financial year after considering factors such as inflation, fiscal affordability and the wage bill, among others.
Ramaphosa signed off the hike for ministers, deputy ministers, members of Parliament (MPs), premiers and members of the provincial legislatures on 28 May, a day before South Africa went to the polls to cast their vote.
The income hike boosted Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s salary to R3.16 million annually.
Cabinet ministers are also wealthier, with the president granting them an increase to R2.69 million a year while deputy ministers’ salaries rose to R2.22 million.
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen’s salary, as leader of the main opposition, increased to R1.79 million.
Other minority leaders, including Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema, saw their salaries rise to R1.5 million.
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