Former tourism minister Derek Hanekom.
It’s probably unfair to say the ANC was cleaning house given that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s shake-up started on May 29 with the announcement of his new Cabinet.
However, a pending near 50% cut in salary for former ministers – reduced to backbenchers – may have a lot to do with it.
Political analyst Daniel Silke said: “This really is all about the mechanics of the pension benefits from parliament.”
Silke noted that many people were critical of the pension benefits accrued to ex-ministers who were now quitting.
In terms of a Government Gazette, issued in December, ministers would pocket more than R2.4 million per year, while ordinary members of parliament earn less than a chief magistrate at a little over R1.1 million a year.
“The system of benefits within the parliamentary rulebook makes provision for those who were former Cabinet minsters to claim pensions on the basis of the more elevated position, and as I understand it they have a cut-off date by which they have to make a choice in the matter,” Silke said. “There’s no political motivation behind this except certainly in the case of Bathabile Dlamini, she didn’t leave quietly.”
With only 12 people making it from 2018 into Ramaphosa’s Cabinet, South Africans can expect more resignations as the State of the Nation address on June 20 looms.
– amandaw@citizen.co.za
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