The EFF's General Secretary Godrich Gardee during a recess outside the Consitutional Court in Johannesburg on 5 September 2017. The court heard the EFF's bid to have President Jacob Zuma impeached. Picture: Yeshiel Panchia
Former EFF MP Godrich Gardee astounded Twitter on Tuesday after his resignation from parliament was announced when he went on a rant about how poorly members of parliament are remunerated for their efforts.
At one point, he complained that doctors are paid more than MPs, which led at least one doctor to ask him if he thought MPs’ contributions to society could be considered more important than a doctor’s. In addition, doctors have to study for six or seven years before they can even start to make a half-decent salary.
The salaries of MPs have often been the subject of concern by taxpaying members of the public, since even the most entry-level MPs with no experience can earn more than people in most other jobs.
According to AfricaCheck, in an article from 2019, “MPs are paid handsomely to represent the public in parliament, out of money the government gets from taxpayers”.
They reported that the lowest salary an MP in the National Assembly or National Council of Provinces could earn was R1,106,940 a year, or R92,245 a month.
MPs also all qualified for:
However, none of this was good enough for Gardee, who raised numerous eyebrows and received criticism for calling his salary “disgusting” and even expressing an understanding for why ANC MPs had allegedly allowed themselves to be corrupted by Bosasa bribes, because they were supposedly struggling financially.
Gardee even called his experience in parliament one of “trauma and torture”.
The EFF styles itself a revolutionary socialist party, a fact that many commentators were not slow to pick up on and call Gardee out for.
However, he was not backing down, and complained about everything from the free flights to the food and the accommodation in Cape Town.
Gardee is now the party’s head of international relations and recently qualified as a lawyer. EFF leader Julius Malema tweeted that Gardee had started working as a candidate attorney.
The former secretary-general had been lambasted for being divisive by some party members in the lead-up to the EFF’s second elective conference.
Some expected Gardee to leave the party after he was not re-elected as a leader. However, he was given the task of helping to establish the party’s footprint outside of the country.
EFF national spokesperson Vuyani Pambo said on Tuesday that Gardee was now working full time as a candidate attorney at Mabuza Attorneys.
“It wouldn’t be proper for him to be paid if he can’t be there full time,” he said.
Pambo said Gardee remained a member of the EFF’s central command team, the highest decision-making body.
According to Gardee’s tweets, the 51-year-old appeared to be truly happy to be free of his duties as an MP, though many wondered if he was aware of how little a candidate attorney is normally paid at any law firm.
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