EWN reports that parliament has defended an almost 70% salary hike for its secretary, Xolile George, a year into the job. It asserts that it was a thorough and objective process.
Sunday Times recently lifted the lid on the behind-the-scenes wrangling to hike George’s salary to R4.4 million when he initially accepted an offer in May last year of R2.6 million. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has cried foul and now wants the Deputy Speaker, Lechesa Tsenoli, to investigate the matter. It says political parties were kept in the dark, with Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula compromised. According to parliament, it agreed to hike Xolile George’s salary based on the recommendations of an impartial expert assessment conducted by a remuneration consultancy firm. This was to ensure the decision would be unbiased and aligned with industry practices. While it noted that political parties were consulted last year over the difficulty in recruiting George because it could only offer him around half of the more than R5 million salary he was earning as the chief executive officer of the SA Local Government Association, parliament claimed it was not practical to do so with regard to hiking his salary. The presiding officers have insisted that parliament did not act in secret, and have pointed out that George’s new salary was reflected in the institution’s annual report. But DA chief whip Siviwe Gwarube is demanding an investigation, saying that Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula misled Parliament and the country.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lindsay Dentlinger at EWN
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