The head of the TRC hopes to hold on to his post, despite his recent appointment as rector of the University of the North, writes Ann Eveleth
Truth and Reconciliation Commission CEO Biki Minyuku is bidding to keep his current post after he takes on new responsibilities – and a R1-million salary package – as head of one of South Africa’s most troubled universities next month.
But Minyuku launched an angry tirade last week – in a memo leaked to the Mail & Guardian – against truth commission staffers lobbying for severance pay when the commission winds down, accusing them of “purporting to dig deep into the taxpayers’ pockets”.
Minyuku handed in his resignation on February 1, after agreeing to take the hot seat as rector of the University of the North, but backtracked at a February 19 amnesty committee meeting when, according to the minutes of that meeting, he asked the committee to “seriously consider whether it has to or must replace its outgoing CEO or not”.
Minyuku suggested that he could shuttle between Pietersburg and Cape Town to wrap up the truth commission’s financial affairs until the end of 1999. Amnesty committee chair Judge Hassan Mall said the committee would consider this proposal, but added “there are no other proposals of other people taking up the post”.
It is unclear whether Minyuku will retain his current salary if his proposal is accepted. He earned the staff nickname as “the 18th commissioner” when he successfully lobbied for the same salary package as the 17 commissioners.
Like the commissioners, Minyuku stands to receive four months’ severance pay – at a rate equivalent to that of a high court judge – and the option to purchase the truth commission car he has used for the past three years at 40% of the purchase price, say commission insiders.
In stark contrast, ordinary TRC staffers stand to leave their jobs with nothing more than their final pay cheque. When 80 staff members wrote to Minyuku last month demanding talks about severance pay, he accused them of using “outmoded clandestine techniques and/or illegal actions”, and urged their representatives “to dismount their pseudo expert old white horses”.
The staff memo pleaded with Minyuku to re- open the severance issue – rejected by the Commission on Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration last year because staff leaving the TRC at the time had approached the issue too late – on the grounds that remaining staff had served the commission for three years with “no benefits, small yearly increases and no 13th cheque”.
“Staff have executed their duties with a spirit of pride and joy and have many times neglected their personal lives and responsibilities … We now insist that the TRC consult with staff in terms of Section 189 and 196 of the Labour Relations Act … Please let us have your response within seven days hereof, failure whereof we will have no option but to declare a dispute with the TRC,” the staff memo said.
Truth commission insiders point out that staff who did much of the commission’s footwork received an average salary of around R70 000 a year, and unlike many senior commission members would not be walking into well-paid positions quickly in the current job market.
They add that it is an “open secret” that Minyuku has spent considerable time over the past year away from his post, serving on the ministerial commission of inquiry into the transformation of defence intelligence appointed last April. Department of Intelligence representative Helmut Schlenter confirmed that Minyuku serves on the commission, but could not say how much time he spends on the project or what remuneration he receives for it.
Minyuku told staff that their memo was “an affront and an insult … against my person, the entire principled leadership and every privileged TRC member who ever graced our humble milieu”.
Dubbing the signatories “self-professed TRC veterans”, he told them that “long service should never be confused with commitment. Committed staff are not schemers, they will never think, let alone plan, to disrupt the smooth functioning of a project of national significance … “
Minyuku warned commission staff that if they “dare” to down tools, “the universal principal of no work no pay will apply and above all, you will by the way, constructively and effectively be dismissing yourselves”.
Minyuku did not respond to repeated requests for an interview this week. Truth commission representative Mdu Lembede said Minyuku was the only person who could comment on the matter.