Barry Streek
South Africa’s 739 unelected traditional leaders are being paid nearly R600- million a year in salaries – at an average of R65 071,84 a month or R780 853,68 a year.
This was revealed by Minister for Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi in reply to a question tabled in the National Assembly by the Democratic Party’s Graham McIntosh.
Mufamadi said R48 087 573 is being paid out monthly to the 739 traditional leaders in salaries. On the basis of the payment of R48,1-million per month, the total annual salary bill for the traditional leaders is more than R577- million a year. And this excludes the salaries paid to headmen.
The six provincial governments of the Eastern Cape, the Free State, Mpumalanga, the North-West, the Northern Province and KwaZulu-Natal keep records or registers of these payments. They are regularly updated and an audit of these payments was done in April.
Mufamadi said there is no performance contract between these individuals and the state “as the law governing their designation/appointment does not provide for one”.
He added that members of the house of traditional leaders are paid allowances when they attend official functions.
They are also paid travelling allowances as provided by government transport regulations.
“It should be noted that houses seldom meet,” he said. However, in KwaZulu- Natal, R23 800 was paid out for each session and R22 800 for travelling allowances, while in the North-West an allowance of R7 750 per sitting was paid and R6 600 for travelling.
Mufamadi said in the Northern Province R13 350 was spent per sitting and a R10 800 travelling allowance paid out.
No sitting allowances were paid out in Mpumalanga, the Free State and the Eastern Cape, nor was there a travelling allowance in Mpumalanga or the Free State.
In the Eastern Cape, travelling allowances were paid out in accordance with civil service regulations, Mufamadi said.