OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Monday
PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki has refused a pay hike because he is “embarrassed” by the proposed increase – and although he didnt want it made public, Education Minister Kader Asmal told everyone about it anyway.
Asmal, writing in the Sunday Independent to refute criticisms of the presidency, said the statutory Commission on Remuneration of Public Office Bearers recently set out new salary proposals for politicians, including the president.
“Embarrassed at the new package, he has not accepted the increase, but he has refused that this should be made public,” Asmal said.
“It’s not for public relations purposes, but just that he does not feel comfortable with it.”
It was reported in October last year that the commission recommended Mbeki’s R699_000 package be increased by 13% to R789_574, a hike that must be approved by resolution of the National Assembly.
Speaker Frene Ginwala said: “We were going to do this when I was advised the president did not wish to have an increase, and certainly did not want to make an issue of it. If the Assembly had approved it, he would have had to turn it down.
For that reason, she had never put the resolution to the Assembly.
“I was pleased in the sense that it sets a good example,” she said of Mbeki’s decision. “He just made a personal choice.”
In 1999, Mbeki appealed to MPs and other politicians to lead by example and accept a pay increase of only four percent, so that “our practical actions ensure that none can challenge us”.
At the time, public sector unions were demanding a 7.3% pay rise.