No salary increases for finance commissioners, parliament hears

Members of the Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC) will not receive a pay increase this year, meaning their salaries will remain at 2019 levels, parliament has heard.

This emerged during a session of parliament’s standing committee on finance on Wednesday focusing on salaries, allowances and benefits payable to members of the FFC. The FCC is an independent advisory institution that the government must consult on the division of revenue among the three spheres of government and in enacting legislation pertaining to provincial taxes and municipal fiscal powers and functions, as well as provincial and municipal loans.

Senior parliamentary legal adviser, advocate Frankie Jenkins, said the commission had made a recommendation to President Cyril Ramaphosa, as per the requirement of the Financial and Fiscal Commission Act.

“The recommendation from the commission is that, based on the financial position of South Africa in general and the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a zero increase in salaries of members of the commission,” Jenkins said.

“So it is exactly the same as last year … and the president has accepted it. And he has sent his draft notice to the speaker for approval.”

Under the gazetted 2019 remuneration for members of the Financial and Fiscal commission, the chairperson in a full-time capacity earns R1 880 736 a year. The deputy chairperson in a part-time capacity earns R695 for attending meetings; R232 an hour for preparation for meetings and R232 an hour for traveling time. Other members in a part-time capacity receive R572 an hour for attending meetings, R191 an hour for preparation for meetings and for traveling time. 

Members of the FFC said they supported the recommendation. 

This comes after a recent announcement that top government officials will be paid the same salaries as in 2019 and remuneration for ministers, premiers and MPs for 2021 was approved and gazetted by Ramaphosa.