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Cape Town – President Jacob Zuma officially rubber stamped the fee freeze for public office bearers for 2017, as a gazette signed by the president authorised the move on Tuesday.
That means Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa's total package will be about R2.72m in 2017, while a minister like Pravin Gordhan will continue to earn about R2.31m.
The latest gazette excludes Zuma's pay, as Parliament must approve his remuneration package. Last year it approved an increase to his total package to about R2.875m. The commission's recommendations of a 0% increase will be debated in Parliament again this year.
The salary freeze follows the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office-Bearers recommendation in its report on 18 November 2016.
While it said there should be a 0% increase for public office bearers from the deputy president to premiers, ministers and members of parliament, it said the president could give them a cost-of-living increase of 4% to 6%.
Having met with various governmental stakeholders, the commission highlighted Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s “serious concerns regarding the current state of the South African economy, the increasing constraints on the fiscus, the inflationary increases and the available resources of the state”.
“Further, the minister highlighted the significant impact of previous public service wage agreements on the economy.”
On Tuesday, government gazetted the fee freeze, which Zuma signed on December 15 2016.
The below is a list of what the office bearers will earn in 2017
(Total annual remuneration, in millions and rounded to two decimal points):
| Remuneration of the deputy president, ministers and deputy ministers (Rm) | |
|---|---|
| Deputy President | 2.72 |
| Minister | 2.31 |
| Deputy Minister | 1.90 |
| Remuneration of members of national assembly and permanent delegates to the national council of provinces (Rm) | |
| Speaker: National Assembly | 2.72 |
| Chairperson: NCOP | 2.72 |
| Deputy Speaker: National Assembly | 1.90 |
| Deputy Chairperson: NCOP | 1.90 |
| House Chairperson | 1.77 |
| Chief Whip: Majority Party | 1.49 |
| Chief Whip: NCOP | 1.49 |
| Parliamentary Council: President | 1.49 |
| Parliamentary Council: Deputy President | 1.49 |
| Leader of Opposition | 1.49 |
| Chairperson of a Committee | 1.36 |
| Deputy Chief Whip: Majority Party | 1.22 |
| Chief Whip: Largest Minority Party | 1.22 |
| Leader of a Minority Party | 1.22 |
| Whip | 1.13 |
| Member: National Assembly | 1.03 |
| Permanent Delegate: NCOP | 1.03 |
| Upper limit of salaries of premiers, members of the executive councils and members of the provincial legislatures as adjusted by 4.4% (Rm) | |
| Premier | 2.17 |
| Member of Executive Council | 1.90 |
| Speaker | 1.90 |
| Deputy Speaker | 1.49 |
| Chief Whip: Majority Party | 1.36 |
| Chairperson of Committees | 1.22 |
| Leader of Opposition | 1.22 |
| Chairperson of a Committee | 1.22 |
| Deputy Chairperson of Committees | 1.15 |
| Deputy Chief Whip: Majority Party | 1.15 |
| Chief Whip: Largest Minority Party | 1.15 |
| Leader of a Minority Party | 1.15 |
| Parliamentary Counsellor to a King or Queen | 1.03 |
| Whip | 1.03 |
| Member of Provincial Legislature | 1.00 |
