- Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula refuses to disclose the Secretary to Parliament's salary in public.
- Xolile George's appointment was postponed on Wednesday.
- This was after opposition leaders didn't have the required information.
National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula refused to discuss the soon-to-be Secretary to Parliament Xolile George's remuneration in an open forum, like the National Assembly Programming Committee (NAPC).
George's salary was a cause for much speculation, as it would appear that he would take a significant pay cut if he left his current post as CEO of the South African Local Government Association (Salga) for Parliament.
George was due to be appointed on Wednesday by both Houses of Parliament, but after a meeting between the presiding officers – Mapisa-Nqakula and the chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Amos Masondo – and opposition leaders, it was decided to postpone these motions by a week.
At Thursday's meeting of the NAPC, it emerged that the reason for this was that some leaders didn't know about the motion.
At the previous week's NAPC meeting, the motion was discussed. It was also raised at the Chief Whips Forum, Mapisa-Nqakula said.
The Chief Whips Forum is a weekly meeting on Wednesdays, with each party's whippery, and it is usually behind closed doors.
She told the senior MPs on the NAPC that she expects them to inform their party leaders of such developments.
She said she decided to defer the matter because there appeared to be a lack of information among party leaders. She said parties were also represented on the panel that interviewed candidates for the position.
There will be a follow-up meeting on Tuesday.
DA chief whip Natasha Mazzone said her leader, John Steenhuisen, was one of the leaders without the required information. She said she was under the impression that parties would be provided with an information pack, which would include George's salary package.
No such information had been provided. Mazzone said she had waited for it before she would brief Steenhuisen.
Mapisa-Nqakula responded: "I will not allow for a situation where salaries, packages of employees, are discussed at a forum of the National Assembly Programming Committee."
She said Parliament hasn't had a secretary for five years.
FF Plus chief whip Corné Mulder said he doesn't recall the Chief Whips Forum discussing it, and not all parties were represented on the panel.
DA deputy chief whip Siviwe Gwarube said the people on the panel were only told that an offer was made. She said there were competing reports in the public domain that they could not unsee – it is, therefore, important to gain clarity.
Mapisa-Nqakula responded: "I want to repeat I will not put the report here in the public meeting."
She said it would be provided to the chief whips. "We will, as the executive authority, not act irresponsibly," she said.
She said it is important for Parliament to get a secretary. "We cannot continue to have a Parliament without an accounting officer."
EFF MP Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi said the matter should be referred back to the Chief Whips Forum. She referred to the "salary gap" between what George earned at Salga and what Parliament could pay.
"Is what was paid at Salga going to be matched by Parliament?" she asked.
IFP chief whip Narend Singh said the panel was unanimous that George was its first choice, but it also was unanimous about a second choice. The salary negotiations with George took too long, and the panel then recommended its second choice, who, by that time, had taken a director-general's post elsewhere.
Singh said Parliament's salaries were prescribed, and it could not go outside of the range that was advertised.
"We cannot change salaries midway to suit one person," Singh said.
At Salga, George earned a salary of R5.8 million, including all benefits, according to Salga's annual report for 2020-2021.
Parliament's advertisement for the post mentioned that the range of the annual salary package is between R2.4 million and R2.6 million, reported the Daily Maverick.
The position has been vacant since former secretary Gengezi Mgidlana was placed on "special leave" in June 2017 after the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) levelled allegations of corruption against him.
Nehawu had accused Mgidlana of receiving an ex gratia payment of R71 000, irregularly awarding himself a study bursary over junior staff, and following improper procurement processes.
In September 2019, Mgidlana was fired after both Houses of Parliament unanimously adopted a motion to this effect.
This after Parliament's presiding officers - then-speaker Thandi Modise and Masondo - accepted a disciplinary committee recommendation that Mgidlana should be summarily dismissed after he was found guilty of serious misconduct relating to four of the 13 charges against him.
Penelope "Baby" Tyawa has acted in the position since Mgidlana's suspension.
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