Every year, the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers needs to make mandatory recommended salary increases for South Africa’s government officials. And the new recommendations for 2022 have recently been released.
How does the commission come to its recommendations?
The recommendations need to relate to the salaries, allowances, benefits and other resources required to enable the President and other members of the Cabinet to perform their duties effectively.
Furthermore, the recommendations are based on consultations with the minister of finance, the minister of Justice, the chief justice, the lower courts remuneration committee, as well as the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
And finally, the commission considers the fiscal condition of the state – considering the pandemic, the state’s wage bill and, most importantly, how an increase would impact everything.
The commission recommends a 3% increase for Ramaphosa and cabinet
Based on all the above factions, the commission revealed that, for 2022, it recommends a 3% increase in remuneration across all categories of public office bearers.
The below table shows what Ramaphosa and his cabinet ministers currently earn and what the commission recommends they earn.
| POSITION | CURRENT SALARY | 3% INCREASE |
|---|---|---|
| President | R2 989 845 | R3 079 540 |
| Deputy President | R2 825 470 | R2 910 234 |
| Minister | R2 401 633 | R2 473 682 |
| Deputy Minister | R1 977 795 | R2 037 129 |
The commission did note that these salary increase recommendations are not final and still need to be confirmed by the president himself. And then Parliament will have the final say in approving Rampahosa’s salary as president of South Africa.
