When MPs take their oath of office they promise to serve the country to the best of their ability. They are very quick to tell us what an honour it is when called to serve, but we have seen time and again that the honour is greatly enhanced if they serve as a member of the president’s cabinet, with its generous salary and benefits. Not that MPs get paid badly.
A few days after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his new, somewhat smaller, cabinet, those who did not make the cut started to hand in letters of resignation from the National Assembly. To date nine former ministers have resigned. They are SA’s longest-serving minister Jeff Radebe, Siyabonga Cwele, Derek Hanekom, Bathabile Dlamini, Mildred Oliphant, Nomaindia Mfeketo, Susan Shabangu, Tokozile Xasa and Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba.
Former ministers Nomvula Mokonyane, who the ANC picked to be chair of chairs in Parliament, and Malusi Gigaba withdrew from the list of candidates hours before they were to be sworn in as MPs. It was quite clear at that stage that they were not going to find themselves back in the executive.
Some have made it clear they are leaving because they don’t want to miss out on their ministerial pensions. Others have not given reasons for their resignations, but Ramaphosa when announcing his cabinet did say that some of those not appointed would be deployed elsewhere, so maybe some of them are preparing for that possibility.
Oliphant, the most recent to resign, had no qualms telling PowerFM on Thursday that she was resigning because of the benefits she would lose if she remained an ordinary MP. And Mfeketo said: “If you do not resign you lose your ministerial pension, it goes down really badly and if you are of age like me you may as well leave parliament.”
But that is not exactly what happens, so this is either a contrived excuse or some former ministers are oblivious to the workings of their pensions, even though earlier this week Business Day spelled out exactly how it works. Former ministers serving as MPs carry on contributing to the Political Office-Bearers Pension Fund and actually grow their pension funds.
Parliament contributes a monthly amount worth 17% of pensionable salary and MPs contribute another 7%. So remaining in the National Assembly would mean that they continue contributing to the fund, albeit a little less than before.
However, what might make resigning an attractive proposition is a 2008 presidential proclamation providing for payment of a once-off gratuity by the employer (not the fund) to ministers or deputy ministers who have served more than five years and whose terms have ended. This is equal to four months’ pensionable salary for every five years served.
There is also the difference in salary between a member of the executive and an MP. A minister receives an annual salary of a little more than R2.4m, while an MP receives just over R1.1m. Neither of these amounts is small in the SA context and can ensure a comfortable existence.
No-one wants a cut in salary, especially not in difficult economic times, but the job of a parliamentarian is different from any other, and surely if you say you want to serve the country it shouldn’t be only about money? The job of an MP is as important as that of a minister or deputy minister. The National Assembly is where the laws of this country are made; it is the representative of the people.
It is also where the government is held to account. So when your political party asks you to stand up and represent the people who voted for it, it is surely not a decision to be taken lightly. Or is that just me being idealistic?
Marred by allegations of state capture, corruption and looting, the past decade has left us jaded. Few people believe the majority of our MPs, or even ministers, are actually in the job because they want to serve the country. We saw all too often how parliament failed to hold the government to account, and especially Jacob Zuma when he was president.
At the same time, some of those who resigned are no great loss, and it is probably better that they go. Some have been directly linked to state capture, while Dlamini, is facing possible perjury charges. Some were the remnants of the pro-Zuma faction, which seems to still be pushing back against the reforms Ramaphosa is trying to implement.
The president will need the caucus on his side; he can’t afford to have the ANC in parliament fighting against him. After all, rumblings against former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Zuma, who were both eventually recalled by the party, started in the parliamentary caucus.
The latest spate of resignations also means that some of those who were lower on the list, and also not so desirable, will now make it back into the National Assembly.
Having said all of this, it is quite clear that very few people are actually in this political game to serve the country and its people, but are there to feed from the trough. The term “politics of the stomach” was not coined for nothing.
• Quintal is political editor.
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