In a country where millions scrape by on social grants, where unemployment hovers above 32% and public servants have endured years of below-inflation wage hikes, parliament has quietly handed its top administrator a package worth nearly R5m a year.
Secretary to parliament Xolile George now earns more than President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose own increase this month takes his salary to just under R3.5m.
The optics are appalling. The process that delivered this windfall is even worse.
George was appointed in June 2022 after the position was advertised at R2.6m. Within months, then-speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and NCOP chairperson Amos Masondo approved a jump to R4.4m total cost-to-company — later creeping up to R5.03m with an inflation adjustment. A benchmarking exercise by consultants 21st Century Pay Solutions supposedly justified it.
The Auditor-General has found no technical irregularities in the audits.
Parliament insists everything was above board: headhunting after failed advertisements, unanimous panel recommendations and a “market-related” package for a role equivalent to a director-general but with unique complexities, and the defence collapses under scrutiny. The National Assembly was never told the advertised figure would be scrapped almost immediately.
The Joint Standing Committee on Financial Management of Parliament was kept in the dark.
Even after internal clashes erupted — former National Assembly acting speaker Lechesa Tsenoli objected to further salary bumps, warning of the precedent, only for Masondo to push them through days before the sixth parliament dissolved.
Opposition parties (EFF, DA), trade unions (Saftu) and watchdogs such as Corruption Watch have rightly demanded a full, independent investigation.
The public protector had to recuse herself over a personal connection to George. This is not transparency; it is damage control after the fact.
If George is worth every cent, let parliament publish his performance scorecards, link future adjustments to measurable outcomes and subject the entire remuneration policy to the same sunlight it demands of other institutions. Until then, this R5m package stands as a symbol of everything wrong with elite accountability in our democracy: rules for thee, but exceptions for me.
Defenders will cry “talent retention” and point to George’s prior R5.8m Salga package. Fair enough — parliament should attract capable administrators. But here’s the rub: if the market rate was always R4.4m-plus, why mislead parliament and the public with a R2.6m advert? Why not re-advertise openly? Why treat the salary as a post-appointment surprise rather than a condition of the job? South Africans are not fools.
When ordinary workers are told “there is no money” for decent increases while the head of the institution that makes our laws pockets double the president’s salary, trust evaporates.
This is not about George personally. It is about a culture in which senior public officials set their own benchmarks, award themselves CTC packages that dwarf political principals, then lecture the rest of us about fiscal discipline.
Parliament’s own presiding officers couldn’t even agree on an inflation-linked tweak without internal warfare. The same institution that scrutinises every rand of government spending shielded its CEO’s remuneration from proper oversight for years.
The timing makes it grotesque. While pensioners queue for grants and young graduates chase non-existent jobs, parliament’s defence is “the benchmarking said so.” Benchmarking against whom, exactly? Private-sector CEOs with profit-and-loss responsibility? Or other bloated public entities?
Public office is a privilege, not a market-negotiated contract. The secretary’s role — ensuring procedural integrity, translation services and the smooth running of the people’s parliament — is vital. But its value cannot be measured only in rands; it must also be measured in public confidence. Right now, that confidence is in the red.
South Africa desperately needs senior public servants who deliver results visible to the taxpayer. If George is worth every cent, let parliament publish his performance scorecards, link future adjustments to measurable outcomes and subject the entire remuneration policy to the same sunlight it demands of other institutions. Until then, this R5m package stands as a symbol of everything wrong with elite accountability in our democracy: rules for thee, but exceptions for me.
The EFF, DA and Saftu are correct to keep pushing for a proper probe. Citizens deserve answers, not excuses dressed up as “total guaranteed pay”. Anything less confirms what too many already suspect — that parliament talks a good game about service to the people while quietly serving itself first.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.