Parliament CEO Xolile George’s pay rise shocker

Parliament has quietly handed its CEO, Xolile George, a salary hike of almost 70% to a whopping R4.4m despite insisting last year he would be earning much less than he had been as head of another government agency.

Even as National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and NCOP chair Amos Masondo publicly agreed in June last year that George would be paid R2.6m a year, a caveat was added saying his salary would be reviewed within four months.

At the time, Mapisa-Nqakula and Masondo told political parties and the public that George was happy to take a pay cut from his previous job as CEO of the South African Local Government Association (Salga) where he was paid more than R5m a year.

However, documents seen by the Sunday Times this week show that, within seven months, Mapisa-Nqakula and Masondo increased George’s salary to R4.4m a year, almost 70% more than the offer he accepted in June 2022. The internal documents show that on June 14 2022, George signed parliament’s job offer at R2.6m but added next to his signature: “In line with the acceptance agreement signed on the 5th May 2022, I accept the offer with the date change of starting unreservedly. I specifically record that the agreement between the executive authority and myself remains that the remuneration and or benefits will be reviewed on or before October 1 2022.”

It is not clear where the additional R1.8m came from. Parliament did not respond to questions this week.

George’s huge salary hike contradicts a statement made last year by parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo. He told the Sunday Times then that George would not earn more than the amount offered in advertisements for the post.

Click here to view the hi-res version of the graphic below.

“He was offered the prescribed salary package as per the advertisement, which is between R2.4m and R2.6m. He was offered the highest notch as he was earning more at his current employment,” he said. He made no mention of the agreement to increase George’s salary.

News of the salary hike has drawn sharp commentary from political parties and commentators, making the point that parliament symbolises accountability and is meant to enforce it throughout the public sphere.

DA chief whip Siviwe Gwarube describing the revelation as “shocking.”

“This is more so because the speaker ... repeatedly assured parliament that the recruited candidate was to earn no more than R2.6m as per the job advert.

“If true, these revelations prove that the speaker misled parliament — a deeply serious offence.”

She continued: “To dishonestly advertise the role at a lower salary band knowing well that it would be increased post the fact excludes many other credible candidates who could have applied. This reek of a plan to tailor the role for a specific candidate, to the exclusion of others.”

Questions about George’s salary emerged after the recent publication of the institution’s annual report showed he earned R3.1m between June last year and March this year.

George having impressed during interviews in March 2021, his salary was the subject of public scrutiny after parliament first raised concerns about his affordability upon discovering that he was earning R5.8m at Salga.

Even as the National Assembly adopted a motion endorsing his appointment, several MPs continued to raise the issue of his salary, warning parliament to stick to the advertised and publicly announced remuneration.

George was appointed in June 2022 on a five-year fixed term contract. The position was advertised in March 2022 with a remuneration package of R2,604,661 a year, after the 2021 process was abandoned because parliament felt it couldn’t afford him.

In another agreement signed earlier, George indicated he was accepting the job offer “with a condition to negotiate a mutually agreed remuneration package and terms and conditions of service and a performance contract as envisaged in the Financial Management of parliament and Provincial Legislature Act”.

Mapisa-Nqakula and Masondo then instructed HR head Mpho Mokonyana to source a remuneration and labour expert to advise them in concluding George’s contract. The service provider was sought in September 2022, three months after George started working.

The company reported back in December.

According to a memorandum dated January 18 2023, Mapisa-Nqakula and Masondo approved “executive job evaluation” and “market-related remuneration review” recommendations made by a remuneration and labour consultancy 21st Century.

“Based on the above, the executive authority approves that the current Secretary to parliament, Mr XC George be offered a total annual remuneration of R4,428,315, including the reflected rate of the annual short-term incentives (performance bonus) at 90th percentile of the recommended benchmark by the 21st Century, entailed in its report,” they said in the memo.

“In addition, the salary offered to Mr XC George to be implemented retrospectively, with effect from his date of appointment as Secretary to parliament, being the 15th June 2022.”

On the same day, January 18, Mapisa-Nqakula and Masondo congratulated George on the finalisation of all outstanding matters relating to his employment process.

“The process itself had a number of lessons for our institution and exposed a number of limitations and gaps in our administration policies, especially in the area of human resources,” reads a note to George.

“It is the view of the executive authority that this matter requires urgent attention and we hereby write to you to express our desire to see this matter prioritised as part of your plans to stabilise the governance of the institution of parliament.”

They said of particular concern was the realisation that the institution had no approved remuneration governance policy and this was clearly evident in the recently concluded process to on-board senior executives.

“It may be useful that a comprehensive audit of our administration policies is conducted to identify all the policy gaps and for a plan to be implemented to ensure that we have a sound and adequate policy framework for the governance of parliament.

“We do emphasise, however, that the matter is urgent and should receive the necessary prioritisation in implementation and reporting back to the executive authority.”

George’s employment contract stipulates that the employer (parliament) may consider providing appropriate accommodation to him commensurate with the position and level of responsibility. It also states that the institution may consider providing an appropriate vehicle, a driver and a VIP protection officer commensurate with George’s responsibilities subject to advice from the law enforcement agencies.

“As remuneration of services to be rendered by the employee pursuant to this agreement, the employer shall pay the employee the total guaranteed remuneration package of R4,428,315 (inclusive of benefits) per annum, payable in monthly instalments, in arrears, on or before the 15th day of every month, for the duration of this agreement.

“The employee shall be entitled to a performance-based increase, considering the cost of living, determined in terms of the policy of the employer, a performance bonus as well as any short and long-term incentives as determined per applicable policies of parliament.

“Upon termination of employment, the employer shall pay the employee a gratuity payment.

“The amount of gratuity shall be calculated based on two months’ pay for each completed year of service, subject to the employee having performed during his tenure as STP, and as determined by the annual performance assessments conducted by the employer.”

The DA’s Gwarube said both the executive authority and George needed to explain how the salary went from R2.6m to more than R4m in less than a year; and if this wasn’t “a ploy to dupe parliament” from the beginning.

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) pointed out that parliament may have attracted other high-calibre applicants if it had advertised the job at a higher salary.

“Imagine if that job was advertised at this current salary, it might have attracted a whole range of people who may be more qualified than him to do the job. They can’t advertise and then change the amount afterwards because they might have excluded a lot of people who might have qualified,” said Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage.

The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution’s Lawson Naidoo said the first issue was about transparency, especially for an institution like parliament which is supposed to uphold the constitutional values of openness and transparency.

“It is critically important that the salaries of senior officials of parliament are fully and openly declared,” said Naidoo.

“There needs to be a mechanism through which salaries are determined, [perhaps] the chief whips’ forum, but the political leadership of parliament needs to take collective responsibility on this.”

Naidoo said the broader issue of salaries in the public service needed to be looked at and perhaps a standard should be set for salaries of CEOs and accounting officers in public institutions.