MPs' salaries to likely bump up 10%
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday April 5, 2019 13:15
Although discussions on the matter are said to be ongoing, it is said that many of the MPs have been in agreement at the General Assembly held Thursday last week that they should increase their salaries by 10%.
The legislators have been meeting at the General Assembly for the past two weeks, top of the agenda being the review of their salaries.
According to some MPs who attended the Thursday meeting, it was agreed that the matter should be settled before the end of the first week of April to allow for the Minister of Presidential Minister of Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Nonofo Molefhi to table the National Assembly Salaries and Allowances Bill, which proposes the increment and subsequent approval by the House.
However, it is not clear whether the proposed 10% salary increase would also apply for other allowances including the Constituency Allowance. In 2018, MPs got a three percent salary increment that was also given to civil servants though reports indicated that they demanded a 25% increase. For the past years, MPs have also unsuccessfully requested a review of their of terminal benefits and for constituencies to be given motor vehicles.
Reached for comment, government whip Liakat Kably confirmed that indeed negotiations over their salaries were ongoing, but said he could not share further details with the media.
“There are discussions over our salaries by the general assembly, but at this time nothing has been finalised so I cannot share further details with you. We hope to have finalised the matter by next week. This is all I can say for now,” Kably said.
Last year, the legislators are said to have implored the commission appointed and mandated by President Mokgweetsi Masisi to review salaries of senior government officials and politicians, to be cognisant of the challenges faced by legislators in execution of their duties.
If the proposal goes through, it will be a windfall salary increase for MPs who for a long time have cried foul that they are the lowest paid parliamentarians in the region.