ATC241016: Report of the Standing Committee on Finance on the determination of remuneration of members of the Financial and Fiscal Commission, dated 16 October 2024
Finance Standing Committee
Report of the Standing Committee on Finance on the determination of remuneration of members of the Financial and Fiscal Commission, dated 16 October 2024.
A letter, dated 28 May 2024, was received from the President of the Republic, requesting the National Assembly to consider the draft notice of his determination of the salaries and allowances of members of the Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC), amongst others. The draft determination is made in terms of section 9(1) of the Financial and Fiscal Commission Act No. 99 of 1997 (FFC Act), as amended by the Financial and Fiscal Commission Amendment Act, 2015 (Act No 4 of 2015), in terms of the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office-bearers Act, 1997 (Act no. 92 of 1997) as amended by the Determination of Remuneration of Office-Bearers of Independent Constitutional Institutions Laws Amendment Act, 2014 (Act No. 22 of 2014).
On 28 May 2024, the part of the draft notice from the President on the determination of the salaries and allowances of members of the FFC was referred to the Standing Committee on Finance for consideration and report.
Section 9(1) of the FFC Act provides that members of the FFC are entitled to such remuneration, allowances and other benefits as determined by the President taking into consideration the recommendations from the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers (Commission). The determination by the President must be approved by the National Assembly. Furthermore, the Commission must consult with the Minister of Finance when investigating or considering the remuneration, allowances and other benefits of members of the FFC.
Subsection (6)(b) of section 8 of the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office-bearers Act requires that the Commission take the following factors into account when making recommendations, as it did in the report:
- The salary, allowances and benefits of members of other constitutional institutions;
- affordability in relation to the responsibilities of the constitutional institution concerned; and
- the level of expertise and experience required of a member of the constitutional institution concerned.
The Commission recommended 3% salary increment for all Members of Public Office Bearers, including Members of the Independent Constitutional Institutions for the financial year 2023/2024. The Commission also recommended 2,5% salary increment for the 2024/2025 financial year.
In arriving at the annual remuneration recommendations for 2023/2024 and 2024/2025, the Commission has, amongst others, considered the following:
· The role, status, duties, functions and responsibilities of the office bearers concerned;
· Affordability of different levels of remuneration of public office bearers;
· Current principles and levels of remuneration, particularly in respect of organs of state;
· Inflation;
· Available resources of the State; and
· Public Service remuneration levels.
The Schedule to the Notice indicates the total remuneration for the Chairperson as R2 055 131 from 1 April 2023 and R2 106 509 from 1 April 2024.
The Standing Committee on Finance, having considered the determination of remuneration of the Chairperson of the Financial and Fiscal Commission, referred to it, adopted the report and approves the President’s determination of remuneration of members of the Financial and Fiscal Commission.
The DA and MKP reserve their position, Action SA do not support the report and EFF reject the report.
Report to be considered.