Faith Nyasuguta
South Africa’s ministers and deputy ministers will no longer be getting municipal services, such as water and electricity, for free at their official residences.
This after President Cyril Ramaphosa withdrew his previous amendments to the ministerial handbook that changed the rules of Cabinet’s perks.
The huge benefits sparked a public outcry as they were considered insensitive at a time South Africans are struggling with constant power cuts and rising costs of living.
Via a Monday evening press briefing, a spokesman said the president “acknowledges and appreciates the public sentiments on the matter“.
The ministerial handbook, which clearly states ministerial benefits, will be “aligned to the realities that many South Africans face“, presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya said.
He said the intention behind the perks was “not a nefarious one”.
“The intention was to try and find some form of balance between what ministers could afford versus some of the costs that they have,” he is quoted as saying the by the State News Agency.
SALARY HIKES
The decision by Ramaphosa came a few months after he announced salary hikes for politicians and other government officials.
The president said in June that the salaries would be increased by 3% and would be backdated to April 2021.
Despite the public outrage over the salary increases, Parliament said the hikes were necessary for the politicians to cope with the increase in the cost of living.
Parliament’s spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said the criticism that the 3% salary increases were “tone deaf” was unfair because ministers, MPs, and MPLs last had salary increases in April 2019.
