Remuneration of FFC members

Meeting report

The Chairperson greeted Members of the Committee and all in attendance. The Chairperson apologised to Members for the late notice of the meeting. However, the Committee was notified by the Office of the Speaker that there was an urgent matter that needed to be attended to. That was the determination of the remuneration of Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC) members. He hoped Members understood why the meeting had to be called. The Committee had to table the report to the Assembly at the plenary on Friday. That was the reason why the meeting was urgent. There was only one item to be looked at which was the determination of the remuneration of FFC members. The Chairperson asked if there were any apologies.

The Committee Secretariat read out the apologies.

The Chairperson said that there was a sitting at 10h00 so the meeting had to move a bit faster. He handed over to Adv Jenkins to brief the Committee.

Briefing on the Draft notice determining the rate, with effect from 1 April 2020, at which salaries, allowances and benefits are payable to members of the Financial and Fiscal Commission

Adv Frank Jenkins, Senior Parliamentary Legal Advisor, briefed the Committee on the draft notice determining the rate at which salaries, allowances and benefits were payable to members of the FFC. Adv Jenkins said that it was because of the upcoming local government elections, after the court case had been resolved, that these determinations by Parliament and the President needed to be done. It was a statutory requirement for Parliament to deal with this. That was the reason why this needed to be done now. This was a notice of the salaries of Chapter Nine bodies as per the recommendation made to the President by the Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers. That Commission had made a recommendation to the President. The Financial and Fiscal Commission Act required that before the President published his determination of the salaries, based on the recommendations of the Commission, he needed to seek the permission of the National Assembly. This was why the Committee needed to look at what the President wanted to publish and approve. The Committee needed to then report back to the House to say whether it agreed or not. The recommendation from the Commission was that based on the financial position of South Africa and the Covid pandemic, that there be a zero increase in the salary. The salaries would be the same as last year. That was the recommendation and the President had accepted that recommendation. The President had then sent his draft notice to the Committee for approval. If the Committee agreed to that then there would be no increase in the salaries of the commissioners whether they were part-time, full-time or the chairperson. That was the summary of the situation. He was open to taking any questions.

Discussion

The Chairperson thanked Adv Jenkins for the briefing. The Committee had received correspondence regarding the FFC Act No.99 of 1997. The Chairperson asked if any Member had comments or clarity-seeking questions on the explanation provided by Adv Jenkins.

There were no comments or questions.

The Chairperson asked if a member could move for the adoption of the report that would be tabled at the plenary on Friday.

Ms P Abraham (ANC) moved that the Committee support the recommendation and proceed with the determination to the National Assembly on Friday.

Ms M Mabiletsa (ANC) seconded the adoption of the draft notice.

There were no objections. The draft notice was adopted by the Committee.

The Chairperson said that this was the only meeting for this week. There was no further meeting scheduled for this week. The Chairperson said that if there was any further communication then the Committee Secretariat would send it to the Committee via email. He thanked the Members for attending the meeting. The Committee had adopted the resolution. It would be presented at the plenary on Friday.

The meeting was adjourned.