OPINION - Former EFF MP and party secretary Godrich Gardee put his foot right in his mouth when he tweeted that the earnings of MPs “are so disgusting that they cannot afford to send their kids to universities”.
Well I have news for you, Mr Gardee: millions of South Africans who earn way less than you make huge sacrifices so their children can study at tertiary institutions.
After many years of studying, their children become doctors, teachers, lawyers, policemen, nurses and accountants so they can serve our country while earning far less than you.
The next time you talk about the “meagre” salaries of MPs, remember that you are in the top 1% of earners in South Africa.
An MP earns R1.34million a year.
In addition, MPs receive lucrative perks in the form of free air travel for themselves and relatives; nominal rent (R400 a month) in luxurious parliamentary villages; the best medical aid money can buy; and a pension fund that guarantees them a salary for life.
Gardee has unleashed a war on social media, where ordinary South Africans are expressing their anger and revulsion at the abuse by MPs of their taxpayer moneys.
MPs decide their own salaries by appointing committees that make determinations.
The committees are not independent and do not represent the employer of MPs.
For those in the dark, we taxpayers pay the MPs their salaries through our taxes, but have no say in what they get paid.
Unions remain silent while the glaring disparities exist between what MPs and union members earn. The minimum wage is R3 500 a month and more than 50% live below the poverty line.
How many South Africans would give anything to earn the salary of an MP, which job has no key performance indicators, no minimum working hours, and is generally not subject to the stringent requirements of other jobs?
There are no minimum educational qualifications and many do not possess a matric.
It is time South Africans demand a say in what MPs earn.
Perhaps if we got involved we would have a more efficient Parliament and better country to
live in?
As long as our taxes pay their salaries, we are their employers and they remain accountable to us and not themselves.
Visvin Reddy Activists Movement of South Africa