Parliament demands answers from speaker
Mapisa-Nqakula faces several allegations over salary package of institution’s secretary
Parliament has given National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula 10 working days to respond to a range of alleged governance breaches related to the salary package of the institution’s secretary, Xolile George.
The deadline was set in a letter sent to Mapisa-Nqakula on Thursday by the acting chair of the powers and privileges committee, Manketsi Tlhape, which the Sunday Times has seen. The complaint against Mapisa-Nqakula was lodged by DA chief whip Siviwe Gwarube.
A similar letter is believed to have also been sent to National Council of Provinces chairperson Amos Masondo but the Sunday Times had not seen the letter by the time of going to press.
The DA MP had accused the speaker of misleading MPs about George’s salary package when she wanted them to endorse his candidacy. The position was advertised at R2.6m a year but, once George had assumed office, the remuneration was later improved to the tune of R4.4m by Mapisa-Nqakula and National Council of Provinces chair Amos Masondo.
The speaker has previously denied any wrongdoing. Her spokesperson Moloto Mothapo this week told the Sunday Times that she and Masondo were co-operating with the committee’s probe “and will seize the opportunity to clarify the facts of the matter and set the record straight once and for all”.
Mothapo said the DA’s complaint against the speaker was receiving attention in terms of the law and the rules of the legislature.
In a separate interview earlier this week, George said there was nothing untoward regarding parliament’s decision to revise and improve his salary package as this was in line with parliament’s human resources (HR) policies. Similar reviews had been done for his predecessors, he added.
At the heart of the issue is that the position of secretary of parliament was advertised at R2.6m a year while George, who was preferred by the two presiding officers for the job, was taking home about R5m per annum as CEO at the South African Local Government Association (Salga). Acting on advice from an independent HR consultancy that parliament had hired to look into the issue, the salary was later revised to about R4.4m. This prompted Gwarube to lay a complaint with deputy speaker Lechesa Tsenoli on the grounds that MPs were misled when they were made to believe the secretary’s maximum salary would be R2.6m.
In the letter to Mapisa-Nqakula, Tlhape informs her that she is accused of violating the code of ethics for members of the executive authority by “improperly enriching George”. The speaker is also accused of not acting in accordance with the “public trust” placed in her by failing to put the public interest above her own in the functioning of parliament. The letter says she is accused of compromising the integrity of parliament by misleading MPs about the secretary’s salary package and by taking more than a year to fill the vacancy.
It also accuses her of contempt of parliament in terms of the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliaments and Provincial Legislatures Act.
Gwarube has alleged that Mapisa-Nqakula gave repeated assurances to chief whips that George would earn no more than the highest notch of R2.6m a year as advertised.
Tlhape also wants the speaker to answer to the allegation that she promoted George’s candidature for appointment.
“It is also alleged that if you have acted as alleged in the complaint, your conduct constitutes a breach of your oath of office and duties in law,” she said.
Tlhape said the committee will decide whether to proceed with a full inquiry against the speaker once it receives a written response from her. It has given her until March 4 to respond.
George said everything regarding his appointment was above board. He had not applied for the job but was headhunted after previous efforts by parliament to fill the vacancy failed. When he took up the offer, it was always on the understanding that the salary package would be reviewed, and when this was done it was done through an independent HR consultancy firm.
He also defended Mapisa-Nqakula and Masondo against claims that they had misled MPs. The panel that interviewed the candidates, he said, had unanimously agreed that the top two were himself and Zane Dangor, who is now director-general of the department of international relations & co-operation.
George said the panel had raised concerns about the more than R5m he earned in his previous position as Salga CEO and advised that the matter should be referred to the presiding officers for guidance.
“None of these facts were unknown by parliament. Even the panel itself raised it, saying ‘pursue the matter’,” he said.
The panel was made up of representatives of the 14 political parties represented in parliament, an academic, a governance expert and a judge.
“Once you are headhunted, there’s a conversation that says, ‘This is the opportunity, we’ve been asked to check on you, would you be available,’ and they ask all the candidates. Then it goes through a meticulous process,” George said.