Justice Dept gave me a raw deal ’
TOP MARIKANA INTERPRETER SLAMS HIS PAY
TOP officials in the Department of Justice – including minister Michael Masutha – have allegedly ignored repeated complaints about poor pay from the man brought back from retirement to interpret proceedings at the Marikana commission of inquiry.
Retired chief inspector of court interpreters Abram Mahlangu wrote a letter to Masutha and his director-general Nonkululeko Sindane earlier this year complaining about his treatment by the department.
“The treatment of your retired workers deserves to be looked at with the respect it deserves, and be appreciated, unlike in my case.
“For a person who respectfully served the department for over 45 years and retired gracefully to be treated as I was is not a good example of the future we envisage in the Department of Justice,” Mahlangu complains in a letter to Sindane.
The 72-year-old sent an identical letter to Masutha, but both are yet to respond.
Mahlangu, a court interpreter since 1963, was paid at salary level eight for the duration of the commission despite having retired at level 11.
After he took early retirement in 1996, the department brought him back on a five-year contract and he was paid at level 11.
When Mahlangu returned in 2012 for the commission, he was paid at level eight, which he told Sowetan was lower than some of the administrative clerks seconded to the commission.
In the public service, an annual level 11 salary is more than R630 000, while at level eight, the salary is about R270 000.
“There were occasions when I considered pulling out of the commission, but for my respect for the people who got me into the commission I decided against it, not wanting the department to be embarrassed,” Mahlangu said.
Soon after President Jacob Zuma announced the appointment of retired judge Ian Farlam to head the commission to investigate events that led to the massacre, Justice Department officials descended on Mahlangu's home to request his expertise.
He initially declined their offer but later accepted the request after the intervention of Emily Dlamini, the Justice Department's Gauteng regional head.
Mahlangu also saved the commission at its start when it adjourned due to the absence of relatives of the mineworkers killed, injured and arrested at Marikana.
The retired interpreter was dispatched to Eastern Cape because of his proficiency in Xhosa to address meetings of angry relatives who wanted answers from the government on why they were not invited and provided financial support to attend the commission hearings.
Masutha ’ s spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga did not respond to requests for comment.