MPs in pound seats on back benches

LIFE will never be the same for some of the new MPs, many of whom emerged from nowhere to acquire cushy seats in the National Assembly.

Such a seat comes not only with political influence, but with benefits that will ensure the new MPs live quite comfortably for at least the next five years.

One such MP is the DA’s Nomsa Tarabella Marchesi.

Before her election as an MP, Tarabella Marchesi was a struggling entrepreneur in Bloemfontein, Free State, who had a tough time keeping her bed and breakfast establishment afloat.

But with a secured annual salary of R933 852 — which could reach the R1-million mark because of an annual pay adjustment and a host of other financial benefits — Tarabella Marchesi is sure to have fewer financial worries.

She will be living in a government-allocated house at a nominal rental of R180 to R200.

She has free school transport for her son, should she decide to move him to Cape Town. For now, he can enjoy free flights between Cape Town and Bloemfontein to visit his mother, who gets 86 single flights a year that she may share with her dependants of school-going age.

Tarabella Marchesi conceded that her life would have been much improved had she lived like this all along.

“It’s sad [for] people who don’t have these privileges,” she said, but insisted they did not amount to a gravy train.

“Whatever privileges we have in parliament, they are there to ensure you do your job properly. That is very important.

“The fact that you are flying up and down is really to ensure that you do your job and also you are able to go to your family,” said Tarabella Marchesi.

“And I think throughout the world that’s what members of parliament are. If you look in Europe, that’s what MPs do, but then an ordinary person would have a job that would be a wellpaying job that is similar to what an MP earns.

“That’s what we are saying as the DA — that we want to create jobs.”