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Attorney Kholeka Gcaleka.
- The Justice Portfolio Committee will recommend to the National Assembly that Deputy Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka receive a salary increase of approximately R300,000 per year.
- This after initially being paid less than its predecessor.
- President Cyril Ramaphosa proposed that he be paid the same as his predecessor, whose salary was R1.8 million a year.
Deputy Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka can expect a salary increase after initially being paid around R300,000 per year less than her predecessor.
The Justice and Correctional Services Portfolio Committee on Friday approved a proposal from President Cyril Ramaphosa to adjust Gcaleka’s salary. The National Assembly still needs to pass a motion to that effect.
Ramaphosa wrote to the Speaker of the National Assembly Thandi Modise, who referred the matter to the committee, rejecting the recommendation of the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Holders that he be paid R1 446 378, with a recommended increase of 4 % amounting to R1. 504 233.
The proposal is that he be paid R1 814 065 per year, which is what his predecessor, Kevin Malunga, was paid.
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Deputy Justice Minister John Jeffery informed the committee that Ramaphosa had consulted with the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, and the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola, on the matter, and they both agreed with him.
According to Jeffery, it appears that the commission made a mistake in calculating the remuneration of the deputy public protector. Jeffery said the gap between the salary of the public protector and her deputy is “significant,” and far more so than at any other Chapter 9 institution.
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane currently earns R2.3 million per year. If she could not fulfill her duties or was removed, Gcaleka would perform her duties.
Salary
“The current salary of [Deputy Public Protector] he sees that he earns considerably less than the executive management of the institution over which he shares oversight, undermining his authority to discharge his responsibilities, “said Jeffery.
“The salary her predecessor was earning was considerably higher than the salary she had been offered and the difference was only communicated to her after she accepted the position and started her job.”
Jeffery said a salary was not advertised with the ad for the deputy public protector position. When Gcaleka took office in February this year, the Office of the Public Protector paid him in accordance with the commission’s recommendation.
Gcaleka had approached Malunga and asked about her salary, which she provided.
“So she had a legitimate expectation,” Jeffery said.
Attorney General Glynnis Breytenbach said she finds it interesting that one of the arguments Jeffery made was that Gcaleka earns less than some of the executives she oversees, undermining her authority.
Situation
He said that there was a situation in the National Tax Authority (NPA) in which the deputy directors of public prosecutors and senior prosecutors were paid equal to or less than junior and senior prosecutors. They took the NPA to court and won, but then the NPA decided to appeal the Superior Court decision.
Breytenbach reserved the district attorney’s position on the issue of Gcaleka’s salary correction.
ACDP Steve Swart said: “It would be very unfair to appoint a woman with a lower salary than her predecessor.”
He also reserved his party’s position.
ANC MPs supported the proposal.
ANC MP Richard Dyantyi said Gcaleka took office in February and it is now October, which means he has been “very prejudiced.”
“I don’t want to attribute it to just one person, but the signs are that things are happening in the Office now [of the Public Protector],” he said.
