Issued by: Department of Consitutional Development
In 1998 the Government passed legislation relating to remuneration of public office bearers, namely, the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers Act, Act no 20 of 1998. This Act includes members of the National and Provincial Legislatures, Local Government councillors and traditional leaders. Regarding traditional leaders, the fact authorises the President to determine the remuneration to which traditional leaders, members of the National House of Traditional Leaders and members of the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders shall be entitled to. It also provides for the President to determine benefits to which the said categories shall be entitled to should he deem it expedient to do so.
This Act also requires the President to consult the Premiers of provinces before making such a determination. The President could therefore not, determine the remuneration levels before the Act was passed and the required consultation took place. The President signed the Act on 23 September 1998.
The President made the following determination, and in computing the total amount, the lower scales originally determined were increased in accordance with the rate of inflation:
No determination has been made in respect of headmen, the reason being that the conditions for their appointment differ substantially from province to province. Some provinces for instance appoint headmen and pay them salaries, while in other provinces headmen are only regarded as assistants to traditional leaders and are not paid any salaries. Because of the complexity of their position, this issue will be addressed by the policy process which is presently underway.
The Department has established a task team to investigate and make recommendations on the be entitled to. This is a sensitive issue that needs to be approached in a cautious manner, given for instance, that most traditional leaders rule until death and do not go on pension.
Another area that is being addressed, is the remuneration of members of the Houses of Traditional Leaders at both provincial and national levels. This matter has been referred to the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers for its recommendations to the President, as required by the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers Act.
Once these issues had been satisfactorily addressed, it was decided that implementation be done with effect from the beginning of the new financial year, which happens to be two months away from the date of elections. The increment recognises the role of traditional leaders in their communities despite disparate and meagre salaries they had been receiving.
Issued by the Department of Constitutional Development on 15 April 1999
Enquiries: Mr T Seboka at (012) 334-0843 or 082-783-1249
15 April 1999