A member of parliament is the representative of the people who live in their constituency. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term implies members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title. Member of Congress or Deputy is an equivalent term in other jurisdictions.
Below are salaries earn by MP In South Africa
What do MPs earn?
National Assembly speaker and National Council of Provinces chairs
The highest-paid MPs are the speaker of the National Assembly and the chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). Those positions are currently held by Thandi Modise and Amos Masondo. Both are members of the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
The government gazette shows that both will earn R2,825,470 in the 2018/19 financial year. That works out to R235,455 a month.
Their salaries are the same as the deputy president’s, an indication of their seniority. They also earn more than cabinet ministers, who get R2,401,633 a year – or R200,136 a month.
National Assembly deputy speaker
The next highest-paid MP is the National Assembly’s deputy speaker, who earns R1,977,795 a year – the same as a deputy cabinet minister. This works out to R164,816 a month. Lechesa Tsenoli is the deputy speaker.
House chair
The house chairperson is next on the pay scale. It’s currently Sylvia Lucas, who earns R1,882,488 a year.
Senior MPs
After the house chair comes a group of senior MPs – the chief whip of the majority party, the chief whip of the NCOP, and the parliamentary council president and deputy president – who earn R1,600,467 a year. The leader of the opposition, currently Mmusi Maimane of the Democratic Alliance, is also in this group. Their monthly salary works out at R133,372.
Committee chairs
MPs who chair parliamentary committees earn R1,405,015 a year, or R121,251 per month.
Minority party leaders
Leaders of minority parties, such as Mangosuthu Buthelezi of the Inkatha Freedom Party and Bantu Holomisa of the United Democratic Movement, earn R1,309,563 a year or R109,130 a month.
Regular MPs
The lowest salary an MP in the national assembly or NCOP earns is R1,106,940 a year, or R92,245 a month.
What benefits do MPs receive?
We asked parliament what benefits MPs receive other than the salaries listed in the government gazette.
MPs also get “facilities”, parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo told Africa Check. These are the costs for:
88 single journeys a year (by air, train, bus or car)
Daily commuting
Travel to and from airports
Parking at airports
Relocation
Travel for their dependants
Tools of trade, including a cellphone, tablet, and laptop
Equipment and furniture for their offices
Stationery
Personal accident insurance
Accommodation in parliamentary villages (three complexes in Cape Town that house MPs when parliament is in session)
Transport from the villages to parliament
The facilities are provided to “enable members to perform their duties as elected public representatives”, Mothapo said. But the details of what’s included in these facilities are not available. “They are published in a handbook distributed to members of the national assembly and permanent delegates of the NCOP.”
MPs get annual salary increases based on recommendations by the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers and benchmarked on forecasts of average annual inflation. The commission recommended a 4% salary increase for MPs for the 2018/19 financial year.
But President Cyril Ramaphosa decided not to follow the commission’s recommendations, announcing a freeze on increases for 2018/19. A December 2018 government gazette confirms that MPs will get the same salaries they received in 2017/18.
How do MPs earn their salaries?
The job of MPs is, in short, to make laws, enable public involvement by “providing a national forum for public consideration of issues”, and oversee the work of the executive, such as cabinet ministers.
Ministers are accountable, collectively and individually, to parliament. They have to “provide parliament with full and regular reports concerning matters under their control”, according to the constitution.
An MP can be either a member of the National Assembly or NCOP. The NCOP’s members make sure the national government takes the province’s interests into account, according to parliament’s website.
MPs’ work is divided into parliamentary sessions and constituency periods.
In constituency periods MPs must be available to the people they represent, reporting back on what is happening in parliament and the like.
An Africa Check analysis of the 2018 parliamentary programme reveals that 30% of the year’s working days are allocated to constituency duties.
When they are in parliament, MPs attend:
Plenary groups. All the members of a house, either the National Assembly or the NCOP, meet in one group. They debate recommendations made by committees and take final decisions.
Joint sittings. Members of both the National Assembly and NCOP meet in one group for proceedings such as the president’s state of the nation address and the finance minister’s budget presentation.
Committee meetings. There are more than 50 different committees.
In the 2017/18 financial year, more than 1,600 committee meetings were held and parliament passed 18 bills. National Assembly MPs asked 5,719 questions of the president and cabinet ministers, while NCOP MPs asked 542.
Africa Check asked parliament how many plenaries, joint sittings and committee meetings were held in the 2018 calendar year, but we are yet to receive a reply. Our analysis of the parliamentary programme shows at least 118 plenaries and 14 joint sittings were scheduled for 2018. Parliament’s annual report for the 2017/18 financial year lists the 18 bills that were passed.
What is an MP supposed to do In South Africa?
vote on new laws and policies. raise constituents’ concerns with relevant ministers. debate issues and ask questions.
What does MP mean in politics In South Africa?
Member of Parliament. a member of a house of Parliament, usually used to describe a member of a lower house and, in Australia, referring to Members of the House of Representatives, who may use the initials M.P. after their names.
How many MPS are there in Parliament In South Africa?
The Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 members known as members of Parliament (MPs). MPs are elected to represent constituencies by the first-past-the-post system and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved.
Is MP salary tax free In South Africa?
Section 10(17) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (Act) provides exemption to Members of Parliament and State legislators in respect of their daily allowances in entirety. Hence, salary and allowances received by them cannot be taxed under the head ‘salary’, but are taxable under the head ‘income from other sources’.