Image: 123rf.com/ LEON SWART
Three months after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that he and his cabinet would take a pay cut and donate the funds to help with Covid-19 relief, it is still not clear whether the entire executive has followed through.
Less than half – 12 out of 28 – of ministers responded to Business Day when asked last week if they had made the contributions. Those who replied said yes or explained that they had either made a voluntary donation or had their salaries deducted.
While the pledge, which saw a string of corporate leaders saying they would do the same, was made by Ramaphosa, it was left to individual ministers to ensure that they met their commitments.
When the president announced on April 9 that the country’s initial lockdown to curb the Covid-19 spread, which was due to last three weeks, would be extended, leaving most of the economy closed and vulnerable workers without an income, he said an essential part of the country’s response would be the principle of solidarity.
He would, along with deputy president David Mabuza, ministers and deputy ministers take a one-third salary cut for three months. This would be donated to the Solidarity Fund, which was created to help support SA’s health and welfare response to the Covid-19 crisis.
The presidency said on Monday it had been decided that donations could be processed either through a direct deposit
to the fund by individual executive members or alternatively through a deduction from their salaries by their respective departments.
Presidency spokesperson Khusela Diko said the management of the payroll system within the government was decentralised, so individual departments were responsible for the implementation.
Diko confirmed that Ramaphosa had made his donation as promised but did not have information on whether ministers had done the same.
This comes as the president is under fire from the opposition, which accuses him of making big promises but failing to
follow through.
