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LOSE ELECTIONS, GET E550 000

14/08/2016 07:00:00 BY MFANUKHONA NKAMBULE

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MBABANE – Each Member of Parliament (MP) will get E555 000 if he or she loses the general elections in 2018.

This would be his or her ex-gratia pay. However, MPs who will be re-elected or reappointed into the new parliament will not get the aforementioned lump sum.
It would be the first time ever re-elected parliamentarians forfeit the ex-gratia payment. This is due to the fact that this facility is now reserved for MPs who will not return to parliament in October 2018.
The extra-gratia payment or handshake allowance is the equivalent of the basic salary, multiplied by 12 months. Currently, the salary of an MP is E46 318.

It has also been observed that the recent increase of salaries for politicians, by 32 per cent, has improved the ex-gratia payment for MPs who will either lose or not stand for the elections.
Prior to the 32 per cent increment, they were paid a basic salary of E35 027, excluding sitting allowances.
This means they would have received a handshake allowance of E420 324 when the term of office expires in 2018. The new figure shows an increase of E134 676. If salaries for politicians are increased next year or in 2018, the handshake allowance will go up as well.

This newspaper can reveal today that re-elected or reappointed MPs will not get the E555 000 in October 2018 because they would still be in gainful employment, drawing a monthly salary of E46 318 for the next five years.
However, MPs interviewed by the Times SUNDAY were not happy with this arrangement.
Some of them said they were not even aware of this new arrangement.

This is despite the fact that Finance Circular No.2 of 2013 which contains the criteria for payment of terminal benefits, was endorsed three years ago.
One such MP, who was oblivious to this provision is Mbabane East MP Esther Dlamini, the only woman who was elected to the House of Assembly in 2013 by voters.
She did not understand how they overlooked the clause, which deprived them of ex-gratia payment.

She said most of the MPs, including herself, used the ex-gratia payment as collateral for bank loans.
“It’s unbelievable that we won’t get the ex-gratia payment,” she exclaimed.
Esther is also Deputy Speaker in the House of Assembly.

She said parliamentarians were not in continuous service but were contractually engaged, hence they deserved ex-gratia pay.
She said the revelation that they would not get the payment was a shock. She said as a matter of urgency, MPs should look into Finance Circular No.2 of 2013 as it appeared it might contain other discrepancies.
The Mbabane East MP said government should rather give them a percentage of the money earned in a period of 12 months than to deprive them in totality of a benefit they had been enjoying for a long time.
Based on the new criteria, a former MP will get his E555 000 as a lump sum while the sitting MP will receive his monthly salary of E46 318 for the next five years.
It has been established that MPs who will neither be re-elected nor reappointed will be paid ex-gratia allowance as a lump sum, so that he or she can adjust to non-parliamentary life.
An MP who will abstain from the elections will also be eligible to receive the payment, as this is a facility specifically for former parliamentarians – not sitting or current MPs.
There are 95 mps in total. They include Prime Minister (PM) Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini, Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Paul Dlamini and 18 cabinet ministers.
His Majesty the King appoints 20 senators and 10 members of the House of Assembly. In turn, the House of Assembly elects 10 more senators. At least 55 MPs are elected by people at the Tinkhundla centres.
Reads Clause 4.6.7 of the Circular which creates the allowance for the former parliamentarians: “The ex-gratia payment is available to all parliamentarians who fail to be re-elected or reappointed into the new parliament.”
The PM stands to receive E926 364 as an ex-gratia payment. He is not eligible for reappointment into Cabinet in 2018 on the basis of Section 68 (3) of the Constitution.
This clause states that the PM shall not hold office for more than two consecutive terms. He is in his second consecutive term, having been first appointed in 2008 and reappointed in 2013.
Ministers who are ineligible for reappointment into Cabinet because they have served two consecutive terms are Pastor Lindiwe Dlamini, the Minister of Public Works and Transport; Winnie Magagula, the Minister of Labour and Social Security; Chief Mgwagwa Gamedze, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and; Prince Hlangusemphi, the Minister of Economic Planning and Development.
Others are Jabulile Mashwama, the Minister of Natural Resources and Energy and Patrick Magobetane Mamba, the Minister of Public Service. When they leave office, the ministers will get E741 084.
A minister’s basic salary is E61 757 while the prime minister is entitled to a monthly salary of E77 197.
The deputy prime minister is remunerated at E69 477 per month.
Bheki Bhembe, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and custodian of the Finance Circular No.3 of 2013, did not answer telephone calls.
He had also not responded to a text message sent to him on Wednesday.
The DPM said he was not aware of this particular clause in the Finance Circular No.2 of 2013.
He said he would investigate the issue to ascertain the reasons for not paying re-elected and re-appointed parliamentarians the ex-gratia payment.