South Africa’s ordinary MPs are not quite top one-percenters when it comes to their salary\u2014but they are getting closer and are by far some of the highest-paid people in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ministers and deputies, however, are definitely among the elite, taking home fat salaries on top of their tax-free perks and benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Much like trying to pin down what makes someone a middle-class earner in South Africa, the question of who makes it into the top 1% depends on who you ask and what data you look at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Going on monthly earnings, previous data compiled by Knight Frank showed that a 1% earner in South Africa is anyone grossing over $109,000 a year, or just over R2 million<\/strong>. This equates to R160,000 a month<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This aligns closely with updated data from the World Inequality Database (WID)<\/strong><\/a>, which puts the entry-level to the top 1% of earners in South Africa at around R151,600 per month (R1.8 million a year<\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n This means that many of South Africa’s top politicians are now the elite 1% of the country’s population, making up some of the highest-earning individuals in a country gripped by the worst income inequality in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n President Cyril Ramaphosa last week gazetted a 2.5% salary increase for MPs, ministers and deputies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n South Africa’s cabinet ministers have long been some of the highest-paid people in the country and gain a multitude of tax-free perks and benefits footed by taxpayers on top of their R2.7 million salaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Corne Mulder, FF Plus MP and chief whip\u2014whose salary has been hiked to R1.4 million\u2014not all politicians are “millionaires”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking to 702, he said that a R1.3 million salary sounds like a lot, but after deductions like medical aid, pensions and taxes, “not a huge amount” is left. He said most MPs are left with “just over R50,000” after deductions, considering the latest rate hikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also pointed out that ordinary MPs don’t get state housing and other perks\u2014however, this is something cabinet ministers and their deputies certainly do enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Politicians are seen as corrupt, rogues and crooks. There are bad people involved in politics, but they are taitning the role of all politicians,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Millionaire politicians<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n While Mulder argues that MPs are not left with much, this does not remove the fact that South Africa’s politicians are top earners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ordinary members of parliament will now be earning over R1.26 million a year, which according to the database puts them in the top 3% of earners in the entire country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What they take home after deductions would still put them in the top 6% of earners if it were a gross salary.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the latest data from Stats SA, the average formal worker<\/strong><\/a> in South Africa earns R26,894 per month. This is almost within the top 10% of earnings in the country (11%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n