You can’t start a discussion on golden handshakes (inter alia of Mushwana), you can’t attack him for how immoral and unethical it is to have accepted such a “handshake” and then willfully ignore related issues. Indeed the issue of salaries or remuneration of any kind forms part of this discussion – as is the question of your salary or anyone who earns “immorally and unethically” well. I find it amusing to see how people tend to pick out the raisins when discussing/debating – something I call selective debating. I don’t mind (in fact, I don’t care) if you bought of stack of books from your well-deserved and well-earned money. The point is: let’s not be self-righteous about the issue (which I think you are)! You’re self-righteous in that it is unreasonable to expect any sane person to say “no” to a severance package or a golden handshake of this amount, regardless of whether this person may have done something to deserve it or not. If you took the example of Mothlana: he was in office but did not achieve much (at least in terms of my opinion). I also do not know whether he’s received a severance package or not (so I cannot make a form any opinion on this). However, let’s assume he had received a severance package or a golden handshake of R1.7m, then it certainly would not have been on the basis of his performance and work done/acheived for the nation – but it would merely be because of the office he had occupied. Can anyone expect him to say “no” and can anyone seriously maintain that this would be immoral and unethical? I think not.

“The chairperson of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), also a Chapter 9 institution, earns a little less than a government deputy director general — an annual salary of R889 000.”

and

“Mushwana justified his generous payout by saying that his new job at the SAHRC, where he will report for duty on Monday, does not have any benefits.

“There is no pension fund, unless they improve something. [That] gratuity is not even transferable,” he said.

But the SAHRC said Mushwana would have the same pension fund provisions as the previous chairperson, Jody Kollapen, and his pension contributions would be deducted from his salary package. Kollapen received a payment of about R500 000, which consisted largely of his pension fund contributions, when he left the commission.

The M&G has learned through sources at the Human Rights Commission that the institution is awaiting a Cabinet response to Mushwana’s request that his SAHRC salary match what he earned as public protector.”

My post did not comment on Muswhana’s salary (about R1.5 million a year), but the fact that he was paid a discretionary amount of R7 million after completion of his contract, an amount of almost 80% of his salary for the contract. Professors never get a golden handshake of any kind, but if they did and it even remotely approached this amount I would think it immoral and disgraceful to accept it. The larger point is about the attitude of public officials to public money and the culture of greed that makes people feel this is perfectly acceptable to receive such a discretionary amount (over and above the handsome salary!) when the money could have been used for other much more worthy things.

The question is: will this all just continue? Do we the people have any real say?
Will it brashfully escalate? Is this not the raping of the state and the people?

Scamming the poor.

“This included massive performance bonuses of, in most cases, more than their basic salary.

“The highest-paid was former Transnet CEO Maria Ramos, now the chief executive of Absa, who took home R11.2-million, including a R4.85-million salary and a massive R5.79-million performance bonus. ”

“The research also shows that while SA’s 20 top-earning civil servants should be earning between R3.3-million and R4.8-million, had they just earned their salaries. But they did, in fact, earn between R4.6-million and R11.2-million, once all of their bonuses and additional benefits were added”.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/business/article174258.ece

Eish!

You seem to be trying to make some point.

Help us out a bit – what is it?

So where did this all go wrong, and how can the rights of the people be regained as the intended authority? Without question, the attack on the judiciary and the rule of law has undermined this right of the people to determine the social direction of themselves and their country. Its not just enlightened parties or minorities who are abused, it’s the poor, it’s South Africa and the future of the Continent. How do we regain our Constitutionally guaranteed rights, our trust in law and justice, opportunity, optimism?

The purest Democracy is that which respects and honours all stakeholders, the poor, the capitalist, the unions, the handicapped, the ill and the vulnerable.

Democracy is a balancing act.