Parliament To Increase Salaries of Cleaners, Waitstaff and Cooks to R28,300

Parliament To Increase Salaries of Cleaners, Waitstaff and Cooks to R28,300

  • Parliament announced that its lowest-paid workers are expected to receive salary increases
  • As of 2026, they will earn over R28,000 per month thanks to the negotiations between the government and the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union
  • South Africans had mixed feelings, as some supported the salary increase, and others said it would cost the government

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, has covered policy changes, the State of the Nation Address, Parliament and Parliamentary committees, politician-related news and elections at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News for over seven years.

Parliament's lowest-paying staff members will receive a salary increase by 2026
SA is mad that Parliament's cleaners will earn more than police and teachers. Images: Stevenallan and Westend61
Source: Getty Images

PARLIAMENT — Parliament's waiters, waitresses, cleaners and cooks are expected to earn R28,600 a month by 2026.

Parliament increases salaries

According to BusinessTech, this group will earn R340,000 annually, an increase from R170,000. This means they will earn more than teachers and police officers in the country. The National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) successfully engaged the government to improve their salaries.

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The workers were absorbed as permanent employees six years ago after years of being classified as temporary workers without the benefits of full-time employment. They started earning R14,166 monthly, and their salary will be doubled by March 2026. The increase is expected to be rolled out incrementally. They will get a 10% raise from next month, a 40% raise in April and 50% in 2026.

SA strongly disagrees

Netizens commenting on @BusinessTechSA's tweet voiced their disapproval.

View the tweet here:

MAPS said;

"This is nonsense. Already, the public wage bill is well over R700 billion, and we spend 10% of the GDP paying these high salaries."

KingTweetinKamalan said:

"That's because the cleaners are their family."

Dingiswayo kaNyambose said:

"That's total madness."

Vincent asked:

"Why only for Parliament workers? Why not all public workers? Why exclude police, emergency workers and medical staff?"

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Tsebiso said:

"We need a tax cut, and they keep increasing government expenses at our expense."

Nonkululeko said:

"Me as a cleaner earning more than a teacher is plain ridiculous."

Ministers' salaries increased

In a related article, Briefly News reported that the salaries of the government's high-ranking officials will increase.

Ministers' salaries will increase from R2,624,329 to R2,689,937. South Africans believed that they do not deserve the salary increases.

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Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Tebogo Mokwena avatar

Tebogo Mokwena (Current Affairs editor) Tebogo Mokwena is a Current Affairs Editor at Briefly News. He has a Diploma in Journalism from ALISON. He joined Daily Sun, where he worked for 4 years covering politics, crime, entertainment, current affairs, policy, governance and art. He was also a sub-editor and journalist for Capricorn Post before joining Vutivi Business News in 2020, where he covered small business news policy and governance, analysis and profiles. He joined Briefly News in 2023. Tebogo passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative Email: tebogo.mokwena@briefly.co.za