Yesterday the ANC in Parliament increased President Jacob Zuma’s salary to R2 874 821 a year proving once again that the ANC, like its President, puts itself first and South Africans second.

As such the DA calls on the President to do the honourable thing and turndown this salary increase because he simply does not deserve it.

“This increase comes at a time when the country’s economy continues to fight an impending downgrade to “junk status” as a result of the direct actions taken by the

President in December last year, and the devastating ripple effect it has had on the pensions of millions of hard-working South Africans, his salary should remain unchanged at the existing level of remuneration to reflect his failure to improve the economy and create jobs,” said the DA in a statement.

This poor conduct was blindly endorsed by the ANC in Parliament that once again put President Zuma first by rewarding his poor performance with R7 876 a day, while 8.2 million South Africans are locked out of the economy due to joblessness.

The ANC’s bloated government continues to govern like black lives don’t matter, and has continued to put the needs of ordinary citizens and the poor in particular, at the bottom of their priority list.

Shaming the legacy of Nelson Mandela, the President has acted with no fear of local or global fiscal consequence. “Junk” performance should not be rewarded with increased remuneration.