The Congress of the People (COPE) says it will write to National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to establish whether former Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has been earning a salary as an MP in the last five months.
COPE says Mboweni must pay back the money.
When Cabinet Ministers resign they revert to being MPs and earn a lower salary. Ordinary MPs earn more than a million rand a year. COPE says since Mboweni’s resignation in August 2021, he has not been seen in committee meetings.
Mboweni was appointed finance minister in 2018:
Mboweni has been active on social media sharing his various cooking skills.
Parliament reportedly confirmed that his last day was 31 January 2022. This comes a week before the State of the Nation Address. It also comes ahead of the Budget Speech by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana later in February.
“The news that former of Finance Tito Mboweni only resigned from Parliament today is shocking. Tito Mboweni resigned as Minister of Finance in August 2021 already. The critical question is did Mboweni receive a salary for the past five months? If he was paid, then he must pay all the money he received illegally. COPE will investigate this matter with Parliament. Nobody must be allowed to steal taxpayers’ money,” says COPE spokesperson Dennis Bloem.
