POLITICS

Zille should donate second salary to charity - COSATU WCape

Tony Ehrenreich says he is giving away his councillor's stipend to Working Partnership organisation

The Western Cape Provincial Secretary of COSATU, Tony Ehrenreich, challenges Premier Zille to follow him by giving her second salary to a noble cause

The secretary of COSATU has paid his second income, the Councillor's stipend, to the Working Partnership organisation, an organisation that supports projects amongst workers in the area of HIV and AIDS, and Proudly South African training for young emerging workers.

The Secretary of COSATU calls on Premier Zille to donate her second salary to a cause that would benefit the deserving sections of our impoverished communities. The fact that the Premier gets an additional income of thousands of Rands, on top of her R 1.6 million salary is an outrage in a country where the majority of people struggle to survive. It is a greater tragedy where the Premier as a public servant uses her office to enrich herself.

The Premier rightly compares her conduct as a civil servant to the conduct of others, but Tony calls on the Premier to not only compare herself to the corrupt politicians that there may be out there, but to also compare herself to the most selfless. It is when comparing her-self to the highest standards out there, which the Premier's slip shows and her greed is exposed. The challenge in South Africa must be to hold ourselves to the highest standards, and the most exemplary conduct.

The Premier has conceded in writing that she receives an additional income, and we are calling on her to do the right thing and stop the self serving greed by end of July 2011, through a public letter confirming an end to the second income, failing which we will be compelled to report the matter to the Public Protector.

The Western Cape needs the best Government that people can build and sophisticated enrichment is still enrichment, and wrong in the moral path we have chosen. As COSATU we undertake to expose all improper conduct and report it to the Authorities. MALEMA should be examined to see is there is impropriety, but so also Premier Zille.

Statement issued by Tony Ehrenreich Western Cape Provincial Secretary of COSATU and leader of the ANC opposition on the Cape Town City Council, July 27 2011

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