EDITORIAL: Pay for performance, not position

Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare's decision to review public service salary structures, board remuneration and executive recruitment is both necessary and overdue. Transparent recruitment, fair remuneration and accountable leadership are essential to stronger governance.

The debate should not be about whether state-owned enterprise chief executives earn more than ministers. Around the world, many do. Britain's Prime Minister earns about £172 000 a year, while the chief executives of Network Rail and High Speed Two Ltd earn around £585 000 and £660 000 respectively.

In South Africa, Eskom and Transnet chief executives earn more than cabinet ministers for managing multi-billion-rand businesses. The difference is that those countries link executive remuneration to performance through contracts and board oversight. Namibia should do the same.

A five-year contract should not guarantee generous remuneration simply because an organisation is large. Executive salaries should be benchmarked against measurable results. Chief executives who improve service delivery, profitability and governance deserve to earn more. Those who preside over losses, repeated bailouts and governance failures do not.

The task force's greatest contribution will not be recommending new salary scales but creating a system in which performance, not position, determines pay. And where political appointments are not part of the process.