Johannesburg - President Thabo Mbeki may get a 57% pay increase if the recommendations of a commission which has examined the salaries of public representatives are accepted.
But Mbeki's smile won't be the biggest on the block.
Chief Justice Pius Langa could get a 67% pay increase.
The report was presented to the presidency on Thursday and was due for release on Friday.
If approved, public representatives will get bigger cheques all round, from April 1.
Judges' salaries below par
The Independent Commission on the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers, headed by Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, has spent four years examining the scales used in determining the salaries of public representatives.
MPs and judges, in particular, have complained for some time about what they regard as poor salaries.
The commission found the salaries of judges were far below par.
It recommended that the president's salary should be R1 898 400 a year, and that of the deputy president, R1 708 600.
That would still make it about R1m a year less than the earnings of the governor of the Reserve Bank, Tito Mboweni.
Maria Ramos, the executive head of Transnet, has a package totalling R6 895 000 a year, the biggest package for a parastatal body.
30%+ for ministers
Second is Khaya Nqulu of South African Airways with R6 850 000 which includes a bonus of R1.85m.
Ministers and deputy ministers can expect pay hikes of more than 30%, while MPs' will vary from 5.4% for ordinary members to 53.85% for the speaker.
The pay increases for local government are the lowest at 5.4% throughout, including mayors, speakers and councillors.
The commission recommends that the salaries of representatives in the national house of traditional leaders should be increased by between 6.7% and 69%.
The chairman should be earning R501 800 a year, said the commission.
Although it took current market packages into account in determining the new salary strictures, the commission emphasised that the salaries of public representatives should not be market driven.
'An important principal'
"The commission feels that although market trends are useful as part of an array of comparisons, it would not be proper to expect that the pay of public representatives should be market-driven.
"It might militate against an important principal if we equate what the market can dictate, to the top salaries in the public sector.
"It must rather be emphasised that public positions are not the proper place for material gain or profit."
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