The newly elected Sports Minister, Gayton McKenzie, announced that he will donate 100% of his parliamentary salary to the Joshlin Smith Foundation for missing children.
The Patriotic Alliance leader is set to earn R2.68 million annually from his ministerial position and is expected to occupy the post for the next five years. Had he remained an ordinary Member of Parliament, his salary would have remained at R1.27 million.
McKenzie said he was not in it for the money; his goal was to change people's lives.
“One hundred per cent of my salary I’m giving it to the Joshlin Smith Foundation for missing children for the duration of my stay in Parliament, 100% of my salary not 80% or 50%...Because I’m not here for money, I’m here to change the lives of our people,” he said.
In March, McKenzie announced that he will be putting up a R1 million reward for the safe return of missing six-year-old Saldanha Bay girl, Joshlin Smith.
“This child has become the conscience of our nation. This is a rainbow child. I am taking R1 million of my own money that I could have put into my political campaign.
“I will have a million rand less [for] posters, I will have a million rand less [for] t-shirts, I will have a million rand less of diesel for my campaign but for me, what is bigger than politics is finding that green-eyed girl,” he said at the time.
Currently, Joshlin’s mother, Kelly Smith, her boyfriend, Jacquen ‘Boeta’ Appolis, Stevano van Rhyn, and Lourentia Lombaard have been charged with trafficking in persons for exploitation and kidnapping.
The State alleges that Joshlin was sold for R20,000.
The group has been remanded in custody and is expected back in court on July 15.
In June, Western Cape police confirmed that an item of clothing, believed to be that Smith, had been collected for forensic analysis.
The item of clothing, a jersey, was found during a random search in the Saldanha Bay area on the weekend.
The Grade 1 learner from Diazville Primary has been missing since February 19.
The community and activists have continued searching for Smith, despite having no leads after all this time.