BILL NOT CLEAR WHAT HAPPENS TO CURRENT MEMBERS

MBABANE - The Bill was not very clear as to what will happen to the current provident fund members.

Business Eswatini has disclosed that the Labour Advisory Board advised that the provident fund and pension fund would operate simultaneously and be administered by the ENPF. “This would be irregular in that the ENPF 1974 Order would have been repealed and the Provident fund cannot exist in absence of the statute establishing it,” noted Business Eswatini. It was further advised that the conversion of ENPF from a provident fund to a national pension fund could be simply a transition on paper alone but required compliance with legal processes, such as winding up the fund and paying the terminal benefits of employees.

Envisaged

The organisation said this was more-so because the Bill envisaged the appointment of a new Board, chief executive officer (CEO) and other office bearers, and the setting up of new internal policies and procedures. In its official website, it was explained that the ENPF established in 1974 as a retirement savings scheme, the main purpose of which was to provide benefits for employed persons when they retire from regular employment in old age or in the event of becoming incapacitated.  All employers of labour in Eswatini were required by law to become contributing members of the fund, and must pay a contribution for every eligible staff member. The employees’ share (one-half of the stipulated amount) gets deducted from wages. The fund is administered by an independent Board appointed by the Minister for Labour and Social Security to represent the Swazi National Council, employers, workers and government. The Board, and Board Committees, is made up of 13 members.

Represent

Three of them represent employers, three represent employees, four represent the government of Eswatini, and two represent the Swaziland National Council and finally the chief executive office of the fund. ENPF is a retirement benefit savings scheme that was established in 1974 by King Sobhuza II.

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