Times Of Swaziland: CIVIL SERVANTS WANT 70%  ‘DVULADVULA’ THIS YEAR

CIVIL SERVANTS WANT 70%  ‘DVULADVULA’ THIS YEAR
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BY STANLEY KHUMALO on 03/01/2017 08:49:00


MBABANE – Public sector associations (PSAs) have started to jab government as
they demand a salary increment of not less than 70 per cent this year.
This is despite that the civil servants received an increment of not less than
17 per cent last year dubbed ‘dvuladvula’. This pay rise turned out to be a
far cry from what the PSAs had anticipated. Instead, politicians were the ones
who received a windfall that saw their salaries increase by 32 per cent.
The decision to remunerate politicians better than civil servants, despite that
they were not party to the negotiations, has coerced the public sector unions to
resolve to accept nothing less than their demand.
Aubrey Sibiya, President of the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union
(NAPSAWU), said the time had come for government to take the welfare of civil
servants seriously. “We demand 70 per cent considering that what was meant to
be our pay hike ended up in the wrong hands.”
The demand, he said, would be achieved by hook or crook.
Sibiya noted that unionists were ready and prepared to leave their workstations
and fill up the streets in demand of what they believe is theirs. He further
said civil servants’ remuneration in the country was pathetic as compared to
other countries in the region.
“If civil servants are not better remunerated, Vision 2022 would be nothing
but a fallacy as the poor will live miserably while the rich do the opposite,”
Sibiya said.
He emphasised that the pricing of necessities had shot up beyond what an
ordinary civil servant can afford. This, Sibiya said, coerced union leaders to
demand the 70 per cent. His sentiments were echoed by  Swaziland National
Association of Teachers (SNAT) Secretary General Zwelithini Mndzebele.
He said as teachers, they were anticipating a better increment this year.
He said they were hoping that no teacher would earn less than E10 000.
“The salaries should be increased as what transpired last year ended up being
stipends for all civil servants save for those in executive positions. We want
the low pay to be a thing of the past.”