Times Of Swaziland: NO MONEY FOR SALARY REVIEW, PSAS CALL MASS MEETING

NO MONEY FOR SALARY REVIEW, PSAS CALL MASS MEETING
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Stanley Khumalo on 03/02/2022 08:34:00


MANZINI – Government might only have a budget to hire a consultant and not the
implementation of the salary review for civil servants.
This was said by leaders of the public sector associations (PSAs) during a press
briefing at the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Centre. The
press briefing was subsequent to the joint negotiation forum (JNF) sitting
wherein the PSAs represented civil servants while the government negotiation
team (GNT) represented the employer. According to the President of SNAT, Mbongwa
Dlamini, their sitting in the JNF yielded nothing substantial. He said there was
one item on the JNF agenda yesterday, which was the salary review.
Dlamini shared the background of the salary review that it was made an order of
the court following the signing of a collective agreement in 2016 and ought to
have been implemented in 2021. However, he said that did not happen.
Contempt
He said when the order of the court was to be implemented in April 2021;
government said it could not do so. This, he said, led to the PSAs taking the
matter to court as they believed it was contempt of court. Subsequent to this
action, Dlamini said government requested that it be withdrawn so that
negotiations could resume. “As we engaged today (yesterday) we got nothing.
Government delivered nothing as it was clear that we are not a priority,” he
said. The SNAT president said the response that they got from government
insinuated that there might be a budget for seeking services of a consultant and
not the implementation of the salary review. In essence, he said this meant that
civil servants should pray that the budget for a consultant was made available
and thereafter, they should hope that money would be allocated for the salary
review in the 2024 financial year budget.
“They said there is no money now as government should fix roads and also deal
with COVID-19,” he said. It is worth noting that in February 2021, government
supposedly spent E85 million meant to reimburse civil servants, following
appeals raised in the 2016 salary review exercise, on COVID-19-related needs.
Dlamini said it was up to public servants on what to do next in order to get the
salary review. He said this was because whatever they submitted in the JNF
negotiations meant nothing. “The masses have the power to decide how
government will act, (in our pursuit of the salary review),” he said.
The SNAT president said PSAs did not fear going to court, but wanted to pursue
the legal route as a last resort. He said they were cognisant of the fact that
there was nothing they could do after the court procedures. “We can pressure
government though,” he added. Also, the President of the National Public
Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), Oscar Nkambule, said it was clear
that government did not take them seriously as civil servants. Testament to
this, he said, was that the employer (government) was uncertain of whether the
money to recruit a consultant for the salary review was available. “At this
point, the ball is in your court, as we’ve done our part as leaders.
Government does not take you seriously as all the challenges listed could have
been dealt with,” Nkambule claimed. The NAPSAWU president said government
could have raised the money to hire a consultant leading to 2021. He said it
would be understandable if the challenge was how to finance the new rates.
Invitation
Nkambule reiterated his claims that civil servants should be aware that they
were the least priority to their employer’s (government) list. With this, he
extended an invitation to public servants to attend a mass meeting to decide the
fate of civil servants on their quest for a salary review on February 26, 2022
and also to partake in activities that shall be outlined thereafter.
The sentiments by Nkambule and Dlamini were also shared by the Secretary General
of the Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting Personnel
(SNAGAP), Dumile Dlamini. When addressing civil servants, she said: “You shall
give us a way forward as seemingly what is happening is done the opposite
way.” Dumile said as things stood, there was a possibility that should other
disasters strike, they would get nothing. He said it was due to this that they
should attend the mass meeting scheduled for the aforementioned date.
On the other hand, Secretary General of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union
(SWADNU), Mayibongwe Masangane, said civil servants needed to forge a way
forward. He said he was of the view that their employer had declared nothing
towards cushioning their welfare, while they last received a cost-of-living
adjustment (CoLA) of three per cent. The CoLA was offered in the 2020/21
financial year. The three per cent, he said, was minimal as they had spent three
years without an offer. He said there was a high possibility that government’s
pronouncement that they would be seeking a consultant was simply a means of
buying time. “It is clear that there is a high possibility of a large chunk of
the budget going to the security forces as there was an unrest,” Masangane
said. He said as things were, payday was a stressful day for many civil servants
given that their remuneration barely afforded them an opportunity to buy basic
needs.