Times Of Swaziland: NO GOVERNMENT CIRCULAR YET FOR 3-PER CENT COLA

NO GOVERNMENT CIRCULAR YET FOR 3-PER CENT COLA
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Stanley Khumalo on 19/07/2022 07:27:00


MANZINI – Not this time around!
Civil servants who were looking forward to enjoy the three per cent
cost-of-living adjustment (CoLA) and once-off payment of one per cent of their
annual basic salary, will not be getting any this month. On July 4, 2022, the
Minister of Public Service, Mabulala Maseko, pronounced that government had
taken a decision to award the three per cent CoLA to managers and
non-unionisable civil servants with effect from this month.
Maseko said the CoLA would be backdated to April 1, 2022 which is the beginning
of government’s financial year. The adjustment which was announced by the
minister in the salary of civil servants was last implemented in August 2020
wherein a similar offer was awarded after three years. This increment, he said,
was subsequent to an agreement reached by government with the Eswatini
Principals Association (EPA). The pair had engaged in novel negotiations
parallel to those with public sector unions (PSUs) of Eswatini, who have from
time immemorial, been negotiating for civil servants. However, the
implementation process for this review which was agreed upon by the pair shall
not be effected this month as the Ministry of Finance has not received an
instrument for its implementation.
Communications Officer in the Ministry of Finance Setsabile Dlamini said this
after she was sought comment to establish whether the Finance Ministry, through
the Treasury Department, had the payroll with the adjusted percentage as
announced by the Ministry of Public Service. Dlamini was asked if this
adjustment was not implemented, what could have caused the delay and when would
it be effected as it was to start this month. She said: “(In paying salaries)
we use a circular from the Ministry of Public Service to effect any adjustments;
so as of now, we don’t have any altering the salaries.” It is worth noting
that the deadline for running salaries at the Treasury Department is usually
five working days before the remuneration of civil servants. For this month,
this publication gathered that it was July 12, 2022.
Responded
An effort to get a comment from the Ministry of Public Service fell through as
the minister and the Principal Secretary (PS), Sipho Tsabedze, had not responded
by the time this article was compiled. They were asked whether the three per
cent CoLA and once-off one per cent of annual salary across board for managers
and non-unionisable civil servants would be effected this month and if not, what
had caused the delay. Also, they had been sought to assist with information on
when it would be implemented.The developments are also at the backdrop of
parliamentarians having strongly criticised the three per cent CoLA agreement
between EPA and the Government Negotiation Team (GNT), indicating that it should
be set aside. While debating the Ministry of Public Service’s first quarter
performance report, Members of Parliament (MPs) criticised the way the
negotiation process had gone between the GNT and stakeholders, stating that what
had happened had sown seeds of division and therefore, there was need for a
revisit. The legislators said it would be advisable for the ministry to consider
negotiating with stakeholders who would represent the whole civil service,
rather than reaching an agreement with an association whose membership they
questioned.
Meanwhile, government recently said a proposal from the GNT to alternate agenda
items presented by it until the list was exhausted, was rejected by PSUs, who
proposed that agenda items that were left pending from the previous financial
year 2021/2022, should be first on the agenda. However, this was not acceptable
to the GNT, resulting in a deadlock. On April 28, 2022, the GNT and EPA
commenced negotiations on the Cola for the 2022/2023 financial year. The GNT
offered three per cent of basic salary across the board with effect from April
1, 2022. EPA, on the other hand, countered that offer and demanded six per cent
CoLA on the basis that this would cushion the salaries of their members which
had been eroded over the years. As negotiations continued, and appreciating the
parlous financial situation of government, EPA eventually moved from its initial
CoLA demand of six per cent to a final fall-back position of three per cent
demand, plus a once-off sweetener of one per cent of annual basic salary across
the board.