Times Of Swaziland: OVER E6M SPENT ON SUSPENDED GOVT EMPLOYEES ANNUALLY

OVER E6M SPENT ON SUSPENDED GOVT EMPLOYEES ANNUALLY
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Sifiso Dlamini on 16/03/2024 07:41:00


Ezulwini – Despite assurances that the issue of ghost employees has finally
been addressed, government continues to spend millions of Emalangeni paying
salaries to civil servants sitting at home.
According to a report compiled by the Ministry of Public Service, there are
currently over 50 civil servants on suspension with full pay within the civil
service. Calculations based on the suspended employees positions and grades, as
per the establishment register Supporting the estimates of public expenditure
for the financial year 2023/24, revealed that government spends about E6 116 084
public funds on an annual basis, paying salaries for suspended officials.
On a monthly basis, government spends about E509 673.66 on salaries for
suspended employees. The figures could be higher, taking into consideration that
government has paid over E4 million on salaries for the 24 junior police
officers over the past two years who remain suspended after protesting about the
implementation of Phase II of the salary restructuring exercise.
Some of the government employees have been on suspension since 2010 and continue
to receive full pay, while at home while others were suspended in the subsequent
years before the report was finalised two years ago. The suspended employees
hold various positions, such as store man, cleaner, accountant, driver, fuel
attendant to name a few.
The names of the suspended employees are known to the Eswatini News but will not
be revealed as their cases are yet to be reviewed by the Civil Service
Commission (CSC). The offences  committed by the civil servants, leading to
their suspension included; fraud, housebreaking and theft, stock theft,
contravening the Prevention of Corruption Act (POCA), fuel theft, rape,
malicious injury to property, murder and attempted murder, robbery kidnapping
and assault common, contravening the provisions of the People Trafficking,
People Smuggling Act of 2009, as well as theft by false pretences.
Noteworthy, a majority of the suspended government employees were from the
Ministry of Public Works and Transport. Among the offences committed by the
Works employees was theft of fuel, fraud and contravening the Prevention of
Corruption Act of 2006.
Meanwhile, within the Ministry of Agriculture, there are currently seven civil
servants who are on suspension with full pay for offences including fraud, stock
theft and housebreaking and theft of government fertiliser, to name a few.
The ministry with the third highest number of suspended employees is the
Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, where officials were suspended
in connection to fraud (academic qualifications), theft as well as POCA
offences. During the CSC strategic plan validation workshop held at the Royal
Villas yesterday morning, CSC Chairperson Simanga Mamba assured that the
commission was in the process of reviewing the cases of the suspended government
employees.
Mamba said the strategic plan was meant to ensure that the commission became the
epitome of excellence, while improving transparency in recruitment, as well as
excellent service delivery. While presenting an overview of the strategic plan,
Mamba informed the present ministries principal secretaries that the commission
would issue memos pertaining to the suspended civil servants in their respective
ministries.
Servants
He acknowledged that the Minister of Public Service, Mabulala Maseko, tasked the
commission with addressing the issue of suspended civil servants. He mentioned
that there were close to 60 civil servants who were on suspension, some of whom
have been suspended since 2010.
“At the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, there is a civil servant who
held the position of a Road Oversee, who has been suspended since 2015 for
stealing 20 bags of cement amounting to about E1 500. When you come to think of
it, How much has government paid in salaries to the employee who is still at
home for stealing cement worth E1 500?” quizzed Mamba.
He said the commission was currently going through the report dated June 2022,
to ascertain whether it was still viable and whether the suspensions were still
serving the purpose or backfiring. “I do not want to preempt setting them
aside, but we will be inviting you to the commission to discuss whether there
was still objectivity pertaining to the suspensions,” said Mamba.
He said should there be a need to review, it would be considered as part of the
work mandated to the commission by the Constitution. He assured that the issue
of suspended civil servants should be addressed in the next quarter.
Focus
He mentioned that among the key focus areas, was effecting the handling of
disputes and grievances from civil servants. He said the CSC’s mandate in
terms of the Constitution was to handle grievances from civil servants as well
as outside civil service. “The strategy will assist us to establish a
grievance dispute mechanism within,” he said.
Elaborating, Mamba said in 2021, the CSC embarked on an exercise to review all
civil servants cases that were filled with the Conciliation, Mediation and
Arbitration Commission (CMAC) so they could be adjudicated by the commission.
“That yielded positive results because some cases that would have otherwise
ended up in court and being a cost to government, were resolved by the
commission,” he said.
He further mentioned that in most cases, civil servants tended to run to CMAC,
yet in terms of the Constitution, the commission was mandated to address the
grievances from civil servants. Mamba stated that the commission has issued a
circular to the Ministry of Public Service to ensure that all matters were
referred to the commission for deliberation and would then be handed over to
CMAC if a resolution was not met.
Grievances
“This assists us in boosting morale within the civil service, because if
government employees approach the commission with grievances, they returned to
work happy when the matters have been resolved,” he said.
Pertaining to ethical leadership, Mamba said this was leadership that was
directed by respect for ethical beliefs and values for the dignity and rights of
others. He said the commission intended to push and promote consequence
leadership within the civil service.
He stated that the benefits of the strategic plan as articulated ranged from a
clearly stated mission, vision, values, key focus areas covering service
excellence, improvements in internal systems and processes. He further mentioned
that also benefits which are; institutional capacity building, advocacy, image
and reputation management, strengthening partnerships and collaboration as well
as improvement in legal regulatory framework to resource mobilisation and
financial sustainability.
Mamba said the expected outcome was a CSC that would be an epitome of excellence
in the public service founded on integrity, professionalism, innovation,
inclusivity, confidentiality, teamwork and appropriate structure as well as
aligned legal and regulatory framework to fully carry its constitutional
mandate.