GOVT’S PLAN TO USE WORKERS’ MONEY TO PAY GRANTS

MBABANE – Government has concocted a grand plan to compel the country’s entire workforce to shoulder the burden of paying grants for the elderly and vulnerable.

The goal is to have the billions of Emalangeni in pension contributions and savings of all employees in the Kingdom of Eswatini channelled towards financing these social security services. These billions are currently held under the Swaziland National Provident Fund, which government wants to be converted into a pension fund to be called the Eswatini National Pension Fund. The master plan comes in the form of the Eswatini National Pension Fund Bill of 2018, which seeks to facilitate the conversion. The Bill, in Section 86, states: “Subject to the provisions of this Act and the Fund’s approved social responsibility policy and programme, the Fund shall give a grant or donation to any elderly or disabled person or institution of such persons.” Should the plan succeed, workers would have to dish out not less than E400 million, non-refundable, of their pension money a year to the elderly and disabled persons.

It is understood that the SNPF Board is strongly against government’s intentions. However, so sensitive is the issue of the Bill such that the Fund’s Chief Executive Officer, Prince Lonkhokhela, said they had been warned against speaking about it in public.

Strict instructions not to say a thing

“We have received strict instructions not to say a thing about it. So there is nothing, absolutely nothing, I can say about it. The government feels that if you want to talk about it you should talk to government, that’s what we’ve been told. We’ve been told to stay away from it altogether. So I can’t help you. Whoever you can contact from the organisation will tell you the same thing” the prince said. SNPF Board Chairman Sabelo Mngomezulu could not be reached for comment as his phone rang answered each time he was contacted. However, a senior member of the institution revealed to this publication that the Fund was against being be made to shoulder responsibilities of the State. “Social grants are the responsibility of the State, not of the Fund. The money that is held by the Fund belongs to contributing members, not the elderly and vulnerable. We cannot therefore take members’ money and use it to pay social grants; that would be wrong,” said the well-placed member.

He stated that this had since become a political power play issue where the Executive, especially the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, was pushing for the Bill to be passed by Parliament so as to relieve itself of the social grants burden.
The member said the fund had written to government to make known their misgivings about the Section 86 provision. There is hope that government’s move can still be successfully opposed because the Bill was withdrawn before parliament on the last day of the 10th parliament’s sitting. Portfolio committee chairman at the time Jan Sithole withdrew it on the basis that more consultations were needed. Employers and employees are also now up in arms against this move by government and have since held consultations among themselves to oppose the grand plan. These latter two key stakeholders want this section removed from the Bill in its entirety as they have argued that the Fund should not be mandated to donate or provide grants to vulnerable persons.

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