Home | News | EVART MADLOPHA RETIRES

EVART MADLOPHA RETIRES

24/02/2019 16:32:00 Mfanukhona Nkambule

Font size:

MBABANE – Evart Madlopha needs no introduction.

After 33 years of service, the principal secretary in the Ministry of Public Service is retiring on May 20, 2018 as he will be turning 60. The country’s retirement age is 60.
Madlopha joined government in 1985 as an engineer attached to the Ministry of Works and Transport. He rose through the ranks in his professional field of engineering until his appointment as principal secretary. Then this government portfolio was known as the Ministry of Works and Construction. In 1994. At the age of 35, he was appointed as PS by His Majesty the King. Being the youngest PS in government at the time, he served as a Board member for Eswatini Railway and Royal Eswatini Airways. In 1996, the portfolio of the ministry was changed to the Ministry of Works and Transport, and Madlopha continued to serve as the principal secretary.

He was later transferred to the Ministry of Public Service in 2009. He currently serves as Board member in a number of institutions including, University of Eswatini and Eastern and Southern African Management Institute (ESAMI). He is the local Board Chairman of IDM Eswatini, and is the longest serving PS in the Government of Eswatini. It must be said that Madlopha, who chairs the Government Negotiation Team (GNT), made his name at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport where he was instrumental in the construction of the Mbabane-Manzini Highway, Oshoek-Mbabane Bypass road, Mafutseni-Mliba road, Madlangemphisi-Buhleni road, among others.

His job as the principal secretary in the Ministry of Public Service made him unpopular with civil servants. In August 2018, he led the team that tabled a 0.0 per cent the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for civil servants for the financial year 2018/2019. That was in sharp contrast with the 6.5 per cent demanded by the government workers. During marches and court sessions, the workers composed derogatory songs about Madlopha. He remained calm whenever the mocking workers delivered petitions to him. However, some civil servants benefitted from the salary review implemented in 2016 known as dvuladvula.