FREE TRANSPORT FOR CIVIL SERVANTS

MBABANE – Is government implementing radical change in dealing with the shortage of houses by offering free transport to civil servants?

Government is currently offering the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs – High Court personnel and that of Natural Resources and Energy, transport from a central point in Manzini.

Also, due to insufficient housing, His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) personnel residing in Sidvokodvo at the Eswatini Railway residential compounds, are chauffeured in the department’s vehicles to their various workstations.

Following suit is the Ministry of Education and Training, as a memo informs the personnel of the ministry that those residing in the Manzini - Mbabane corridor, should register with the principal human resources officer.

Minute

The minute (government communication) is titled ‘Re: Registration of officers commuting between Manzini- Mbabane corridor’.
It states that all staff members who commute from the hub of the country to the capital city were ‘kindly requested to indicate by writing their names’.
“This is for purposes of facilitating transport in a form of a bus along this route,” reads in part the minute.

The minute further informs the civil servants in the ministry that they should note that the minute was not yet approved pending assessment of the feasibility of the initiative.

 The communication is dated February 8, 2019.
Worth noting is that government has a documented shortage of housing facilities for its 44 000 employees; resulting in some residing at their own homes beyond the six kilometre radius from their respective workstations.

And for that, the administration compensates civil servants with E600 for their housing and 17 cents per kilometre for transport.
These rates are far below current commercial rates, as a one bedroom bedsitter can be leased at about E2 500 in Mbabane while a two-bedroom house costs about E3 200 per month.

On the other hand, local public transport charges commuters E6 for 10 kilometres and every extra kilometre from that distance costs E1.
Comparatively, the 17 cents offered by government is too little as when computed for the Mbabane – Manzini route, which is about 38 kilometres, civil servants get E6.46 while the public transport charges E20.

Depending on the number of the civil servants who will register from the ministry, it would be a viable option as a bus has the capacity to transport about 60 seated passengers.

Rate

Using the transport rate awarded to civil servants, assuming the bus had a minimum of 30 passengers per trip to Mbabane, the bus would have accumulated E 193.80 from the civil servants. The return trip would cost E387.60.
This amount renders the option being implemented by government as viable when it is estimated that per trip, the bus could consume at least 10 litres of fuel, which cost about E13.80 per litre.

In terms of expenditure, the fuel would cost government about E276 per day. Noteworthy is that the amount of fuel consumption would not be much affected by the increment in the personnel but instead government would benefit.

 Washington Khumalo, the General Transport Manager of the Central Transport Administration (CTA), said this was a viable idea by government. He said ordinarily, when an individual was recruited into the civil service; government had an obligation to offer that employee accommodation within a distance of six kilometres from their workstation.

Compensation

Alternatively, Khumalo said government offered 17 cents per kilometre as compensation to the transport fare incurred by the civil servants.
“Noting these rates, you will understand that there are no more suitable houses at that amount and most employees prefer to reside at their private residences.” He said the rate offered by government was archaic as there was no longer available transport at that amount. He said it was cheaper for government to offer them the transport.

“It is cheaper for government to offer them transport as it guarantees reliable transport for the employees unlike the allowances which they claim and get at the end of the month.”

A senior government official, who offered the information, on the basis of anonymity, said this was a wise move by government to reduce absenteeism as civil servants were guaranteed transport even if they lacked the financial capacity to fund their daily transport needs.
The official further said: “This needs to be rolled out to other towns as well as all the ministries. Even those civil servants who reside as far as Pigg’s Peak should be considered.”

The official emphasised that the investment in the welfare of the civil service could yield better productivity. The president of the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) could not be reached for comment.

Currently, negotiations between government and PSAs are pending on housing and transport allowances. The recommendations on the two were not implemented in 2016 when civil servants received their ‘dvula dvula’.

Unclear

Meanwhile, it was unclear how many buses and kombis shall be availed for this service to the civil servants as government has a fleet of about 3 708 vehicles in the four regions.

On the other hand, members of the security services have been enjoying this service for quite some time as there was lack of a clear government policy on the use of government vehicles by security forces, particularly in professional sporting activities.

This was contained in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport annual report for the year 2018/2019.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: