FINANCIAL CRISIS: 400 RETRENCHED

MANZINI – The fiscal crisis has resulted in the retrenchment of 400 employees in different industries.

Statistics from the office of the labour commissioner reveal that three industries have been hit hard by the fiscal abyss the country has found itself in. The construction industry saw four companies retrenching 199 employees while the textile industry had terminated the employment of 115 personnel. Also, the ablution industry had to let-go of six employees. This was as a result of the impact of the fiscal crisis which has seen government owing suppliers over E3.2 billion, with some suppliers being informed that they would have to wait for over a year to get their money from government.

According to the budget speech delivered by the Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, recent estimates indicated that the economy contracted by 0.4 per cent in 2018, indicating a possible recession. This was a large fall compared to 2017 where the country recorded growth of 1.9 per cent. Currently, the total number of employed people in the Kingdom of Eswatini was said to have improved from 212 130 to 288 044 out of the current 373 869 labour force. This is 23 per cent in the unemployment rate, according to the 2016 survey. However, in October 2016, the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs reported that 280 000 or 42.6 per cent of the 668 000 people aged between 18 and 24 were unemployed. These statistics are not just numbers as the construction, textile and ablution industries have felt the real impact of having to retrench their employees. According to the acting Labour Commissioner, Fannie Mkhonta, the construction industry has retrenched 199 workers in the past month. Mkhonta said the reasons advanced by the players in the construction industry were operational as most of them stated that they were downsizing due to financial constraints.

Terminate

“The fiscal crisis was the key reason they advanced for seeking to terminate the employ of their personnel while some of them also stated that they had completed their projects and had no new ones.” He said the four construction companies that relieved their employees had first requested to lay them off for a period of 30 days while hoping that there would be change in the economy. However, when that did not go their way, they sought permission to downsize.  The employees who have been let go in the construction industry are labourers and professionals as well. The professionals include: artisans, engineers, electricians, insulation workers and ironworkers. Supporting this was one contractor who offered his insight into the industry. He requested to share his views under anonymity. The construction contractor, who has been a major player with some of the monumental structures in the capital city, said his company had to relieve from duty about 30 individuals as there was no work. “The challenge is that government stopped the tendering for new projects while they were also not paying us. This put us in a precarious position as we could not service our debts and also had to seek loans for remunerating our personnel.”

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