Home | News | PRIME MINISTER’S SALARY UP FOR REVIEW

PRIME MINISTER’S SALARY UP FOR REVIEW

16/08/2020 00:15:00 BY MFANUKHONA NKAMBULE

Font size:

MBABANE – If you thought politicians’ benefit from the recent agreement between government and public servants of payment of CoLA was unfair, wait for this one.

Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini is due for a review of his basic salary this year. This is on top of the three per cent cost of living adjustment and the once-off one per cent payment of his monthly salary.

As a result, this has catapulted the PM’s basic salary from E77 197.50 to E79 513.42 as the three per cent adjustment is E2 315.92.

Annually, the PM will now earn a basic salary of E954 161.04 from the current E926 370.00.

The once-off one per cent payment of his annual salary amounts to E9 263.70.

This means the PM’s back pay from April 1, 2020 will be E20 843.80, which is made up of the five months back pay (E11 579.60) and the once-off one per cent of his annual basic salary (E9 263.70).

politicians

The impending review is courtesy of Finance Circular No. 2 of 2013, which the current crop of politicians are being remunerated based on, after the implementation of Finance Circular No. 3 of 2019 – the instrument that was designed to be the framework for their salaries – was suspended due to concerns raised by some people who were supposed to benefit from it.

The suspension has come at a potential huge gain for the prime minister, who is now looking at having his basic salary reviewed at least two times in his first five-year tenure.

This is because Clause 4.1 of the Circular states the following: “The basic salary of the Prime Minister of Swaziland will be benchmarked against similar sized (by GDP) SADC countries every two years; and discounted for economic conditions and the affordability of the Swaziland Government.”

The SADC countries that were used to benchmark the PM’s salary are Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique and Seychelles.

When the benchmarking was carried out, it was observed that, among the Heads of Government, the kingdom’s prime minister earned marginally higher than the average of the comparator group.

It was only the basic salary of the President of Mauritius that was higher hence it was excluded when the mean was calculated.

Information sourced from Mywage.co.za shows that Eswatini’s PM is still highly paid compared to his peers in the region.

Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi is said to be earning an annual salary of E827 347.00, which translates to E68 945.58 monthly.

Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi is said to be earning P783 564.00 annually, which is P65 297.00 monthly .

Wikipedia lists the salaries in US Dollar currency annually and says Botswana’s Masisi is at US$ 65 760; Lesotho’s prime minister is said to earn US$ 52 778; Eswatini’s PM is placed at US$51 600; Mozambique’s Nyusi is reportedly at US$ 46 800; and Seychelles’ president is reportedly paid US$ 33 300.

Should Mandvulo’s salary be reviewed, and reviewed upwards, this would automatically result to an increase in his ex-gratia payment.

The ex-gratia payment is a grant that is payable to former parliamentarians to assist with the costs of adjusting to non-parliamentary life.

As per Finance Circular No. 2 of 2013, the ex-gratia payment is available to all parliamentarians who fail to be re-elected or re-appointed into the new Parliament.

If the PM is not reappointed after the end of his five-year term, he would be paid an ex-gratia that will be a once-off payment equal to 12 months (one year) basic salary before taxation.

Should he not serve his full five-year term, the ex-gratia payment would be pro-rated taking into account the actual period served.

The Circular provides that under no circumstances will a part year served be considered as a full year. But should the PM be dismissed or removed from office due to misconduct or incompetence, the ex-gratia payment would be forfeited.

Another implication of a review of the PM’s basic salary is that it will have an impact on the salaries of the rest of the parliamentarians since they are linked to his.

This is in accordance to what another part of Clause 4.1 states: “All other parliamentarian salaries will be determined as a ratio of the prime minister’s salary.

structure

“The sliding scale ratio is a result of the authoritative hierarchy of the political structure.” The custodian of Circular No.2 is the Ministry of Finance so they are the ones expected to determine the issues around the possible review of the PM’s salary and benchmark it with his SADC counterparts. While a royal commission was appointed by His Majesty King Mswati III in 2018 to review politicians’ remuneration packages going forward, its leader Dr Phil Mnisi said they had no mandate on Circular No. 2 and, therefore, cannot comment on it. He pointed to the Ministry of Finance as the rightful authority over this Circular.

“We had addressed these things in our report (Finance Circular No. 3 of 2019) that was suspended. Our report is clear. But I can’t comment on this Circular because we are not its architects; it was drafted by PwC. I don’t have a mandate to comment on it; I can comment on Circular No. 3 but it is not operational. Minister of Finance is in charge of Circular No.2 so they should offer clarity,” Mnisi said.

The Mnisi-led royal commission had stated that Circular No.3 would be fixed for the next three years of the current (11th) Parliament.

It said six months before the end of third year, these terms and conditions of the Circular may be reviewed by an independent commission, which would make the necessary recommendations, depending on the performance of the economy.

It further stated that during the beginning of the fourth year of the 11th Parliament, a comprehensive review would be undertaken by an Independent Royal Commission appointed by His Majesty the King. Adding, the commission said the results of the review would constitute the Remuneration Framework for the 12th Parliament, attorney geberal, Emabandla and the Judiciary.

Mnisi said he did not know the current status of the Circular since it was suspended. Finance Minister Neal Rijkenberg referred questions to Setsabile Dlamini, the Communications Officer in the ministry. Setsabile said as a ministry they preferred not to say anything on the issue for now even though they are the custodians of the Circular.

“For now we choose not to go into the issue of the PM’s salary review,” she said and further reiterated the continued suspension of Circular No.3.

On Thursday, a questionnaire was sent to the PM via WhatsApp asking, among other things, whether he would accept an upward review of his salary and whether the country’s economic situation was conducive for such a review.

However, he had not responded to the questionnaire by last night even though WhatsApp message status information indicated that it had been read at 12:56pm on the same day it was sent.

position

Reacting to the possible review of the PM’s basic salary, Mduduzi Gina, the Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), lambasted this likelihood and said it appeared the Circular was drafted to suit the position of an individual. “It was clear that the then incumbent PM was so influential to an extent that he could manipulate even well-established good practices in the review of wages,” he said.

The trade union leader said it was trite practice that workers in the same category must in principle be treated the same. “It can’t be that the Circular singles out the PM and leaves out the DPM (deputy prime minister) whom in my view is in the same space and political weight as the PM. Having said that, even if the Circular has included the DPM, it would have been improper for any review of their salaries at this stage when the economy is under such stress,” Gina said. He said it would be advisable that the PM himself caused for the non-review of his salary if the story that has been shared to the public sector workers (that government has no money) is to be believed. The secretary general said there was a risk that if the salary was to be reviewed it would be appraised downwards.

“Comparison with the SADC countries, even if it were to favour a review upwards, can be challenged by an economy that cannot afford to sustain such an increase,” Gina added.

review

Also expressing strong opinion on the possible review was Dominic Nxumalo, the Acting Secretary General of the Swaziland Democratic Party (SWADEPA), who said in his honest opinion the country’s system of government had never been sensitive to the plight of ordinary people.

He said the type of politicians the country has only focused on themselves and it doesn’t matter what people say. “I personally don’t think the PM’s salary needs to be reviewed under the current economic crisis. The politicians don’t deserve the CoLA of three per cent to be awarded to public servants this month,” Nxumalo, who is also former Secretary General of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers, said.

He said as a progressive politician and speaking on behalf of SWADEPA, the solution to the country’s socio-economic and political ills is to democratise the current political system through operationalising the 2005 Constitution.

“Though in its current form it has numerous contradictions, the positive part is that Section 25 reintroduces political parties. Multi-party system is the answer to many problems we as a country face,” Nxumalo said.

He said taking action now and sitting down later to engage in serious dialogue was, in his view, the progressive way. Meanwhile, the architects of Circular No.2 recommended that the PM’s salary should be de-linked from that of the highest paid civil servant (the secretary to Cabinet).

PwC said to determine the PM’s salary, there needed to be a consistent and defensive manner on which to base salaries. “The notion of linking the parliamentarians pay to the senior civil servants poses a risk in terms of linking the pay to a single specific reference point,” PwC said. They cited the United Kingdom which they said saw a similar risk where the pay and the grading of the senior civil servant were delegated to other departments rather than being determined centrally. They said this meant there now was more than one reference points on which to base the prime minister’s salary. Hence PwC recommended that the prime minister’s salary be benchmarked against other similar sized (by GDP) countries in Africa.

Provisions of Finance Circular No.3 of 2013

4.1. Basic salary

The inclusive remuneration structure includes a basic component (salary) which includes provision for an amount to which Second Schedule of the Income Tax Order 1975 applies.

The basic salary of the Prime Minister of Swaziland will be benchmarked against similar sized (by GDP) SADC countries every two years; and discounted for economic conditions and the affordability of the Swaziland Government. The annual review of salaries will be applied based on the Civil Service annual review rates.

All other parliamentarian salaries will be determined as a ratio of the prime minister’s salary. The sliding scale ratio is a result of the authoritative hierarchy of the political structure.