NO CONSULTANT FOR GOVT SALARY REVIEW EXERCISE

MBABANE – Government has not yet engaged a consultant to carry out the much-anticipated review of salaries for civil servants.

This is despite that in November 2022 the Ministry of Public Service issued an expression of interest (EOI) for consultancy services to conduct the salary review exercise. The exercise is expected to cost E15 million, as announced by Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg in his budget speech back in February 2022. However, this publication understands that government failed to attract the interest of consultants to carry out the exercise, something that the Minister of Public Service, Mabulala Maseko, has described as odd. As a result of this lack of interest, the ministry has now issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the provision of the consultancy services to conduct the exercise.

first notice

Noteworthy is that in the first notice, government issued and EOI and in the second it issued an RFP. Explaining the difference between the two, Rosemary Gillespie, who has worked on thousands of tenders, bids and proposals to government, private and listed companies, says EOIs are used by government, large and listed companies to test the market, often to identify options for delivery of a future service or project. “EOIs ask a series of questions about your company’s skills, experience and an outline of how you would deliver the project or service. The main difference between an EOI and a formal request for tender or bid is that pricing is rarely asked for,” she said. For RFPs, Gillespie says these are exactly like tenders; a company or government issues a Request for Proposal for a project, service or product that it needs.

proposal

“Companies responding to a formal Request for Proposal are ‘respondents’. Just like RFTs (Requests for Tenders), RFPs can be very prescriptive about how the service, product or project needs to be delivered. At other times, though, even a formal RFT will ask for a ‘proposal’ – that is, ideas about how the product, service or project can be delivered,” she further explained. In the EOI that government issued in November 2022, it was stated that evaluation of applicants would follow the Public Procurement Regulations of 2020. “Following this process, it is the intention to invite the short listed firms to provide proposals for the requested services,” the notice stated. With the RFP, which government issued on Friday, January 13, 2023, it is stated that proposals would be evaluated on a ‘quality and cost basis’ and the resulting contract would be a lump sum.

A similarity in the EOI and RFP issued by government is with regard to the requirements for the Team Lead, which reads: “A high level of competency in the field of Management Sciences, with specialised training in any of the three key areas of the assignment, namely; job evaluation, job grading and salary structure development. He/she must have 10 years proven experience in leading similar projects.” There is a difference though in the years of experience that is required; the latest RFP states that the team should be well capacitated in management services with at least seven years of involvement in organisational design and compensation, while the previously issued EOI required 10 years.

analytical

Just as the EOI, the RFP also requires the team to have strong analytical skills and report writing with experience in research, as well as be fluent in English and SiSwati and be able to work with and facilitate diverse stakeholder groups. Mabulala Maseko, the Minister of Public Service, when asked, as to what had necessitated the RFP advert yet an EOI had been issued last November, confirmed that no one responded to the initial advert. “It was shocking to us and when we asked why that was the case, the consultants said they did not see the advert,” he said. The minister said this was likely to cause a delay in the conclusion of the salary review, which normally takes 12 months. “Had the consultant been engaged already, the process would have been expected to be concluded by the end of 2023,” he said. This means that there is likelihood that the exercise could be completed in early 2024. “However, the exercise can still be completed this year (2023) because the period is determined largely by the capacity of the consultant that has been engaged. If we engaged a large firm of consultants, then the exercise will be completed this year,” he added.

enquiries

The minister referred further enquiries to Principal Secretary Sipho Tsabedze, who, however, could not be reached as he did not answer his mobile phone when called. It is worth noting that the salary review is expected to also address an outstanding grievance by junior police and Correctional Services officers that they were excluded from a salary restricting exercise that was carried out in 2014 to the benefit of only senior officers. The junior officers embarked on an unprecedented protect action and marched to the Prime Minister’s Office as well as to the Public Service Ministry to demand implementation of the restructuring. Government reacted by giving the junior officers an offer to cushion their salaries by increasing them by four per cent. Although the officers initially rejected the offer, they eventually accepted it after government implemented the increase and deposited it into their accounts, saying those who did not want it were free to leave it there.

Meanwhile, Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Secretary General Lot Vilakati said that the latest advert was just a delaying tactic from the government.  Vilakati said the government was supposed to make that advert after consulting with stakeholders. He further questioned why the government opted to bring in the second advert yet there was another one that was issued in November last year. Vilakati alleged government was simply wasting resources because there was no money to implement the exercise.

delaying

“It’s a delaying tactic to advertise and start the exercise after April until next year” alleged Vilakati. The SNAT president further alleged government knew very well that the exercise would drag the whole 12 months. Vilakati said the salary review was needed this year but now the government wants to implement it next year (2024). On the other hand, National Public Services and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) President Oscar Nkambule said the advertisement was news to them as they had been ignored as key stakeholders. Nkambule said the exercise was a result of the stakeholders, not just the government. He said the terms of reference were drafted by the stakeholders and if there were challenges they should have communicated. Nkambule further mentioned that if the government had faced challenges on the first advert, she should have returned to the stakeholders. “We do not believe all the companies did not have interest in the first advert,” said Nkambule. It is expected that the salary review exercise will further increase the wage Bill.

alarming

Minister Rijkenberg stated in bis budget speech that the wage Bill soared at alarming rates for five years before the hiring freeze policy was implemented. The accelerated increase began in 2013/14 when the wage Bill increased by 13.5 per cent from E4 billion to E4.5 billion. It increased by a further 7.5 per cent to E4.8 billion in 2014/15, another 10.7 per cent in 2015/16 to reach E5.3 billion and then a further increase by 22.5 per cent to E6.5 billion in 2016/17 due to the salary review. In 2017/18 the wage Bill grew by 6.3 per cent to reach E6.9 billion.
Over the five years from 2013 there was a total growth of 61 per cent in the wage bill.

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