PENSIONERS TO MARCH OVER ‘BAFOKATANA’ STATEMENT

MBABANE – Public Sector pensioners will next  Wednesday march to the offices of the Minister of Public Service, Mabulala Maseko, over bafokatana statement.
The resolution to deliver a petition to the minister came after the minister made a statement during the Public Service quarterly performance report debate by the Senate Portfolio Committee on the categorisation of the Public Service Pensions Fund (PSPF). The pensioners have been vocal about PSPF categorisation as a Category A enterprise. A Category A enterprise is a parastatal which government has full control of. Motions and Parliament resolutions were made regarding the categorisation of the PSPF.

In an Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Public Service Pensioners Association (PSPA), that was held at St Theresa’s School Hall in Manzini, the pensioners stated that they were very disappointed about the minister’s statement. The pensioners added that they felt the minister insulted them and stressed that they needed answers regarding the statement.
What irked the pensioners the most was that there was a Parliament resolution that was issued by the 10th Parliament, where the government was ordered to categorise the fund under a Category B enterprise. The Secretary General (SG) of the association, Dominic Nxumalo, said they decided to deliver a petition to the ministers of Public Service and Finance.

“Pensioners will deliver a petition to the minister of Public Service and minister of Finance next Wednesday. We feel that Minister Maseko is not handling the issue of the PSPF categorisation correctly. “Angabese sowetfuka emapensioners (he should not be insulting pensioners). The pensioners were angered by the statement and said they want to march and register their anger to him directly,” he said.Nxumalo said they had not expected a hurtful statement from their line minister. They said the minister should be working in harmony with the owners of the pension fund. “How can he refer to us as ‘bafokatana’, especially when we voice out issues about our fund,” he said.

Petition

The SG added that they would also deliver a petition to the minister of Finance for his failure to implement the 10th Parliament resolution to reverse the funds. “The minister of Finance defies Parliament as he was ordered to reverse the categorisation,” he said.The bafokatana statement was triggered by a question that was asked by the Deputy Senate President, Ndumiso Mdluli, during the quarterly performance report debate by the Public Service Senate Portfolio Committee. The senator asked the minister what informed the categorisation of the fund from a Category B to a Category A enterprise. The senator highlighted that there had been a huge outcry about the categorisation, especially from pensioners.

In response, the minister said during the debate that a E35 billion worth fund could not be given to bafokatana. “The fund has an asset base of E35 billion and government is the biggest contributor to the fund, therefore, it cannot give the fund to ‘bafokatana’. I normally say we do not want to see what happened with Ecsponent with PSPF because government will carry the liability,” he said.The minister said the fund was never a Category B enterprise. Maseko told the senators that the government had a direct interest in PSPF for several reasons. The minister said government is the biggest contributor to the fund. This includes the E100 million government put in when the fund was established in 1996. He added that in terms of contribution, the government contributes 15 per cent of the 20 per cent contribution, while workers contribute five per cent. Maseko said that should be enough to explain the government’s interest in the fund and the fact that government carries their liability of the fund.

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