MBABANE — The University of Eswatini (UNESWA) staff have threatened to down tools over a cost-of-living-adjustment (CoLA) after reaching a deadlock with university administration.
This was revealed by the Assocaition of Lecturers, Academic and Administrative Personnel (ALAAP) Secretary General (SG) Mfunwa Sibusiso Dlamini when speaking to this publication yesterday.
Academic and auxiliary staff are preparing for what could become one of the most significant industrial actions in the country’s higher education sector.
Their frustration has been simmering since April this year and after six months of unfruitful engagements, appears to have come to a head.
Dlamini said they are seeking a 3.05 per cent CoLA in line with the country’s inflation rate. However, the university has proposed once‑off payments, citing financial constraints.
ALAAP rejected the proposal on the grounds that once‑off payments will not affect their salaries or pension benefits.
According to Dlamini, even the once‑off payment was conditional on government matching the fees proposed by the university; the administration contends that fees paid for government‑sponsored students are no longer sufficient to cover the institution’s daily expenses.
While ALAAP agrees there may be a need to increase tuition fees for government‑sponsored students, they say their own salaries have also been eroded and must be addressed.
The failure to reach common ground led to a deadlock and the matter was escalated to the Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration Commission (CMAC), but no agreement was reached.
“Owing to the failure to reach an agreement, on Thursday we wrote as ALAAP to the Minister for Education, Owen Nxumalo, notifying him of possible industrial action over the long‑delayed CoLA,” Dlamini said.
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… could push wage bill to E20m
MBABANE — University of Eswatini Registrar, Mandla Masuku, has defended the institution’s decision to offer a once-off payment instead of implementing the long-awaited cost-of-living-adjustment (CoLA).
Masuku said the university is grappling with a severe financial crisis, making it impossible to accommodate the salary increment demanded by staff under ALAAP.
He said implementing the CoLA would push the university’s wage bill to around E20 million, a figure he described as ‘unsustainable’ under the current circumstances. “The university literally has no money to implement CoLA,” he said, adding that management had proposed the once-off payment as a temporary relief measure, while seeking long-term solutions to the institution’s financial challenges.
Masuku further expressed concern that if ALAAP proceeded with its planned industrial action, it could trigger a prolonged disruption of academic operations. “My deepest fear is that if the protest goes ahead, we may see the return of ‘Waya-Waya’ because kute lemali,” he warned. The registrar expressed optimism though, that a win-win solution might be found before things go to the point proposed by the union.
Union irked by minister’s claims
MBABANE – As the union prepares to meet the minister, tempers are already high.
Minister Owen Nxumalo is accused of making two unfounded assertions relating to salaries and absenteeism. He is alleged to have claimed that UNESWA lecturers are paid more than their regional counterparts and that they are frequently absent from work. These remarks have provoked a sharp response from the union and staff members, who insist the minister’s comments are misleading and contradict the report he presented.
According to the Assocaition of Lecturers, Academic and Administrative Personnel (ALAAP), the UNESWA Task Team report does not support the minister’s assertions about high salaries; indeed, it highlights the opposite. The report, delivered by the minister himself at the Kwaluseni campus on Wednesday, states that staff salaries at UNESWA have stagnated for nearly a decade.
*Full article available in our publication
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