By OWN CORRESPONDENT

Unfortunate and misleading headlines in various online and mainstream media platforms including the Swaziland News continue to claim;

“Forcing civil servants to be part of Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF) proposed Pension Fund will violate Government’s defined benefit agreement and collapse PSPF”.

This is simply false and the reality is that the proposed Eswatini National Pension Fund Bill protects PSPF, safeguards current civil servants’ benefits, and strengthens retirement security for future generations. Let’s set the record straight; current civil servants are fully protected, the ENPF Bill is non-retrospective. 

This means no current PSPF member will be forced into ENPF, civil servants already in PSPF will keep their full “defined benefit” rights exactly as agreed in law.

But the new system applies only to employees hired after the Bill comes into effect, designed for co-existence not to collapse the PSPF. The ENPF and PSPF are structured to run side by side and, contributions to the ENPF are currently capped at E4,000 of salary, this cap deliberately reduces pressure on PSPF.

Actuarial design ensures that PSPF remains fiscally sound, while ENPF expands social protection coverage nationally.Confusion has been spread about whether ENPF will be Defined Contribution(DC) or Defined Benefit(DB) and the Bill is crystal clear, ENPF is a Defined Benefit scheme.

This means retirement income is guaranteed and predictable, not dependent on how much one saves or on market performance.The Defined Benefit model was chosen to alleviate poverty and ensure dignity for all emaSwati in retirement.

For new employees, pension contributions are restructured-not reduced. Out of the 20% pension contribution, 10% goes to ENPF(on the capped E4,000 base), the PSPF share is calculated on the adjusted basic salary(full salary minus the capped portion).

This lowers PSPF’s future liabilities while keeping benefits guaranteed-a formula that ensures PSPF’s sustainability for decades to come.

Far from losing out, future civil servants will gain dual pensions, a PSPF pension(on the adjusted salary) plus an ENPF pension(on the capped salary), this combined package provides superior retirement outcomes compared to relying on PSPF alone.

The ENPF Bill is about more than just government employees but it’s about closing gaps in Eswatini’s social protection system.

The ENPF Bill does not violate agreements, reduce benefits, or collapse PSPF but instead it protects current civil servants, ensures PSPF sustainability, introduces dual pensions for new employees, and builds a stronger, universal pension system that leaves no one behind.