MBABANE: “I am very happy all civil servants will now receive a salary increment”.
These were the sentiments of Public Service Minister Mabulala Maseko when asked by this Swaziland News to share a comment after unions representing Government employees signed for a 3% Cost of Living Adjustment(COLA) and a 1% once-off to be backdated to the 1st April 2022.
“I would like to thank the unions after we reached an agreement. It’s something I have been praying for Mlangeni ekutseni akube khona labakutfolako batfwabami bonkhe because it was painful to me ekutseni labanye batfwana badlile labanye abakadli. But nyalo ngiyatfokota kutsi bonkhe sebatawutfola Nkhosi(meaning:It was painful to me that some of my ‘children’(civil servants) had something to eat while others had nothing. But now I am happy that all my children will benefit,” he said.
The Public Service Minister said this Cost of Living Adjustment(COLA) came at a time when eSwatini and other countries faced financial challenges after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Maybe one can also add that we did this against the serious financial challenges we are facing as a country. You will recall that as a country, we were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and we are not stable financially, even other countries like South Africa are struggling to offer COLA.So I am happy we have reached this agreement and I would like to emphasize that as Swazis, we must continue to be united when negotiating,” said the Minister.
Reached for comments,Oscar Nkambule, the President of the National Public Services and Allied Workers Union(NAPSAWU) confirmed that they signed the 3% Cost of Living Adjustment(COLA) and a 1% once-off on behalf of their members but clarified that they were under pressure.
The NAPSAWU President said Government opted to divide civil servants by awarding the 3% to non-unionized workers and subsequently advised others to leave their unions in order to benefit from the increment.
“We signed under pressure because we were losing members, civil servants were serving us with resignation letters.If we delayed to sign, we were going to face a serious problem because Government had divided the workers by awarding non-unionized civil servants and went on to advise others to resign in order to benefit. Angikho mnandzi ngalentfo lena kodvwa kute besingakwenta ema-members bese asihlupha kakhulu afuna kusishiya,”said the NAPSAWU President.
Speaking to this Swaziland News, Nathie Dlamini, the Business Eswatini Chief Executive Officer(CEO) said the signing of the agreement between Government and civil servants would enhance service delivery and contribute to economic development.
“Regarding the wage settlement, firstly Business Eswatini is happy that the two parties have settled on a certain figure.We hope this will finally create the space for everyone to concentrate on service-delivery and building our fragile economy. Furthermore, a windfall of this nature, regardless of its size, will definitely have positive spin offs especially on our economy that's hungry for a cash-injection in terms of spending.With that said, we'd like to congratulate both parties,” said the Business Eswatini CEO.
Public Service Minister Mabulala Maseko.