MBABANE:Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini says, there’s a Cabinet resolution that seeks to fully support the proposed multibillion conversion of the Eswatini National Provident Fund(ENPF) into a National Pension Fund.
Responding to this Swaziland News on Sunday, the PM said the resolution was reached after a vigorous debate as some Cabinet Ministers were against the conversion but after the resolution, all the Ministers are highly expected to submit to the Cabinet collective responsibility principle.
He said “it is normal for Cabinet Ministers to agree or disagree in principle on issues of national interest but, after a Cabinet resolution”, the entire Cabinet normally rally behind that particular Cabinet resolution.
The PM was asked to clarify if it was a Cabinet resolution to support the ENPF conversion or his own position as the Prime Minister.
“Cabinet collectively supports the vision. Cabinet discussed this issue during their retreat and agreed in principle that it should go ahead.It is unavoidable that they may be individuals whose ideas are contrary to a collective decision. As any Board of Directors operate it is wrong and unprofessional for a member to come out of a Board meeting and speak against a Board decision reached through a consensus.That is unprofessional and poor leadership,” said the Prime Minister.
On another note, the PM said every person, educated or not, “deserves a better life today” and, in the future especially if one had lived a productive life.
“After retirement Cash is King. Elderly people need to buy food and pay for their medical bills, basically to meet basic needs. To do this one needs a constant source of income until they pass away. Lidlelantfongeni(ENPF) will provide this very much needed social security. It is expected that abject poverty will be significantly reduced once the pension starts operating.If poverty is defined as living below one dollar a day, then all pensioners will receive more than a dollar or two a day,” he said.
On another note, the Public Service Pension Fund(PSPF) is vigorously against the Provident Fund’s proposed conversion into a National Pension Fund.
But Chief Executive Officer(CEO) Masotja Vilakati had not responded to our questions at the time of compiling this report.
The PSPF has been vigorously lobbying Members of Parliament(MPs) and Cabinet to reject the proposed Eswatini National Pension Fund Bill that seeks to, among others, convert the ENPF into a National Pension Fund.
The Public Service Pension Fund(PSPF).