MBABANE:Mabulala Maseko,the Minister of Public Service has been accused of failing or refusing to allocate posts to Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala so he can facilitate the employment of Court Clerks who are currently working for free as volunteers.
The Clerks,some who have been volunteering for over four(4) years were allegedly promised employment by Government if they could first render their services as volunteers.
Public Service Minister Mabulala Maseko declined to comment about the matter when reached by this publication on Wednesday evening.
Reached for comments,human rights lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi confirmed that, the courts “are operating with Clerks some who are working as volunteers”, he called for the speedy employment of the Clerks.
“Even if they were volunteering, it’s unjust to then force them to work for free for such a long time”, said the human rights lawyer.
Efforts to reach Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala proved unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.
One of the Clerks who is also volunteering told this publication that, they even tried to approach Justice Minister Prince Simelane who told them that, the judiciary “is independent and therefore, the matter must be handled by the administration of the judicial system”.
When this Swaziland News contacted other Government Ministries,it was discovered that, the Ministry of Public Service has been frustrating the process of employing the Clerks by refusing to allocate posts to the Judiciary.
Public Service Minister Mabulala Maseko.