Africa-Press – Eswatini. The new Prime Minister (PM), Russell Dlamini, has been given a task to deal with the issue of low salaries paid to workers from different sectors in the country.
This is because the low salaries have led to hunger for most emaSwati, leading to some of them becoming uncontrollable and violent. The task was given to the PM by one of the speakers, who got an opportunity to pour out his burning issues (emanyeva) as part of the first phase of the last day of Sibaya yesterday.MPapane Tsabedze of Matsanjeni North, submitted that all he wanted was to give some word of advice to the person who was to be appointed PM.
“My advice to the next PM is that he must ensure that the issue of low salaries paid to workers in the country is addressed. Due to the low salaries, the nation is hungry. The truth of the matter is that hungry people tend to lose respect for their leaders. They then become uncontrollable,” he submitted.He mentioned that the PM should appoint a committee that would look into the issue of salaries. In his view, the committee needed to visit workers in the various organisations to ascertain if they were happy with what they were currently being paid.
Undeniable
“It is an undeniable fact that the citizens of the country love The King, but they are hungry. This was evident some months ago when some serious looting of supermarkets was witnessed in different parts of the country. “The people looted because they were hungry,” Tsabedze submitted. He highlighted that the newly-elected Members of Parliament (MPs) should come on board as well, and see to it that issues of salaries were addressed. Also making an almost similar submission was Sikelela Hlophe of LaMgabhi, who said the new PM should ensure that he introduced strategies that would see a significant creation of better paying jobs.
Survived
Hlophe said it was sad that hundreds of emaSwati survived through salaries as low as E1 200. “Also, since most emaSwati earn less, government must allow parents to pay school fees in installments. It is difficult to spend about E8 000 at the beginning of a term just because you want your child to get the best education,” said Hlophe, who shared that he was a security guard and that the working conditions were poor.
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