Africa-Press – Eswatini. The government negotiation team (GNT) has declared that the much anticipated salary review proposed by the joint negotiation forum (JNF) on behalf of civil servants, will not be implemented in the new financial year that began last Friday.
This was revealed by President of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Mbongwa Dlamini when giving feedback on the negotiations of salary reviews between the GNT and the JNF which took place yesterday.
According to Dlamini, during the negotiations, the GNT informed them that government won’t be able to implement the salary review this financial year.
He said the GNT explained to them that the supplementary budget dictates that in order for government to implement the salary review this financial year, it would have to divert funds from already budgeted items in order to accommodate the salary review.
He said the GNT further stated that the money needed for the salary review was around E1.4 billion and they do not reckon from which of the already budgeted items this figure can be sourced.
Attitude
Dlamini alleged that this attitude to them indicates that government does not care about civil servants. He further alleged that this showed them that all the items listed on the budget are a priority to government but not the salary reviews.
He made it clear that there will be a need for them to lock their heads and discuss a way forward since government has made its stance known that there will be no salary review in this financial year.
He urged civil servants to wait for an update from the PSAs regarding a way forward.
This follows that the GNT was supposed to return with a response from its principals in the JNF.
Three weeks ago, the GNT requested the public sector associations (PSAs) to consult their principals regarding the demand being tabled by the PSAs on behalf of civil servants.
The PSAs represents about 45 000 civil servants and these are affiliated to: the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU), the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) and the Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP).
It is on record that the PSAs had said, given that it was now impossible to implement the salary review in the financial year that ended last Thursday, they wanted it to be in the 2022/23 financial year. It was after that demand that government requested them to consult their principals.
The PSAs secretariat said they were expecting the salary review to be implemented in the financial year that begun last Friday but government has since stated that such will not be feasible.
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