Africa-Press – Lesotho. CIVIL servants say the government should give them a 25 percent salary increase or face consequences of denying them the increase. The government employees made the threat in a letter to Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro this week.
The demand comes as Finance Minister Thabo Sophonea prepares to present the budget next Wednesday. The budget speech was initially scheduled for tomorrow (Friday) and the civil servants had given the government 24 hours to respond.
The letter was written by the Lesotho Nurses Association (LNA), the Qiloane Nurse Assistants Association (QNAA), the Lesotho Teachers Trade Union (LTTU), the Lesotho Teachers Association (LTA), the Lesotho Public Service Staff Association (Lepssa), and the Lesotho Police Staff Association (Leposa).
It however does not specify what consequences the government will face if it fails to accede to their demands. “We demand the estimates are corrected to ensure that civil servant’s salary increase is not less than 25%,” the letter reads in part.
They also gave the government until April to have implemented the threshold at which income earners become liable for income tax, “or PAYE should be increased or raised to M48 000, the current threshold has been uncharged for some years”.
They also asked for their tax credit to be increased and a reduction of income tax to 20 percent. “These changes will go a long way to increasing our buying power and the government will subsequently collect more VAT.
” They complain that MPs granted themselves M5 000 petrol allowances each yet they give civil servants zero percent salary increment. Their spokesman, Letsatsi Ntsibolane, said the government should be careful when addressing their grievances.
“Failure to do so would call for harsh measures, I advise them to adhere to those grievances or else what is coming will be a problem for them,” Ntsibolane said.
The Lespa secretary-general, Mathafeng Moteuli, said they decided to write to the government after their joint meeting that was held on Monday and Tuesday morning.
“That is our statement and we demand those things without fail, or else they will see what will happen,” Moteuli said.
The Leposa secretary-general, ’Makatleho Mphetho, told thepost that they demand a 25 percent increase as in the previous years they received nothing from the budget speech.
This happens a week after the leader of the Basotho National Party (BNP) Machesetsa Mofomobe declared while at the Ha-Thamae rally last week that the civil servants would get a zero percent increment again this year.
Mofomobe blamed the problem on the previous government which he claims squandered funds. “That zero percent is not equivalent to our M5 000 fuel allowances, there is nothing you can do about it anyway,” Mofomobe said.
He added that the MPs might increase their own allowances, again. “It is right for the civil servants to get that zero percent because there is no service delivery from them, to an extent that we feel happy when they get zero percent,” he said.
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