MANZINI – A teacher with a diploma qualification stands to get an increment of E288 as cost-of-living adjustment (CoLA), given that government has reportedly extended a three per cent offer.
The offer extended to civil servants by government was broadcast through the SNAT Platform, which is a Facebook page for the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT).
SNAT is one of four public sector unions (PSUs) negotiating for civil servants under the banner of PSUs of Swaziland. The other unions are: National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) and Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP). The unions yesterday met with the Government Negotiating Team (GNT) in the Joint Negotiation Forum (JNF), wherein the offer was extended. The PSUs represent about 21 535 public service workers based on their four unions’ membership updates, who are a fraction of the 42 686 civil servants according to the Establishment Register for the financial year 2022/23.
Classified
It is worth noting that not all civil servants are eligible to be part of unions as there are those classified as un-unionisable workers in the civil service. The Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Public Service, Sipho Tsabedze, confirmed that the GNT and the PSUs met in the JNF. Tsabedze requested not to divulge the contents of the negotiations as he said they were still ongoing. This was when he was sought for comment to establish if indeed government had extended the three per cent CoLA offer to the PSUs. On the other hand, SNAT Secretary General Lot Vilakati confirmed that they met and three per cent was extended to them. Vilakati said the PSUs would be presenting their position paper to the GNT in the next JNF sitting, which is anticipated to be next Wednesday.
The proposed three per cent CoLA, if it shall be implemented as is for civil servants, shall amount to an increment of E288 per month for a teacher on Grade C3 Notch 1, who currently earns a monthly salary of about E9 626.67. It shall also be equivalent to E290.80 for a police officer ranked constable as he or she shall now earn E9 983.81 if the three per cent offer reportedly tabled by government would be implemented as is. It is worth noting that the Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, in his budget speech on February 24, 2023, said: “We have budgeted for three per cent cost-of-living adjustment, but fully understanding that the salary review should take place and could affect this percentage.” In fact, his assertion was subsequent to a highlight of means government had employed to deal with the wage bill, which had a chunk of the national budget used to deal with it.
He said since 2018, government implemented a hiring freeze, which had resulted in less than one per cent increase per annum in the wage bill. Rijkenberg said the wage bill had been reduced as a percentage to budget from 41 per cent in 2017 to a more sustainable 35 per cent currently. In the same breath, he said government provisioned E900 million to recruit personnel in this financial year, which was equivalent to an 11 per cent increase in the wage bill.
Meanwhile, PSUs have been vocal in various instances, raising concerns on their remuneration, such that they claimed that since 2018, their salaries had been corroded by not less than 24 per cent, while they were afforded only six per cent CoLA during this period. Recently, the Governor of the Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE), Dr Phil Mnisi, announced that Eswatini’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by a slower 1.1 per cent year-on-year (seasonally adjusted) in the first quarter of 2023, down from a revised growth of 6.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022.
On the other hand, he said the country’s headline consumer inflation declined to 5.3 per cent in June 2023, from six per cent in May 2023. “The bank reviewed down its inflation forecasts to 5.6 per cent (from 5.7 per cent forecasted in May) for 2023 whiles the forecast for 2024 was revised up to 5.4 per cent (from 5.3 per cent). The inflation forecast for 2025 was unchanged at 5.13 per cent. Risks to the inflation outlook include supply chain disruption due to the Russia-Ukraine, oil prices uncertainty and high food prices.” It is worth noting that in previous instances, civil servants had sought a CoLA based on the inflation and GDP. According to sources, civil servants are seeking nothing less than 8.4 per cent. Meanwhile, in the past two years, the GNT has extended and implemented twice, a three per cent CoLA across the board with a once-off one per cent of their salaries. Last year, CoLA was first awarded to un-unionisable civil servants and those subscribing to PSUs were paid three months later as negotiations between the GNT and PSUs at some point reached a deadlock.