AFTER waiting for a week, it’s all systems go for the, payment of reviewed civil servants salaries today.
This also includes uniformed forces who though not as yet eligible for a bumper pay popularly known as dvuladvula will receive their normal salaries.
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This was confirmed by Ministry of Finance Communications Officer Setsabile Dlamini, yesterday. She stated that nothing had changed on the ministry’s side regarding the payment of civil servants’ salaries as promised last week.
Dlamini said everything was still in order, including the pay dates announced by government.
“The pay date was shifted to the 27th and nothing has changed. When government announced the date, they had already ensured that all necessary calculations would be completed. If there were any changes, the accountant general would have communicated them,” she said.
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Civil servants affiliated with the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU), National Public Services and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), and the Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP) are expected to receive their reviewed salaries along with backpay today, following successful negotiations with government two weeks ago.
RELATED: Treasury Department unable to process October salaries
The uniformed forces also experienced delays earlier last week after the Treasury Department was unable to process their October salaries due to what was termed system limitations by acting Government Spokesperson Thabile Mdluli.
The national payroll system can only process salaries for all permanent employees simultaneously, which caused the temporary delay.
Meanwhile, banks on Friday issued statements easing pressure on stop-order deduction dates to accommodate the delayed salary payments. Banks that issued press releases included Standard Bank, Nedbank, First National Bank (FNB) and EswatiniBank.
The banks stated that they understood that the delay in government employees’ October salaries may affect customers’ financial obligations and planning. They assured clients that they were fully committed to implementing consumer protection measures to support them during this time.
Standard Bank and Nedbank committed to deferring loan and incidental deductions within their control until between October 27 and 31. Standard Bank also pledged flexibility in managing affected accounts, including the possible waiver of penalties and charges related to dishonoured payments or delayed deductions.
It was further communicated to customers that, where possible, the banks would coordinate with debit and stop-order initiators to ensure smooth and consistent implementation of the measures.
“Our priority is to safeguard our clients’ financial wellbeing and ensure they remain supported during this time,” said the bank.
EswatiniBank and FNB also stated that they would reverse all fees arising from unpaid debit orders.
Last Saturday, government announced today as the revised pay day for civil servants this month. The announcement was made through a memorandum issued by Accountant General Nomsa Simelane dated October 18.
Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of the Eswatini Bankers Association, Zakhele Lukhele, said the association could not issue a joint statement on behalf of all banks, as each institution had to make its own business decision.
“There is no obligation for all banks to do the same thing, this is a business decision for each institution. The banks therefore issued their statements individually,” he said.
Some civil servants to get only E100 increment
WITH ‘dvuladvula’ payment expected today, some civil servants are not happy about their expected pay.
They lament that they will only get a mere E100 increment on their salaries.
The government employees have voiced their concerns over the manner in which the exercise was handled as well as recommendations made by the consultant.
Some civil servants continue to question the staggered implementation of the exercise while some of the lowest ranked employees argue that their situations would not be made any better.
Other civil servants are also dejected that they stand to miss out on the housing allowance bumper pay while occupying dilapidated government houses.
In as much as the implementation of the salary review was appreciated by public sector unions (PSUs), it was still met with some reservations as they were not entirely happy with the process as well as the outcome of the negotiations.
They also raised a number of concerns about the delayed payment of their salaries, which had led them to drown into more debt by requesting short loans from loan sharks.
According to the consultant’s report, the least paid civil servant will get about E4 705 more this month.
This is because on the implementation modalities, it was agreed that in respect of salary grades or bands that do not have any recommended upward adjustment and those that have been downgraded as per the recommendations of the salary review report, the parties agreed that a once-off payment, calculated at 5% of an annual basic salary, be paid to these workers.
This means that employees paid under job grade A2, notch 5 who were last month paid E5 105.17 will this month be paid E4 508.33 in backpay.
In addition to this, the revised housing allowance as per the salary review report should be implemented in full for salary bands A and B, respectively. This means that in addition to the E2 705 which is 5% once-off; they shall also get E2 000, excluding the bus fare allowances as revised in accordance with the salary review report as it shall be implemented in full, effective this month.
One of the civil servants who works as a library assistant said he was dejected by what he said was a mere E100 salary increment as per the recommendations of the consultant.
The employee said he was remunerated under Grade A1 and after calculations; they were informed that their salaries would increase from around E3 700 to E3 800.
He said his previous pay scale rank was Grade A 1 notch four where he was paid a monthly salary of around E3 771 equivalent to an annual salary of E45 259 and according to the salary review report he would now move to notch 5 with a monthly salary of E3 884 (E46 617 annually).
“For us this will not improve our lives in anyway because the E100 will also be taxed and this will not make any difference,” said the employee.
He further mentioned that some of those remunerated under Grades A and B were occupying government houses which were dilapidated and stood to miss out on the housing allowance backpay.
He said some of the houses were not in good condition and there was nothing done by government to address the issue.
He said what pained them the most was that they had waited for the salary review for a long time with hopes of better pay, only to discover that their situation would not change at all.
The employee further argued that had the salary review been implemented on time their welfare would be in a better state, arguing that the housing allowance for civil servants had been stagnant at E600 for too long. The anticipated increase was still below the market value of houses.
He said a reference point was that of teachers at Our Lady of Sorrows High School who were locked out of the Catholic Church Mission houses over unpaid rentals of over E100 000 which were charged at market rate. He wondered how many civil servants found themselves in a similar situation on a monthly basis.
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