THE NEMESIS OF GOVERNMENT

It seems, it continues to be the contentious issue and call for the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) demanded by Public Servants Associations (PSAs).

The PSA’s have been persistently rebuffed by government for three, consecutive years now, with government citing that the current economic situation in the country is not conducive for this exercise. Government has, since for as long as one can remember, been digging in her heels, (and still is) unperturbed by the demand. Like a bull-terrier breed of canine, she has tenaciously clung onto the ‘there is no money’ rhetoric, relentlessly standing her ground; maintaining her unchanging position that it would not be in the interest of the country, due to the ‘shaky’ fiscal position, to succumb to the demands for  - period.

expenditure

On the other hand, PSA’s are adamant that there is money in government’s coffers; and that government is as good as “udlala ngabo”, that is, she is intent on playing mind games, hoping to eventually convince them that indeed, it is so. Government’s reckless spending patterns, PSA’s argue, continue unabated, so why hoodwink them into believing that ‘ushayekile hulumende?’On the allegations of reckless spending, one read with a sense of shock, an article in the mainstream media recently that bathrooms’ material for the under construction International Convention Centre (ICC) down in the Ezulwini Valley, was imported from outside the country, allegedly costing government millions of Emalangeni.

Strange.... If this proves true, then it is a baffling and extravagant expenditure, being mindful of the fact that less expensive material could have been sourced locally. Such and other past, mindboggling, reckless, and dumbfounding spending patterns cannot help but convince some of us that the PSA’s could have a point that ‘ikhona lemali’. On the other hand, in a bid to force the hand of government to accede to their demands, PSA’s have raised the betting stakes in the high-stakes game, deadly serious on forcing government’s hand by threatening to engage in a series of strikes in the coming weeks.

An ominous war of words has ensued, with both sides not prepared to tone down the worrying rhetoric or to back down. This past week had our media jostling for scoops, to be the first to report on the unsavoury war of words between the two gladiators. Seemingly from the tirade coming from both sides, a battle of potential, epic proportions is looming. ‘Goliath’ (government), is prancing about, flexing her muscles, threatening that should there be no work done during the planned strike, the “no-work, no-pay” rule will viciously apply. To spice up the war of words, government has allegedly insinuated that embarking on the proposed strike by PSA’s would be as good as flogging a dead horse - because it will not change anything. It gets uglier.... ‘David’ (PSA’s), has an ace up his sleeve; is intent on using his ‘sling’ - threatening to ‘strike’ back, in the process bringing the whole government machinery (and country?) to a grinding halt.

potential

The million dollar question is: In the face of the looming and frightening scenario...will there be any outright winners or...losers? If, say, there are winners or losers, what would be the future consequences of a victory...or a loss, between the two gladiators? It does not look pretty....not at all. That said, it is imperative to point out that the reluctant spectators that will be watching the battle on the grandstands -  me and you - can only hope that in the days leading to the potential showdown between the two contestants, somewhere, somehow, some semblance of sanity will prevail. The issue being fiercely contested here,  has the frightening potential and makings of irrevocably tearing into shreds, any remnants of trust (if ever there was) which existed between government and her children - civil servants.

One thing abhorrent about employing threats as a means to achieving an end is that they more often than not, have the propensity to leave a bitter, revengeful taste on the receiver. Granted, threats may achieve the desired result from the aggressor’s perspective, but whatever good working relationship that existed before between two people, would be irrevocably broken down. We earnestly pray and hope that the ‘agreeing to disagree’ concept and the finding of common ground will prevail. In spite of the challenges we perennially face as a nation, it is an indisputable fact that we have one Kingdom of Eswatini and no other. The time-tested, roundtable platform of ‘agreeing to disagree’, finding consensus between warring social partners, has in the past, seen sworn enemies all over the globe, reaching common ground, coming out of any stalemate shaking hands, thus averting calamity.

It will not do the future of the country any good if solutions will be found after taking the confrontational and the issuing of threats route, in order to have one’s way. Revolutions have been triggered globally through embarking on such a suicidal route. That said, I and many others who are patriotic and love this country with a passion, are also deeply concerned at the recently adopted, aggressive and threatening stance taken by government, to settle the tertiary students’ reluctance to succumb to the new mode of disbursement of students allowances in the country. Government is holding a sword over the heads of the students, threatening them in no uncertain terms, with the loss of scholarships if any student fails or is reluctant to sign consent forms agreeing not to, for example, boycott classes in the future, during the duration of any student’s learning stint in the country’s tertiary institutions.

applications

As much as government - to her credit, I must emphasise -  has placated the students by slightly increasing the allowances, the million dollar question being posed by many is: is the increase adequately enough to enable the students to at least meet their basic needs? It is an open secret that today’s financial hardships are wreaking havoc on everyone and that some students are having it tough meeting their daily needs, especially those students who reside outside campus. Will the monthly allowances chase away the wolf from the door?
I was reading the other day, an online article about how some students in many countries globally, have turned into sex work selling their bodies to fund their tertiary education and that due to rising living costs, as well as higher students fees and access to online applications, such an unfortunate but immoral option is being frowned upon by their universities and governments. Rent payments are a challenge for some, resulting in evictions by landlords. To fulfil their ambitions of attaining degrees, for some students, sex work has become an option.

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