SENATORS QUESTION TIMING OF SECRET GOVT INCREMENTS

LOBAMBA – Was the timing for the salary adjustments for senior government officers right?

This was a question put to the Ministry of Public Service during the ministry’s appearance before senators yesterday.
The issue was raised by Senator Meninjeli Mahlalela who placed a copy of the Times of Swaziland before the Acting Chairperson Senator Ndumiso Mdluli. Mahlalela asked the ministry if the news reported by this publication about the secret salary adjustment was true.

He clarified that he was not necessarily saying that the increment was wrong but wondered if the timing was ideal.
“Why increase senior officials’ salaries while at the same time there is the issue of zero per cent because unions may use this against government in the negotiation table?” wondered Mahlalela.
Mahlalela opined that the increment should have been done when civil servants got their bumper pay dubbed dvuladvula. He made the House aware that the public blamed the increment on parliamentarians and not the ministry alone.
Minister of Public Service Owen Nxumalo explained that the issue was not about timing but merely fixing something that was wrong. Nxumalo also explained that some civil servants were earning more than their superiors and added that this was an anomaly they had to fix right away.

He clarified that they spotted a mistake and could not then sit and do nothing about it because they were discussing the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) issues on the side.
“Government saw it proper to do a review and correct the anomaly because it made the working environment unfavourable,” the minister said.

Nxumalo also addressed the issue of government houses which senators had noted as a cause for concern. He stated that they were still weighing if it was still viable for government to continue maintaining the houses.
The ministry wants to look into other options which would be affordable to government.
The minister asked senators to help them address the issue of government having to pay electricity and water for certain civil servants as others had the tendency of abusing those resources.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: