STOP E2.4 MILLION SECRET PAY RISE – UNIONS

MBABANE – While some civil servants braved adverse weather conditions yesterday, it was a different case for most under secretaries (USs) as they laughed all the way to the bank.

This follows the effecting of a salary review for the USs whom a majority now earn a basic monthly salary of E45 858. Investigations by this publication revealed that government, this month, parted with about E2.4 million more on the already inflated wage bill, just to pay the under secretaries both their basic salaries and back pay after Finance Circular No.2 was implemented.  This is the very amount that the civil servants want reversed and was one of the reasons they embarked on a protect march yesterday to petition the Ministry of Public Service. On average, all of the USs received about E44 000 as both their monthly salaries and back pay, with some taking a gross salary of almost E90 000 this month. However, it is not all the US’s whose salaries were reviewed as others were found to be earning E39 000 and no increment was effected. The salaries of the under secretaries, however, differ because some of them have different notches.

One of the reasons that was put forward for the salary increase was that some directors earned more than the USs yet they reported to them. One such example was the salary payment of the registrar of Deeds, who earns far more than the under secretaries at a basic monthly salary of E47 470. Interestingly, the salary review of the officers comes at a time where government stated that timely payment of salaries could no longer be guaranteed if the wage bill was to be increased beyond current budget levels.  This was according to a report on government’s fiscal position in relation to the demand for the cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) by public sector unions. The report had been attached by government in its responding papers in court. It stated that the quarterly Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) allocation was only enough to cover 2.5 months salaries per quarter, and these would be reduced to 2.3 months if the COLA was allowed by government.

Government submitted that if it did allow the COLA, its capital programmes, which were for economic development and growth, would be severely compromised, leading to high unemployment and poverty levels. The Public Sector Associations (PSAs) were allegedly informed that the 9.15 per cent they were demanding would increase the already existing pressure on the budget and cash flow. “The additional cost of implementing this proposal, which has been underestimated by the PSAs, is E768 million, since the wage bill is currently at E8.39 billion,” said government. Government submitted that although it did prioritise the wage bill over suppliers and government’s capital programmes, it was worth mentioning that the delayed payment of suppliers would result in a number of them delaying to pay taxes. It was stated that the same suppliers would also refuse to continue to supply government and many businesses would end up closing shop, which would further exacerbate unemployment and poverty levels.

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