CAN GOVT AFFORD E20 000 SALARY FOR CHIEFS?

MBABANE –Will chiefs ever get a salary from government? This is a mind boggling question that is yet to be adequately answered by government.

For the past three decades, the chiefs have been asking this one and the same question: “will we ever get a salary from government?”

Chief Maweni Simelane, the deceased former Minister of Justice who was in office in 1998 pushed for the inclusion of the traditional leaders in the public wage bill.
Their welfare was at that time under the jurisdiction of the justice ministry – by virtue of the Swazi Administration Order, which spelt out the functions and powers of the chiefs.  The ministry was the custodian of the Swazi Administration Order.

The portfolio responsible for chiefs is now the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development.
Initially, chiefs had proposed that government should fix a chief’s salary at E10 000 per month.

However, three chiefs told this newspaper this week that they deserved to be paid a salary above E20 000. This, they said, was because of the current inflation rate. 

There are more than 300 chiefs in the country. At the rate of E20 000 per month, the taxpayer could need a budget of E6 million per month to pay the salaries. That could translate to E72 million on an annual basis.

The three chiefs who spoke on condition of anonymity said the welfare of chiefs should be the new Prime Minister’s priority.
His Majesty the King is likely to appoint the premier next month or early November. 

One of the three concerned chiefs said constituency councillors (bucopho) and constituency headmen received salaries from government but chiefs did not.
He said nominations for the parliamentary elections were held at the royal kraals (imiphakatsi), an indication that they formed part of the kingdom’s political structure.

In an interview, Prince Magudvulela, the Chief of Ntfonjeni and former MP, said there was a need to conduct a study to determine government’s affordability to pay the salaries.

He said government’s decentralisation policy meant chiefs should receive allowances because there was a lot expected of them to deliver in terms of community service.

He said calculations at that time indicated that a chief could be salaried at E10 000 per month.
The chief said laws such as the Children Protection Act prescribed work for the chiefs. He said the traditional leaders also approved scholarships and signed vital application forms for their subjects.

They also supervised developmental projects in their communities and ensured that there was peace and order in the country.

In 2002, it has been established that chiefs suggested that a slight increase of tax by E10 per worker could help government sustain the salaries for the chiefs.
Due to the unpaid salaries, it is on record that Ingwenyama would sometimes take it upon himself to pay allowances for chiefs.

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