‘NO SALARY FREEZE, JUST ENSURE FISCAL DISCIPLINE’

MBABANE – There is a lot that government has to consider before thinking of a salary freeze.

The thought of a salary freeze was brought to the fore by interpretations of various people based on submissions made by Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg during Sibaya. Rijkenberg was quoted by the local media to have said that the economic status of the country could be changed through freezing salaries among other things.

At the time of making the submission, Rijkenberg was only a Member of Parliament. He was appointed as minister last Friday.
concerns
His submissions were the talk of the town as people from different sectors including trade unionists voiced their concerns over Rijkenberg’s remarks. They took to social media platforms where they voiced out their concerns as to what would happen in the event he was put in charge of the public purse. It was as though they predicted their fate as Rijkenberg was made Minister of Finance a few weeks later.

Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Secretary General Sikelela Dlamini, in a confident voice, said civil servants would get their cost-of-living-adjustment (CoLA). Dlamini said this during an interview yesterday.

Dlamini said they believed Rijkenberg was only making suggestions at Sibaya and not necessarily what would be government’s official position on the matter. He said viewing government issues from outside was different from looking at them from the inside. He said the government machinery was not a one man show but decisions were taken collectively.

Dlamini said ministers had to bear in mind that they were working for the nation and their personal views would be superseded by those of the masses. He argued that the country could not reach first world status with stagnant salaries. He said for the economy to grow, people should be adequately paid so that they could pump it back into the economy. “It would be very unfortunate if as a minister (he) would try all means possible to frustrate workers as that would mean he has no love for the nation,” Dlamini said.

He stated that there were over 40 000 civil servants and not giving them any increment would be tantamount to holding them to ransom. He highlighted that most emaSwati had extended families who were dependent on each other. He said this then meant that hundreds of thousands of people stood to be directly affected by decisions made by ministers on salary increment issues.

Dlamini mentioned that politics and business were two different things. He also called on Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini to rise to the equation as his failure to do so would haunt him for years. He said workers expected the best from all ministers as they would be working as a collective. “If he (Rijkenberg) continues to hold on to his personal views which he submitted during Sibaya, that could be an unfortunate situation that may lead to unrest and that is something we do not want,” Dlamini said.

corruption

The SNAT secretary general recalled that in 2012, the then Minister of Finance, Majozi Sithole, said about E40 million was lost through corruption monthly and the figure doubled in no time. He said Rijkenberg could assist by ensuring that there was fiscal discipline in government as well as proper prioritisation. He observed that some of the country’s priorities were wrong.

Dlamini said Rijkenberg was expected to be at the helm of the fight against corruption. He said it was a fact that the minister could not combat it on his own but he had to come up with strategies of ending it. He said they expected him to put a lockdown on the areas where there was a lot of corruption. “He has to revive the economy so that when we engage the Ministry of Public Service for CoLA, there is something to give to civil servants,” Dlamini said.
He stated that other ministries also had to play their part in the fight against corruption.

Meanwhile, National Workers Union in Swaziland Higher Institutions Secretary General Fundizwi Sikhondze said they regarded Rijkenberg’s comments as reckless. Sikhondze said they believed the biggest challenge faced by government was not the wage bill but rather the expenditure patterns skewed towards noncritical items.

Sikhondze said they would advise the minister that if he wanted to cut down on expenditure, he could start by rationalising expenditure to items that the country could really not do without. He said this should be until the economy stabilised. He said they would also suggest that he curbs illicit outflows of money from the public purse to accounts in tax havens.

Sikhondze added that they would further advise that he ensures that ‘ghost employees are eradicated from the government system for good’. Sikhondze stated that workers would not fold their arms while they were made scapegoats for bad decisions made by government.

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