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CALL FOR POLITICIANS TO DONATE THIRD OF THEIR SALARIES

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MANZINI – Workers are calling upon politicians to donate a third of their salaries to the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA).
This money would then be channelled towards the fight against the coronavirus.


The workers, who have been affected by means employed by government to fight the coronavirus such as imposing a partial lockdown, said the politicians should take a leaf from their South African counterparts. They said the Republic’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, when announcing the extension of the lockdown, said Cabinet ministers and premiers, would contribute a third of their salary to the consolidation fund.


Their consolidation fund is aimed at assisting those who would be affected by the virus. In retrospect, local industrial groups said they were expecting politicians to lead by example and offer a portion of their salaries as they were also idle at home like their constituents.
The country has about 627 politicians. These are Members of Parliament (69), regional administrators (4), senators (30), emabandla (94) tindvuna tetinkhundla (59) and bucopho (380).


Emabandla refer to Liqoqo, Ludzidzini Council, Border Determination Special Committee (BDSC), Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC), Land Management Board (LMB), Civil Service Commission (CSC), Teaching Service Commission (TSC); and Chairman of the Minerals Management Board (MMB).


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Advocating for the politicians to contribute a third of their salary was the Secretary General of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), Sikelela Dlamini. He said politicians should lead by example and be patriotic like they usually said in political gatherings.
He said if they cared about the destitute and impoverished masses in the country, their contributions would assist immensely in the uplifting of those who were affected by the pandemic.


“If they care about the people, this is the time for them to show that they do.”
On the other hand, the President of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU), Bheki Mamba, said a contribution of their salary by the politicians would assist in procuring a number of essential things needed in delivering adequate health services.

In so doing, with the contributions, that is, Mamba said what was essential even if the politicians were to contribute was accountability and transparency. He said this was important in order for the politicians themselves to know what they were donating for and how much was necessary for it.
Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), Mduduzi Gina, said they ought to lead by example more so because their remuneration was not affected by the lockdown.


“They are not going to experience layoffs or short time; so, they can contribute what they earn towards making the lives of the people they lead better.”
He said they should contribute as they benefitted when employees sought better remuneration and were lucky enough not to be affected by the technicalities that saw workers having their salaries deducted.
While promoting the need for politicians to contribute 33.33 per cent of their remuneration, he said the politicians should be engaged before their salaries were tampered with.


Worth noting is that politicians are not social welfare officers but in their various constituencies, they lead in a number of initiatives that seek to upgrade the livelihood of the electorate.
These initiatives vary between paying school fees for the destitute to buying coffins for impoverished families in a time of need so they could bury their loved ones. 

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