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COUNCILLORS ALSO WANT POLITICIANS’ BENEFITS

18/01/2021 00:21:00 BY NTOMBI MHLONGO

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MBABANE – Government may have opened floodgates when it approved the back pay in car allowances for Members of Parliament and constituency headmen.

This is because employees from other sectors holding public office want same or something even more meaningful such as funeral cover and medical aid.

A case in point is that of members of urban councils, who dedicate their time coordinating development projects and enacting laws for local towns but what happens when they die?

As the number of COVID-19 positive cases increases, most people have reacted quickly to plan for their future and have policies properly structured in case they die or fall sick.

However, this is not the case for members of urban councils.

Known as councillors and having been elected by ratepayers in different wards, these individuals have for years conducted their duties without a funeral policy or medical aid cover included in their terms and conditions of service.

Interestingly, because of the nature of their jobs, they are regarded as politicians and hold sittings in the same way that parliamentarians do.

Positive

The current situation where more people are testing positive for COVID-19 while others die, has become a concern for the councillors.

They have come out to state that most of them do not have good paying jobs and the fact that there is no funeral policy in place for them is a big concern.

Already, four councillors have died due to COVID-19-related illnesses while others have tested positive for the virus and are either admitted to hospitals or recovering at home.

One of the councillors, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was disappointing that government still did not want to have a funeral policy in place for them yet there was a lot of work they did in their respective wards.

He mentioned that he became concerned when he read reports to the effect that government had approved the payment of car allowances for tindvuna tetinkhundla.

This publication reported last week that government would spend about E9.2 million to cater for car allowances for tindvuna tetinkhundla.

The payment of the allowance is provided for in a circular that governs the terms and conditions of service for politicians.

It should be noted that according to the Tinkhundla System of Governance, local government is divided into urban and rural councils.

The urban councils are municipalities and the rural councils are the tinkhundla.

responsibility

Under the Urban Government Act of 1969, the responsibility for urban local government rests with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, which has the power to define urban areas. The substantive minister is responsible for defining the remuneration and terms and conditions of service for the councillors elected into office. By contrast, the responsibility for rural local government rests with the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development.

According to the concerned councillor, they now get less in terms of sitting allowances.

“What government is doing to us is painful. We do not have a funeral policy or medical aid. Making our situation worse is that the money that we get every month is less than E3 000,” he said.

Elaborating, he said the coronavirus pandemic had made their situation worse as they now had fewer sittings, which meant they did not receive much in terms of allowances.

“I have my salary slip for this month and if you check it you can see that I received around E2 000. Imagine getting such a salary when the work you do is almost the same as the one done by MPs? Councillors pass laws in the municipalities and also work on development projects in the wards where they were elected. This is not fair,” he said. He alleged that they had tried numerous times to lobby some MPs to assist them but had not received any feedback.

Another councillor, Mashumi Shongwe of the Nhlangano Town Board, also shared the same sentiments. Shongwe said he was of the view that government was not taking councillors seriously.

“The fact that councillors are not well catergorised is a sign that we are not taken seriously. It is not clear whether we are politicians or Board committees. However, when you look closer, you can tell that due to the way councillors are voted into office, they are pure politicians,” he said.

Elaborating, he alleged that once voted into office, councillors’ welfare and terms and conditions were regulated by the substantive ministry and not even the minister.

“It is very unfair and uncalled for. Councillors are treated just like an appointed Board yet they go through a harsh electoral process just like all politicians. Their responsibility to govern and develop the urban areas is so huge compared to the way they are treated by government.

Entitled

“Something needs to be done. Councillors are not entitled to any benefits that other politicians get. Even bucopho are far better than councillors. In past engagements, we thought the ministry will address this issue but until today nothing has been done,” said Shongwe.

Speaking on behalf of the councillors was Pigg’s Peak Mayor Victor Rodrigues in his capacity as the President of the Eswatini Local Government Association (ELGA), formerly the Swaziland Local Government Association (SWALGA).

He said there were a lot of grey areas that government needed to address regarding the welfare of councillors in the various municipalities.

“The issue here is based on how local governance is structured against central governance. The issue has been there for years but nothing has been done. I remember even during the time of former Minister Phiwayinkhosi Mabuza, it was there,” he said.

He said when he assumed the position of president, he personally tried to pursue the issue but nothing has been done.

“The truth is, COVID-19 has caught us off-guard and something needs to be done,” he said.

This publication also engaged Manzini South MP Thandi Nxumalo, who is the Chairperson of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development Portfolio Committee in the House of Assembly. Nxumalo mentioned that the issue had not yet been brought to her attention but that she personally tried to raise the one of allowances for councillors as she felt they needed to be increased.

Allowances

“The councillors have not raised it with me. I only raised the one for allowances when I toured the towns. Bucopho earn better than councillors so that is why I raised it,” she said.

She wondered if the councillors were aware that medical aid cover was contributed for from salaries.

“Us MPs we have medical aid and funeral policy, but we contribute so this has to be clear. This, therefore, means that they have to agree to it first. Also, they need to lobby the MPs. Politics is about lobbying so they have a right to come to the committee. The committee will then present the issue in Parliament,” she said.

Nxumalo said the issue of sitting allowances had affected almost all people in Boards as there were fewer meetings.

“What I can say is the first thing to do would be to review the allowances. If the allowance is E3 000 for each councillor, they then have to decide how much will go to a funeral policy or medical aid,” she said.

Furthermore, she mentioned that it was the law governing the appointment of councillors that could provide the answers they were seeking.

“If I am in the Board, there is a law that governs my terms and conditions of service. So we would first have to look into the law that governs councillors, which is the Urban Government Act then we take it from there,” she said.