JUNIOR COPS DEMAND PHASE II MONTH-END

MBABANE – There seems to be no end in sight in the battle between the junior officers and their seniors as the former are now demanding their Phase II to be paid by end of the current month.

Yesterday, the junior officers had planned to pay yet another visit to the Police Headquarters but they ended up aborting their mission and rather convened a private meeting. In this meeting, they took a number of resolutions that they said they would not share with the public as yet. However, in an interview after the meeting, Secretary General (SG) of the Police Staff Association Sergeant Dumisile Khumalo said their current position was now to demand that they get their money when they received their salaries for this month, which was from the 20th. Khumalo said if that would not happen, they would be forced to continue demanding it and might explore the ‘secret’ resolutions they had taken during the meeting yesterday.

Position

She said their position still stood that they were expecting not less than E200 000 per officer on Phase II of the salary restructuring programme. The officers said government must pay them their money, which would include other benefits backdated to 2014. She noted that their matter had become one of urgency as they had waited for a long time for its implementation.
Khumalo said they were informed that Phase II would be implemented subsequently after Phase I but for the past eight years, nothing had been done. She said they did not want the four per cent cushion offered by government but the second phase of the salary restructuring exercise.

Enemies

The SG said it was now clear that as junior officers, they had become enemies with the senior officers. She said what the National Commissioner (NATCOM) of Police Tsitsibala William Dlamini, did to ban their colleagues from work was the final straw and they were not pleased with it at all. Two of the four junior police officers who were prohibited from their work were those who had been summoned to the Police Headquarters on Monday. Their salaries have also been stopped with immediate effect. This comes after allegations that the officers were part of those who visited the residence of the Prime Minister, Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, last Thursday to engage him on the implementation of Phase II of the police and Correctional officers’ salary restructuring exercise of 2014.

Interdicted

This was after they had appeared before some members of the police executive to show cause why they should not be interdicted from duty in terms of Section 43 of the Police Service Act No. 22/2018, in accordance with the rules of natural justice, and Section 33 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Eswatini. Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Public Service Sipho Tsabedze said as a ministry, they were not aware of such a demand (by the junior officers of having Phase II in their November salaries) as it had not been brought to their attention. He said for that reason, he could not make any comment on the matter.

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