MBABANE – Civil servants are hysterical as government proposes to suspend their annual increment (notching) pending the completion of the salary review implementation.
Ordinarily, every April, which is the beginning of government’s financial year, public service workers notch (which means moving to the next level of remuneration within their grade).
This year, government reportedly informed civil servants that this annual salary increment will not be applicable, as the salary review has not yet been fully paid to them.
It is worth noting that when government, which is the employer of civil servants and public sector unions (PSUs), when signing a collective agreement on October 15, 2025, agreed that they were to get 15 per cent of their dues.
The collective agreement states that the staggered implementation of the salary review costs about E800 million out of the amount of E1.643 billion that is required for full implementation of Scenario III of the salary review report, leaving out a balance of E843 million.
As per this commitment, Minister for Finance Neal Rijkenberg, in his budget speech, said: “Speaker, in the 2026/27 financial year, public servants’ wage bill is budgeted to reach E12.44 billion, compared to E10.48 billion in the 2025/26 financial year.
In this budget, E635.35 million has been set aside for the 85 per cent backpay and E535.28 million for allowances to complete the 2025/26 salary review implementation.”
The collective agreement was signed on Octiber 15, 2025, by the Government Negotiations Team (GNT) with the Public Sector Unions (PSUs), namely: National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), Eswatini National Association of Teachers (SNAT), Eswatini Nursing Association (SNA) and Eswatini National Association of Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP).
In light of the position taken by the employer, the Secretariat of the PSUs, through Mayibongwe Masangane, updated civil servants that the employer had proposed that their annual notching will not be implemented this year.
Masangane, who is the SWADNU Secretary General, said the employer had conveyed that they would not be able to fund the notching of all civil servants who were allocated new grades at Notch I.
He said the civil servants found it unfair that the notching was suspended pending the completion of the salary review implementation.
The secretariat member bemoaned that the deferment of the notching means that, despite the increase in the cost-of-living, they were still being remunerated the same amount.
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