Telling it like it is...

The decision by Public Sector Unions (PSUs) to call a mass meeting for all government workers tomorrow raises concerns about what the future holds for all stakeholders in the salary review process.

The Final Government of Eswatini Remuneration Review report brought with it a goody bag of wage increments, new and revised allowances and a host of other mouth-watering benefits.

Items like the proposed 30 per cent discount for immovable property were music to the ears of government employees. The expectation was that after the hassle and haggling, this report would be implemented as is, or with a few and minor adjustments here and there.

However, the Joint Negotiations Forum (JNF) was in session on Friday at the Ministry of Public Service headquarters in Mbabane.

Leaders of the PSUs met government representatives to discuss the implementation of the report.

If social media comments were anything to go by, members of the four unions representing public servants were anxious to hear the final outcome of that meeting.

They were disappointed later in the day when they learnt that they would only get a full update at tomorrow’s mass meeting.

Those with a vested interest are members of the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) and the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU). The Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP) also forms part of the PSUs.

Before Friday’s meeting of the JNF, unions had observed certain discrepancies while scrutinising the report and wanted to address them with the consultant.

However, as it turned out, there was no outright agreement on the implementation of the remuneration review report.

I was disappointed; not because I stood to benefit anything from the review, but I had hoped that this time around, there would be no drawn-out dispute between government and its employees. History has taught us that such disagreements never end well. Nobody comes out the winner.

Usually, such clashes end in strikes, threats of no-work-no-pay and general confusion among citizens who require the services of the involved government departments.

If it is teachers, parents and learners always get jittery about what will happen next.

Work disruptions or uncertainty within members of the other PSUs also affect emaSwati in various ways. I was hoping for the best because it is time government workers are paid decent wages and other benefits.

We, as the people who expect them to deliver various services, were ready to demand renewed vigour from them in carrying out their duties, as government would have played its part.

It is no secret that taxpayers who pay civil servants’ salaries and from whom any money for the final implementation of the review will come, are not happy with the service from most government offices.

They expect better and with improved salaries and other benefits, there would be no excuse for poor service. Among the issues emaSwati have misgivings about, is the length of time they spend at government offices when they seek services.

Long queues are the order of the day. Most of the time is wasted while waiting for officers who are either on long tea and lunch breaks or are unaccounted for.

This is the norm at government treasury offices, where emaSwati pay for car registration documents, get driver’s licences and pay for other services.

Customers actually anticipate and expect delays, not because the department is understaffed, but because those who are at work on any given day work at their own unsavoury pace.

Even where there are four or more service windows, there will only be two people at a time.

At times, the officer on the other side of the window will be there, but busy with stuff the customers will never understand.

Some of the people made to stand in unnecessarily long queues are self-employed businesspeople who lose money each minute they are out of their workstations.

Long winding queues are also a daily phenomenon at government hospitals and not all of them are caused by shortage of staff.

Many a times, patients are told that nurses are on break.

They take extra-long tea and lunch breaks, leaving patients writhing in pain on outpatient benches. The Eswatini National Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services (ENFRES) is another department that causes taxpayers’ grief.

It would be interesting to know how many fires this department successfully puts out over any given period, say six months or a year.

We are talking about actual extinguishing of flames, not leisurely responding to an emergency and slowly driving there, only to find glowing embers and a completely destroyed structure.

I will be fair and commend the ENFRES for their usually swift response to other emergencies like car accidents and others, where they typically arrive before the police.

Speaking of which, emaSwati would do better with better assistance from the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) as well. A few weeks ago, the Times of Eswatini reported that 489 government vehicles had been involved in accidents in the last five years, that is since 2020.

This was from records covering 24 ministries and departments, but 155 of these cars belonged to the REPS. There is a grey area around the issue of surcharging or accountability of the drivers concerned but that is a story for another day.

What is concerning is that the police always give lack of transport as an excuse when called in times of emergency. As a result, their response time is slow at best and non-existent at worst.

Criminals are alive to this state of affairs and constantly use it to their advantage.

They commit crimes, sometimes in broad daylight and leisurely walk or drive away, knowing that by the time the police arrive, they would be hundreds of kilometres away. The taxpayer deserves better.

We also deserve better from teachers whose schools perpetually record poor results. I will not list them here today but we all know them.

Every January presents them with a chance to show the nation that improvement is not in their vocabulary. They are manned by teachers with the same qualifications and salaries as their peers in other schools, but continually produce disappointing results.

One cannot wait for the salary review pushing and shoving to be over, possibly to the satisfaction of the workforce, so that real service delivery begins.

That this is external exam time in schools makes it all the more urgent.

The Final Government of Eswatini Remuneration Review report brought with it a goody bag of wage increments, new and revised allowances and a host of other mouth-watering benefits. (Pic: Remoly)