Unions have been told they will have a freeze on their
pay. Last year they held protest actions in pursuit of a 4.5 percent pay claim
when the government said it could not afford to pay more.
Meanwhile, the kingdom’s only independent daily
newspaper, fears the pay rise is to encourage police to put down dissent among
the public.
Swazi Police Commissioner, Isaac Magagula, announced the
pay rise on Wednesday (27 February 2013). It will apply to offices of the ranks
of constable and sergeant.
He did not say when the pay rise would take effect, but
local media reported that he promised it would be ‘soon’.
Swaziland is in an economic mess and the International
Monetary Fund has advised the government to cut its total wage bill, not
increase it.
Speaking to the Times of Swaziland newspaper, Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT)
President, Sibongile Mazibuko, said there was no obvious reason why police officers
should get more pay, while other public servants did not.
‘If it is merely an increase not equity, it will
definitely create unrest. When we engaged in a strike last year, we were
stopped by a royal order. We did not receive anything,’ the paper quoted
Mazibuko saying.
‘Government cannot leave out other civil servants, as
such will definitely create war,’ Mazibuko said.
She also said government had to share with civil servants
the little it had to create unity.
National Public Service and Allied Workers Union
(NAPSAWU) President, Quinton Dlamini, told the newspaper it would be unfair for
government to give some public servants money when others had been staging
protests for 4.5 percent which they did not get.
‘Unless the increments are standard, we would definitely
not allow that to happen. If it means fighting for it, we will do so,’ Dlamini
said.
In an editorial comment, the Times said, ‘The message being sent by government to the ordinary
Swazi on the street is that the government is hiring more officers to put down
dissent, paying them comparatively well to ensure their loyalty, rewarding the
commissioners with luxury vehicles - all while protecting the three armed
forces (army, police and warders) from prosecution.’
It added the last time the Swazi Government acted in this
way, ‘it was followed by a year in which the nation struggled without food,
medicines and money and the security forces were instrumental in battering down
our cries of protest’.
It added, ‘This is the message that the Swazi on the
street is getting, loud and clear, from government. And it appears that
government is either oblivious to the consequences of its actions – which would
denote an order of incompetence so serious it would be criminal – or planning
for a security threat which the rest of us know nothing about but perceived to
be coming from the general public.’
See also
GOVT SACKS TEACHERS STRIKE LEADER
STRIKING SWAZILAND TEACHERS SACKED
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