Court Room, First Floor, Senate House,Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HU, United
Kingdom
Admission free
Hear from leading trade unionist Vincent Dlamini about the worsening political
and economic crisis in Swaziland, the impact it is having on people’s lives and
the growing movement for democracy and rights.
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Public servants in Swaziland have said they will take to the streets and cause ‘social instability’ if government forces pay cuts on them.
Vincent Dlamini, Secretary General of the National Public Service and Allied Workers Unions (NAPSAWU),was reacting to a statement from Majozi Sithole, Swazi Finance Minister, that the government had run out of cash and unless it got a loan from somewhere it would not be able to pay salaries in July (2011). At best, he said government might be able to pay only half wages.
Dlamini said this news would not sit well with civil servants and would force them to take to the streets if they would earn half of their salaries or if there are any forced cuts.
TheTimes of Swazilandreported Dlamini saying, ‘Our position is clear that we do not want the pay cuts because we believe that we are not to blame for the current situation. Government must not threaten the civil servants because these pay cuts especially on low earners will lead them to take to the streets.
‘I have spoken to many of our members and they are fully opposed to the pay cuts because they have many commitments. They must not dare touch those salaries,’ he said.
MBABANE – The National Association of Public Servants and Allied Workers Union feels that its members are being targeted by the IMF reforms because they are seen as soft targets.
The Secretary General of NAPSAWU, Vincent Dlamini, said they remain opposed to salary cuts no matter how small or how big the IMF recommendation is.
Dlamini wondered why the IMF seems to be only looking at the option of salary cuts to ease the economic crisis.
"The IMF knows very well where the money losses in this country are. They know that corruption and misplaced spending are key areas where the country is losing money. What is the IMF doing about that? Why isn’t the IMF not telling government to stop spending so much money on defence?" Dlamini asked.
He said the IMF had not said anything to them about such cuts.
"If they engage us on the cuts, we will oppose them. If they impose them on us, we will rise up and fight against them," Dlamini said.
IMF team meets unions over cuts
MBABANE - The IMF says said everyone needs to agree to the initial cuts of up to 10 per cent by the end of this month for this particular intervention to have the desired effect.
Sources revealed that, while in the country, the Joannes Mongardini led delegation met with the Government Negotiating Team and civil service unions for progress reports on the salary cut negotiations.
According to NAPSAWU, the civil servants’ union, the IMF had initially called for 10 per cent cuts for everyone who earned over E300 000 per year.
The IMF went on to propose that civil servants who earn between E200 000 and E300 000 per annum should have their salaries slashed by eight per cent, while those who pocket anything between E100 000 and E200 000 should have their salaries cut by six per cent.
The IMF had proposed that the salaries of those who earn below E100 000 per year should not be touched.
Government modified the IMF’s recommendations and also proposed a pay cut of 10 per cent for civil servants who earn more than E300 000 per annum.
For civil servants who earn between E200 000 and E300 000 per year, government proposed a salary cut of nine per cent.
Furthermore, government proposed to cut the salaries of civil servants whose annual salary ranges between E150 000 to E200 000 per year, by eight per cent.
Government proposed to slash salaries of civil servants who earn between E100 000 and E150 000 per annum, by six per cent.
Finally, government also proposed that salaries of civil servants who earn less than E100 000 per year be cut by 4.5 per cent.
Cabinet, Royal Councillors and parliamentarians have already taken the 10 per cent salary cut to their salaries.
The government negotiating team is currently engaging the civil service unions on all their members agreeing to the cuts. So far, the unions are resisting the cuts.
Swaziland finance reform gets thumbs down from IMF
MBABANE — The International Monetary Fund gave Swaziland's financial reform programme a harsh review Wednesday, a major blow to the crisis-hit kingdom's urgent attempts to secure international loans.
"A large fiscal adjustment is needed to bring the programme back on track and reduce the fiscal deficit in line with available financing," said mission head Joannes Mongardini in a statement at the end of an IMF visit to assess the government's belt-tightening measures.
Swaziland's government is teetering on the brink of financial collapse and may run out of money in the next two months. The small southern African country needs the IMF's blessing to borrow much-needed cash from the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
It will now have to hope for a favourable IMF assessment in August to access loans totalling more than $100 million (70 million euros).
The IMF is insisting Swaziland cut its bloated government wage bill, one of the world's highest at almost half of state spending.
But negotiations to get public sector workers to accept a 4.5 percent pay cut have failed.
The government's moves to slash salaries sparked large protests in April that were forcefully put down by King Mswati III's regime. Police beat, detained and tear-gassed protesters, drawing condemnation from international human rights groups.
The government is reeling after a 60 percent drop last year in revenues from a regional customs union, its main source of income.
The country has been paying civil servants by drawing down foreign reserves, but as the crisis deepens the cash is running out.
According to the IMF, Swaziland's central bank had to issue an emergency loan for the government to pay salaries in February.
The central bank governor this week said the crisis threatened to devalue the currency.
Dissidents hope to convert mounting frustration into momentum for political reform in the kingdom, Africa's last absolute monarchy.
"Our position is that this is an opportunity to change the government. I foresee chaos if people are not paid. The people are saying this is not an economic problem, this is a political problem," Vincent Dlamini, head of civil servants' union NAPSAWU, told AFP.
"We told the IMF to approach the king because we believe he has got the money and see if he can't assist. We are waiting to see if he will ever respond."
Mswati told his subjects earlier this year that "we need to work harder and sacrifice even more", but has not cut the $30 million he and the royal family receive from state coffers annually.
The king, whose fortune is estimated at $100 million by Forbes magazine, has ruled Swaziland for 18 years.
The jet-set lifestyle Mswati and his 13 wives has become increasingly controversial in the tiny kingdom, where nearly 70 percent of people live on less than a dollar a day.
A major part of the Swaziland Government’s economic recovery plan is in tatters as politicians and public servants are refusing to take pay cuts.
The government is looking for cuts of 10 percent to help it out of the economic mess it has created. It even told the International Monetary Fund (IMF) it would make the cuts to secure a US$125 million-plus loan from the African Development Bank and other international financiers.
But, in truth the Swazi Government isn’t able to come up with the goods.
Today (16 May 2011), it is revealed that principle secretaries – the most senior civil servants in government departments - are refusing to follow the government line.
According to the Times of Swaziland, they won’t take the cuts because they are angry that MPs and ministers will receive huge payoffs at the next national election in 2013, but they will not.
They want the so-called Circular No 1 that details the politicians’ perks also to apply to them.
They also say the government hasn’t negotiated with them over pay cuts.
They are not alone in snubbing the government. Swazi senators have already said they will not take the cut. They said proper procedures had not been followed.
Lower grade civil servants are also against the cuts. Instead, they are arguingwith government that they should get a 4.5 percent INCREASE to cover the rising cost of living.
Vincent Dlamini, Secretary General of the National Public Service Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), said if the government was serious about expenditure cuts it would withdraw Circular No 1.
He said the circular awarded politicians too much money and that was why Swaziland was in an economic mess.
Cabinet ministers have agreed to take the cut, but some did so against their will. They said they couldn’t afford to take pay cuts and instead they should receive more.
So where does this leave the government’s economic plan? It had agreed spending cuts with the IMF in return for a so-called ‘letter of comfort’ from it. The government claims to have this letter and is now talking with international financial institutions for loans. But, without the salary cuts in place, the governments so-called Fiscal Adjustment Roadmap (FAR) – its recovery plan - is unworkable.
Time is running out for the government. Majozi Sithole, Swaziland’s Finance Minister, has already admitted it would be hard to pay public service salaries in June and the months after without the loan in place.
