PHASE II SALARY RESTRUCTURING CAN RESTORE OUR LOYALTY - JUNIOR OFfICERS

MANZINI - Some members of the State security organs say their main welfare concern, which can restore their loyalty to the oath they took, is Phase II.

According to the officers, the past eight years had been stressful as they had been waiting for the implementation of Phase II of the restructuring exercise. They said in July 2014, government, through the Ministry of Public Service, introduced a restructuring exercise and this was done through Circular No.2 of 2014, which outlined the format that the restructuring exercise would take.

The exercise was supposed to be in two phases; with the senior officers being the first in line and then followed by the junior officers.

They said Phase I was implemented later on, but eight years later, the junior officers are still waiting for the implementation of the second phase. Their argument was that the delay in the implementation of the second phase left a wide gap in terms of salaries between senior and junior members of the State security organs.

The affected officers said they were banking their hopes on the promise that was made by His Majesty King Mswati III, who is the Commander-In-Chief of the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF), National Commissioner-In-Chief of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) and also the Commissioner General-In-Chief of His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS), when the three security forces celebrated their days on various occasions.

Commemoration

During the commemoration of the Army Day (April 4, 2022), Correctional Services Day (July 15, 2022) and Police Day (August 5, 2022), the King spoke about the welfare issues of the members of the three security forces. In fact, he said it needed to be taken care off. In his own words during the Police Day, which was held at Matsapha Police Academy, the King said: “Assurance of support; we are aware of the many issues where support is required to make your work as a police service more seamless and efficient. These cover general welfare and appropriate working equipment. The issues are receiving the necessary attention and the required support will be provided.”

They said when the King appointed the new security chiefs in 2019, the affected junior officers, in particular from the REPS and HMCS, were allegedly promised that the National Commissioner (NATCOM) of Police, William Tsitsibala Dlamini and HMCS Commissioner General (COMGEN) Phindile Dlamini, would make this matter a priority.

According to the officers, discussions were held and select committees were appointed and given a task to look into the matter and how it could be best addressed. They claimed that when they made follow-ups with the relevant structures, they were not given concrete feedback. Instead, they alleged that they were constantly told that the committees were still working on the matter. Therefore, the officers said it was in this regard that they demanded what they were given by the Circular eight years ago.

“All that matters now is that government should implement Phase II of the restructuring exercise of 2014 before even looking at other welfare issues and/or working tools. What matters most to us at this point in time is the implementation of Phase II, as currently, there is a huge gap between our (juniors’) salaries and that of the senior officers,” said some of the aggrieved members of the State security organs.

They said every time they enquired about the matter, they were told that it would be implemented, but no time frame was given. They said it was in that regard that they were now banking their hopes on the King’s statement regarding their welfare that the second phase would be implemented because it was one of their long standing concerns.

Meanwhile, the Police Staff Association Secretary, Sergeant Dumisile Khumalo, said the issue of Phase II was a thorn in one’s flesh (ilinyenva). She said they had been trying to engage the NATCOM and his executive regarding the matter, but there was no breakthrough.

“We need the implementation of Phase II because it can work as a motivation to keep police officers and their equals from other security forces loyal to the oath they took when joining the State security organs,” Khumalo said.

She said because currently, some officers could ‘sell’each other to their attackers because of money. She added that it was public knowledge that some critical information about the State security organs, in particular the police service, had been leaked to people outside the security force, which was not supposed to happen. She said this was happening because police officers could not sustain themselves with the salaries they were currently paid.

Again, she said as a staff association, they were supposed to address police officers’ welfare issued, but because they were still not registered, it was difficult for them to carry out their mandate.

For example, she said they could not even sit with the employer at the roundtable as other associations for civil servants did. She said the office of the NATCOM was somehow political as it had to defend government, thus it could not be expected to address police officers’ welfare issues properly.

Frustrating

“The way this issue is frustrating police officers, we have been trying so hard to encourage them to continue being loyal and uphold the oath of office,” she said. Khumalo added that they were also trying means to get an emissary to take them to the King, because sometimes they suspected that their concerns were not taken to the National Commissioner-In-Chief. She said they were happy to hear him talking about their welfare and making a promise that it would be addressed. In that regard, she said they were banking their hopes on the King’s statement. She also said the question was why the Circular, which was meant to take the country’s security forces to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) standard, was implemented partially. On the same note, Eswatini Correctional Services Staff Association (ECOSSA) President Simiso Ginindza said they were not folding their arms about the matter. He said they were working on something as an association and their members would be updated in due course. It is worth noting that previously, the association once took the matter to court, but they were not successful because of some technical issues.