Plans to implement EVERS before financial year ends - Mabulala
MANZINI – Some civil servants will be let go by government in the next financial year as the management audits are in their final stage, says the Minister of Public Service.
Mabulala Maseko said the (nhanced 9oluntary (arly 5etirement Scheme ((9(5S) would be implemented, possibly before the lapse of this financial year.
Initially, government was targeting to let go of 00 civil servants in a period of two years in order to manage its wage bill. This follows that in almost a decade, the total amount of money that government pays to its employees has increased by . per cent, from an expenditure of ( billion to ( . billion.
Sectors
In light of this, government targeted to reduce it by . per cent, such that its expenditure in the national budget is at 2 per cent. The civil service currently has about 0 000 permanent employees and 000 part-time personnel in various sectors.
To achieve this, the administration proMected the implementation of (9(5S at not more than ( 00 million, which shall be partitioned into packages for the civil servants, who shall voluntarily retire.
Maseko said government was engaging in management audits to realign the civil service. $ccording to the Ministry of Public Service $nnual 5eport for the year ended -anuary 3 , 2023, management audits are ongoing for ministries under Phase III of the proMect and recommendations and quick wins are implemented.
The Management Service Division (MSD), which is a department within the ministry, reported that it had facilitated the redeployment of officers across government. It was reported that the quick wins resulting from the audits were ongoing, particularly redeployments.
Meanwhile, the minister said the proMected number of employees anticipated to partake in (9(5S had been slightly reduced through the management audits, retirement and natural attrition.
This, he said, would also have an effect on the proMected amount set to be spent in implementing the process, which has been in government plans for over a decade.
2n the other hand, the minister explained that (9(5S was a last resort in a quest to seek the reduction of the wage bill. In a previous interview, Maseko said the intention by government was to reduce it (wage bill) from about per cent of the overall budget to a quarter of the national budget (2 per cent).
+e said one of the tools that had been used in the past was &ircular 1o. 3 of 2 ± hiring free]e and suspension of promotions. The minister said this resulted in his ministry having to evaluate if vacant posts after retirement or natural attrition of public service workers needed to be filled.
Budget
2n the other hand, in dealing with the bloated wage bill, the ministry had in the 2022/23 financial year proposed a budget of about ( 00 million. The plan was to spend ( 00 million in that financial year and the balance be used in the subsequent year, to pay those that would take voluntary retirement.
It is worth noting that the minister said before the civil servants were enrolled in the programme, they had to be empowered with entrepreneurial skills in order to assist government in the creation of employment.
The minister said the (swatini Institute of Management and Public $dministration (SIMP$) would be used to capacitate the employees with business skills before exiting the civil service.
Maseko emphasised that this should not be misconstrued. +e said government was not fighting people but it was worth noting that for the economy to grow, small, medium enterprises (SM(s) played a vital role and the civil servants would assist in that as they shall be offered great packages.
2n the other hand, the wage bill, according to the Minister of )inance, 1eal 5iMkenberg¶s budget speech, has soared at alarming rates for five years before the hiring free]e policy was implemented.
5iMkenberg said the accelerated increase began in 20 3/ when the wage bill increased by 3. per cent from ( billion to ( . billion.
Wage
+e said it increased by a further . per cent to ( . billion in 20 / and another 0. per cent in 20 / to reach ( .3 billion.
Thereafter, he said it further increased by 22. per cent to ( . billion in 20 / due to the salary review implemented in 20 . In 20 / , 5iMkenberg said the wage bill grew by
.3 per cent to reach ( . billion. This, he said, in a period of five years, from 20 3, was a total growth of per cent in the wage bill.
Meanwhile, the retrenchments by government were supposedly hinted during a Moint negotiation forum (-1)) between the government negotiating team (*1T), which represents the employer and the public sector associations (PS$s) which represent employees.
PS$ leaders claimed that the *1T informed them that the implementation of the salary review exercise last year could only be possible only if government could retrench about 3 000 civil servants. They said the representatives of the employer conveyed to them that this was because government did not have the financial muscle to cater for the salary review exercise.