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MBABANE – At least 37 employers have so far registered to pay provident fund contributions for their domestic workers.
Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF) launched a drive to encourage employers to pay on behalf of their employees in February. This, according to ENPF Chief Executive Officer Prince Lonkhokhela, was driven by the realisation that no one seemed to care about the welfare of domestic workers beyond their working lives.
“The work done by domestic workers is of great significance in enabling those who hire them to do what they do on a daily basis. They are important contributors to the economy as well and deserve to take something home at the end of their careers,” he said.
Dlamini revealed that at ENPF, all the executive committee members already made contributions on behalf of their domestic workers, including himself. He urged the business community to encourage their employees to start doing same.
Implored
Senator Sylvia Mthethwa implored those who owned businesses to include domestic workers in their roster for company employees when paying the provident fund. She said in this way, it would be easier to ensure that everyone was catered for.
“It would be hard to forget them when included in the company’s roster. May I encourage all those who own companies to do it in this manner,” she said.
ENPF General Manager Operation Miccah Nkabinde, outlined how domestic workers were undervalued, underpaid, unprotected, and how
the industry in general was poorly regulated. He said in most instances, domestic workers were treated badly and fired at will; with complete disregard of their rights.
“It is, therefore, in line with the above that we appeal to companies to work with us to secure the retirement of this very important group of employees. Registered employers will be entered into a raffle draw at the end of each month, where they can win a brand new refrigerator, microwave, or steam cooker,” he said.
Nkabinde further outlined that the campaign shall continue until the end of June. He said currently, they had been registering about 12 employees a month on average. He said he was hopeful the figure would increase.
Contributions
Currently, there is no law in Eswatini compelling employers to make provident fund contributions on behalf of domestic workers. Nkabinde said this was not an excuse not to do what was humane.
Meanwhile, the Swaziland Domestic Workers Union has urged the ENPF to include them in such drives to ensure effectiveness.
National Coordinator Phumelele Zulu, said it was a noble initiative for ENPF to lead the drive for domestic workers’ provident fund, but in the absence of the input by such workers, they were likely not to harness maximum gains.
“We thank ENPF for making this a priority. However, I encourage them to be in touch with us so that we can work together to ensure that all domestic workers reap a reward from this initiative,” she said.Zulu added that the domestic workers sector was vulnerable, particularly in terms of the regulations on decent work.