SNAT branches vote for PSPF reversal
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M– After years of fighting for the reversal of PSPF from a Category A to Category B public enterprise, teachers want SNAT to implement time-bound delivery programmes to compel government to reverse the categorisation.
This is one of the resolutions taken by the delegates of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) 76th/68th Annual Congress held at Esibayeni Lodge from Wednesday to yesterday.
The Public Service Pensions Fund (PSPF) is a public organisation that was established in 1993 for the management and administration of pensions for government (public sector) employees.
It provides retirement annuities, death, disability and other related benefits. Last year, this publication reported that the fund had 42 130 active members (contributing) and 25 253 retired pensioners. Its assets are presently valued at E22 billion.
From 1993 to 1999, the fund was not categorised. In in 1999, Legal Notice 76 was issued and it was aimed at categorising the fund under Category A, but it was ineffective due to protests and resistance from the then Board of Trustees.
From 1993 to 2014, PSPF was operating freely as an autonomous fund (Category B) and that was a time frame of 21 years without any noise, allegations and/or suspicions of looting the fund as is the case currently.
Thereafter, in 2014, Legal Notice 150 was issued and it effectively categorised PSPF as a wholly-owned government defined benefit pension scheme under Category A and this undoubtedly ‘ruffled feathers of the owners (members)’. Since then, the members of the fund have been making countless calls to government to reverse it from being classified under category A to category B, but their efforts were futile as even now, the PSPF is operating as per the Legal Notice 150 of 2014.
During the SNAT conference, the Shiselweni branch moved a motion that the fund should be reversed to Category B and that the union should implement timebound strategies that would push government to implement the reversal. This was unanimously adopted by the representatives of the three other branches; Manzini, Hhohho and Lubombo.
When moving the motion, the Shiselweni branch said the PSPF was unlawfully moved from Category B to Category A, which meant that it was a government entity, yet in actual fact it was a pension fund for civil servants.
However, the Lubombo branch of SNAT said it did not think it was necessary to make this matter a resolution, instead it said SNAT should implement campaigns and demonstrations which would push those who were handling the matter, to implement the demand - of reversing the fund to Category B.
On the same note, the Shiselweni branch agreed that they needed more campaigns to push for the reversal of the status of their fund. However, the resolutions committee reminded the delegates that the issues they were raising would be taken to the union’s secretary
Some of the SNAT delegates during the discussions of motions and resolutions yesterday. Chairperson of SNAT Resolutions’ Committee Sipho Mamba talking to the delegates about the resolutions. (R) SADTU General Secretary Mugwena Maluleke making his remarks during the conference.
general’s office once adopted as resolutions and it would be included in the organisation’s programme of action.
Thereafter, the Hhohho branch said the motion could not be dropped, instead it said it should stand and it did not need to be withdrawn. The branch said it only needed to be amended.
It said this was because once it was dropped; they could not picket or protest without a resolution. They wondered how they would act on the matter if there was no resolution taken. In that regard, the Shiselweni Branch was given an opportunity to amend and motivate the resolution again.
Later on, they submitted their amended motion and said as SNAT, they should come up and implement time bound delivery programmes to compel government to change PSPF from Category A to Category B. In response the other regions seconded the motion and it was unanimously adopted as a resolution, which the incoming SNAT National Executive Committee (NEC), was given strict instruction to implement.
It is worth noting that after the conversion of the fund to a Category A public enterprise, the matter was debated in Parliament and a select committee was tasked to probe it. The select committee found that the conversion was illegal as there was allegedly no legal tool that informed the decision to convert the fund.
As a result, the select committee recommended that Cabinet, especially the Ministers of Finance and Public Service should nullify the conversion and revoke the Legal Notice No.150 of 2014.
However, since 2015 when the report was tabled in Parliament, the conversion has not been nullified. This is despite threats by the MPs of the 10th Parliament that they would freeze the salaries of the two above-mentioned ministers if they failed to implement the recommendation.