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MANZINI – Civil servants, especially those who filed appeals regarding the 2016 salary review, will have to wait a little bit longer before they can know the outcome of the Appeals Board.

This is because government has postponed the Joint Negotiation Forum (JNF) twice, yet the Public Sector Unions (PSUs) of Swaziland were expecting the Government Negotiations Team (GNT) to deliver the Appeals Board report.

A source close to the matter said the GNT had scheduled the meeting for last Wednesday February 1, 2023, but it was postponed at the 11th hour to Friday February 3, 2023. According to the source, the reason for the postponement was the unavailability of the GNT.

In fact, he said the GNT said it would not form a quorum, as some if its members would not be available for the talks.

Again, the source said while the leaders of the PSUs were preparing for the JNF, which was supposed to be held on Friday February 3, 2023, they received a correspondence from the Chairman of the GNT, Sipho Tsabedze, who is also the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Public Service. The correspondence was dated Thursday February 2, 2023 and it informed the leaders of the PSUs that the

Quorum

JNF, which was scheduled for Friday February 3, 2023 had been postponed to Wednesday February 15, 2023 because the GNT would not be available to attend it.

“This postponement was a result of the ongoing Cabinet retreat, as it is also attended by PSs from the various government departments and some of them form part of the GNT,” the source said.

Agenda

Meanwhile, Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) Secretary General Mayibongwe Masangane confirmed that the JNF had been postponed to February 15, 2023. He said one issue on the agenda was a report about the 2016 salary review appeals. He said they were informed that the Appeals Board had completed its task and the GNT would deliver the report at the roundtable.

On the same note, the PS in the Ministry of Public Service Sipho Tsabedze, also confirmed the developments. He highlighted that the first meeting was postponed because the GNT could not form a quorum while the second one was shifted forward because of the Cabinet retreat.

It is worth noting that government set aside a sum of E65 million to cater for the 2016 salary review appeals. This amount was announced by the Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg when he delivered the 2022/23 national budget.