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MBABANE – The cost-ofliving adjustment (CoLA), UEDF trainee recruits and security forces’ four per cent Phase II implementation are some of the items that saw the wage bill increase by E170 million.

The last quarter of the 2022/23 financial year saw a noticeable upward movement in the wage bill of about E77.2 million and E92.7 million for the months of October and December, respectively, totalling about E170.7 million increase over the last three months to December.

This was attributed to the full implementation of three per cent CoLA for all members of the public sector associations (PSAs), Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) trainee recruits, security forces’ four per cent Phase II implementation, doctors’ on-call allowances for the month of December and Teaching Service Commission (TSC) bonuses for contract teachers.

Parliament

The increase in the wage bill was highlighted in the Ministry of Public Service’s annual performance report which was tabled in Parliament last Wednesday together with other reports from other ministries.

Government, through the ministry, revealed that the wage bill has continued to be controlled at manageable levels since the introduction of Establishment Circular No. 3 of 2018 that froze the filling of vacant posts save for the most critical ones. It was stated in the report that as highlighted in the previous bi-annual performance report, the wage bill depicted an average monthly decrease of about E3.2 million totalling about E18.9 million over the six months of April to September of the financial year 2022/23.

This was despite the month of April 2022 automatic notching of about one per cent, the filling of critical vacant posts, part implementation of three per cent CoLA and one per cent one-off payment of annual basic salaries.

“The months from April to September saw government realising a total drop of about E19 million in the wage bill when the same period for the two financial years is compared. It is only during the last quarter from October to December 2022 that noticeable upward movements in the wage bill of about E77.2 million and E92.7 million for the months of October and December respectively were observed, totalling about E170.7 million increase over the last three months to December,” reads the report.

The back pays on CoLA and the one per cent once-off added up to E130 million, doctors on-call allowances at about E63 million and over E50 million on four per cent Phase II implementation.

The report states that the actual number of public servants on the payroll since the implementation of Establishment Circular No. 3 of 2018 had continued to drop at very glaring rates.

This is clearly reflected during the months of April to September, wherein the public servants’ headcount continued to drop at an average of 1 258 over the six months period and translating to about -2.8 per cent.

“In addition, the three months to December 2022 also shows same and has continued to depict drastic decreases when compared to the same months of the previous year; public servants have dropped at a rate of about -2.9 per cent (1 298 public servants) during the month of October, -3.9 per cent (1 400 public servants) and 2.6 per cent (1 175 public servants) for the months of November and December 2022, respectively,” reads the report in part.

Indications in the report depict that should the Establishment Circular No. 3 of 2018 continue to be in force and following that the public servants count is a reciprocal of basic salaries, the wage bill would be maintained at manageable levels despite CoLA implementation, filling of vacancies within critical government departments, four per cent Phase II implementation, TSC bonuses, and automatic notching.

Salaries

Spending on wages and salaries amounted to E6.29 billion compared to the E5.88 billion in the previous year, which is around 38.7 per cent of the recurrent expenditure and 89.9 per cent of total annual personnel budget from April 2022 to January 2023.

Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg said the share of government expenditure on personnel was still higher compared to expenditure items earmarked for government operations and transfers.

He said this was due to a three per cent CoLA and one per cent onceoff salary award to civil servants in 2022/2023 on top of a similar ward in the previous year.