UNIONS OPPOSE MERGING OF PENSION FUNDS

MANZINI - “Hands off our pension fund!”

This statement was made by leaders of the Public Sector Unions (PSUs) of Swaziland during a press conference, which was held at The George Hotel yesterday afternoon.

It is worth noting that the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) President Mbongwa Dlamini, who was chairing the press conference, highlighted that they have officially welcomed the Royal Eswatini Police Staff Association (REPOSA) and a fifth union under PSUs.

The other unions under the banner of PSUs are; the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) and Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP).

When briefing the media, the SNAT president said they are aware that the Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF) is on the verge of being converted into a national pension scheme. He said they have also learnt that on top of the conversion, government wants to merge the national pension fund with civil servants’ Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF).

He said they were against the proposed merging of the Funds because they were not consulted as owners and contributors of PSPF.

He argued that a pension fund is a product of the round table and if there are changes to be made, that should be discussed during negotiations, like the Joint Negotiation Forum (JNF).

“As PSUs we are against the conversion of ENPF into a national pension scheme if that process means it will merge with PSPF,” the leader of SNAT said. He said they believe that government is after their fund because the proposed merging it only talked about PSPF, yet there other schemes, like that for parliamentarians.

“We fear that we can be worse off as civil servants if our fund merges with the ENPF, which will be converted into a national pension fund. In fact, once cannot fix something which is not broken and PSPF is fine, it does not need to be fixed,” the teachers’ union leader added. In that regard, he said they have been demanding a meeting with PSPF, ENPF and the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland, which they still do, in order to discuss the matter and come up with a solution.

Meetings

Thereafter, NAPSAWU President Bawinile Ndlovu and SNAGAP President Vumile Dlamini said they have instructed branch leaders and the general councils of their unions to organise their members as they will hosting vusela meetings, where they will discuss the matter and get a way forward from the general membership.  “During the vusela meetings, we will be with REPOSA leadership and we expect their members to also attend the gatherings because their input will be valuable,” they said.

Thereafter, they said as leaders, they will ensure that they implement the way forward that they will be given by the general membership.

“We are ready to die for our fund (PSPF),” they added. Moreover, the president of SNAT highlighted that they will be also fighting for the reversal of the fund from Category A to B because it does not receive any subvention from government.

Instead, he said it was established as a pension scheme for civil servants and it exists because of their contributions and that from the employer as per the law.

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