Eswatini Labour Insight

  Workers attending the TUCOSWA International Workers Day rally in Bigbend on 1st May 2023 (photo credit: ELI) Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze The year 2026 has arrived and with it are the usual bells and whistles that are a norm with each new year. A new year always presents an opportunity to reflect and trace the steps taken in the previous year with the intention to do better in the new year. If looked into in proper context it is quite evident that the year 2026 will be another where immense challenges will persist and will continue to stand before workers progress. In the midst of the challenges however there are also grand possibilities that major victories may be recorded by workers in their endeavour for better lives.  In this piece some reflections will be made on selected key milestones of year 2025 and then selected projections for 2026 from trade unions will be presented as well. Public service labour market In the year 2025 victories celebrated include the impleme...

  The logo of the CSC (Source:Online) Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze The restructuring process for the Civil Service Commission (CSC) appears to have gained full speed after the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Eswatini introduced a consultant to the CSC to help drive the restructuring work. The Ministry of Public Service and Administration social media page reported on the 19 th December 2025 that the consultant, Ms Sharon Maziya, was introduced or handed over by the UNDP Eswatini to the CSC to commence her duties. Ms Maziya is a human resources expert who according to her LinkedIn profile boasts over 25 years’ experience in leading significant, enterprise-wide change management and holds a Master’s degree in Leadership and Change Management amongst several qualifications. The UNDP Eswatini had posted the advert for an Individual Consultant for the organisational Restructuring of the Civil service on their website ( https://ungm.org ) on 9 th  October 2025. The...

  Pictured above: Derrick Shiba,the Chairperson of the ENPF Board of Directors (Picture credit: Online sources) Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze  The appointment of businessman Derrick Shiba to the position of chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF) has come under heavy criticism by the social partners, the business and labour federations. The Minister of Labour and Social Security Phila Buthelezi has however put up strong defence by sarcastically asking them to go to court if not satisfied with the decision.  Mr Shiba is otherwise known as the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Inyatsi Group of Companies. He is also known to own and run a Eswatini Premier League football team called Nsingizini Hotspur. The social partners' first reaction to the appointment of the board was to notify Minister Buthelezi of their discontent about the appointment and they also sought a consultative engagement with him regarding the matter. The ...

  SNAT members marching through the streets of Manzini to Mavuso Trade Center Stadium for their Teachers Day Commemoration 2025 (picture credit: The SNAT PLatform). Eswatini educators union the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) hosted their annual World Teachers Day Commemoration at the Mavuso Trade Center in Manzini on Friday 24th October 2025.  The global observance of World Teachers Day takes place on 5th October of each year and internationally organisations such as United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Education International (EI) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) usually announce major campaigns on the day along a stated theme. The 2025 International World Teachers Day theme stated that, "Recasting teaching as a collaborative profession".   The SNAT World Teachers Day featured two sets of programmes, a daytime as well as a nighttime programme. The daytime programme features a march through Manzini c...

  SNAGAP President Dumile Dlamini (L)and SNAT President Mbongwa Dlamini (R) signing the agreement with the Eswatini Government Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze On the early evening of Wednesday 15th October 2025 the Eswatini Government and the Public Services Unions (PSUs) reached an agreement on the implementation of the salary review and jobs grading process. The parties then signed a collective agreement that guided the modalities of the  implementation of the recommendations that had been pronounced out by Emergency Human Consultancy in their report delivered and accepted by the parties. According to the collective agreement the implemented salary review was the Scenario Three (3) of the five (5) implementation scenarios proposed in the salary review and job grading report. Scenario three was described as the one scenario that aimed for the middle round and was characterised to be "making moderate yet impactful adjustment to the current salary structure". The collective agr...

PSU leaders at the JNF (picture credit: The SNAT Platform) After holding marathon meetings from Thursday 9 th to Friday 10 th October 2025 the Joint Negotiations Forum (JNF) parties, namely the Eswatini Government Negotiations Team (GNT)and the Public Service Unions (PSUs) took a break of a few days to allow the two parties to refresh their mandates with their principals.  It is expected that the government negotiations team will consult with the cabinet of ministers on Tuesday 14 th October 2025. In the same vein it is expected that the PSUs will conduct a report back and renewal of mandate process through a Joint General Council of all the PSUs on the same day, Tuesday 14th October 2025. The week that ended on 10th October 2025 was an eventful week for the public service collective bargaining. It swing into high gear from Monday 6th October with a well attended joint public service mass meeting at the SNAT Center in Manzini. In the joint public service mass meeting the salary ...