Eswatini Labour Insight

Delegates in the UNI Africa Commerce Massmart (Walmart) Alliance posing for a group picture as they met to  strategise on collective bargaining approaches within the Massmart group. (Photo credit: UNI Commerce X Account) Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze - Publishing Editor On the 24 and 27th October 2023 the Secretary General of the Swaziland Commercial and Allied Workers Union (SCAWU) Comrade Philasande Mthethwa joined trade union leaders and activists  from several African countries in Johannesburg under the auspices of UNI Africa Commence. Trade unions engaged in the sessions were from countries including Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia. The gathering was spilt into two sessions of two days. The first session served to strategise on collective bargaining and other issues that affect workers who are employed at Massmart/Walmart  across Africa. The second session served as a conference of the UNI Commercial Africa. The conference conducted itself and

A poster depicting AGOA 2023   (picture credit: sourced online) Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze - Publishing Editor The 20th Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) Forum shall sit from 02 to 04 November 2023 in Johannesburg ,South Africa. The 2023 forum's theme is ," Partnering to Build a Resilient, Sustainable, and Inclusive AGOA to Support Economic Development, Industrialization and Quality Job Creation" a ccording to the AGOA website (agoa.info) . The AGOA forum according to the AGOA site (agoa.info) is a creature of the original AGOA legislation which on section  105  instructs the USA President to convene “ annual high-level meetings between appropriate officials of the United States Government and officials of the governments of sub- Saharan African countries in order to foster close economic ties between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa ”.  The forum's hosting alternates between the USA and the beneficiary African countries. In a press conference hos

Picture sourced from the internet Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze The raging saga involving the  beneficiaries of the Eswatini Electricity Company Pensions Fund (EECPF), who have been fighting the EECPF in order to get the payment of benefits due to their dependants resumed, has shone the spotlight on the practices of pension funds in the country. This episode has perhaps revealed legislative weaknesses particularly legislation in relation to the protection of pension funds beneficiaries as well as a poor oversight exercised by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) over what can be described as risky practices of pension funds in the country. The background of this particular case is that it appears that Likhwane received funds from the different pension and provident funds and proceeded to invest the funds in investment vehicles such as ESW/Escponet Investment and Lingedla PTY LTD. From these funds, in the case of the EECPF, it appears , Likhwane was expected to facilitate

Executive Members of the four PSUs at the entrance of the treasury in Mbabane. Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze Executive leaders of Public Service Trade Unions (PSU's) ,namely the Swaziland National association of Teachers (SNAT),the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) ,the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) and the Swaziland National Government Accounts Personnel (SNAGAP) on Tuesday 10th October 2023 staged a protest at the entrance of the treasure in Mbabane. The leaders were protesting against the habitual delays in government remitting trade union dues that get deducted monthly to the respective trade unions. The SNAT Platform described the act of failing to remit membership dues that have been deducted from trade unions members salaries as union bashing. Speaking to the ELI the Secretary General of SNAT Comrade Lot Vilakati stated that their action led to the government remitting the funds on the same day. He further stated that while they understa

  UNESWA EMBLEM (sourced online) Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze The premier university in Eswatini ,the University of Eswatini (UNESWA) has been reported to have served letters indicating their intention to retrench around one hundred and thirty six (136) workers employed in the two departments, maintenance and the refectory (the dining hall) so that the departments can be outsourced to private operators. Sources within UNESWA have revealed to this publication that affected there are forty six (46) refectory workers and eighty six (86) maintenance department workers. The workers in both departments are engaged in either permanent and pensionable contracts or fixed term contracts. The reason for this move appears to be the tough financial position UNESWA has been publicly revealed to be dealing with.  UNESWA'S correspondences which this publication is in possession of and addressed to the affected permanent and pensionable workers stated that " The university in the past several

Workers at a gathering (File picture) Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze   The anticipated negotiations to resolve the deadlock between Tambankulu Estates and the Swaziland Agriculture ,Plantations Workers Union (SAPWU) - Tambankulu Branch  have failed to get the two warring parties to settle their wage deadlock. From the previous deadlock offer of 4.5%  for the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) Tambankulu Management has been reported to have only  improved the offer to 4.85%,however sources have also pointed out that management has also since improved their offer on education assistance to workers. The figures offered in relation to the education assistance have not been revealed to the ELI. The failure of the negotiations may imply that the SAPWU Tambankulu will head back to Conciliation, Mediation Arbitration Commission (CMAC) where a few weeks ago they (SAPWU Tambankulu) had sought a certificate of non-resolved dispute. The certificate of unresolved dispute would have allowed SAPWU-Tamba

The CBE logo (Sourced Online) Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze The Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) has voiced out that they deem the pensions funds in the country to be exposed to risk.  In their 2022/23 annual report of the Eswatini financial sector released in late September 2023 the CBE stated that the pension funds sector was at risk because of three principal factors ,the dominance of two  pensions schemes in the country, the exposure of pension funds to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the risk associated with "increased exposure to Eswatini government and the continued interconnectedness of the pension sector with financial intermediation of the economy".  In terms of the dominance of the two pension schemes the report state that the domination of the Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF) which holds around 73% of the pension funds' market share, as well as the Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF) which holds 11% of the pensions funds' market value ,poses

Workers at the Workers Day rally in BigBend on 1st May 2023 Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze The Swaziland Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers (SUFIAW) is preparing to go on strike action against the First National Bank (FNB). The strike has been set to take off on Friday the 20th October 2023 in all FNB branches in the country.  The strike action comes after failed negotiations between the bank and SUFIAW on key demands related to this year's salary increment and working conditions for workers of the bank. According to the Secretary General of the SUFIAW Jabulile Shiba the two parties are slugging it out after failing to reach a compromise at wage negotiations whereby the union is at 8.5% while the FNB management is at 5.85% and because the bank refuses to offer favourable working conditions for its employees,the workers.   SG Shiba added that pat of the hardships faced by the workers at FNB is the issue that FNB ,against the norm practiced by other banks, insists on c