MBABANE – Some civil servants, who lost during the previous general elections, want government to refund them their salaries and unpaid wages during leave of absence.

In the past, it had been a norm that civil servants would produce proof of leave of absence as soon as they were nominated. This is said to have been one of the documents required by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) when one was nominated. Without this document, a civil servant could be disqualified. It meant that civil servants had to go on unpaid leave for them to focus on elections.

Compel

However, it has now emerged that the law does not necessary compel the civil servants to go on unpaid leave or leave of absence, but that this is granted to public servants, who have qualified to be politicians and were sworn into office. Eswatini uses a Tinkhundla System of Governance, in which politicians are elected on individual merit, unlike in other democracies around the world where it is political parties that win parliamentary seats. In fact, even in 2023, some civil servants claimed to have been disqualified for not possessing the said proof of leave of absence.

Unlike in the past, during this year’s elections, civil servants are not required to be on unpaid leave and instead, they are expected to be at work, while they attend to elections. They are also not barred from applying for leave as long as they have enough leave days.

Lawful

Civil servants have now raised concern that this means that in the past, it was not lawful for the EBC to force them to take leave of absence, as there is nowhere in the law where this is stated but instead, the law only requires that one should have leave of absence once they have been sworn in.

For this reason, some civil servants, who stood for elections dating from 2018 going backwards, now want the government to pay back the money that was never paid during the time when they were nominated and while on leave of absence.

The civil servants said since it appeared the law had not been properly interpreted; this meant that the government should pay them the money for the months that they were on leave of absence in the past. For some civil servants, this may include money from 2018 and the previous elections,dating as far back as 2008. It was gathered that every election time, civil servants would take at least three months leave from the time of being nominated until being voted in. This meant that for the civil servants who want their money, they will have to calculate how much was not paid per month for the three months they had taken leave of absence for.

Demand

These figures can vary from just below E2 000 per month to over E50 000, depending on the type of employment of that civil servant. This means that some civil servants could demand from E6 000 to over E150 000 per individual, depending on how many civil servants would want to claim the unpaid wages. It could not be established how many civil servants had been disqualified as this information could not be sourced from the EBC.

Over 5 000 people were nominated for various positions from Members of Parliament (MPs), to tindvuna tetinkhundla and bucopho.

Elected

Of these, only 59 MPs will be elected and 59 tindvuna tetinkhundla. Further, about 336 bucopho will be elected. This means that over 4 500 will lose and return to their normal activities. Among these will be civil servants, who will have to return to their various government departments.

According to an interpretation by Mbuso Dlamini, who is the Legal Advisor Principal Crown Council, in compliance with the Elections Act of 2013, as well as the Constitution of the Kingdom of Eswatini, there shouldn’t have been any employee granted leave of absence during the current stages of elections. The current stage refers to the time from nominations but before the elections.

Dlamini was quoted in the Times of Eswatini copy, published last Thursday. This is also in line with a recent statement by the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Public Service, Sipho Tsabedze. The PS first revealed that there had been a memo issued on July 28, stating that all civil servants who had been nominated should be at work as they could not be granted leave of absence.

Absence

The PS stated that the leave of absence was for those who had already won elections and not necessary for someone who was yet to do so.

He spoke after concerns from some civil servants, including police officers, who were outraged after they were ordered to report for duty when they had already been nominated and granted leave of absence. The national commissioner (NATCOM) of police had informed the officers that it was not right for them to have taken leave of absence yet they were getting paid. The Deputy Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni, speaking on behalf of the NATCOM, said the decision to recall the officers was based on the memo that was issued by the Ministry of Public Service.