BY SIFISO NHLABATSI
MBABANE – Minister of Public Service Mabulala Maseko has clarified confusion surrounding Government’s payment of the 85 per cent balance of civil servants’ backpay, stressing that the calculation was not based on 85 per cent of basic salary.
Maseko made the clarification at Cabinet on Wednesday during a press briefing called by Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini, following concerns from some civil servants who believed that the wrong formula had been used to calculate their payments.
The Minister said Government had fulfilled its commitment to pay the outstanding July balance, despite earlier uncertainty over whether the payment would be made.
He acknowledged that some workers were dissatisfied with the amounts received, saying this was partly because they may have misunderstood what Government meant by the 85 per cent payment.
Maseko explained that the 85 per cent referred specifically to 85 per cent of the backpay, and not 85 per cent of an employee’s basic salary.
He said backpay was calculated from the difference between an employee’s old salary scale and the new salary scale following the salary review. This variance was then applied to the period covered by the backpay.
Using an example, Maseko said if an employee’s monthly variance between the old and new salary scales was E5 000, the amount would be multiplied by six months, resulting in E30 000 in backpay before statutory deductions.
From this amount, deductions such as tax and contributions to MOPADO would then be made, reducing the final amount received by the employee.
The Minister said these deductions were lawful and should therefore be taken into account when workers calculate what they expected to receive.
Maseko said some civil servants may have calculated their payments incorrectly by assuming that the 85 per cent was calculated against their basic salary.
He emphasised that the payment was backpay arising from the salary variance, commonly referred to as dvuladvula, and not 85 per cent of the employee’s annual or basic salary.
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