Mbabane – The Government of Eswatini and public sector unions have reached a deadlock over the application of annual notching increments, with the Ministry of Public Service this week setting out its position on the impasse in a strongly worded press release signed by Minister Mabulala Maseko.
At the heart of the dispute is whether civil servants are entitled to their customary April notching increment while the government is still in the process of implementing a broader Salary Review, the full cost of which stands at E1.643 billion.
The government and the Public Sector Unions concluded a Collective Agreement in October 2025 providing for the implementation of Scenario 3 of the Salary Review Report, a document prepared by appointed consultants following a comprehensive remuneration survey of all public service employees. Given the scale of the financial commitment and prevailing fiscal pressures, both parties agreed to a staggered rollout across two financial years, the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years. 
The first phase of implementation was effected in October 2025 at a cost of E800 million. The outstanding balance of E843 million, which includes 85% back pay on basic salaries and all recommended allowances, remains due and payable in July 2026. The government said it has not repudiated or varied its obligation to pay that balance within the agreed timeframe.
The government’s position is that it did not anticipate, at the time the staggered deal was struck, that unions would also lay claim to the annual notching increment on top of the Salary Review adjustments. It argues that the Salary Review itself re-grades employees onto higher notches within the new salary scales, and that this effectively serves as a substitute for the ordinary annual notching process during the transitional period.
The government further warned that applying notching universally across the public service would add E195 million to the wage bill, over and above the already approved E1.643 billion Salary Review cost. It said such an increase would compromise its ability to meet other obligations, including repairing road infrastructure damaged by recent summer rains, providing fuel subsidies amid rising fuel prices and cushioning the public against electricity tariff increases.
Without abandoning its principal position, the government put forward a compromise proposal to consider applying notching only for employees in Grades A and B, on the basis that the base pay for those grades was not materially improved under the Salary Review. The unions rejected the proposal.
Beyond the financial dispute, the government used the press release to condemn what it described as the unlawful practice of union executives arriving at Joint Negotiations Forum meetings accompanied by large numbers of members under the guise of accompanying leadership. It said such gatherings outside JNF venues frequently take on the character of political rallies, with political songs sung and inflammatory remarks directed at government representatives and members of the security forces.
The government said this conduct contravenes the Public Order Act No. 12 of 2017, the Code of Good Practice on Gatherings under Legal Notice No. 12 of 2017, and the Code of Good Practice on Industrial and Protest Actions under Legal Notice No. 202 of 2015.
“Government reiterates that the Joint Negotiations Forum is a legally constituted platform for structured and constructive engagement, and not a forum for political mobilisation, intimidation, or public disorder,” the statement read.
The government said it remains willing to continue engagement within the JNF, provided it is conducted in good faith, within applicable legal frameworks and in a manner consistent with the national interest.
