Mbabane – It’s victory for junior officers.
Chief Justice (CJ) Bheki Maphalala has delivered a judgement ordering government to pay junior police and Correctional Services officers their salary increment under Phase II.
A few days ago, the CJ asked, “ten years down the line, Phase II has not been implemented, is it fair?”
This was when he was hearing the appeal filed by the Royal Eswatini Police Staff Association (REPOSA) against the national commissioner (NATCOM) of police and the commissioner general (COMGEN) of His Majesty’s Correctional Services. The CJ went on to say that some officers were charged for pursuing the issue of Phase II and he asked, ‘why are you doing this?’
These questions were directed to the representatives of the attorney general (AG), Assistant AG Mndeni Vilakati and Crown Counsel Henry Sibandze. Maphalala also asked why it was necessary to please senior officers and neglect the junior officers. “Why divide them? Just confide in the court, is there anything that is withholding the implementation of Phase II?”
Vilakati said he would need to take instructions to answer the last question. Sibandze was asked by the CJ if Circular No.1/2014 was implemented, as it relates to junior officers and he said ‘no’. Maphalala asked why it was not and Sibandze said the matter to be dealt with by the court was not the issue of the circular. He said he could not give a response right away.
The CJ heard the matter together with judges Phesheya Dlamini, Mbutfo Mamba, Sabelo Matsebula and Magriet Van Der Walt. In this matter, two applications were consolidated at the High Court and were heard by a full bench, to address constitutional issues.
Meanwhile, the court further ordered government to lift the suspension of junior police officers who marched to the Prime Minister’s Office to demand their salaries increment.
The judgement means government will now be expected to pay each junior police and Correctional Services officer who was already employed in 2014 when the Phase II Circular was issued, a back-pay amounting to over E100,000.00.
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