Mbabane – The Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF) management has expressed support for the Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF) Bill but opposes migrating over 20 000 civil servants to ENPF, warning that this move could collapse both funds.
PSPF Chief Executive Officer (CEO)-Principal Officer, Masotja Vilakati, said while he supports the idea of placing every Liswati in a pension scheme, the government must still find an efficient way to implement this. Vilkati said all workers ought to be pensioned after years of service.
PSPF, which has been servicing its members for 32 years, has ensured that government employees retire in dignity. Vilakati said but the binding of civil servants in the ENPF conversion would do more harm than good, advising that the ENPF should focus its energy on the unpensioned sectors.
He said as a pension fund their worry is that the Bill incorporates government employees who are already pensioned.
When Independent News asked about the extent of consultation processes, Vilakati said as a government parastatal they have made presentations to individual ministers including the Prime Minister (PM) Russell Dlamini but are yet to make a formal presentation to the full Cabinet.
Vilakati refuted allegations that he might have rejected meeting with the PM and the ENPF CEO Futhie Tembe to discuss issues that touch both schemes.
On another note, Makhozazana Dlamini, PSPF marketing manager when asked about their members reaction to the conversion, said there is nothing untoward about their members wanting to stay where they are as all of them are happy with what the scheme is currently offering them.
She said they have periodic engagements with their members in many issues and areas of concern and the aim to attend to all of them as need arises. Dlamini said the proposed Bill seeks to eliminate double dipping meaning no member will be allowed to be paid twice by both ENPF and PSPF, to the detriment of the civil servants.
She then assured their members that issues of policy like this are discussed at a high level and for now there was nothing to worry about.
Dlamini said the PSPF office was involved in the conversion plan discussions, though not their members. She said PSPF has not picked up any complaints from its members to warrant them to leave their own scheme for ENPF.
PSPF, which is already a pension scheme, recently announced a 4.2% pension increment. Last year, PSPF paid 25 572 pensioners over E15.3 million in annuities. They would pay instantly for any member who meets all the requirements and their members are enabled to retire in peace.
The Public Sector Unions (PSUs) meeting on the Bill No.13 of 2025 held in Manzini on August 20 was openly critical of the proposal, citing concerns over their pension contributions, and the sustainability of existing public funds.
They refuted any move which gets them into another compulsory membership and contributions, which automatically renders them ENPF members and that under the current draft the Bill leaves them with no choice. They resolved to maintain the status quo for the fear of being financially disadvantaged, amongst other concerns.
Dlamini said the PSPF main issue with the ENPF Bill is clause 69.
“We have fears that if clause 69 of the Bill remains unamended, it appears there would be no double dipping, effectively it means the employee’s contribution will not return to him/her. The employee will be told to claim it from PSPF. It is similar to robbery, if you contribute to both schemes and benefit from one. Is that really fair?. Clause 69 talks directly to PSPF,” Dlamini said.
The clause proposes changing the structure of retirement payments for most sectors. But PSPF argues that with the experience they already have, they can now offer both lump sum payments for their members from the age 50, followed by monthly salaries after retirement which has been built over years of trust, rejecting the idea to transfer their members.
“Our members are extremely happy with PSPF. There will be continuous improvement of the scheme. In fact, the benefits from PSPF are probably the best in the country,” Dlamini said.
The ENPF Bill, on the other hand, proposes only periodic payments up until death, eliminating the lump sum options. When asked if there has been consultation before the ENPF Bill gazetted, Vilakati responded by saying they have met several times to discuss this issue.
“But where we differ fundamentally is the inclusion of civil servants into their pension fund because civil servants are not part of ENPF as things stand. If you are saying you are converting the Fund then bring in civil servants then it is not a conversion,” he said.
PSPF would not survive under the new formula that proposes a split of benefits from both schemes.
“The Cabinet doesn’t have our view on this matter. Yes, some ministers, including the PM have met us but we are yet to formally present our submissions to Cabinet,” Vilakati said.
Vilakati said PSPF should have been consulted because by mentioning the binding civil servants, they now have vested interest in what the Bill proposes. Vilakati said he does not know why they were excluded from consultations on this matter.
“We (management) have met several times with ENPF on this matter and our position was clear that they should exclude civil servants,” he said
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