His Majesty’s Government has spent at least R6.5 million on the advances that were afforded to both Members of Parliament (MPs) and senators in Swaziland. A total of 65 MPs and senators applied for a R100 000 advance each and were all granted according to the Ministry of Finance Communications Officer, Setsabile Dlamini. She stated that among the legislators who applied for the advances, no member of the Cabinet did. “We also have applications from tindvuna tetinkhundla and bucopho and the disbursement of their advances will commence next week,” she said.
The ministry did not specify how many from the House of Assembly or Senate applied, but gave the overall figure of applications from both chambers. The ministry was also not specific on the number of bucopho and tindvuna tetinkhundla who had applied for the advances. The legislators engaged the Ministry of Finance on getting R100 000 advances against their gratuity or ex-gratia. A gratuity is a lump sum amount that is paid to an employee by an employer, as a token of appreciation on the termination of the employee’s service.
This was in anticipation that the 4th session of the 11th Parliament may be dissolved anytime soon and that would mean they would no longer be beneficiaries of either the constituency or sitting allowances, with only the basic salary to rely on, yet some of them were still servicing loans and other monetary commitments. The contract of the MPs depicts that once Parliament is dissolved, they no longer benefit from the constituency or sitting allowances, but only the basic salary. According to Finance Circular No.2 of 2013, a sitting allowance shall be paid to Members of Parliament, tindvuna tetinkhundla and bucopoho betinkhundla and each sitting is E350.
The circular also depicts that all parliamentarians will be entitled to a constituency allowance. The allowance will be equal to 12.5 percent of the basic pay of the Member of Parliament, payable every month. As far as repaying the advance is concerned, Dlamini previously explained that for MPs who would not be re-elected to Parliament, it would be a difference in the advance from their gratuity that they would be getting while those who would be re-elected, they would service the advance as a loan and repaying from their salaries or any other source of income.
In the Eswatini context, the ex-gratia payment is a grant that is payable to former parliamentarians to assist with the costs of adjusting to non-parliamentary life. This is contained in Circular No.2 of 2013, which depicts that the ex-gratia payment is available to all parliamentarians who fail to be re-elected or re-appointed into the new Parliament. Mind-blowing, isn’t it?
In the event that the parliamentarian does not fully serve the five-year term, the ex-gratia payment would be pro-rated taking into account the actual period served as stipulated in the circular, and under no circumstances would a part year served be considered as a full year. “Should the parliamentarian be dismissed or removed from office due to misconduct or incompetence, the ex-gratia payment will be forfeited. The ex-gratia will be paid as a once-off payment equal to 12 months (one year) basic salary before taxation for all parliamentarians,” reads the circular.
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