By Delisa Thwala
From the 1 398 increases in construction companies recorded by the Construction Industry Council (CIC) only 500 are registered with Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF)
This was revealed by ENPF Compliance Manager Themba Mamba during the Construction Indaba held in Ezulwini Happy Valley Hotel on Tuesday.
He said they were facing problems with these companies because they were not registered with the, depriving their employees the benefit of being under ENPF.
“According to our records it is only 500 companies with us, we are a bit shocked to learn CIC has over a 1000 construction companies under them.
We urge these business owners to register their companies. It is paramount,’’ said Mamba.
Meanwhile CIC CEO Maqhawe Mnisi acknowledged the significant costs associated with compliance and emphasised the importance of streamlining processes.
“The council is actively collaborating with various partners to develop Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) that aim to simplify compliance procedures,” said Mnisi.
These partnerships would facilitate smoother operations for businesses and reduce administrative hurdles.
By streamlining processes and fostering collaboration.
The CEO highlighted that CIC aimed to create a more conducive environment for businesses to thrive while ensuring adherence to regulatory standards.
The Indaba event brought together key stakeholders, including the Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF), the Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS), the Ministry of Labour, and the Construction Mediation and Arbitration Centre (CMAC), to discuss strategies for enhancing compliance and streamlining processes.
Worth mentioning is that, the main purpose of ENPF is to provide benefits for employed persons when they retire from regular employment in old age or in the event of becoming incapacitated.
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All employers of labour in Eswatini are required by law to become contributing members of the Fund and must contribute for every eligible staff member.
The employee’s share (one-half of the stipulated amount) is deducted from wages.
ENPF is a retirement benefit savings scheme that was established in 1974 by King Sobhuza II.
Their core business, which is governed by the King’s Order and Council No. 23 of 1974 is to manage and administer retirement benefits for all employed Eswatini nationals.
Their job is to give members peace of mind about their financial security after retirement.
They do this by making sure that all funds in safekeeping are responsibly invested and accounted for, and that benefits are paid out efficiently, accurately, and on time.
ENPF has a solid record in protecting its members against inflation and safeguarding the value of active members’retirement savings.
Every November, ENPF pays members an interest rate that largely compensates members for inflation.
Despite all this, The Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF) revealed in one of their reports that its member funds amounted to E4,81 billion as compared to E4,46 billion in 2021.
This is contained in the Fund’s Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2023.
ENPF discloses in the report that the total number of registered members was 142 023, which was a 2.99% increase over the year 2022.
Meanwhile, the Fund’s total number of active registered employers stood at 6 804 compared to 6 720 in 2021.
The Fund notes that one of its biggest achievements to date is its ability to pay members their benefits on time.
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“The Fund continues to be the envy of most social security schemes in that it always pays its members their benefits in less than two (2) days, on average, of launching the claim.
“The average days that claims were processed and paid during the year under review was 1.8 days, which was actually an improvement when compared with the number of days in the prior year, where the Fund took an average of 2.47 days.” Reads the report in part.
ENPF has divulged that when it comes to compliance they are lagging behind their own benchmark.
“Regarding compliance rate, the Fund continues to lag behind its set benchmark of 92%. During the year under review, the Fund achieved an average compliance rate of 86.96% which was an increase from last year’s rate of 84.67%.
This year’s compliance rate though lower than the prior year compares favourably to other pension and provident funds worldwide.”
In terms of contributions for the financial year under review, the Fund realized an 8% increase
“Contributions received for the year ended 30 June 2022 amounted to E421.9 million (2021: E387.5 million) and represented a year-on-year increase of 8% (2020:2.4% increase).
The year-on-year increase as compared to 2021 is largely due to the annual increase in contributions of 6.45% as well as the economic impact of the uplifting of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions on employment as reflected in the year-on-year increase in membership from 137 903 in 2021 to 138 021 in 2022.”
“Benefits paid by the Fund for the 2021/22 financial year was E233, 2 million (2020/21: E202,8 million). This represents a year-on-year increase of 13%,” notes the Fund.
