MPS LOBBIED AT HILTON HOTEL TO REJECT PROVIDENT FUND CONVERSION BILL
Twenty Members of Parliament (MPs) are currently camped at the luxurious Hilton Hotel in Mbabane, where they are being lobbied to reject the controversial Eswatini National Pension Fund (ENPF) Bill. The Bill seeks to convert the existing Provident Fund into a Pension Fund, a move that has attracted sharp criticism and resistance from powerful interests.
The MPs arrived at the hotel on Thursday night, with the lobbying expected to continue into Friday morning. According to sources, the lawmakers have been tasked with analyzing the Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF) Order of 1993 to assess how the establishment of another pension fund would affect the PSPF, particularly in terms of membership and its multibillion-rand investments.
Lobbying, a political process where legislators are influenced on a particular issue, is now at the center of this unfolding story. The MPs are being courted by stakeholders who fear that the conversion of the Provident Fund into a Pension Fund will destabilize existing arrangements and threaten entrenched financial interests.
Masotja Vilakati, the Chief Executive Officer of the Pension Fund, was not available for comment as his phone rang unanswered. His silence has left many questions about the official position of the fund and whether it is behind the aggressive lobbying of MPs currently underway at Hilton.
What has further raised eyebrows is the revelation that the MPs are expected to receive five thousand rand (R5,000.00) each as a “traveling allowance” from the PSPF. This amounts to more than one hundred thousand rand (R100,000.00) for the twenty MPs involved. Critics argue that this is nothing more than a bribe disguised as an allowance, meant to ensure that lawmakers align themselves with the PSPF’s agenda against the new Bill.
Among the MPs present at Hilton are Nathie Hlophe (Mtfongwaneni), Michael Masilela (Lobamba), Manzi Zwane (Nhlambeni), Sandile Nxumalo (Somntongo), Masiphula Mamba (Khubutha), and Dr Bongnkhosi Dlamini (Mhlambanyatsi). These names highlight how broad and cross-cutting the lobbying efforts are, pulling in representatives from across the country.
The Provident Fund Conversion Bill is being presented as a necessary reform by some, but opponents fear it will threaten existing pension arrangements and re-channel billions in investments into new structures that could be mismanaged. For ordinary emaSwati who depend on these funds for their future, the fight over the Bill is not just political maneuvering but a matter of survival.
The use of luxury hotels, allowances, and lobbying raises serious questions about transparency in the legislative process. Instead of openly debating the merits and weaknesses of the ENPF Bill, MPs are being influenced behind closed doors with financial incentives. This is a betrayal of the public, who expect lawmakers to represent their interests rather than the interests of powerful financial institutions.
In a country where corruption is already a national crisis, the spectacle of MPs being hosted at a five-star hotel and allegedly rewarded with allowances for their loyalty only deepens public distrust. It confirms the belief that laws in Eswatini are not made in Parliament chambers but in hotel conference rooms, where money speaks louder than the needs of the people.
For the people of Eswatini, the ongoing Hilton Hotel lobbying is a reminder that their retirement security is being decided not by honest debate, but by backroom deals and financial manipulations. The MPs now face a test: will they side with the people who elected them, or with the elites who wine and dine them?
