Officials from the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office and legislators witnessed an alleged heated exchange between Senators Chief Mphatfwa and Stukie Motsa over the propriety of the Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF)–funded workshop trip to Nelspruit, South Africa, this week.
The workshop was organised to allow the Ministry of Labour and Social Security portfolio committee to deliberate on the ENPF Bill 2025.
The Bill proposes converting the ENPF into the Eswatini National Pension Fund, shifting to a defined-benefit pension scheme and repealing the 1974 ENPF Order, a move which has drawn objections from the Public Service Pensions Fund (PSPF), which claims the fund’s financial stability would be completely shattered if contributions by civil servants were diverted to the new scheme.
Officials who witnessed the incident claimed that the row centred on Chief Mphatfwa’s comments regarding his reservations about whether the parliamentary workshop should have taken place across the country’s borders, despite formal communication by the Senate President’s Office confirming its authorisation.
His insistence on pursuing the matter reportedly triggered Senator Motsa, who chairs the Ministry of Labour and Social Security Portfolio Committee, leading to a strong response and a tense exchange.
Sources alleged that she rose to her feet and, in a firm and raised tone, made clear her displeasure, insisting that the comments were not only misplaced, but deeply disrespectful to both her and the committee she leads.
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Her reaction, described by those present as sharp and unambiguous, is said to have marked the point at which the exchange escalated and drew the attention of nearby officials. This took place in full view of officials from the DPM’s Office and other legislators.
Chief Mphatfwa confirmed the incident in an interview and maintained that he opposed the workshop being held in Nelspruit, stating that his objections were rooted in both process and principle.
He said the trip was not initially communicated through formal channels and that he raised this concern when he first became aware of it.
Authorised
Although confirmation later came from the Senate President’s Office that the trip was authorised, he argued that the formalisation did not address his substantive concerns about why the meeting needed to be held outside the country.
“A workshop discussing domestic legislation did not require foreign travel. I have never seen legislators from another country come here to hold their workshops. If it was benchmarking, it would be different, but this was simply a workshop about Eswatini matters, so I did not see why we had to go all the way to South Africa,” he said in an interview.
He said it was for this reason that he refused to participate in the trip and chose to remain in Eswatini, even after the formal confirmation came through.
Crucially, he claimed that during the argument Senator Motsa threatened him with legal action.
This allegation, he said, left him concerned that the disagreement was escalating unnecessarily beyond parliamentary debate.
He said he subsequently approached two chiefs who also serve in the Senate and requested that they act as emissaries to help mend relations should he have unintentionally offended his colleague.
Despite the tension, the chief emphasised that his primary concern remained the quality of debate on the ENPF Bill.
“All I want is to make sure that the discussion on the proposed conversion is fair, principled and active. This issue is extremely important to the future of our economy. My duty is to ensure that we debate it on the right platforms,” he stated.
Senator Stukie Motsa, despite initially promising to respond when sent questions regarding her recollection of the exchange, the reasons for the dispute and whether she had indeed threatened legal action, eventually refused to comment.
“Whoever has an issue should discuss it with me. I do not account to the media, so with all due respect I elect to reserve my comments,” she responded briefly.
The clash between the senators over the trip comes after the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) Secretary General Mduduzi Gina publicly defended it, stating that South African workshops had become standard practice for parliamentary committees and some state-owned entities.
The ENPF Bill has already created significant divisions among the ENPF, PSPF, public-sector unions and politicians.
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