SOME Ministry of Health workers funded through grants will see their contracts expire at the end of September as government awaits the finalisation of a new health cooperation agreement with the United States.
The affected employees have been receiving letters notifying them that their contracts will end on September 30, with the Ministry of Health explaining that their employment was linked to the availability of funding under specific grants.
In one of the letters dated September 4, the ministry informed an employee that their contract, funded by the United States Government through the National Emergency Response Council on HIV and AIDS (NERCHA) would expire at the end of the month.
The letter stated that the employee’s contract would conclude in accordance with the terms of the employment agreement.
It further stated that the employee would be paid outstanding annual leave days and any terminal benefits due in terms of the contract and the Employment Act, 1980.
Ministry of Health Principal Secretary Khanya Mabuza confirmed that some health workers received the letters.
Mabuza explained that the affected workers had been re-engaged on contracts whose duration depended on the availability of funds from the grants supporting their areas of work.
He said some grants had been extended, while others were reaching the end of their funding periods.
“The contracts are informed by the availability of funds on the grants that the employees are attached to. When the grants come to an end, the contracts also expire,” Mabuza said.
However, Mabuza said there was a possibility that some of the affected workers could return to their positions once a new health cooperation agreement between Eswatini and the United States was finalised.
He said government was at the final stages of finalising the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the US. The United States and Eswatini signed a five-year, US$242 million (about E4.1 billion) health cooperation MoU on December 12, 2025.
Under the agreement, the US committed to providing up to US$205 million, while the country would increase its domestic health spending by US$37 million.
Mabuza said the affected employees, particularly those considered critical to the health system, would be re-engaged once the MoU had been finalised. He said the current situation was largely a result of the funding arrangements attached to the employees’ work.
“It is very unfortunate that it has to come to this, but it is largely informed by the availability of funds on the grants that the employees are in their scope of work,” he said.
