EZULWINI — Minister for Public Service Mabulala Maseko on Sunday, 30 August 2026, officially closed the 3rd Conference and Annual General Meeting of the SADC Public Service Commissions, a three-day regional gathering that drew chairpersons, commissioners and senior officials from across the Southern African Development Community to Ezulwini.
The meeting, hosted under the SADC Forum of Public Service Commissions, focused on strengthening collaboration, peer learning and institutional reform to improve public service delivery across the 16-member bloc. Delegates reviewed progress on public service modernisation, shared best practices and adopted resolutions aimed at driving measurable change in civil services.
In his closing address, Maseko said the region must shift from adopting policies and frameworks to enforcing them consistently and holding officials to account.
“Our regional diagnosis is clear: the problem is not a lack of accountability frameworks and policies, but a failure to consistently enforce consequences when wrongdoings occur, vague job roles, weak performance tracking, and ethical lapses that erode public trust,” Maseko said.
He outlined the core values needed to transform public institutions, saying: “Resilience. Responsiveness. Citizen-Centricity. Innovation. Integrity and Consequence Management. Institutions do not transform on their own but people transform them.”
Maseko added that restoring public confidence depends on the conduct of civil servants. “Rebuilding trust requires ethical, competent, and selfless public servants who view integrity as a non-negotiable duty. From conference resolutions to institutional revolution; from good intentions to measurable action; and from public service that serves systems to public service that serves people,” he said.
The Minister thanked the Interim Chairperson of the Forum, Professor Somadoda Fikeni, and the local Chairperson, Simangaliso Mamba, for their leadership, as well as the organising committee, participating SADC member states and government stakeholders. He also acknowledged support from the Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF), Montigny Investments and the Centre for Financial, along with the Royal Eswatini Police Service and His Majesty’s Correctional Service for their contributions to the programme.
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