Skip to main content

SNAT MEMBERS AND THE MDM STAND FIRMLY BEHIND DISMISSED PRESIDENT MBONGWA DLAMINI

Pictured Above: President Mbongwa lifted aloof by the workers during the EOGM at the SNAT center IN Manzini (Picture courtesy of the SNAT Platform on Facebook)


WRITTEN BY FUNDIZWI SIKHONDZE

 The membership of the educators union ,the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) ,have resolved to stand firmly behind him following his dismissal by the government of Eswatini from his employment as a teacher.

In a Extra Ordinary General Meeting held on Friday 15th  September 2023 at its head offices in Manzini, and attended by over 2000 members ,TUCOSWA Secretary General Mduduzi Gina, several leaders of the Mass Democratic Movement as well as members of SNAT were unequivocal in stating their support for the president and further called for his reinstatement. 

The Secretary General (SG) of SNAT Lot "Gaddafi" Vilakati presented a detailed report to the EOGM and in the report the SG laid down the history of the different forms charges that have been laid against President Mbongwa by the government from 2016. He reported that President Mbongwa has been a hunted by the Eswatini government from 2016 where he and current SNAT DSG Mcolosi Ngcamphalala were first arrested during a protests calling for the implementation of salary review to public service workers. This matter ,involving moving a big rock on a public road, remains unresolved and therefore still pending in the courts of the country according to the SG. 

The President then elected to the position in 2018 and then the witch-hunt started when was slapped with 46 charges for neglecting to fill up the scheme book after what the SG described as a sniffing exercise at his school by Ministry of Education officials. For these charges he was suspended from work.

He was then charged anew for advising teachers not to report for work for their safety in 2022 during a day where a mass stay away had been announced in the country. The last set of charges according to the SG were initiated after it was clear that he would be uncontested in the position of SNAT President in 2022.  After the elective conference in 2022 the President was then charged with 109 counts of absenteeism. 

The SG concluded his report by emphasising the need for unity amongst SNAT members during these difficult times. To emphasise the need for unity the SG illustrated that "if the president goes ,the organisation will follow".

After inputs from SNAT members the EOGM resolved to take the following actions:

  • To deliver petitions at regional education offices, targeting members of the Teaching Services Commission and targeting the education ministry in the capital city Mbabane.
  • To fully explore the court route in a bid to get the decision to dismissed the president overturned by the courts.
  • To fully mobilise educators around the issue thus ensuring that the situation does not return to normal.
Picture: SNAT Members at the EOGM in Manzini on 15th September 2023. (picture courtesy of SNAT Platform, Facebook)

Organisations that gave messages of solidarity to SNAT during the meeting included the parents association, Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) ,National Workers Union in Swaziland Higher Institutions (NAWUSHI), the Swaziland Transport ,Communications and Allied Workers Union (SWATCAWU, the Swaziland National Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP), the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) ,the Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS),the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) ,the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC),the Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO) as well as representative from the South African Communist Party (SACP).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NAPSAWU HAS SUSPENDED THREE NATIONAL OFFICE BEARERS

Written by Staff Reporter The National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) National General Council (NGC) ,on Thursday 15 th February 2024, suspended three of its National Office Bearers (NOBs), two of whom are believed to be principal officers. Principal Officers number up to three in trade unions and are the President, General Secretary and the Treasurer. The suspension of two of them may therefore demonstrate the seriousness of the matter just barely six months since the current NOBS took office in August 2023. The suspension of the trio is reported to have come after it had been discovered that they were one way or another involved in alleged misappropriation of undisclosed NAPSAWU funds believed to  amounting to more than one hundred thousand and seventy thousands (more than E170 000) emalangeni. The funds according to reliable sources are believed to have been approved funds for union activities but were later discovered to have been diverted into pers...
Post a Comment
Read more

The history of Swaziland Labour Law

1.    THE HISTRORY OF SWAZI LABOUR LAW – BY NATHI GUMEDE It is difficult to proceed with issues of individual and collective Swazi Labour law without outlining the key events in the history of the Swazi Labour Movement. Though by no means comprehensive and very accurate, here are some events that have shaped Swazi Labour Law. 1937 – Wages Determining Proclamation 1947 – Trade Union Dispute Proclamation No 31 of 1942 1960 – F.C. Catchpole Commission on Labour Relations Socialization reports absence of trade unions 1962 – Pulp and Timber Worker’s Union established with Pan-Africanist influence as the first trade union; the union called the first strike the same year 1963 - Second Strike of the Pulp and Timber Worker’s Union spread into a National Strike (66,000 man hours). The National strike led to the formation of the Swaziland Democratic party and the Swaziland Progressive Party. The strike was thwarted by the First Battalion of Gordon Highlands from Ken...
Post a Comment
Read more

OPINION: PRIME MINISTER RUSSELL DLAMINI VS AUDITOR GENERAL TIMOTHY MATSEBULA

  Eswatini Prime Minister Russell Dlamini (L) and Auditor General Timothy Matsebula (R) during their meeting in the cabinet offices in March 2024. (Picture courtesy of Eswatini government social media platform) Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini on Thursday 6th June 2024 may have single-handedly plunged his government into its first major political crisis.  While fielding questions from the country's editors the Prime Minister was asked a question by  The Nation Magazine's Bheki Makhubu about  the audit reports from the Auditor General (AG) regarding his tenure as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA). The audits had allegedly flagged unaccounted for expenditure of E180M worth of funds and lately there a report which questioned expenditure of E30M from the NDMA.     Prime Minister's reply left his audience of journalist and cabinet ministers gasping as perhaps none were ready for i...
Post a Comment
Read more