Eswatini educators union the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) hosted their annual World Teachers Day Commemoration at the Mavuso Trade Center in Manzini on Friday 24th October 2025.
The global observance of World Teachers Day takes place on 5th October of each year and internationally organisations such as United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Education International (EI) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) usually announce major campaigns on the day along a stated theme. The 2025 International World Teachers Day theme stated that, "Recasting teaching as a collaborative profession".
The SNAT World Teachers Day featured two sets of programmes, a daytime as well as a nighttime programme. The daytime programme features a march through Manzini city to Mavuso stadium as well as speeches from SNAT leaders, guests that included the Minister of Education Owen Nxumalo and TUCOSWA President Bheki Mamba. The evening programme mainly concentrated on entertainment and the programme featured artists from a wide range of musical genres that include Gospel, rap and Amapiano and Djs. The main drawcard for the evening programme was South African musician Sjava.
SNAT Secretary General address
Addressing the gathered educators at Mavuso Trade Center stadium SNAT Secretary General (SG) Lot Vilakati outlined some of the challenges faced by the teachers at the schools around the country. These included teachers being made to carry a high workload of more than 120 hours per week, teachers who qualify to teach in high school but still teaching in primary school, grade zero teachers who are still not properly hired, teachers starting new schools but being denied new posts but being kept in old posts from their old schools and in the process not being paid correctly. He pledged that SNAT will continue to fight for teachers to be hired on a permanent basis and not on fixed term contracts as it is currently happening.
SG Lot further highlighted that there were high levels of corruption within the education sector where he alleged that for a teacher to access a headteacher post they needed to pay around E100 000. He predicted that it will be worse now that headteachers are going to receive E34 000 salaries (new salaries after the implementation of the salary review). He further fired a warning to headteachers to stop the habit of denying teachers permission to attend to SNAT activities. He urged members to defy such headteachers. "That person has invited anarchy to the school and your duty is to stress that thing beregout (to the fullest)"
The SG spiced up his address with some humour by adding a religious interpretation SNAT organising efforts by comparing being a member of SNAT to going to heaven. He added that members of SNAT will get to heaven and will ask for the SNAT gate and will be allowed to enter without any further hindrance "Masifika (ezulwini) siyofike sitsi Jesu sikhombise ligede laka SNAT ,bonkhe bantfu labamalunga a SNAT bayongena batjakadvula ezulwini"
Messages of Solidarity
Progressive organisations in Eswatini issued messaged of solidarity to SNAT including fellow trade unions such as SCAWU, SUFIAW and SWATCAWU. Political parties, the Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) and the Peoples United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) also sent messages of solidarity to SNAT on the day wishing them a successful commemoration of international teachers' day.
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