Govt de-registers TUCOSWA

Swazi News can reveal that the trade union was de-registered on Monday. TUCOSWA was born out of the amalgamation of the then Swaziland Federation of Labour (SFL) and the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) and subse-quently joined by the Swaziland Na-tional Associa-tion of Teachers (SNAT).

According to documents in our posse-ssion, the Attorney General (AG) advised the Commissioner of Labour that TUCOSWA was impro-perly registered. This is further confirmed in a letter dated April 2, 2012, written by the AG, Majahenkaba Dlamini which was addressed to the secretary general of the organisation.

The AG in the letter stated that it had come to his attention that the Commissioner of Labour registered the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland as a federation under Sec-tion 27 of the Indus-trial Relations Act, 2000. "Be advised that a proper reading of Sec-tion 27 and 29 of the Industrial Act reveals that your entity/federation was erroneously registered by reason that the provisions relate only to registration of organisations," he stated.

Dlamini further explains that in terms of Section 2 which was the interpretation section of the Act, ‘organisation’ was defined to mean ‘a trade union, staff association or employers association in good standing as the context may require.

"This means therefore, that Section 27 even by any stretch of imagination cannot accommodate the registration of federations but only registration of organisations. The Trade Union Congress of Swaziland not being an organisation in terms of the Act cannot therefore be registered under Section 27 as an organisation which it is not," elaborated the AG in his letter.

TUCOSWA First Deputy Secretary General Mduduzi Gina said this observation by the government was a total somersault as the defunct national centres were registered in terms of the Industrial Relations Act and that all the business federations, the Federation of Swaziland Employers and Chamber of Commerce (FSE&CC) and Fe-deration of Swaziland Business Community (FESBC) were regis-tered under the same Act.

Gina also pointed out that another contradiction, was that upon registration government welcomed and congratulated TUCOSWA for its formation as per a letter written by the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Lutfo Dlamini. The minister is said to have written the letter on March 16, 2012. In the letter, the minister states that the formation of TUCOSWA was a positive develop-ment and advacement of the union movement, chiefly because it was easy to work with a united front as opposed to a fragmented workforce.

Dlamini urged the organisation to be united, and come up with strategies and ideas that will promote employ-ment creation, decent work, effective social dialogue and extension of social security coverage in the world of work. He pointed out that the end result of the current position was that there was no national centre now recog-nised by the Government of Swazi-land and all tripartite structures had come to a halt.

When asked to comment on the latest development Government Press Secretary, Percy Simelane said, "For this one we will play our cards close to our chest and cross every bridge when we come to them,"

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