Times Of Swaziland: TEXTILE WAGES STILL VERY LOW IN ESWATINI

TEXTILE WAGES STILL VERY LOW IN ESWATINI
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Edwin Dlamini Sandlane on 03/02/2025 08:35:00


Sir,
Please, allow me to raise my concern Eswatini about textile workers’ wages. in
Eswatini. Academically, we are not all gifted in education and that is why we
are here. Basebenta ngekutimisela shem. Pho kute imali Eswatini. I am not
perfect and no one is in life. Correct me if I’m wrong, I am a human being, I
have made mistakes and got hurt also. Sibuya kuma communities  langafani shem. 
It is the low wages paid to textile workers in the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) region that have turned Matsapha into one of the hot spots,
where HIV/AIDS is rife in Eswatini. Ngayibeka yacaca lendzaba some years back
yemali shem! Ngumsebenti lona. We won’t be in the textile sector forever.
There are other factors that lead some of the workers to live a fast life in
Matsapha and this is because they are from poor backgrounds and sometimes
uneducated uyabona mosi. Kubi vele nje.
Highest
Eswatini has the highest rates of HIV/AIDS infections in the world with more
than a quarter (27 per cent). Some of the textile workers I have come across
around Matsapha, informed me that they do not know what E2 500 looks like as
they have less than that, if at all. The country has a different generation of
young people. It is painful to be a textile worker in Eswatini these days. Most
of the textile workers’ salaries in Eswatini range from R900 to E1 500 per
month, which is not enough for them to enjoy a comfortable life here in Eswatini
shem.They are paid on fortnight basis. “Yeyi in this morden life.” The
monthly salary we get is too little to cater for all our needs. Rent, transport
and food cost around E1 808, transport costs for children not included, while
working under harsh conditions.
Pandemic
The pandemic affected most of them as some are breadwinners at home and
succumbed to illness related to it. There are homes for some where there is no
food on the table due to the fact that the people who were supporting them died
to COVID-19 and seemingly our government is paying very little in grants to
those affected by these Eswatini. Communication between the minister for Labour
and Social Security is lacking concerning their salaries and other issues is
also worrying us too Eswatini. Everyone is crying in Eswatini, ngubani lokumele
eve lomunye? This is so painful! Through my understanding investigation, a
majority of the textile workers have given us the issue of lower income into the
spotlight as the major contributor to labelling Matsapha as one of the hot spots
for HIV/AIDS.
Tintfo letentekako la tiyasesabisa xem Eswatini who cares for the workers.
Minister for Labour shem akuhlalweni phansi kukhulunyiswane. Kubi phela itsini
yona le Constitution? Where is the better tomorrow we were promised by our MPs,
batsini bahlonishwa Eswatini? I want people to know that working in the textile
industry is not a choice. Njengobe ngiliSwati ngitsi akusiko loku manje. In
Matsapha renting a house cost between E700 - E800 and that already takes a chunk
of their salaries nje. The textile workers also have to buy food for their
families who are back in the village and it has to be brought in bulk (eBoxer)
so that it can last for the whole month.
Spends
One usually spends around E800 just on basic food and that is the salary gone.
This is before you calculate money for transport, school fees, medical bills,
water and electricity.
Life has become very hard for everyone in Eswatini. I am not a mathematician I
am just saying this nje. As a result, some of the textile workers then resort to
sex work, especially those who have migrated from the rural areas. Some of them
also fail to even find jobs, so they do sex work just to survive here in
Matsapha  as they are paid very low salaries. Some of those  workers have high
qualifications but could not find jobs in Eswatini due to the scarcity of jobs.
Over 70 per cent of emaSwati live below the poverty line and both government and
the private sector have to join hands and work on this issue of Eswatini.