Times Of Swaziland: FIREFIGHTERS ACCUSED OF TAMPERING WITH BOSS’S CAR BRAKES

FIREFIGHTERS ACCUSED OF TAMPERING WITH BOSS’S CAR BRAKES
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 BY MBONGISENI NDZIMANDZE  on 06/10/2020 23:47:00


MBABANE – The brakes of a car allocated to the Senior Officer at Mbabane Fire
Station, Luke Lushaba, were tampered with, allegedly by aggrieved firefighters.
This, according to government, could have seen Lushaba losing his life in the
event an accident occurred as a result of the brakes which had been tampered
with.
These allegations were made by Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of
Housing and Urban Development Clifford Mamba, in the matter where government is
seeking an order to stop the firefighters or anyone working under the Eswatini
National Fire and Emergency Services (ENFES) from embarking on a strike action
or refusal to comply with the three-shift system as per Circular No.4 forthwith.
Process
Government is also praying for an order directing the employees to attend work
in line with the circular and ordering their union to give the arbitration
process at CMAC a chance to be concluded without taking the law into their
hands.
CMAC is the Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration Commission.
The PS is the applicant in the matter while the National Public Service and
Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) is the respondent.
“Transportation of casualties from scenes of accident to hospitals,
humanitarian services and all kinds of rescue operations are also not being
offered. In fact, millions of Emalangeni worth of property has already been
destroyed due to the unlawful conduct of the firefighters,” averred the PS.
In his founding affidavit, the PS further informed the court that Station
Officer Douglas Mkhaliphi of Lobamba Fire Station, reported that a padlock
separating the staff quarters and the fire station was forcefully opened, thus
damaging it completely.
“These incidents have never happened in the history of the fire department,
only to have strangely occurred now when the firefighters are on strike or
withholding their services and/or coming to work when they are not allocated
shifts,” contended Mamba. He averred that some firefighters wanted to work,
but were allegedly being harassed by the union. Mamba further highlighted that
people who reported fires all over the country since the implementation of the
circular on October 1, 2020, were unattended to since the firefighters, who had
been allocated in the three shits, refused to work.
According to the PS, a house and a shop were burnt in Pigg’s Peak on October 1
and 2, 2020 respectively, but the Pigg’s Peak firefighters, who had been
scheduled to work, were absent from duty without any lawful reason. He said the
fires occurred during the day.
In Big Bend, Mamba alleged that there was fire which was reported at the
Siphofaneni Fire Station, but there could be no help as the scheduled
firefighters were not at work, without a valid reason.
Assistance
He went on to submit that, at Ngculwini, Nhlangano and Msunduza, certain
individuals were gravely ill and required the use of a fire service ambulance,
but could not be assisted as there were no firefighters.
Mamba said this was on October 3, 2020.
“In the past few days, the country has seen a lot of rains which culminated in
a lot of accidents within the country’s roads that have not been attended to
by the firefighters as they are required to. Homes are being destroyed by the
rains and others are falling thus the need to have fire and emergency personnel
ready to assist,” avowed Mamba.
The PS claimed that after the circular was implemented on October 1, 2020, the
union consulted with the chief fire officer and it was allegedly emphasised that
all consultations were done and concerns were addressed.
He alleged that transport was provided for those who worked night shift.
Mamba asserted that the firefighters allegedly never gave the circular any
chance to be implemented because from October 1, 2020, they never complied with
it, but decided to stick to the old shift system. According to the PS, the
officers allocated in the new shift system, were either not allowed to render
their services or did not show up at work.
“I must submit that, however, those who were blocked from coming to work
reported to their station officers and some were eventually allowed to work. The
number was, however, so negligible,” he argued.
Meanwhile, government reportedly saved over E20 million by cutting overtime
payments for the firefighters ,who were working 12 hours instead of eight a day.
The Industrial Court recently dismissed an application in which the ENFES
personnel were seeking an order to stop the implementation of the circular.
The circular will see a stop in overtime payment for the firefighters.
The firefighters wanted the court to direct that the implementation of the
circular should be stayed pending determination of the proceedings pending at
CMAC.
The application was filed on behalf of the employees by NAPSAWU.
Overtime
In motivating the dismissal of the previous application, Deputy Chief Fire
Officer at the ENFES Dumisane Khumalo argued that the current shift system,
coupled with the overtime and extended duty allowance, was costly to government.
According to Khumalo, it bloated the civil service wage bill, which was a cause
for concern to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as it had implored
government to reduce the civil service.
The deputy chief fire officer contended that the proposed three-shift system
would do away with the institutionalised overtime and see employees getting more
rest and time to spend with their families as they would work eight hours per
day instead of the current 12.
“Presently, the overtime allowance stands at E22 342 086.08 and the extended
duty allowance stands at E7 065 658.63. By implementing the new shift system,
the country will save more than E20 186 234.09,”submitted Khumalo.
Government is represented by Assistant Attorney General Mbuso Simelane who
appears alongside Senior Crown Counsel Vikinduku Mamba.  The union is
represented by Meluleki Ndlangamandla.