‘INVOLVE PUPILS, STUDENTS IN PROTESTS’

MANZINI – Government should expect the worst as teachers are bringing along students and pupils to the next protest march.

That is if speeches delivered during the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) candle vigil are anything to go by.

The different speakers, who engaged the over 100 teachers who braved the rain and the low temperatures of Thursday night, seemed to have had an introspection on the role pupils and students could have in their fight against better living conditions.
Wandile Dludlu from the Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF) said for a strike action that would yield results, SNAT needed to include all other sectors within society.

unique

“We need a zing that will have a unique sting.”
For public sector associations (PSAs) to have a zing with a sting, Dludlu said the SNAT leadership must include the informal sector, pupils and students in the new strategy.
He said this was because teachers were strategically positioned within society.

“If something is explained by a teacher, it is easily decoded by society. Make parents understand that when their pupils are taught by a teacher who has not received CoLA, it would be to their detriment and that of the learners.”
Currently, government and the PSAs, which comprise SNAT, National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) and the Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP), are at loggerheads as the former is offering the latter nothing (0 per cent) as the basis of negotiations.

effective

For an effective impact, he said numbers were essential for the upcoming action to be undertaken by the PSAs.
Adding, he said for a better country, the citizenry counted on the unions to organise.
Dludlu, who took to the podium just after 10pm, had all the teachers eating from the palm of his hand as he passionately spoke of the struggles teachers faced on a daily basis.

He informed teachers that for change to be effective the public sector associations had to reinforce and introduce new strategies that would sting government where it mattered most.
The unionist noted that government had become complacent with the working class’s strategies to pressure it for a better living.

“They now know when we don’t get what we want, we strike for a day or two then sheepishly leave Mbabane to whine at our various gathering points.”
He said this had led many teachers and other civil servants into the abyss of debt.

failure

This, he said, was because after failure to get a better wage, they seek loans from micro lenders.
“Government saves money only to procure expensive cars and build mansions worth millions.”
The sad truth, according to Dludlu, was that teachers lacked the infrastructure afforded to a few, such that pupils used latrines pit latrines.

laughter

Further, the unionist caused laughter among the attendees when he said: “Hulumende ucosha intfwala ngesibhamu!”
He said if the PSAs adopt a new strategy that would have a zing, government would seek a loan to offer the sought cost of living adjustment.
This stance was also appreciated by Fundizwi Sikhondze, who represented the National Workers Unions in Swaziland Higher Institutions (NAWUSHI).
Sikhondze said it was high time the PSAs involved pupils and students in their struggle.

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