UNIONS DROP DE-LINK LILANGENI CALL

MBABANE – A wise man changes his mind. This, after public sector associations (PSAs) have changed tune on their call for unpegging of the local currency (Lilangeni) from the South African Rand.

The PSAs, in a mass meeting held on Monday at the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Centre had vowed to petition the South African High Commission, where they wanted to request that the Republic unpegs the local currency from the Rand.
This, they did, when they voiced their frustration of what they (PSAs) termed oppression of employees.

Reasoning

The reasoning behind this demand was that the country recently celebrated its golden jubilee and should be self-sufficient.
“As we have come of age, we also need to stop importing electrical power from South Africa; we need to produce our own. So, we need them to stop aiding us as we are now half a century old,” they said.

The PSAs are SNAT, National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP) and the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU).

However, Secretary General of SNAT Sikelela Dlamini, yesterday said following the submissions made by their members on Monday, in a consultative meeting that sought to establish a way forward pertaining to their botched mass stay away, one of the submissions was reviewed by the associations.

Dlamini said the decision to alter the proposed request to unpeg the local currency from the Rand was altered after a feeling that the masses would suffer. The unionist said the associations agreed that they would still petition the South African High Commission on the pathetic state of the local economy and the impact it would have on theirs.

“We intend to enlighten the high commissioner on the challenges that lie ahead for their economy due to government’s failure to allocate us the cost-of-living adjustment (CoLA),” Dlamini said.
Further, the unionist said the current failure by government to compensate civil servants for inflation in the past two years would result in a weaker economy. This, he said, was due to the fact that there would be minimal circulation of cash and the South African business establishments in the country would operate at a loss.

Economy

This, Dlamini said, would affect the economy of the neighbouring republic as many emaSwati would migrate to South Africa in search of employment opportunities.
“The migration of locals to South Africa in search for better employment would strain their economy, resulting in a number of social needs being the burden of that republic instead of the kingdom.”
On the issue of seeking that the electrical power supply from ESKOM be terminated, Dlamini said the executive of the PSAs had discarded it as it would backfire on them.

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