NO BUSES, KOMBIS ON TUESDAY - TRANSPORT WORKERS

MANZINI - There will be no public transport on Tuesday.

This resolution was taken by Manzini-based public transport workers during their meeting yesterday, which saw operations at the Manzini Bus Rank being grounded for about two hours. The workers were protesting against the fuel price hike and government’s failure to address their 2021 grievances, including poor salaries. At around 9am, some public transport workers gathered at the bus rank intersection, near the Mozambique Hotel, and informed their colleagues who were dropping off passengers that it was time to park the vehicles so that they could convene for a meeting.

Block

As more public transport workers joined, some went to block the road to and from Manzini Bus Rank (at Mzimnene Bridge) by placing stones and garbage on the road. As a result, public transport vehicles which were coming to town, had to drop off passengers at the other side of the bridge, while those which wanted to exit the bus rank, had to use the entrance road, from KFC traffic lights. Again, a Toyota Quantum was parked across the Manzini Bus Rank exit road near Mozambique Hotel to ensure that no vehicle left the bus rank.

Passengers

Later on, some public transport workers learnt that some public service vehicles were exiting the bus rank with passengers via the entrance road and made a left turn at KFC traffic light. After learning about that, they went to block the road with stones and garbage. They also parked a Toyota Quantum across the entrance road. After 10am, most of them gathered by the bus rank intersection, next to Mozambique Hotel and this was where they held their meeting. In the meantime, police officers were seen controlling traffic, mainly private cars, directing them which route to take.

During their meeting, the public transport workers said their chief concern was that fuel prices continued to hike, something which resulted in the increase of prices for basic commodities, yet their salaries were not reviewed. They said even their employers were suffering because bus fares had not been reviewed and it affected them when they handed over their daily cash after work as they saw that their bosses were not happy. They said in their 2021 demands, which they tabled to government during their strike action that grounded some operations in the country for over a week, they made it clear that they wanted E4 000 monthly salary. They said while they were waiting for feedback, they read media reports that their salaries would be increased by 15.6 per cent and backdated to April 2021.

“We do not want 15.6 per cent increment. We want E4 000,” they said. Again, the public transport workers said they also complained about the state of roads in the country, especially the Green Valley (Manzini Central traffic lights)/ Manzini Bus Rank road, but nothing significant had been done. They said the Municipal Council of Manzini only patched the potholes with gravel, which was constantly easily washed away by rains.

Demand

They said another chief demand was that all employers should register their workers with the Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF), so that they could also get a funeral cover. They said currently, when a public transport worker died, they needed to contribute towards the burial of their colleague, yet they also deserved a dignified funeral. They argued that even now, there were a lot of them who had not been registered as members of the fund. In that regard, they resolved that they needed to address the aforementioned issues and they chose Tuesday as the day where they would park their vehicles and meet.

They said during the meeting, they might elect their first leadership among themselves. They said they would also engage the Municipal Council of Manzini and Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) to allow them to access Manzini Bus Rank by going through the city, instead of using the Manzini Central Distributor Public Road (by-pass). Their argument was that this would allow the municipality to fix the Green Valley/Manzini Bus Rank Public Road. The executive of EKABAWU said so far, it was public transport workers based in Manzini who would park the public service vehicles on Tuesday. Worth noting is that the court case of Thuthuka Bus Service and its workers who are allegedly being owed salaries for 19 months, was raised during the meeting and the public transport workers said they did not want to see buses or kombis from the company in question at the bus rank.

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