ACTING PM LAUDS EMASWATI FOR ‘PEACEFUL DAY’

MBABANE – Acting Prime Minister (APM) Themba Masuku has lauded emaSwati for a ‘peaceful and productive day’.

Masuku was speaking yesterday during a press conference at the Cabinet Offices, where he was giving feedback on how yesterday was and what was expected to happen today. This is in reference to the shutdown by public transport workers. Masuku said despite the unavailability of transport in other areas, people were able to carry out their daily activities in most places in the country. Adding, Masuku said they noticed that only a few retail shops remained closed.

Productive

He attributed the productive and peaceful day to government’s Plan B. On Monday, Masuku said if public transport workers failed to abide by the court order, government would initiate another plan, which would see operations in the country flowing smoothly. “Government noticing the unavailability of transport in some parts of the country, decided to deploy transportation to ferry people to their destinations, which included work, schools and hospitals,” he said. Masuku said the plan by government was successful. He stated that today more routes would be serviced by government buses to ensure that all learners were able to get to school, workers got to work and business operations were not interrupted. Yesterday, the government buses were traveling to towns such as Mbabane, Manzini, Nhlangano, Siteki, Bhunya and Pigg’s Peak.

Successful

“It pleases government to report to the nation that this exercise was successful today and it shall be intensified tomorrow, depending on the needs of emaSwati to travel to various places in the country,” he said. He highlighted that he had an opportunity to take a tour with other Cabinet colleagues around Mbabane Bus Rank, market vendors and to some shops earlier yesterday and was pleased at the peaceful manner in which emaSwati went about their daily activities and the number of passengers who were boarding the buses. He said he had an opportunity to interact with emaSwati who showed their appreciation for government’s intervention, while also expressing their frustration of being deprived of transportation to support their daily livelihoods.

Masuku appreciated the retail shops around the country that opened for business yesterday, but raised concern, that some shops, particularly in the Manzini CBD, were closed yesterday.
He urged Manzini residents to use the government buses do their shopping in other towns. He lauded the state security services for keeping peace and ensuring that emaSwati were safe yesterday. He urged emaSwati to cooperate with all the stakeholders deployed to assist with their travelling needs. “All shops and businesses are expected to be fully operational,” he said.

Grounding

He said government was not shaken by the public transport workers grounding their vehicles, as government had everything figured out. Masuku went on to urge emaSwati not to panic as transport would be available for all their needs. “In short distances, the Plan B would be rolled out,” he said. Masuku said under the new provision emaSwati will no longer be following faceless people who wanted to inconvenience the country.

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