SNAT MEMBERS FREE TO WITHDRAW MEMBERSHIP - GOVT

MBABANE – ‘‘If a SNAT member decides to terminate their membership in the teacher’s union, this shoud have no bearing on their status as members of the SNAT Cooperative Society and SNAT Burial Scheme.’’

Acting Commissioner of Cooperatives Charles Khumalo has explained that the Swaziland National Association of Teachers, as a union, was a different entity from the Cooperative Scheme and Burial Scheme, as the latter two were also independent entities. This comes after reports that a number of Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) members have come forward to indicate their intention of withdrawing their membership with the union.

threatened

However, there are allegations that these members have been threatened with the termination of their membership in both the cooperative society and the burial scheme, if they withdrew their union membership. A significant number of the union’s members reportedly want out because they are aggrieved at the decision that was taken by the burial service to donate a E15 000 worth casket towards the burial of Mlandvo Khumalo who was allegedly a member of the swaziland solidarity forces, that has claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist activities, including the killing of State security officers. The said Khumalo was shot dead by the newly-assembled special missions unit, after he shot an umbutfo who was on his way to join the march by Ingatja to cut lusekwane as part of the Incwala Ceremony. He was on the Royal Eswatini Police Service’s list of most wanted people, after he was linked to the killing of a police officer, among other crimes allegedly committed by him.

sparked

As reported by the Times of Eswatini daily newspaper on Friday, the donation by the burial scheme had sparked an uproar, as some members have accused the SNAT executive of not having consulted them prior to purchasing of the the casket. The aggrieved members have accused the executive of using their investments in the scheme to purchase the casket. They said they were of the view that the burial scheme did not have money as the fund within the scheme had just been established. According to the members, they were expecting to receive dividends, but this had now made them to lose hope because their money was being used to make donations to people not linked to the scheme. The Times SUNDAY has been informed that some of the aggrieved members had since approached the Ministry of Public Services to enquire about the implications of withdrawing from being members of SNAT.

terminated

This was reportedly after the members got threats that if they withdrew their membership from either SNAT (union) or the burial scheme, they would also have their membership in the cooperative society terminated. Being a member of the Cooperative Society is considered key for SNAT members because that is where they get to access loan facilities. Minister of Public Service Mabulala Maseko confirmed to receiving complaints from SNAT members, who informed him about their intention to terminate their SNAT membership but were not prepared to lose their membership in the cooperative society. “I immediately contacted the Commissioner of Cooperatives who briefly told me that it would be illegal in law to terminate the cooperative society membership, because this was independent from either the union or the burial scheme. I told the aggrieved members as much,” he said. The minister, who used to be a teacher, said there were even politicians who exited from being SNAT members when they joined politics, but they remained members of either the cooperative society or the burial scheme or both.

consider

The Acting Commissioner of Cooperatives, Charles Khumalo, said a cooperative is an independent body that does not consider a person’s affiliation to any other entity before being admitted as a member. “You join a cooperative out of your own liking. The law also allows you to exit membership at your own liking. If a person wants to exit from the burial scheme, that person is exiting from a project that was initiated by SNAT but then that doesn’t mean the person will also be forced to exit from SNAT. SNAT Burial is a project that has its registration which is separate from the cooperative. So, the cooperative has nothing to do with the burial scheme,” he said. Khumalo said a person can exit from being a member of both SNAT (union) and SNAT Burial Scheme but remain a member of SNAT Cooperative Society.

affiliated

“The law governing cooperatives doesn’t state that you join a cooperative because you’re affiliated somewhere. Instead, you join because you’re interested in joining the cooperative. The founding document of SNAT Cooperative states that it is a cooperative for teachers (teaching profession) and doesn’t say it is a cooperative for unionists. If they want to link these entities to determine a person’s membership in the other, then that’s illegal,” he said. Khumalo stated that a SNAT Cooperative is registered independent of the SNAT union. He said the cooperative and the burial scheme are both the brainchild of the union but their registration is independent. “These are three independent bodies. The union is an independent body with its own members; the cooperative is also an independent body with its own members; and the burial scheme is also independent with its own members. Exiting membership in any of these doesn’t affect membership in the others. These should not be mixed,” the commissioner stated.

He added these three bodies were even registered in different government departments: SNAT is registered in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security; the cooperative is registered in the Ministry of Commerce; and the burial scheme is also registered in the Ministry of Commerce but in a separate department.

grievances

SNAT Secretary General Lot Vilakati said members of the union should know that if they had grievances they should address them to his office. “Up to this far, no one has said anything to the secretary general and we don’t know anything about the threats. We don’t believe there are SNAT members who relay their grievances to the media, but they are free to come to the union and they will be attended to always,” he said. Vilakati stated that SNAT members know that every entity has by-laws, which is what the three SNAT entities also have. “These by-laws state clearly what happens if you exit membership, so these members have this information. They must read the by-laws,” he said, reiterating that they did not issues threats to members.

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