SOME SNAT MEMBERS: WHY WE SNUBBED MASS MEET

MBABANE – Some SNAT members have alleged that they did not attend the recent mass meeting because the union was now managed like a political party.

It is worth noting that the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) was supposed to convene an extra-ordinary general meeting, which did not take place last Friday, as the members failed to form a quorum. According to the sources, the SNAT members’ grievances were not taken into consideration because of a faction that aligned with political parties within the union. They alleged that it was due to this reason that they decided to not attend the union’s meetings, as they felt that their issues were not taken into consideration.

Elections

The source revealed that the issues allegedly started during the union’s previous elections, where only three potential candidates’ names were supposed to be voted into office were circulated. The source alleged that those individuals belonged to some political parties, which, however, will not be named as the allegations could not be verified. “We have been told by some of our colleagues that there is a slate currently circulating with the names of the candidates supposed to be voted into the union’s next elections to be held in 2026. “Some of the union members who are also aligned to political parties had already started doing character assassination,” said the concerned SNAT member.

Challenge

Another SNAT member, who preferred anonymity, said the union’s elections were now more politically motivated, which was a challenge. The source revealed that the main challenge was that the capabilities of any nominated candidate were no longer taken into consideration before being voted into office. “The political parties have saturated the union to the extent that even during their elections, people are vying for their own candidate from a preferred political party. When sought for comment with regard to the aforementioned allegations against the union, the Secretary General, Lot Vilakati, said he had no comment at the moment. He said he did not know whether those teachers were part of the union or not. He then invited this reporter to the SNAT Centre where he would explain everything that needed to be clarified.

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