PSUS ACCUSE PM OF DICTATING TO THEM DURING MEET

MBABANE – The executive members of public sector unions (PSUs) say they were not pleased during their meeting with the PM, Russell Mmiso Dlamini, yesterday.

They claimed that during the meeting, instead of them engaging, the prime minister (PM) was allegedly dictating to them what to do. The PSUs expressed their disappointment during a press conference held at Sandla in Mbabane, shortly after the meeting, which took place at the Cabinet Offices. They highlighted that they requested the meeting, which eventually took place yesterday, a long time ago.

According to the PSUs, it could not be said the meeting was effective, because they failed to engage in a conversation with the PM but instead it was him (pm) telling them what to do.
PSUs are the employee representatives of the various categories of public servants, namely; National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) and Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP).

Meeting

NAPSAWU President Bawinile Ndlovu said the meeting with the PM did not yield any positive results. Ndlovu said despite what transpired, they now know exactly who he (PM) was.
According to Ndlovu, before the meeting, they had hope that whenever they had concerns with their employer, the Ministry of Public Service, they would approach the PM, but now they knew their position. This, she said, was something which has helped them understand, and that as much as the meeting was not fruitful, they now knew who the PM was. SWADNU President Nokuthula Dlamini, reiterating Ndlovu’s sentiments, stated that they could not count the meeting with the PM as being effective.

She said: “What we can say is that it was a mere courtesy meeting, because we failed to engage in a conversation with the PM, who we had expected to first hear us out and thereafter give responses with the hope of coming up with solutions.” According to Nokuthula, the PSUs were the first to present their side. She alleged that instead of responding to the issues they had raised, the PM purportedly dictated to them what to do. She said they could not respond to what the PM said as he seemed to be someone in a hurry to Parliament. She added that they realised that the posture which was taken by the PM was to avoid the conversations centred on the issues that were raised. The SWADNU president said this was because nothing significant came out of the meeting with the head of government.

SNAGAP Secretary General Phumzile Masilela said the meeting with the PM did not go well. Masilela said they highly regarded negotiations, and whenever they met and one submits to the other, they then have to reach an agreement. The SG said if it seemed like the other party was telling the other, then it is not a good sign. SNAT President Mbongwa Dlamini said despite that there was nothing much that came out of the meeting, they regarded it as very important. Mbongwa stated that by the PM listening to what they said, they viewed it as important. However, he said they now wanted to see action that would sort out  the concerns that were presented to the PM.

He said if the situation would only end with the meeting then it would be similar to handing a petition to him that he wrote responses to, because there were no engagements. Mbongwa stated that they wished for the next meeting with the PM to be engaging, in order to understand each other well. He further noted that if government wanted its meetings to be fruitful, they should allow engagement. Meanwhile, he noted that the PM also made a statement to the effect that he would respect the rule of law and that PSUs should go back to the negotiations table; they wanted to believe that it would happen. Mbongwa said, they, therefore, wanted to see who exactly did not respect the rule of law and did not want negotiations to continue, if the head of government has agreed to it.

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