MBABANE – Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Luke Lushaba has rushed to court to stop firefighters from holding a mass meeting and posting or circulating inciting messages.
Lushaba is the first applicant. The Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Dr Simon ZwAane and the attorney general are the second and third applicants respectively.
In the urgent applicant filed in the Industrial Court, the applicants are seeking to stop the purported meeting and circulation of messages that incite industrial action, according to Lushaba. The application cites Vusumuzi Dlamini, who is the Chairperson of the Fire Union sector under the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) and the latter union as respondents. The national commissioner of police is the third respondent.
The purported meeting, according to Lushaba, is scheduled for tomorrow at the Mbabane Fire Station. The CFO says the respondents should be stopped from holding such meeting at the Mbabane Fire Station or at any other fire station, without prior consultation and approval.
Furthermore, the applicants are seeking to restrain the respondents, their sympathisers, agents or anyone acting on their instructions, from engaging in activities that may cause instability in the Fire Service, including inciting disruptions, disturbing peace or making public statements on any media platform that could encourage industrial action. There’s also a specific prayer to interdict Dlamini from publishing audios inciting firefighters to disrupt operations.
Lushaba stated in his founding affidavit that the application has been filed to ensure good governance, Rule of Law and to prevent fire stations from being used to perpetuate industrial unrest.
The CFO submitted that the superintendence and administration of the Fire Service are vested in his office by the Fire Act. The genesis of the current dispute is an audio purportedly circulated by Dlamini on July 16, 2025. In this audio, Dlamini allegedly called for a mass meeting at the Mbabane Fire Station, encouraging firefighters to abandon work from other stations to discuss industrial action resolutions regarding the overtime case initiated by NAPSAWU in 2020. Lushaba described the audio message as ‘divisive and meant to disrupt the harmonious relationship that government has with second respondent (NAPSAWU)’.
The applicants argued that Dlamini, acting in concert with NAPSAWU, is subverting a Recognition Agreement between government and the union. They contend that the agreement prohibits encouraging employees to abandon work without approval and mandates consultation in the event of a dispute. Lushaba stated that Dlamini has discarded the formal labour structures by engaging in an unauthorised mass meeting on government premises and calling upon government employees to abandon their posts, particularly during winter when fire incidents are more frequent.
The affidavit includes a transcript of the WhatsApp audio, in which Dlamini addresses ‘comrades’ and discusses an overtime judgment from February. He urges all to attend court on July 24, stating: “A lot is yet to happen and we need to come together and be united, our children are hungry because of what we are going through.” He mentions that some are calling for a mass meeting and states that while not all can attend court, ‘others will be waiting at the Mbabane Fire Station as usual’. “This will culminate into a mass meeting because we shall be discussing the outcome of the court proceedings on that day, whereafter we will take a resolution going forward.” He urges prioritisation of this meeting, stating it will be the last day of conclusion of our overtime matter.
More details in today’s paper.
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