Public transport strike begins today - STAWU

MANZINI - The 11-day public transport strike action organised by the Swaziland Transport and Allied Workers Union (STAWU) will begin today, the union said.

This is despite yesterday afternoon’s court order interdicting them from engaging in a strike.

General Secretary of STAWU Simanga Shongwe, said the strike would resume in Manzini today and spread to Mbabane with time.

The union wrote a letter to the Municipal Council of Manzini yesterday informing the council that the strike would go ahead.

"Our view is that the pending matter in court was all about indefinite leave between STAWU and government (Labour and Social Security Minister) and it didn’t involve your portfolio in anyway whatsoever and remains a separate matter than this, since this matter at hand is one about Section 40 of the Industrial Relations Act.

"Having said so, you are therefore advised that the protest march shall proceed as planned and our constitutional right to freedom of movement shall be invoked to the fullest and we are seeking neither permission nor consent on same," the letter read.

In an interview, Shongwe said the union expected all members to be part of the strike. "Our members are also in the trucking industry and elsewhere where transport is used," he said.

He said 1 300 members voted for the strike action last week, while only 700 were against it.

"Our strike continues because the Labour Advisory Board (LAB) failed to resolve it after we had notified it of the action more than seven days ago. We have followed the law to the letter because we conducted a secret ballot and then took the results to the LAB," he said.

STAWU legal advisor, Basil Thwala said police would be given logistics of the strike action if they need them. "We have members in the bus and kombi industry and in companies such as Cargo Carriers, Unitrans and others," Thwala said.

When asked how many members the union had, Thwala said the figures he has may not be entirely accurate as several of them were registered members though some owed subscriptions.

He insisted that Section 40 of the Industrial Act of 2000 gives them the right to engage in a lawful strike action.

"We want the whole country to be grounded until our grievances have been addressed. Even the police have no right to stop us because this is a lawful action," he said.

Police Deputy Public Relations Officer, Assistant Superintendent Ste-phen Dlamini, also said police were of the view that there was a court order detailing what should happen on the issue. "There is nothing more we can say apart from that we expect the court order to be adhered to," he said.

Govt will enforce the law - Minister Lutfo

MANZINI – Minister of Labour and Social Security, Lutfo Dlamini, said if STAWU members persist on breaking the law, government will be forced to enforce it.

The minister said the STAWU members should refer to a court order interdicting them from the strike.

"In essence, they are also violating the very Section 40 of the Act that they are quoting. Section 40 says they must ensure that public safety is guaranteed during the peaceful strike.

However, they are saying they are going ahead with or without consent from the local authority or anyone, which shows that anything they will be doing will involve lawlessness," he said.

The minister said STAWU must read the judgment because it states clearly that they are interdicted from striking. He noted that they must rather be happy that they will now be involved in dialogue towards finding a solution to the problems they state. He also said STAWU should draw a distinction between a protest march and a strike.

No strike - Kombi Association

MANZINI – The Local Kombi Association says work will continue as usual because STAWU did not consult the association when organising the strike.

Sabelo Dlamini who is a member of the association said the strike orga-nised by STAWU was merely a ‘rumour’ to the association.

"They can’t just call workers to a strike action like that. They were supposed to come to us and inform us about this. We also need to know how many of their members voted for the strike. Without this, we will assume that tomorrow (today) is a normal working day," he said.

Rank saga affecting schools, says SNAT

MANZINI – The Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) says teachers and pupils have been greatly affected by the failure to resolve the Satellite Bus Rank impasse.

"Some schools in the Lubombo region have been negatively affected because teachers and pupils travelling from Manzini cannot reach the schools on time. In some schools you find that there are only four teachers. Pupils are also forced to walk long distances to school.

This exposes them to criminal elements such as ‘Scarface’," the organisation’s President Sibongile Mazibuko said.

The president said she had raised the concern with the Minister of Education and Training where she asked for a speedy resolution.

"I also told him that members are suggesting that we take a day off to protest at the Municipal Council of Manzini for a speedy resolution of this matter. However, he (minister) said we must give him a chance. It is appalling that this has reached this stage," she said.

Mazibuko said she fully understood the concerns of the conductors and drivers using the Satellite Bus Rank. "If you generate less money, then surely there will be retrenchments in due course," she added.