Times Of Swaziland: CTA WORKERS WANT COURT TO REOPEN TRADING ACCOUNT

CTA WORKERS WANT COURT TO REOPEN TRADING ACCOUNT
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BY SIBONGILE SUKATI AND MBONGISENI NDZIMANDZE  on 14/08/2020 02:22:00


MBABANE – Battle lines have been drawn between government and the Central
Transport Administration (CTA) employees.
This follows an urgent application, which has been filed at the Industrial Court
by the employees’ union, NAPSAWU, seeking an order against the closing of the
Trading Account for the CTA as per Circular No.1 of 2020/21, which they viewed
as unlawful.
NAPSAWU is an acronym for the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union.
The Circular was issued by the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of
Public Works and Transport, Khangeziwe Mabuza, allegedly without prior
consultation with the union as per the Recognition Agreement.
The Circular was issued on August 5, 2020.
NAPSAWU has applied to the court that the implementation of Circular No.1 be
stopped pending the final determination of the court application.
Respondents
“Directing the Accountant General, Treasury Department and Stores together
with the respondents jointly and severally to reopen and or restore the proper
functioning of the Trading Account of the CTA forthwith pending the final
determination of this application,” submitted NAPSAWU.
The respondents in the matter are PS Mabuza, PS in the Ministry of Public
Service, PS in the Ministry of Finance, the accountant general, Treasury and
Store Department, Under Secretary in the Civil Service Commission and the
attorney general.
NAPSAWU has submitted that it wanted the court to declare the Circular as
unlawful and contrary to the Central Transport Organisation (CTO) Act No.13 of
2013 and to be of no force or effect from the date of the order of the court.
According to the applicants’ secretary general, Thulani Hlatshwayo, who is
employed at the Eswatini National Fire and Emergency Service, the union
represented its fully paid members employed under the CTA. NAPSAWU submitted
that in the year 2010 there was a contemplation of privatising the CTA. In the
founding affidavit, the union submitted that the initiative was being done
through the services of an auditing company, KPMG, which had its principal place
of business situated in Mbabane.
“The company (KPMG) was during this period actively directing operations at
CTA informally and as such the state of affairs was ill-received by the members
of the applicant,” submitted the secretary general.
He submitted that NAPSAWU, in a bid to ameliorate and combat the situation in
the interest of its affected members, approached the court for an interdict and
restoration of the status quo at CTA and the matter was decided in the
applicant’s favour.
It was submitted that in 2013 still in pursuit of privatising CTA, there was an
Act which was proposed for the transformation of CTA.
The Act was assented to on August 1, 2013 and was duly published as law on a
government gazette issued on August 9, 2013, according to the founding
affidavit.
The union submitted that from the date of the promulgation of the Act, there was
nothing that was embarked upon to depict a commencement of the process of
transformation of CTA in terms of the Act and as provided in the same law.
Provisions
It was averred that the relationship between the applicant and its employer was
duly governed by the provisions of a Recognition Agreement which was duly
entered into on June 30, 2017.
Hlatshwayo submitted that therefore any step that was to be taken by government
apart from the fact that it had to be in accordance with the Act, they were also
duty bound by the provisions of the Recognition Agreement.
NAPSAWU submitted that towards the end of 2019 (November), government commenced
to informally engage shop stewards (employees) directly at CTA, without the
consent of the union and contrary to the provisions of the agreement.
As a result, according to the court documents, NAPSAWU alleged that it wrote to
government, in particular the PS in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport,
to humbly implore her to desist from directly talking to the employees without
knowledge or consent of the applicant.
It was alleged that government, following the letter, simply ceased to approach
the shop stewards and/or any of NAPSAWU’s members at CTA.
“This was the position from November 2019 until April 2020 when NAPSAWU’s
executive was advised by the General Transport Manager, Washington Khumalo, that
communication is now being directed to him and there is a minute which he
furnished to the applicant’s executive in particular to me fortifying this
occurrence,” submitted Hlatshwayo.
He said the minute from PS Mabuza referred to a meeting they had in March 2020
allegedly again without NAPSAWU or its members’ knowledge.
He submitted that the matter was brought to the executive in May 2020.
These are allegations contained in an affidavit whose veracity is yet to be
tested by the courts.
The union is represented by attorney Meluleki Ndlangamandla of MLK Ndlangamandla
Attorneys.