Times Of Swaziland: SECURITY PERSONNEL ASSUME CLEANERS’ DUTIES AT ECOT

SECURITY PERSONNEL ASSUME CLEANERS’ DUTIES AT ECOT
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Delisa Thwala on 19/01/2022 08:20:00


MBABANE – Security personnel at the Eswatini College of Technology (ECOT) have
now also assumed the duties of cleaners.
This follows that the cleaning staff downed their tools yesterday after the
institution’s administration failed to provide them with personal protective
equipment (PPE) for cleaning. The staff members said they had been working for
exactly three years without protective clothing and had since stopped executing
their duties at the institution. In this case, their PPE is safety shoes, gloves
and overalls. The downing of tools by ECOT staff came after students last week
delivered a petition with nine demands, including that the institution needed to
be reopened for classes in seven days.
Concerns
Meanwhile, in an article published by this publication, the staff at ECOT also
raised their concerns and shared what they felt contributed to the collapse of
the college. The staff, which also included lecturers and support staff, said
things were never done by the book at the college. “We are never paid on time;
we are treated like poor helpers. No one from the administration ever bothers
about us unless we protest or embark on a go-slow,” said one staff member.
Yesterday, the staff at ECOT downed their tools and demanded the PPE. The
workers found at the college were seen walking around aimlessly while the
security team took over their duties. “We are not going to work until we have
the required uniform. We have been patient with the college and use worn-out PPE
to execute our duties. We cannot do that anymore,” said one of the staff
members in the Domestic Department. Another said the way things were at the
college they needed to be heavily protected because the institution was a health
hazard.
“In every room you clean, there is leakage so we need to be fully protected.
We are surprised that they are making the security team work because they feel
like they do not need PPE,” said another staff member.
Washing
Indeed, the security personnel, comprising of two females and one male, were
found at the college mopping and washing cleaning buckets as they had finished
the morning cleaning shift. When interviewed, one of the security team members
said they were told to clean and they did as told by their line managers. “I
got an instruction to mop certain floors and pathways. I left the guard house
and executed the instructions given to me,” said the member. Another staff
member said a number of things needed to be sorted out before the college could
reopen. “The administration knows what to do,” said the staff member. Worth
noting was that even though the college was abuzz with activities from lecturers
and meetings, the principal, Nomcebo Nhlengetfwa could not be reached for
comment. One of the lecturers found at the college  said they had come for a
meeting that had been called by the principal. At the time of the interview, the
lecturer said he had no idea what the meeting was about. “I have just arrived,
the agenda is not known yet but we were called here and we are yet to deliberate
on it,” said the lecturer on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, the domestic staff at the college alleged that the Ministry of
Education and Training sent their own staff from last Thursday till Monday. The
staff was sent to help since they had their own PPE. “They invalidated our
concerns and called staff from the ministry to help. Upon seeing the situation
here, the staff went back and stopped helping this side,” said one domestic
staff member. The Principal Secretary (PS) Bhekithemba Gama confirmed the matter
and said they sent some of their domestic staff to help at ECOT.
Ministry
“The issue of having cleaners from the ministry was necessitated by the fact
that the cleaners at ECOT had no PPE, yet we needed a certain office cleaned for
immediate occupation by an officer from the ministry,” Gama said. In addition,
he said they were still working on procuring the PPE for the domestic staff at
ECOT. “The process of procuring the PPE is ongoing. The college had an
insufficient budget and we suggested reallocation so that we can be in a
position to purchase the needed equipment,” said Gama. Previously, the PS had
acknowledged that the situation at ECOT was not an ideal one but assured
students that they were working around the clock to solve the state of affairs
at the college.