COPS BLOCK TUCOSWA MEET

MANZINI – The Royal Swaziland police foiled the mass meeting convened by the deregistered Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) yesterday.

About 150 members of different organisations affiliated to the congress had gathered at the SNAT Centre for the meeting but police officers denied them entry. The meeting had initially been scheduled to take place at Bosco Hall near Salesian but the venue was changed at the eleventh hour after the Catholic Church revoked the agreement to host the union and refunded the money paid to use the venue.

A number of TUCOSWA members turned on their heels at Bosco when they discovered that there was no activity.

There was almost a scuffle when the police arrived at SNAT Centre and ordered that the meeting should not proceed.

Part of the meeting’s agenda was the deregistration of the union by government and an update on its new application for registration, which is still pending at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

The meeting was also aimed at discussing the ban of political parties in the kingdom.

Armed police officers from the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) were called to ensure the meeting did not proceed.

Also present were senior police officers from the Manzini Regional Headquarters.

They included Regional Commander Richard Mngometulu.

Mngometulu held brief discussions with TUCOSWA leadership, led by its new President Quinton Dlamini and after that the members were told that the meeting had been stopped.

The union’s members were then told by Dlamini to leave the premises and police officers manned the gate at the SNAT Centre to ensure nobody entered.

Quinton Dlamini, in an interview after the meeting was thwarted, said the police told the union leaders that they stopped the meeting because deliberating on political parties would have bad implications for the country.

He said the Catholic Church had informed TUCOSWA that the police had advised them against allowing the congress to convene the meeting at Bosco, so they eventually secured SNAT Centre as an alternative venue.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: