TEACHERS MOBILISE, TUCOSWA TO DECIDE ON MASS PROTEST

TUCOSWA delegates during a meeting. (File pic)

MBABANE – Tomorrow will decide the nature of protest actions by workers’ unions under the TUCOSWA banner, a protest action which threatens to throw into disarray the opening of schools next year.

It has come to the attention of this publication that some teachers are mobilising SNAT representatives to thwart the opening of schools as well as other pressure points to have government consider the seriousness of the issues, which they say government was neglecting or refusing to address. TUCOSWA is an acronym for Trade Union Congress of Swaziland while SNAT is the Swaziland National Association of Teachers, an affiliate of TUCOSWA.

“Teachers have a right to mobilise for issues that are socio-economic,” said SNAT Secretary General Muzi Mhlanga when asked about teachers mobilising for the protest action, which is likely to affect the opening of schools.
“We have a right to raise these issues at federation level in TUCOSWA.” Mhlanga said in their cards they were proposing for a huge protest march by February, next year. 

“There are so many issues brought to government’s attention such as the ongoing impasse in the country’s removal from the African Growth and Opportunity Act.”
Other issues relate to domestic workers, Free Primary Education, government tendering processes and severance allowances.  “These are just some of the issues we have raised as TUCOSWA.

” Mhlanga said as teachers they are also demanding answers from the study by government on how to mitigate the situation in school top-up fees.  “We have been silent for too long such that government has taken advantage and ignored these issues. Sagcina kadzeni vele kuba nemshuco kaNgwane (It has been some time since we staged a protest).

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