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DIVISION OVER AT SWADNU CONGRESS

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MBABANE - An alleged move to violate the constitution of SWADNU by its leadership has stirred the otherwise stable atmosphere at the nurses’ union.


SWADNU is an acronym for Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union. The Swaziland Nurses Association -Shiselweni Region has, as a result, withdrawn its support for the Extraordinary Congress (EOC) which was to be held last Saturday at Shosholoza Conference Centre in Manzini.


After the EOC, the union scheduled to hold the General Congress on October 23-25, 2019 at Esibayeni Lodge.
The Manzini Nurses Association did not support the holding of the EOC. For the EOC to take place, Article 11.2.2 of the constitution stipulates that three of the regional associations must be in support of the motion to hold the congress.


Despite the Manzini branch not supporting the motion, SWADNU was still justified to continue organising to hold the congress.
However, things took a different turn when the Shiselweni branch withdrew its earlier support. This left only the Lubombo and Hhohho Regions in support of the motion instead of the minimum requirement of three regions.


Dismissed


According to Menzi Nkomo, who is a shop steward and member of the Shiselweni General Council but dismissed as the Regional Organiser for the region, SWADNU allegedly insisted on proceeding to hold the EOC.
He said this was despite that they were now allegedly in violation of Article 11.2.2 in that the requirement of the support of at least three regions was no longer met.


Nkomo has since taken SWADNU to the High Court to stop the the union from holding the EOC for alleged violation of the constitution of the union.
Last Friday, the court issued an interim order stopping SWADNU from proceeding with the EOC and the matter will be argued today.
In his affidavit, Nkomo submitted that the leadership of the union proposed in May 2019 that there should be an EOC to carry out preparations for the normal congress, which was initially scheduled to be held on September 2019.


The veracity of these allegations is still to be tested in court and SWADNU, as well as its Secretary General Sibusiso Lushaba, are yet to respond.


Affidavits


Manzini Region member Sonnyboy Mamba, Regional Organising Secretary for Manzini Branch, Tengetile Masuku and Shiselweni Region member, Nkosinathi Dlamini, filed confirmatory affidavits in support of Nkomo’s assertions.


Nkomo said Lubombo and Hhohho Regions supported the view while Shiselweni, even though they supported the motion, made certain conditions. Nkomo told the court that only the the Manzini Region objected outright.


According to Nkomo, it was still justified for the leadership of the union to continue preparing for the congress “and this was with the understanding that the leadership of the first respondent (SWADNU) would adhere to the conditions we set as a region.”


“Upon realising that they were failing to do so but were organising the extraordinary congress because they wanted to mutilate the constitution and had ulterior motives, as a region we then withdrew our support for the meeting.”


In a letter addressed to the SWADNU secretary general, dated October 17, 2019, the Shiselweni Branch stated that they had been informed by the national executive committee (NEC) representatives that the union had rejected their letter communicating the decision to withdraw their support for the motion to hold the congress.


Nkomo alleged that the initial letter was rejected by SWADNU on the basis that it did not come from the Regional General Council (RGC). He said this infuriated their members, who quickly convened another meeting in which the resolution to withdraw their support was confirmed.
Nkomo said the leadership of the union proposed in May 2019 that there should be an EOC to carry out preparations for the normal congress, which was to be held in September 2019.


In a follow-up letter, Shiselweni Regional Secretary Sakhile Ngwenya informed the secretary general of SWADNU that: “We are pleased to inform your office that our RGC met on October 16, 2019 and retaliated its stance in withdrawing our support for the EOC as stipulated in our letter.


“This then leaves two regions in support of the proposed EOC as opposed to three out of the four regions in accordance with Article 11.2.2 of our constitution. You are therefore requested to halt all your plans to convene the EOC.”
In the same letter, Ngwenya communicated to the union that on July 27, 2019, the Shiselweni Nurses Association indicated their support for the motion to convene the EOC and attached conditions.


Clandestine


“Upon realising that there were clandestine moves to violate the constitution, failure to conform to the conditions and other ulterior motives aimed at destroying the organisation, we then, by resolution, withdraw our support for the same in our letter dated September 14, 2019.”
Ngwenya further wrote: “In the evening of October 9, 2019, we were informed by our NEC representatives that the NEC had on the very same day rejected our letter and instead decided to continue with the EOC, raising an argument that it was not the decision of the RGC.”


The Shiselweni Region then requested SWADNU to respond in writing to their letter and confirm that they would abandon the EOC.
The dates for both the EOC and General Council were communicated by a letter dated October 17, 2019 that was signed by First Deputy Secretary Gcinaphi Pateguana. The matter is pending in court.

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