CORRECTIONAL SERVICES STAFF ASSOCIATION FINALLY REGISTERED

MANZINI - You will be in good hands now!

These were the words of Eswatini Correctional Services Staff Association (ECOSSA) Interim President Simiso Ginindza, which he directed to current and prospective members of the association after they received a certificate from government which proves that, finally, it had been officially registered. The interim executive committee of the association applied for its registration in April 2021, but according to the certificate, which was signed by the commissioner of labour, it was officially registered on February 22, 2022.

Organisation

Ginindza said since government had finally registered their organisation, they would push to meet the requirements for it to be recognised by the employer. In that regard, he said they were aware that due to the uncertainty that it might not be registered, some prospective members were reluctant to fill in the joining forms. He then urged the prospective members and warders in general to join them so that by the end of the year, they would have a recognition agreement with the employer and host democratic elections for all their structures. He said once they had a recognition agreement with the employer, their members would be directly represented in the Join Negotiation Forum (JNF), where public sector associations (PSAs) negotiate with the Government Negotiation Team (GNT) for civil servants’ welfare. Again, he said as soon as they democratically elected their national executive committee (NEC) and branch leaders, among others, they would unpack their strategic plan, which the leadership of the association would then implement. He said details of their strategic plan, which had already been approved by the interim committee, would be unpacked when delivering it to the general membership. When he was asked what exactly delayed the registration of the association, the interim president said the office of the labour commissioner allegedly told them that this was because the department was a critical one. He added that the association was finally registered after they had engaged their lawyers.

Interim

Thereafter, he said as an interim committee, they saluted their members, structures and individuals, who had been supporting them along the way.  Again, Ginindza said they had been through a lot as an interim executive committee as they were allegedly victimised. He claimed that most, if not all of them, had been transferred from their workstations. He also highlighted that one of the founding members of the association, Mzwandile Dlamini, was allegedly victimised in such a way that he was left with only one option - to resign. He said they took his resignation as a constructive dismissal. It was gathrered that resigned warder is now a member of the newly-formed Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO). Meanwhile, HMCS Deputy Public Relations Officer Senior Superintendent Mandla Sibiya asked to comment at a later stage.

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