GOVT REJECTS APPOINTMENT OF ATUSWA’S MKHONZA TO CMAC BOARD

MANZINI – Government has rejected the appointment of ATUSWA Secretary General Wonder Mkhonza into CMAC Board.

This was after the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) recommended to government that secretary of the Amalgamated Trade Union of Swaziland (ATUSWA) should represent the workers, through the federation, in the Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration Commission (CMAC) Board. The recommendation was done through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. According to an impeccable source, after the federation had made the recommendation for Mkhonza’s appointment (who is a founding member of the amalgamation), government, through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, objected to it.

Strike

The source said the reason that was given by government to the federation was that Mkhonza had recently led an unlawful strike action in Nhlangano. It is public knowledge that a recent strike action took place in Nhlangano for textile workers, who were organised under the banner of ATUSWA and they were demanding a pay rise. The strike action lasted for over a month. Thereafter, the source he said the federation had about three meetings with government over the matter and in the last one, the ministry suggested that the appointment of Mkhonza should be altered. He said by this, the ministry meant that Mkhonza should be appointed to another Board, instead of that of CMAC. “TUCOSWA then suggested that Mkhonza should take a place which is occupied by the federation’s secretary general (Mduduzi Gina) as a Board member of Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF). However, the ministry rejected this again,” the impeccable source said.

He said as things stood, the matter was still open for discussion as the appointment of the Boards had not yet been taken to Cabinet for approval. Meanwhile, the ATUSWA secretary general said he was aware of the matter. However, he said the rightful body to talk about it was TUCOSWA. TUCOSWA Secretary General Mduduzi Gina said he could only confirm that there were some issues with the appointments of some Board members. He said there were discussions between the federation and government regarding the issues, including that of Mkhonza. However, he said he could not go into finer details of the matter because it was still on the table. On the other hand, the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Makhosini Mndawe, said; “Appointment of Boards for these two entities have not been concluded, pending Cabinet approval in line with the provisions of Section 6 of the Public Enterprises (Control and Monitoring) Act of 1989.”

Section 6 of the Public Enterprises (Control and Monitoring) Act of 1989 talks about the appointment of members of governing bodies of Public Enterprises and it says; “Except in the case of the University of Swaziland (Eswatini), the members of the governing body of each category A public enterprise, other than the chief executive officer (CEO), shall be appointed by the minister responsible in consultation with the standing committee and in making the appointments he shall ensure that an overall balance of technical , professional, commercial and financial skills is maintained on the governing body, and shall endeavour to ensure that, in the interest of continuity, not all the members of the governing body shall be retired at the same time.” The PS said this when responding to a questionnaire which was sent to him yesterday afternoon on why the ministry objected to the appointment of Mkhonza to CMAC and ENPF Boards. This question was asked after the PS had been given a background of the matter.

Commendation

On the other hand, the source alleged that this was not the first time government rejected a recommendation to have Mkhonza appointed. He alleged that it happened in 2016 when his name was forwarded to government for his appointment to the Textile and Apparel Sector Wages Council and Manufacturing Industry Wages Council, among others. He said he was only admitted to the appointment of the wages councils in 2019.  Again, the source also alleged that in 2019, Mkhonza’s name was submitted to government to be appointed to CMAC, but he was allegedly left out until mid-term when TUCOSWA reported the matter to the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Once more, he alleged that in 2021, Mkhonza was appointed to the Citizenship Board and this was the final year of that term. However, he said it was said that he would be included in the coming term, but was allegedly left out.

As a leader of ATUSWA, Mkhonza had, in several occasion raised their concerns about the wages councils. He said their position was that they should be replaced with bargaining councils/committees. Their argument was that the wages councils were outdated and were the cause of lower wages in various sectors of the economy, like the Textile and Apparel Industry and Security Services Industry. On the other hand, they said the bargaining councils, which they were proposing, would give workers an opportunity to negotiate for improved terms and conditions of service in the workplace. This, they said, was because, the wages councils were not negotiating any more as they were forced to vote every time a deadlock was reached. They argued that the outcome of the balloting always favoured the employers as government would side with them. 

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