TEACHERS DIVIDED OVER SNAT EXECUTIVE ELECTIONS

MANZINI – Signs of division are reportedly starting to show within SNAT as some teachers want major changes in one of the key policies or procedures of the teachers’ association.

The Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) is one of the oldest trade unions in the country, as it was formed in 1928, and it has about 12 000 members. Following reports suggesting that there is division within the trade union, because some members were shunning some of the association’s activities, including meetings, a source within SNAT told the Times of Eswatini that some members want the elections procedures, in particular for the national executive committee (NEC), to be changed. The source said currently, the union’s NEC is elected during its elective conference, which is held every four years.  He said the members of SNAT were represented by conference delegates from the four regions of the country during the elections. This, he said, meant that the delegates cast votes on behalf of their regions.

Rigging

According to the source, some of the members of SNAT believe that this procedure opens the door to easy rigging of the elections. He added that they believed that the procedure favoured the outgoing NEC members over those who join the elections race from regional committees. He said they argued that it was easy for delegates to be bribed, because they were small in number, as they were usually less than 200. “It is easier to splash cash on a sizeable number of conference delegates than on a majority of 12 000 educators,” the source said. Again, he said the union’s NEC had the power to influence who would be part of the conference delegates. He said according to the concerned teachers, since NEC elections were preceded by branch and regional elections, it was easy for those in national office to use resources of the union to support their candidate at branch and regional level, who would automatically become delegates of the elective conference. “This then becomes a ‘cabal’ which controls the union from branch to national level,” the source said.

Under such leadership, the source alleged that issues which are raised by ordinary members, not favoured by NEC members, would be suppressed from branch level and in most cases, the issues did not reach the national level. He claimed that if it happened to be discussed at the national level, one could easily tell that it was introduced for the sake of having it on record, that it was deliberated upon. “It will not be debated in depth or good faith,” the source added. Therefore, he said the concerned members of the association want to break this chain and that they believed the best way to do it was to change the NEC elections procedure.

He said he had pointed out earlier on, that it would be nearly impossible to use other means to influence a majority of the individual members, other than articulating a vision and strategies and fighting for bread-and-butter issues for the members of the association. The source alleged that this matter had been discussed by the concerned teachers on various platforms, including their social media groups. He said they aimed to take this matter up with the trade union’s structures and become an agenda item at the national level before the 2026 elective congress. They argued that some SNAT sub-entities, like the burial scheme, used the same procedure to elect the scheme’s committee, as every member had a right to vote.
“The concerned members want teachers to have a right to vote for the NEC. This will promote transparency and equality within the union,” the source said. This is taking place at a time when the teachers’ union is hosting branch conferences, which are a build-up to the association’s annual conference to be held later this year.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: