The Swaziland Government has applied to a court to have leaders
of the present teachers’ strike jailed for 30 days.
It says the entire executive of the Swaziland National
Association of Teachers’ (SNAT) are in contempt of a court order banning the
on-going strike which has entered day five. Teachers want a 4.5 percent pay
increase.
The case at the Industrial Court was opened yesterday (27
June 2012) and adjourned.
Meanwhile, the strike continues. The Swaziland Transport and
Allied Workers Union (STAWU) said its members would support the teachers and
there would be no public transport running throughout the kingdom.
The Swazi Government, handpicked by King Mswati III,
sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, called the striking teachers ‘criminals’.
Percy Simelane, the government’s official spokesperson,
said, ‘Legally, we do not have a protest action or strike, but a spate of
lawlessness and vandalism by delinquents whom we have reliably learnt are
members of SNAT,’ he told local media.
See also
POLICE FIRE RUBBER BULLETS AT pupils
No comments:
Post a Comment