Teachers and the government in Swaziland (eSwatini)
are arguing about closing schools during the coronavirus crisis.
The Swaziland
National Association of Teachers (SNAT) told its members not to teach but
the Minister of Education later said SNAT had no authority to close schools.
At a press conference on Monday (16 March 2020) SNAT President
Mbongwa Dlamini said the Occupational Safety and Health allowed staff to remove
themselves from danger when they had a justifiable reason to believe they were in
imminent and serious risk within the workplace.
He added the Swazi Government was not doing enough to combat
coronavirus.
Later, Lady Howard Mabuza, the Minister of Education and
Training, told
the Swaziland News, an online newspaper, that SNAT had no authority to
order school closures. She said, ‘The law they are using does not allow them to
just leave the workplace and shut down schools, they have a legal obligation to
engage the employer first. For now, we appeal for claim, Prime Minister will
issue a statement soon on the next step.’
Responding, Mbongwa Dlamini said its members would not
report for duty. ‘The way government is handling this issue suggests that she
doesn’t care with lives of our members and we have a duty to protect them,’ he
said.
Separately, Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini was
criticised in the House of Assembly for ‘its deafening silence’ over
the coronavirus pandemic.
The Times
of eSwatini reported members wanted to know if the birthday celebrations
of absolute monarch King Mswati III would still take place in April and whether
Easter services were going to be held.
The eSwatini Observer
reported the Prime Minister was expected to make a statement on Tuesday (17
March 2020).
Meanwhile, neighbouring South Africa has declared a
state of emergency and closed many border posts, including six of the 11
it has with Swaziland. Swaziland is a landlocked kingdom surrounded by South
Africa and Mozambique.
As of 16 March 2020 there had been only one reported
confirmed case of coronavirus in Swaziland.
See also
Swaziland
nurses plan protest march over lack of coronavirus equipment
Calls
for ban on public gatherings and border closure as Swaziland hit by coronavirus
No comments:
Post a Comment