Tens of thousands of jobs were likely to be lost in
Swaziland (eSwatini) because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to predictions
from trade union and business leaders.
More than 18,000 workers in the Swazi textile industry
were in danger of losing jobs or having salary cuts, according to Warnder
Mkhonza, Secretary General of the Amalgamated Trade Union
of Swaziland (ATUSWA).
Swaziland has been in partial lockdown because of coronavirus (COVID-19)
since 27 March 2020. Many businesses were closed, but some, including textile
factories, have been allowed to reopen.
Mkhonza said textile workers already earned ‘close to nothing’ and many
textile firms had not followed government regulations set up for the
coronavirus crisis about how to deal with lay-offs. He said workers who had returned
to work had their salaries cut by half.
Separately, Business
Eswatini Chief Executive Nathi Dlamini said it was inevitable that there
would be job losses once the pandemic was over.
He said the pandemic had deprived Swaziland of revenues including tax
income and employment. He said business performance had fallen to its lowest
imaginable level.
In other coronavirus developments in Swaziland:
The COVID-19 Regional Response Teams reported
that people in rural areas were not taking the pandemic seriously as they believed
it was something that only affected urban areas. In one case a
crowd of more than a hundred people had gathered for a soccer match and none wore
masks. People took advantage of the setting and went about doing businesses such
as selling food and beverages to the crowd.
MBABANE GOVERNMENT Hospital
support staff said
they were at high risk of contracting COVID-19 as they were not provided
with personal protective equipment (PPE). They also said that a bus used to
transport them to and from work was never fumigated.
AS OF 28 May 2020 there had been two
reported deaths and 279
people tested positive for COVID-19, according to official figures from the
Ministry of Health.
See also
Coronavirus
lockdown costs thousands of jobs in Swaziland, people evicted from homes
Swaziland
short of coronavirus protective equipment for health workers as prices soar
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