Swaziland teachers claim victimisation as govt hits union president with disciplinary charges

The Swaziland Government is set to start disciplinary action against the president of the kingdom’s teachers’ union in a move that is being seen as victimisation. 

It came as teachers across Swaziland / eSwatini joined other public sector workers on Friday (1 February 2019) for a march in Mbabane to deliver seven petitions to different government departments. Public sector workers are campaigning for a 6.55 percent salary increase to meet the rise in the cost of living. The government says it is broke and has offered three percent starting in 2020 / 2021.

The Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) reported its president Mbongwa Dlamini faced four charges of misconduct, including unauthorised absenteeism from his work at Mhubhe High School.

In a statement published on social media SNAT stated, ‘Chief amongst these charges is becoming a union leader and participating in legitimate trade union activities that were held across the country and in different venues for the past two weeks.’

If found guilty Dlamini could face dismissal.

The Sunday edition of the Times of Swaziland reported (3 February 2019) he had not yet been formally charged but had been asked to respond. It reported Dlamini saying, ‘These are trumped up charges that I was expecting any way.’

The Times added, ‘He claimed to have received information to the effect that there had been earlier moves to try and lay charges against him with the police for allegedly threatening teachers who would not be part of the strike action that was eventually stopped by the industrial court.’

 

It quoted Dlamini saying, ‘I think they failed with this. They are just trying to find ways to charge me.’

SNAT Secretary General Sikelela Dlamini said the charges were clandestine moves aimed at destabilising the union. ‘The charges are trumped up and are aimed at de-motivating our participation in union activities,’ the Times quoted him saying.

The move against Dlamini came as about 2,000 public sector workers marched through the Swaziland capital Mbabane. It was headed by four unions: SNAT, Swaziland National Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP), Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) and National Public Service and Allied Workers Unions (NAPSAWU).

See also

Industrial Court stops Swaziland public servants strike at last minute

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/01/industrial-court-stops-swaziland-public.html

 

Armed police deployed in schools across Swaziland to ensure exams take place during teacher pay dispute

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/10/armed-police-deployed-in-schools-across.html 

Swaziland police shoot, wound teacher during protest over pay, tensions high on eve of national election

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/08/swaziland-police-shoot-and-wound.html

SWAZI TEXTILE WORKERS EXPLOITED

A trade union drive is underway in Swaziland to recruit workers in the kingdom’s notorious textile industry.

The Amalgamated Trade Union of Swaziland (ATUSWA) has visited several factories across the kingdom.

ATUSWA’s Bongani Ndzinisa told local media that workers in the textile industry had been neglected. The Swazi Observer reported (11 September 2017), ‘He disclosed that the union had already conducted an assessment which indicated that the workers were faced with numerous challenges which affected their livelihood.

‘Ndzinisa said they were in the process of encouraging workers to join the union, after which they will be writing to the various factories to demand recognition.’

The textile industry in Swaziland which is mainly owned by Taiwanese interests has a long history of exploitation.

In July 2014 a survey of the Swaziland textile industry undertaken by the Trades Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) revealed workers were subjected to harsh and sometimes abusive conditions, many of the kingdom’s labour laws were routinely violated by employers, and union activists were targeted by employers for punishment. 

More than 90 percent of workers surveyed reported being punished by management for making errors, not meeting quotas or missing shifts. More than 70 percent of survey respondents reported witnessing verbal and physical abuse in their workplace by supervisors.

Commenting on the survey, the American labour federation AFL-CIO said, ‘Some workers reported that supervisors slap or hit workers with impunity. In one example, a worker knocked to the ground by a line manager was suspended during an investigation of the incident while the line manager continued in her job.

‘Women reported instances of sexual harassment, as well. Several workers said they or other contract (temporary) workers were offered a permanent job in exchange for sex.’

Mistreatment of workers in the textile industry in Swaziland has been known for many years and workers have staged strikes and other protests to draw attention to the situation.

In its report on human rights in Swaziland in 2013, the US State Department said wage arrears, particularly in the garment industry, were a problem. It said, ‘workers complained that wages were low and that procedures for getting sick leave approved were cumbersome in some factories. The minimum monthly wage for a skilled employee in the industry - including sewing machinists and quality checkers - was E1,128 (US$113). Minimum wage laws did not apply to the informal sector, where many workers were employed.

‘The garment sector also has a standard 48-hour workweek, but workers alleged that working overtime was compulsory because they had to meet unattainable daily and monthly production quotas.’

A damning report on Swaziland’s textile industry called Footloose Investors, Investing in the Garment Industry in Africa, was published in 2007 by SOMO – Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

It said the Swaziland Government gave companies a large number of incentives such as tax exemptions and duty free importation of raw materials. The Government also allowed companies to take all profits and dividends outside of Swaziland, which in effect meant that there was little or no investment within Swaziland from the companies.

With a change of world trading conditions, Swaziland became less attractive to foreign companies. In order to maintain profits the companies began to lobby the Government for changes in the law. The companies especially wanted laws and regulations regarding labour loosened.

SOMO concluded, ‘It seems that the public spending on building shells and infrastructure aimed at attracting foreign investment in the garment industry has not brought about much economic benefit so far.’

The report stated, ‘Companies have been asking for certain “incentives” in exchange for their continued production in the country, implying that the country owes them something for their presence.

‘One of the companies in Swaziland, for example, Tex Ray, announced its willingness to set up a textile mill but asked in return for less stringent labour laws and laws on the environment, and for the prices of electricity and water to be halved. They also felt that government should subsidise the wages.’

In September 2014 hundreds of workers at Tex Ray were affected by poisonous chemical fumes at the factory in Matsapha. Many needed hospital treatment and the factory was closed for several days. The Swazi Observer newspaper reported allegations from workers that retrenchment was a way for the company to avoid liability. The newspaper reported that other textile factories, including Kartat Investments, Kasumi and Union Industrial Washing, continued to operate.

In May 2015, it was estimated 3,000 people in the textile industry lost their jobs when the United States withdrew trading benefits under the Africa Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA) because of Swaziland’s poor record on human rights which included workers’ rights.

See also

EXPLOITATION BY TAIWAN TEXTILES

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/exploitation-by-taiwan-textiles.html

 

MINISTER RAIDS TEXTILE FACTORY

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/minister-raids-textile-factory.html

 

SWAZI TEXTILE PAY STRIKE ILLEGAL

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2012/03/swazi-textile-pay-strike-illegal.html

 

SWAZI GOVT AIDS TAIWAN EXPLOITATION

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2010/08/swazi-gvt-aids-taiwan-exploitation.html

SWAZI HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD KILLS AGOA

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/05/swazi-human-rights-record-kills-agoa.html

WORKER UNION BARRED FROM COLLEGE

Administration staff at Swaziland’s Institute of Development Management say they have been victimised because they want to join a trade union.

It came after they failed to resolve continuing issues with management and decided to join the Swaziland Union of Non-Academic Staff for Higher Institutions (SUNASHI).

According to a report in the Sunday Observer (10 September 2017), ‘However, their decision has landed the members of staff on a collision course with management, who have instituted disciplinary hearings against 10 of the members who have attempted to join the union.’

The newspaper said according to one of the employees at IDM, staff members tried three times to get the union to address them before management called them to a disciplinary hearing, ‘and threatened to fire them for joining and holding meetings with the said union’.

He said, ‘The actions of IDM intimidate the employees to continue working in harsh, unfavourable and oppressing conditions. At this point they are between a rock and a stone, management refuses to hear them and refuses to allow them representation.’

In 2015, Swaziland was named as one of the ten worst countries for working people in the world, in a report from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). 

The kingdom, ruled by King Mswati III, the last absolute monarch in sub-Saharan Africa, was grouped alongside some of the worst human rights violators in the world, including Belarus, China, Colombia, Egypt, Guatemala, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The report called The World’s Worst Countries for Workers, reviewed the conditions workers faced during the previous year. Among the worst cases in Swaziland the ITUC reported on the strike at the Maloma Mine which is partly owned by King Mswati.

It reported, ‘Some 250 workers went on strike on 24 November [2014], after the mine management refused to negotiate over a US$72 housing allowance with the Amalgamated Trade Unions of Swaziland (ATUSWA). All legal requirements were observed by the striking workers, and even though the strike was peaceful, the workers were surrounded by police equipped with riot shields, protective headgear, guns and teargas.

‘During the strike, management refused the workers access to water, toilets and medical facilities. Chancellor House, the investment arm of the ANC, owns 75 percent of the Maloma mine, with the remaining 25 percent owned by the Tibiyo Taka Ngwane, a fund controlled by King Mswati III, who is one of the world’s last remaining absolute monarchs.’

Separately in 2015, the International Labour Organization (ILO) told Swaziland it must stop interfering in the activities of trade unions; ensure workers’ organizations were fully assured of their rights and ensure they had the autonomy and independence they needed to represent workers.

The ILO urged the Swaziland Government ‘without further delay’ among other matters to:

Ensure all workers’ and employers’ organizations in the country are fully assured their freedom of association rights.

Ensure organizations are given the autonomy and independence they need and fulfil their mandate and represent their constituents. The Government should refrain from all acts of interference in the activities of trade unions; 

Investigate arbitrary interference by police in lawful, peaceful and legitimate trade union activities and hold accountable those responsible.

See also

SWAZILAND IN TOP TEN WORST FOR WORKERS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/kingdom-in-top-ten-worst-for-workers.html

 

ILO URGES SWAZI WORKERS’ REFORM

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/ilo-urges-swazi-workers-reform.html

SWAZI POLICE BLOCK WORKERS’ PROTEST

Police in Swaziland blocked a workers’ protest against poor labour conditions in the kingdom.

Members of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) tried to march to deliver a petition of complaints to Winnie Magagula, the Minister of Labour and Social Security.

Local media reported on Tuesday (28 February 2017) that police blocked the march close to the ministry by forming a line in the road.

The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, reported, ‘This was done in a bid to protect the officials from the labour ministry, who were to receive a petition that was to be delivered by TUCOSWA.’

The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, reported, ‘The list of issues that the union wants government to address include; severance allowance, national minimum wage, amendments to the public enterprises, elimination of precarious employment and the inclusion of domestic workers as members of the SNPF and ratification of the ILO convention 189 on domestic workers.’

The Times reported, ‘According to the union’s Secretary General, Vincent Ncongwane, ever since the union engaged government in 2013 on the matter of national minimum wage, nothing has been done whereas this was a current discussion internationally. Therefore, the union wants the minister to write to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and request for a study to be done on the subject matter in Swaziland. Ncongwane said even though the union had done its study and found that the national minimum wage should be E3,500 (US$270), the minister should request for ILO’s findings as well.’

Assistant Commissioner of Labour Sipho Maseko later received the petition.

In 2015, Swaziland was named as among the worst ten countries in the world for workers’ rights in a report published by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). 

See also

KINGDOM ONE OF WORST IN WORLD FOR WORKERS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/06/kingdom-in-top-ten-worst-for-workers.html

POLICE FIRE SHOTS AT WORKERS’ STRIKE

Riot police in Swaziland fired shots over the heads of striking workers who were protesting for an increase in pay of the equivalent of 35 US cents per hour.

Two shots were fired by the Royal Swaziland Police (RSP) when workers demonstrated outside the Plantation Forestry Company.

The strike has lasted more than nine days. Chairperson of the Swaziland Agriculture & Plantations Workers Union (SAPAWU) Sibusiso Masuku said workers demonstrated in front of a group of police. 

The Swazi Observer newspaper reported on Wednesday (25 August 2016) that one police officer fired two shots into the air, ‘which caused panic amongst the workers’. However, no one was hurt. 

The newspaper reported Masuku saying, ‘We were shocked by the gunshots but we are not backing down. It seems our complaints are not being heard by the administration. First we were told that we cannot hold our legal strike inside our work premises so we were forced to demonstrate along the dangerous road. 

‘Then we were allowed to picket inside the Plantation Company premises but now we want to take the strike to our work stations.’

Police in Swaziland regularly intervene on behalf of employers in industrial disputes. 

In October 2015 police fired shots and teargas at protesting textile workers at the Zheng Yong Garment factory in Nhlangano. They were protesting against the behaviour of security guards.

In June 2015, Swaziland was listed as one of the top ten worst countries in the world for workers’ rights. It was grouped alongside some of the worst human rights violators on the planet, including Belarus, China, Colombia, Egypt, Guatemala, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. 

See also

SWAZI HUMAN RIGHTS WORSEN: AMNESTY

http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/swazi-human-rights-worsen-amnesty.html

UNREST AT SWAZI KING’S NEWSPAPER

Media workers protest against working conditions at king’s newspaper

Kenworthy News Media, 11 August 2016 

SOURCE

Members of the Media Workers Union of Swaziland (MWUS) have gathered near the offices of the Swazi Observer for several days to protest low wages, management intimidation and poor working conditions. The union was barred from holding an actual picket by Swaziland’s High Court, writes Kenworthy News Media.

Negotiations between the Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned and controlled by absolute monarch King Mswati III, and MWUS had started in April, but no real progress has been made since they became deadlocked in June.

Fair pay and decent working conditions
The union demands a 25 percent pay rise, that senior reporters ought to be allowed to be members of a union of their choice, an end what it calls job promotion nepotism and intimidation of union-affiliated members, newly serviced cars that are safe do drive, proper medical aid and the resignation of the managing director.

According to a statement released by MWUS in June, the Swazi Observer management countered by offering no pay rise and the newspapers’ managing director said that management would “plant intelligence within all the departments of the company”, something that was condemned by the union as “threat and intimidating antics”.

Police intimidation
“There is an employee who earns as little as 1500 emalangeni [€100] a month and many of our members are subject to risky conditions as they are made to drive cars which have long been stopped being serviced. One member reported a car he was driving had its steering wheel disconnecting while the car was in motion,” Secretary General of MWUS Sicelo Vilane told members gathered outside the offices of the Swazi Observer on Monday.

An hour after he held his speech, Sicelo Vilane was approached by an intelligence officer who introduced himself only as “Mkhwanazi,” who told Vilane that the police wished to “form part of the negotiations as a third part”. MWUS sees this as a measure of intimidation against the union.

There are also indications that Sicelo Vilane might be arrested for contempt of court for allegedly defying a court order that barred the protesting workers from entering the premises of the Swazi Observer, even though he is adamant that none of the union members had done so and that there had been no wrongdoing on the part of him or the union.

Media censorship and harassment
There have been many previous indications that all is not well at the Swazi Observer and in the Swazi media in general. In 2009, Swazi Observer managing editor Mbongeni Mbingo nearly lost his job for publishing a piece on the king’s fleet of luxury cars. He later wrote, in an article published on the website of the Freidrich Ebert Stiftung, that “the press in Swaziland is largely expected to toe the line and be a lapdog not a watchdog.”

In their 2015 “Freedom of the Press”-report, American research-NGO Freedom House describes how king Mswati “further restrained an already weakened media environment in Swaziland, [where] both journalists and media outlets were targeted by officials through the use of restrictive legislation” and how “the government withholds advertising contracts from critical media outlets”.

According to the Human Rights Watch 2016 world report, “journalists and activists [in Swaziland] who criticized the government were often harassed and arrested … Many journalists practiced self-censorship, especially with regard to reports involving the king to avoid harassment by authorities”.

CALL FOR GLOBAL PRESSURE ON GOVT

Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) has called on the international community to apply serious pressure on the Government of Swaziland so that it respects human rights and develops a genuinely democratic constitution. 

 

The absolute monarch King Mswati III is due to become the chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in August 2016 while his government continues to violate human rights with impunity. In a report published on Wednesday (29 June 2016), ACTSA warned that Swaziland might plunge into a protracted crisis unless African governments, as well as bilateral and multilateral donors, vigorously and consistently engage with the Government of Swaziland so that it genuinely protects and serves all of its citizens.

In a statement, ACTSA said, ‘The report, Swaziland’s Downward Spiral, outlines how the current Constitution of Swaziland fails to respect democratic norms, and many laws undermine basic freedoms, especially those of women. The country’s largest opposition party, the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), is banned. 

‘Trade unions and other civil society organisations seeking to promote human rights and democracy endure systematic oppression. As a result of mismanagement and corruption, the economy is in a dire state, with 63 percent of the population living below the poverty line, and wealth concentrated in the hands of the royal family and a tiny elite close to the King.’

The statement continued, ‘The report argues that the international community has not sufficiently engaged with the denial of human rights and with authoritarianism in Swaziland. Some, especially those within the country, interpret this as condoning the actions of the King and his government. Ultimately, real and lasting change will only come about if the King enters into meaningful dialogue with his political opponents, as well as with all sections of civil society. Internal pressure for reform can and must be bolstered by significant external pressure.’

The report is the latest in a long line of reports published over the past two months highlighting human rights abuses in the kingdom where King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

The United Nations Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of Swaziland met in May 2016 and received reports from a large number of organisations within Swaziland and outside calling on the Swazi regime to improve its human rights record.

Among them, The Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations (SCCCO) reported, people were being shot and killed in Swaziland because they were suspected of poaching and game rangers were immune from prosecution.

Human Rights Watch reported that Swaziland had not kept its promise made in 2011 to change laws in the kingdom relating to freedom of association and assembly so they met international standards.

A joint report from Swaziland Multi-Media Community Network, Swaziland Concerned Church Leaders, Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations and Constituent Assembly – Swaziland stated Swazi police tortured a 15-year-old boy after his mother had reported him for stealing E85 (US$6).

A joint report from SOS-Swaziland, Super Buddies, Prison Fellowship and Luvatsi – Swaziland Youth Empowerment Organisation, stated children as young as 11 years old were being incarcerated in juvenile correction facilities in Swaziland for up to 10 years, even though they had committed no crimes.

Rock of Hope, which campaigns for LGBTI equality in Swaziland, reported that laws, social stigma and prejudice prevented LGBTI organisations from operating freely.

See also

SWAZI LGBTI PEOPLE LIVE IN FEAR

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2016/06/swazi-lgbti-people-live-in-fear.html

 

INNOCENT BOY, 11, LOCKED UP FOR 10 YEARS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2016/06/innocent-boy-11-locked-up-for-10-years.html

 

BOY, 15, AMONG POLICE TORURE VICTIMS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2016/06/boy-15-among-police-torture-victims.html

 

SWAZILAND FAILS ON FREEDOM PROMISE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2016/06/swaziland-fails-on-freedom-promise.html

 

NO AMNESTY IN ‘TERROR’ CASES

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2016/06/no-amnesty-in-terror-cases.html

 

GAME RANGERS ‘SHOOT TO KILL’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2016/06/swazi-game-rangers-shoot-to-kill.html

BOTSWANA SUPPORTS SWAZILAND AT ILO

The Botswana Government has been accused by trade unionists in that country of supporting Swaziland’s violation of workers’ rights.

 

Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) said members were shocked when Botswana supported Swaziland, a fellow member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), at the recent International Labour Conference (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland.

Mmegi newspaper in Botswana reported on Wednesday (15 June 2016) that BFTU president Bohithetswe Lentswe said that the government of Swaziland appeared before the committee of application of standards for violation of right to organise and collective bargaining and right to freedom of association and protection of the right to organise.

Lentswe said that Botswana speaking on behalf of SADC as the chair of the regional bloc said that there is no need for any intervention from the ILO as it noted progress in addressing the issues by both governments.

In the Swaziland case, Lentswe said that it was noted that it was the seventh consecutive time the case was discussed in the conference committee and the kingdom had been examined 14 times, but Botswana government again said that the Swaziland government was progressing to implement the convention.

In Swaziland political parties are banned and King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. King Mswati will take over the chair of SADC in August 2016.

Lentswe added, “The Botswana government noted with satisfaction the significant progress made by the convention as amendments have been tabled in Swaziland parliament to create a conducive environment for effective social dialogue while saying this was evidenced by the registration of federations of trade unions. Botswana expressed confidence that SADC would address the issues.”

Lentswe said that this was wrong coming from SADC chair. He said as the World of Work actors, they strongly believe in social dialogue and condemn the decision of Botswana to condone “bad-boy behaviour”. 

Lentswe said that the situation in Swaziland was bad and needed ILO intervention as the government continued to violate the fundamental right of freedom of association and protection of the right to organise. He further said that they were happy that the conference heeded their plea for intervention to send a commission to assess the situation in the kingdom.

See also

ILO URGES SWAZI WORKERS REFORM

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/06/ilo-urges-swazi-workers-reform.html

 

SWAZILAND IN TOP TEN WORST FOR WORKERS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/kingdom-in-top-ten-worst-for-workers.html