Africa-Press – Eswatini. Teachers have taken a unanimous decision to embark on a go-slow following the dismissal of President of Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Mbongwa Dlamini.
This resolution was a culmination of an extra-ordinary general meeting held at the SNAT Centre yesterday from around 11am.
During the meeting, which was attended by over 500 teachers from the four regions of the country, the educators were given an opportunity to voice out their recommendations on what should be done by the association to ensure that Dlamini was reinstated to his position.
When submissions were made, the teachers raised a number of resolutions, which included among others, embarking on a national shutdown of schools by staying away from work as well as camping at the homes of leaders of the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) and the Ministry of Education and Training, who are believed to be behind the dismissal of the SNAT president, until Dlamini was reinstated.
However, after scrutinising all the resolutions, the National Executive Committee, after a brief caucus, came up with a list of approved resolutions.
When reading the adopted resolutions to teachers, SNAT Secretary General Secretary Lot Vilakati said they had resolved that teachers should submit petitions to the various Regional Education Offices (REOs), demanding the immediate reinstatement of Dlamini.
He said SNAT would first engage its existing structures in the various regions countrywide. They will then notify the general council on how the delivery of the petitions in the various REO would go about.
He said thereafter, they would announce the dates of the petition deliveries at the respective REOs.He urged their members to attend this activity in their numbers.
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Vilakati added that they had adopted the resolution of camping at the homes of the leaders of the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) and the Ministry of Education and Training, who are believed to be behind the dismissal of the SNAT president, where they will also deliver petitions until Dlamini was reinstated.
He said the camps would commence at the homestead of Chairman of the TSC, Dr Amos Mahlalela, where they will also deliver a petition.
He said they would soon announce the date on which the camp and the petition delivery will take place at Mahlalela’s homestead.
“You will recall that police officers also had their request granted after delivering a petition to the homestead of their leader, which indicates that this strategy is effectual,” he said.
They further resolved that teachers should sensitise their learners about Dlamini’s dismissal, so that they would be enlightened about government’s oppression tactics against teachers.
Vilakati said it was also their resolution that it would not be prudent for lessons to continue as normal at schools, while the SNAT president was dismissed.
As a result, he said they had reached a resolution that teachers should engage in a go-slow strike until he was reinstated.
He clarified that by so saying, he was not implying that teachers should not invigilate examinations, abstain from marking exams, divulging answers to pupils during exams or absconding classes, however, he said he was insinuating that they should engage in a go-slow strike it was lawful for them to do so, as per the Industrial Relations Act.
He urged the teachers to record all those who would be insulting and backbiting SNAT during the go-slow exercises, so that they could also pay them a visit in their homesteads during the night camps that they will soon be embarking on.
SNAT also decided that teachers should deliver petitions to the ministry of education and training as well as TSC offices.
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He mentioned that even though the Minister of Housing Urban and Development Prince Simelane had not reversed his decision to prohibit marches, but the delivery of petitions was not banned, hence they will report to the aforementioned offices in their individual capacity to deliver the petitions, without engaging in the mass marches.
He mentioned that they will camp at the aforementioned offices for the whole night if need be, until the demands that will be contained in their petitions were adhered to.
He pointed out that they have also resolved that something should be done about the Recognition Agreement as a matter of urgency because government was no longer adhering to it.
“It is the same Recognition Agreement that empowers us to have meetings during working hours, attend to union activities during working hours and to host meetings in schools but government has since prohibited us from engaging in these activities,” he said.
He said the new Recognition Agreement that was issued by the Ministry of Public Service, which stipulates that they should attend to union activities three times a month, should be rejected.
Vilakati mentioned that the new Recognition Agreement forbids workers from participating in political issues; hence it should not be accepted.
On another note, Vilakati urged teachers to offer moral support to the SNAT president on Monday, as he will be appearing at the Industrial Court for a review case of his dismissal.
He also indicated that the acting principal secretary in the Ministry of Education And Training has also served him with a letter to show cause why he accompanied Mbongwa when he appeared before the TSC on the absenteeism charges that were levelled against him.
Meanwhile, a majority of speakers during the meeting spoke in unison that the attack on Mbongwa was also to SNAT and therefore, it was high time for them to unite, regardless of their political ideologies and fight against his dismissal, which they described as unlawful, since he was not given an opportunity to state his side of the story.
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