Africa-Press – Eswatini. Workers and the management at Manzini SuperSpar were left in a panic mode after a man dropped a bag with petrol at the store’s parcel counter.
This took place yesterday at around 8am, just before some workers of Manzini SuperSpar (Buy n Save Spar), members of the Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO) and Swatini Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) delivered a petition to the management where the main grievance was the alleged sexual abuse of staff members purportedly by some managers.
According to a source close to the matter, at around 8am, an unknown man arrived at the supermarket’s entrance, carrying a bag, and he asked the whereabouts of one of the implicated managers. Thereafter, the man is said to have left his bag in the parcel counter and went inside the supermarket.
Parcel
“However, he came out of the shop a few moments later and he did not take the bag from the parcel counter, something which raised suspicions with some of the staff members who had paid attention to the arrival of the man,” the source said. As a result, he said some of the staff members alerted the management about the matter and the police were called to the scene. He said they checked the bag and in the process, they made the shocking discovery that there was a 500ml bottle with petrol inside. He said the bag was confiscated by the law enforcers.
Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni confirmed the matter. She said there was a substance which the police confiscated from Manzini SuperSpar and they were investigating the matter.
Petition
Meanwhile, in the petition, the female employees of Manzini SuperSpar at Lifestyle Centre, alleged that there were reports of female workers who claimed that some managers from the supermarket had sexually harassed them through making sexual slurs and expressing a desire to have sexual intercourse with them. Therefore, they demanded that the alleged sexual harassment by the senior staff members should stop. They said the directors of the company should ensure that they used the company’s sexual harassment policy to address the sexual harassment allegations. In fact, they named two female workers, whom they claimed were survivors of the alleged abuse, however, the identities of the employees will not be revealed for ethical reasons.
Abuse
They demanded that the directors should speedily address issues of alleged verbal and emotional abuse in the supermarket, mainly towards women, whereby unpalatable and derogatory words were supposedly uttered to them. Again, they said the directors of the establishment should address claims which suggested that there was a man who was purportedly sexually abusing women in the shop so that they could get their contracts renewed. “In that regard, we demand that the directors institute an investigation against two managers (names withheld because no one has been charged). We demand that the investigation should not be limited to the two managers, but all senior staff, as there seems to be a culture that degrades women in the shop,” reads part of the petition.
Once more, the staff members in question, together with the organisations which supported them, demanded that no woman should be fired for reporting sexual harassment or any kind of abuse to management, like it had allegedly been the case for the two female employees (alleged survivors). Thereafter, they reminded the directors and the management of the shop that Eswatini women were not sex workers and said Buy n Save Spar should not be a brothel. They said some of the female workers had husbands and boyfriends, while others were engaged to be married. “We demand that Manzini SuperSpar lives true to the gender-based violence (GBV) emblem that is displayed at the shop. The presence of the emblem should be symbolic to the practice of all staff members, including the management,” they said.
On another note, they demanded free protective clothing as they were allegedly paid meagre salaries. They added that workers who worked on Sundays should be paid double. They also demanded that proper procedures should be followed on issues of sick leave and other employee-related issues. They said no employee should be coerced to work even after reporting sick. However, the employees said as per the Employment Act of 1980, a sick sheet should be demanded when the employee reports back to work. On top of that, they demanded a standard bonus across all the outlets owned by the same directors as per the norm in the industry. They said December was a hectic month for the supermarket workers. Moreover, they demanded salary adjustments and gave the management seven days to respond to their demands. The petition was received by Manzini SuperSpar Assistant Manager, Langeni Dlamini, who said the demands would be taken to the relevant structures.
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