Africa-Press – Eswatini. Public transport workers yesterday defied an interim court order interdicting and prohibiting the Swaziland Transport and Allied Workers Union (STAWU) and the Eswatini Kombi and Buses Workers Allied Union (EKABAWU) from interfering with the operations and/or execution of duties by members of the Swaziland Local Transport Association (SLTA), public transport vehicles or employees who are members of the latter.
The meeting was organised by EKABAWU which is a union that consists of public transport drivers, conductors and bus rank marshals. The public transport workers in Manzini had reportedly planned to engage, at most, in a three-hour ‘meeting’ to deliberate on issues affecting their welfare, which include the 15.6 per cent pay rise. The engagement was envisaged to start at 9am; however, as early as 8am, the central business district (CBD) was littered with members of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) who were positioned in strategic places.
The police officers were in riot gear while in close proximity.
These included those from the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU). At the Manzini Bus Rank, operations were normal as public service vehicles drove in and out of the terminus. However, at about 10am, a group of public transport workers converged at the intersection leading into the bus rank, along Meintjies Street. They started singing political songs, and drew the attention of other workers. At the instance, a Toyota Quantum blocked the road where kombis servicing the Mankayane Route park. This resulted in other PSVs blocking the entrance and exit points of the bus terminus such that no vehicle was able depart or access the bus rank. As this was happening, more public transport workers came to the ‘island’ (intersection) where they usually host their meetings.
Whistles and political songs reverberated through the bus rank as. At about 10:51am the public transport workers started blocking Meintjies Road, which is the street linking the bus rank and the Central Distributor bypass road. They used rocks and refuse bins.
Blocking
This halted operations of the public transport industry as no vehicle was allowed to leave the terminus with passengers. Some public transport workers started blocking the road and intimidating motorists who were seeking to gain access of Meintjies Road. While all this was happening, police officers were in close proximity watching. At instances, they would walk towards vehicles of motorists who were under intimidation, to assist them exit the congested area through the use of Mahleka Street. At about 11 am, EKABAWU President Mxolisi Fakudze addressed the public transport workers and relayed that there would be no meeting as they had received a court order instructing them not to host their gathering within the bus rank.
In his address, Fakudze said on the eve of the meeting (Monday), they received a court order which was brought by a sheriff. The EKABAWU president said he refused to sign and accept it as the name of the organisation was incorrectly captured. Following this, he said they consulted and were advised to abide to the court order regardless of the misses it possessed. Fakudze said as an executive, they agreed that they should convey the developments to their members.
Meet
“We agreed to tell you that the court order was instructing us not to engage in our issues within the bus rank but we can have it anywhere else. So we are here to tell you that we are not going to meet,” Fakudze said. He said leading to conveying this message; they had engaged the police to seek permission of disseminating it. However, upon finishing his address, some of the public transport workers informed him that they were uneducated and did not understand court order.
They shouted that they would deal with the issue using ways they were accustomed to. It was at that instance that movement of any vehicle was ‘suspended’ at the bus rank.
As this was happening, drivers of buses sought to exit the terminus through the entrance, along Ngwane Street which is solely reserved for incoming traffic into the bus rank.
The buses left the rank empty and passengers were not allowed to board them within the terminus.
The public transport employees were adamant that they would not work. This was further shared by EKABAWU’s Organiser Muzi Nhleko. He said they were informed by the workers that it was either their way or nothing at all. This, Nhleko said, resulted in public transport vehicles not rendering their services until after 3:30pm. She said the answer to whether police officer had been complacent or not could be availed in certain forums when the police were being engaged on same.
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