‘... ultimate goal is multi-party democracy’
MANZINI - There is a suggestion that their ultimate goal should be multi-party democracy and said their plan would be successful if they have vusela exercises.
Initially, one of the speakers thanked TUCOSWA for compiling the above mentioned demands, but suggested that they should add another one; that of demanding an elected prime minister (PM).
He said they should be seen supporting the call which was made by the two incarcerated members of Parliament (MPs), (Hosea MP Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Ngwempisi MP Mthandeni Dube) together with former Siphofaneni MP Mduduzi ‘Gawuzela’ Simelane, who is in self-exile.
However, others were of the view that even an elected PM, would solve their problems. They argued that the desired solutions could be brought by the change of the current Tinkhundla System of Government. They said they should fight for multi-party democracy in order to get what they want.
“Under multi-party democracy, each and every liSwati will benefit from the economy,” they alleged.
On the same note, they claimed that their future was not with the Tinkhundla System of Government,
activity
but with multi-party democracy. However, it is worth mentioning that government had been warning civil servants, that they were not supposed to be involved in politics. It also sent stern warning that it would deal with those who participate in political activities. On another note, they suggested that while waiting for the 25 days of the notice, the federation should allow them, to have vusela exercises under the leadership of their trade union so that they could sensitise the rest of the workers and the nation about the planned mass protest action.
“We need to have activities which will be a build-up to the main activity,” they argued.
On top of that, one of the speakers said it seemed like workers were relaxed compared to students, yet without them (workers), they could not achieve the desired goal. He said this was because the Tinkhundla System of Government would only survive if workers continued to generate economy.
His argument was that students were seen on the streets more often than workers. As such, he suggested that if a worker comes across students on the streets, he/she should join them because it was the workers who pay tax that should cater for the scholars’ scholarships, which include allowances. He said if the students do not get scholarships, the workers would pay for their children.
“So, when TUCOSWA says it’s time to down tools, we should stop generating the economy,” he said.
When analysing the submissions, the TUCOSWA leadership said it was aware that the workers were hungry for action, thus they were calling for build-up activities during the 25 days of the notice. It also said this (planned mass protest action) was a difficult route and urged the workers to stay united. After the consultative meetings, TUCOSWA will scrutinise and compile the demands and will be presented to government during the planned mass protest action.
It is worth noting that the plan of the mass protest action would also be taken as a response to government’s failure to respond to the federation’s petitions, which was delivered to various government departments on July 27, 2022. The petition had the above listed demands and the administration was requested that it should respond on their intended efforts to address these concerns on or before August 5, 2022. However, no response was received by the federation.