PUDEMO, others back
MBABANE – The People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) says they support the proposed march to the police headquarters today, where SNAT President Mbongwa Dlamini has been summoned.
The march is themed #HANDSOFFSNATPRESIDENTMBONGWA.
The Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) president has been invited by the National Commissioner (NATCOM) of Police William Tsitsibala Dlamini to explain or reveal the identity of the ‘commander’ as the police are of the view that Mbongwa knows who the ‘commander’ is.
This was after the SNAT president warned teachers not to go to work on Monday, August 8, 2022, amid threats of violence by the ‘commander’. The march is organised by the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA).
“We call on all workers to unite at this moment. Today it is Mbongwa, tomorrow and the other day it will be all of us,” said TUCOSWA Secretary General (SG) Mduduzi Gina. PUDEMO SG Wandile Dludlu said the political entity was of the view that summoning Mbongwa was nothing but pure union bashing. He said the police force knew very well that Mbongwa knew nothing about the solidarity forces, but they (police) just wanted to be seen busy and vent their frustration on him.
“We hold the view that the abuse of the police force for political expediency is exactly what has landed the country here, where the old adage of ‘violence breeds violence’ was coming to reality in our situation,” said Dludlu. He also said poor leadership and undermining of the law and respect for the people was exactly what had placed the country where it was.
He added that PUDEMO held the view that labour laws, locally and internationally, allowed workers to remove themselves from danger each time they reasonably foresaw that their lives were in danger at their workplaces. He said based on that, Mbongwa was perfectly correct and exercised reasonable precautionary measures.
Dludlu said the SNAT president should not be penalised for doing the right thing, given the situation and circumstances caused by poor leadership on the part of government and the national leadership.
Patriotic
He added that they called upon all organisations and patriotic emaSwati to accompany Mbongwa to the police headquarters.
“Let’s convene at Mbabane Bus Rank at 10am and march up to eshashalazini,” said Dludlu.
When asked if they had applied for a permit from the Municipal Council of Mbabane, Dludlu said they had long passed the stage of applying for permits whenever they wanted to march.
He said the Municipal Council of Mbabane never granted them permits even if they followed the law.