Don’t be apologetic for talking politics – Mbongwa

MANZINI – Mbongwa Dlamini, the President of SNAT, has urged teachers to be unapologetic on talking about politics.

He said this during their extraordinary general meeting, which was held at the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Centre yesterday, but was changed to a caucus. The leader of SNAT thanked the NEC, branch committees and members for attending the meeting.

He said everyone was aware of the situation in the country. He said they were also aware that some people were saying he had turned SNAT into a political party. “What I can say is that only a lunatic will continue to wipe the floor after realising that the tap is still open,” the SNAT leader said.

He said they would not be quiet just because people were being killed, arrested and/or forced to go to exile. He said as teachers, they would speak and enlighten the nation that they were in the situation there were in allegedly because of the current system of government (Tinkhundla).

DiviDe

The leader of SNAT argued that the system purportedly wanted to divide them so that it could continue to oppress them. For example, he said in the face of government, there were contract teachers and permanent educators, but in the face of SNAT, there were only teachers.

Thereafter, he said as SNAT, they had not and would not deviate from their demand of a better government because the current one did not have the interest of the people at heart. “By doing this (demanding a better government), it does not mean that we are a political party. We are not a political party, but united teachers who believe in democracy,” Dlamini said.

He said even during the time of the better government they want, they would not stop talking when their issue would not be addressed. In a day, he said they were teachers for eight hours and normal citizens for 16 hours, thus they would not separate themselves from politics.