Bomagawula join SWALIMO en masse

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N– After several years of trusting their union for salary negotiations, sugar cane cutters now want political party intervention.

For the better part of last week, hundreds of sugar cane cutters, locally known as bomagawula had been on strike, demanding a pay rise. They were demanding an addition of E50 on the E206 which is the daily minimum. The sugar can cutters work for several companies contracted to the Royal Eswatini Sugar (RES) Corperation. They are not directly employed by RES but by companies contracted to cut the sugar cane. About 1 500 cane cutters work in the sugar cane fields.

Speaking during the strike at one of the company residences known as Emhubheeni, the cane cutters said they were being recruited to join the political party. They said they were initially reluctant to do so but realised that there were benefits.

*Jack, who was speaking on behalf of his colleagues said they had immediately seen the result of joining the party. Jack said in the past, their daily wages were increasesd by small amounts between E1 and E3. However, he said after joining the political party, they were recently offered an increment of E20 on their daily wages.

The cane cutters said in the past, only a few of their colleagues had joined political parties. They said this recently changed when the political party members began to recruit. Last week, some of the cane cutters, who were found at the company’s residences said they would not return to work until their wages were increased. They decried that for their last wage increase, only E1 was added.