SWADNU president resigns
MANZINI – The President of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU), Welcome Mdluli, has resigned from the union.
Mdluli, who was elected on April 17, 2021 as the person who would take the baton of leading the organisation from Bheki Mamba, reportedly resigned from the organisation to focus on personal pursuits.
According to sources, Mdluli had reported to the National Executive Committee (NEC) that he was pursuing a business initiative which required most of his time. He was said to have indicated that his pursuit of the business initiative would limit his time for union activities and requested to step down from leading SWADNU.
The resignation was confirmed by the Secretary General (SG) of the union, Mayibongwe Masangane. He said it was true that their leader had resigned for personal reasons. Masangane said at the moment, the First Deputy President, Nokuthula Dlamini, would lead the organisation while they consult with the relevant structures on what to do next.
He also confirmed that Mdluli resigned mid-term which meant that the vacuum would be there for two years. The SG said guidance from the structures would determine if the union would have to host by-elections or the first deputy president would have to act in the position until the next elective congress.
Masangane said Mdluli’s resignation would not affect the work of the union as it was structured in a way that should one member leave, the rest would continue without issues.
He noted that the organisation had two deputy presidents, so the first deputy president would step up and then the second deputy would also continue working in the deputy president’s position. SWADNU is a union that operates for the purposes of influencing the Nursing, Health and Social Policy; improving the professional and socio-economic standards of nursing and ensuring competence in caring; encouraging and enhancing excellence in nursing practice, management, research and education; strengthening collaboration, networking and relations with other similar organisations locally, regionally and internationally.
Meanwhile, efforts to get a comment from the former SWADNU president proved futile at the time this article was compiled. His mobile phone rang unanswered.
It is worth noting that in his maiden address to members of the union, he expressed hope that the shortage of medication and pharmaceutical supply would be a priority in their agenda. His words were followed by several actions by the union, wherein it engaged government on the continuous shortage of medical rugs.
He engaged nurses on unity, reminding the congress that their struggle was not actually to be at loggerheads with each other. He also reminded nurses that they still needed better remuneration.
“It is a fact that nursing assistants were wrongly graded during the salary review in 2016,” he said.