Yesterday we all saw one document circulating on social media which was written by Principal Secretary from the Ministry of Education, Dr Sibongile M. Mtshali-Dlamini. The Press statement was dated 17th September 2018 which announcing close of schools for the on-going industrial protest.
“Due to the uncertainty of the safety and protection of children during the proposed industrial action scheduled for 18,19, 20th September 2018 planned by TUCOSWA, whose membership includes teachers, the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini, through the ministry of education and training, advises that classes be suspended on the above dates” Said on the Press statement.
One of the most important point which is point number 3; “Parents are requested to ensure that their children are kept at home during these dates, classes shall resume on Monday 24th September 2018. However, this morning we work up with a different statement which was written by Dr Vincent Mhlanga who is the Acting Prime Minister.
The document was now saying; The issue by TUCOSWA and the Unions were attended to by the previous Cabinet and any outstanding issues will be dealt with by the next Cabinet. It continues to say; This statement supersedes the earlier statement by the Ministry of Education and Training suspending classes on the 18, 19 and 20th September 2018. All teachers and all students were expected to be in class during these dates.
The two statements were very confusing to the public and most students were seen going to school in the morning but before 10 am they were all sent back home by teachers who were present at other schools. The situation then got very worse and the protest is said to be in four towns, Manzini, Mbabane, Nhlangano and Siteki. Our team is currently witnessing the ongoing protest in Manzini, Mbabane and Nhlangano and the situation is very bad, below is few videos we took in Manzini…we have also shared a snippet about what happened in Mbabane and in Nhlangano we were told that most of the people working for the industrial factories will be joining the protest after lunch.
