MANZINI: Sticks Nkambule, the Secretary General of the Swaziland Transport, Communication and Allied Workers Union(SWATCAWU) has confirmed that public transport workers banned kombis belonging to Labour Minister Phila Buthelezi from operating, after learning that he filed a court application against them.
“We can confirm that public transport workers reported to us that they decided to ban kombis belonging to the Minister. They received information about the court application and they were thinking that their leader has been arrested. We then explained to them that it’s not an arrest but an Industrial Court matter,” said the SWATCAWU Secretary General.
A public transport worker who spoke to this Swaziland News said they banned the Minister’s kombis until the incarcerated pro-democracy Members of Parliament(MPs) are released.
“We learned that he was fighting us through the courts and decided to ban his kombis from entering Manzini Bus Rank. Sifuna aletse bo-Bacede lana,” said the public transport worker.
Efforts to reach the Labour Minister proved unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.
The Labour Minister filed an urgent application seeking to stop the highly anticipated national shutdown by public transport workers, in the court papers, the Minister did not declare that he was also a public transport operator with a vested business interest in the matter.
Public transport workers are expected to down tools on 13th and 14th December 2022 in demand for democracy and the release of incarcerated pro-democracy Members of Parliament(MPs) Bacede Mabuza,Mthandeni Dube and other political prisoners.
Labour Minister Phila Buthelezi.