ROAD CLOSED AS TEACHERS MARCH TO CABINET

By | August 26, 2016

ROAD CLOSED AS TEACHERS MARCH TO CABINET

MBABANE – For nearly an hour, the road leading to the Prime Minister’s residence at Hospital Hill had to be closed as a group of almost 200 teachers littered it.
It was a case of another day, yet another petition as the teachers, mostly heads of department (HODs) made their way to Cabinet Offices to deliver a petition.
The issues are the same but, mostly, they want to be moved to a new pay scale of Grade E1, as allegedly recommended by LCC Consultant. In terms of Establishment Circular No 1 of 2016, they are pegged on D3.
They don’t want that.
Compared to the 100 crowd that mobbed The Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service Evart Madlopha last week, the numbers improved significantly yesterday.
The march started at the Coronation Park with a handful of teachers, but as the protest gained momentum along Gwamile Street, the numbers increased.
The teachers were singing, dancing and chanting political slogans, while carrying placards inscribed with some of their grievances.
They were led by some members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT).
Others who attended were former SNAT President Sibongile Mazibuko and prominent political activist Mphandlana Shongwe.
Despite that traffic police officers had given the protestors strict instructions to march on one lane of the road, they frequently defied this order and walked on both lanes.

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