James Hall MBABANE - During this month’s national strike, called by the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) to protest the governance of King Mswati, Swaziland’s rail system continued to roll even as the nation’s road system was disrupted. Credit goes to Swaziland Railway CEO Gideon Mahlalala’s knowledge of international transportation accords. The Congress of South African Trade Unions, in a gesture of solidarity with the SFTU, assisted with blocking or interrupting traffic at all five South African border gates with Swaziland. Traffic was normal at the Lomahasha border with Mozambique, but road freight traffic to Maputo is still small compared to traffic to and from Gauteng and Durban. The Swaziland Transport Workers Union, which is affiliated with the SFTU, wanted to shut down the railway system. They relented after Mahlalela cited a United Nations Convention that prohibits this. “The UN Transportation Convention Articles 125-159 say you can’t block transit traffic from a landlocked country to the sea,” Mahlalela told FTW. “The trains continued to run. Some had skeleton crews, but they were operating,” he said.
