Swazi strike will bring transport to a standstill

Swaziland transport workers will block all imports from SA for 11 days commencing May 29. “Our intention is to shut down Swaziland until our demands are met,” said the Swaziland Transport and Allied Workers Unions (STAWU) in a statement. Essentially a public transport workers’ union, STAWU is nonetheless allied with other unions representing transport workers at Unitrans, Cargo Carriers and local firms like Chrisilda Transport and Fuel Logic. Strike organisers said they were seeking a blockage of fuel imports in particular as a way to stop commercial and transportation activity in the country. All Swaziland’s petroleum products are imported from SA. About 90% of consumer goods and supermarket food products are also brought in by road from SA. Strike demands include a rollback of VAT, which was introduced in Swaziland last month. However, the office of the government spokesman told FTW that VAT was not open for discussion. Business interests contacted by FTW said they anticipated government granting concessions on other strike issues – matters like road fines and the issuance of transport licences – as a way to avoid chaos.