HERE IS WHY SNAT SG IS BEING SUED: HE LIED ABOUT TUCOSWA SG AND, DESPITE CORRECTIONS, REFUSED TO APOLOGISE
The defamation lawsuit filed by the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) Secretary General Mduduzi Gina against Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Secretary General Lot Vilakati for E500,000 stems from a controversial claim Vilakati made earlier this year that Gina had “set the police” on public-sector workers during protest meeting against the conversion of the Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF).
According to multiple sources who attended the meeting and a video leaked to Swazi Bridge Vilakati made the allegation during a heated labour gathering in early 2025, accusing TUCOSWA’s leadership of siding with government authorities to suppress workers opposed to the state-backed PSPF conversion.
His remarks were immediately challenged by TUCOSWA President Bheki Mamba, who publicly corrected him, saying the claim was “not true” and did not reflect either the federation’s stance or Gina’s actions. Despite this correction, Vilakati reportedly stood by his statement a decision that has now landed him in court.
The lawsuit comes amid growing controversy around Gina’s perceived closeness to the state. He has drawn criticism from within the labour movement for appearing at the Eswatini National Provident Fund’s 50-year jubilee celebration, where Minister of Labour Phila Buthelezi publicly praised him for “helping Eswatini get out of the ILO’s special paragraph,” a measure that had placed the country under scrutiny for workers’ rights violations.
SNAT SG Lot Vilakati
Gina attended the event in his capacity as Chairperson of the National Provident Fund Board, where he represents workers’ interests. However, his later appointment to the Eswatini Electricity Company board by Prince Lonkhokhela, now Minister of Natural Resources and formerly Gina’s colleague during his tenure at the Fund, has been used by his detractors that he has been “captured” by the state.
Union insiders say these perceptions have been weaponised by Gina’s critics to rally unions against him and portray TUCOSWA as compromised. Others claim the posture taken by some union leaders is an escalation of long simmering tensions partly fueled by party loyalties and factional TUCOSWA battles Sources close to Vilakati say he has flatly refused to apologise, insisting that his comments were made “in a political context” and on behalf of SNAT, not as a personal attack.
“He believes the federation has been captured first by one political party, and now by the state,” one union source said. SNAT insiders confirm that the lawsuit has further strained relations between the teachers’ union and the federation, already divided over key national labour issues from the PSPF-ENPF conversion to the federation’s perceived alignment with government positions.
SNAT President Mbongwa Dlamini said the teachers’ union was taken aback by the Labour Minister’s public praise of Gina, arguing that such international labour matters are rarely discussed within TUCOSWA’s leadership. “As someone who sits on the TUCOSWA leadership, I am none the wiser on what issues are taken to the ILO and which are not,” Dlamini told Swazi Bridge.
TUCOSWA SG Mduduzi Gina
“That’s why we took issue with the reports that Gina helped take the country out of the special paragraph. These are matters that should be discussed collectively not through press statements.” He described the lawsuit against Vilakati as an attempt to “individualise political speech” made in the context of legitimate union debate.
“Comrade Lot was corrected in the same meeting; that should have been the end of it or for Gina to lodge and we correct in the next meeting of the same structure,” Dlamini said. He dismissed calls for the formation of a new federation, saying such a move would be premature and require broad consensus.
Instead, he welcomed calls for mediation to ease tensions between public-sector unions and the federation. The fallout underscores deepening disunity within Eswatini’s trade-union movement long fractured by ideological rivalries and allegations of political interference.
Formed from the merger of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU), Swaziland Federation of Labour (SFL), and SNAT, TUCOSWA was once envisioned as a united voice for workers. But over the years, critics have accused the federation of centralised decision-making, limited transparency, and a growing proximity to government interests.
Labour analysts warn that the lawsuit — and the broader rift it exposes — could weaken the workers’ front at a time when the state is driving through controversial economic and pension reforms. “This lawsuit is more than a personal dispute,” one veteran unionist told Swazi Bridge.
“It’s a symptom of how fragile the labour movement has become and how political power, fear, and factionalism are eroding the very solidarity that unions are built on.” Gina has promised to respond to the lawsuit in due time.