Mbabane – The Swaziland National Association of Teachers has taken a direct swipe at suspended government spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo, drawing a parallel between his current legal battle over unpaid salary and the long standing case of SNAT president Mbongwa Ernest Dlamini. The union released a sharply worded statement saying Nxumalo is now experiencing the same treatment he once defended on behalf of government.
SNAT’s message comes as Nxumalo heads to court seeking payment of his withheld salary. The union says this development proves that “what goes around comes around,” recalling how the spokesperson criticised SNAT in February when the union attempted to engage the Teaching Service Commission over Dlamini’s reinstatement.
The union revisited the events of 18 February 2025 when its National Executive Committee visited the TSC offices at the Ministry of Education and Training headquarters in Mbabane. SNAT claims its leaders were met by armed police, with Secretary General Lot Vilakati allegedly grabbed during the confrontation on the fourth floor. The union insists they had gone there only to request the implementation of court orders that cleared Dlamini and directed his return to the government payroll. 
Dlamini has been without pay for 27 months since his dismissal on 29 August 2023. SNAT says five court judgments have vindicated him, yet the Commission continues to refuse reinstatement. The union argues that even the lowest daily wage earners receive more than the zero salary its president has lived on since 2023.
SNAT’s statement recalls that Nxumalo issued a two page government press release on 19 February accusing the union of irrational behaviour, insisting that the issue was before the courts and that TSC could not deliberate on it. In that release he defended the Royal Eswatini Police Service and urged the union to maintain professionalism.
The union now says Nxumalo’s court fight over his own unpaid salary exposes the inconsistency of his earlier remarks. It argues that the suspended spokesperson is now facing the very conditions he once justified, and that his situation mirrors the hardship SNAT has been protesting for more than two years.
