A Mathematics and Science teacher at Ngcoseni Community High School is fighting to keep his job after being served with a suspension letter and a notice to show cause why he should not be dismissed for allegedly absconding from duty for over six months.
The teacher Mbongiseni Msibi, said he left his place of work on May 24, 2025, and went to an initiation school in Siteki. At the time, he conceded that he did not formally inform his employer and the headteacher that he was leaving.
In his defence, he said his disappearance was due to circumstances beyond his control. He stated that he was unconscious and only regained full comprehension of what was happening a while after arriving at his initiator’s (gobela) home.
Msibi also stated that when he disappeared, his cellphones were also lost, making it challenging for him to communicate with the outside world.
“When I left, I didn’t report. I left abruptly. I couldn’t see and had lost my phones,” he said.
The teacher explained that he later found himself at an initiation school in Siteki, where he regained consciousness. While there, he said he made efforts to inform his workplace of his whereabouts.
“I asked my brother to write an affidavit to the headteacher reporting where I was. My initiator also wrote a letter and an affidavit stamped by the Traditional Healers Organisation (THO) to assure the employer and immediate supervisor that I was undergoing the initiation process,” he said.
However, Msibi claimed that attempts to submit the documents were unsuccessful. He alleged that the headteacher at Ngcoseni Community High School initially refused to accept the affidavit and supporting letters, referring the matter to the Manzini Regional Education Office (REO).
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Msibi said officials at the REO also declined to accept the documents, advising that they should be submitted to the headteacher, who would then forward them to the office.
He said further efforts to submit the documents to the School Manager’s Lungelo Nhlengetfwa’s office at the Ministry of Education and Training also proved futile.
“My brother later told me he eventually left the documents at the school,” Msibi said.
He said during the six-month period that he was at initiation school, he received a message that the schools manager was looking for him.
“I asked for permission from my gobela to go to Mbabane and was granted. However, I could not meet the schools manager as I was told he was in a meeting. I remained there for the better part of the day, but still could not see him,” he said, adding that he left his contact details in case Nhlengetfwa needed to call him.
Msibi said no one ever called him until he completed his training.
After completing the initiation programme, he said he reported to the Manzini REO to indicate that he had returned, but was referred to the schools manager’s office.
He claims that despite making several visits, he could not meet Nhlengetfwa and instead left his contact details.
“I tried again in January when schools opened, but I still could not meet him,” Msibi said.
The matter came to a head last Thursday when the schools manager summoned him to the office.
However, upon arrival the following day, the teacher said he was attended to by a secretary who served him with two letters, one placing him on suspension and another requiring him to explain why he should not be dismissed.
Msibi said he was taken aback because letters explaining his disappearance had been submitted to the headteacher and by extension to the Ministry of Education and Training. It was for this reason that he sought the intervention of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT). This was confirmed by SNAT Secretary General Lot Vilakati.
