The government of the tiny kingdom ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, has refused to publish a report on public sector pay review.
There have been attempts to picket and to march in
protest, but the draconian anti-labour laws in the kingdom prohibit such
action.
Two trade union activists were arrested and charged
with obstruction when they took part in a picket organised by public service
unions.
They were Mcolisi Ngcamphalala, a Communist Party of
Swaziland Central Committee member and member of the Swaziland National
Association of Teachers (SNAT) and Mbongwa Dlamini, Manzini Regional
Chairperson of SNAT.
Officers from Swaziland’s serious crimes unit, also
known as the Swazi anti-terrorism squad, raided their homes on Thursday (4 February
2016). They were then held in custody before being granted bail of E1,000 (US$60)
each pending their trial.
Kenneth Kunene, General Secretary of the Communist
Party of Swaziland said in a statement, ‘The picket, which is being held regularly
every Wednesday to protest the secrecy of government pay policy for public
sector workers, is part of a defiance campaign by public servants.
‘They are banned from organising protest
demonstrations and are resorting to more flexible and small-scale ways of
highlighting their demands, such as pickets. Ngcamphalala and Dlamini’s offense
was to have blocked the road where the picket was held, for which an arrest
warrant was subsequently issued.’
Meanwhile, a proposed march to deliver a petition in
Swaziland’s capital city has been put on hold after the Municipal Council of Mbabane
enforced a law that makes it unlawful to protest on the streets without
permission, the Times
of Swaziland reported.
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