SWAZI POLICE TEARGAS WOMEN

A group of 50 Swazi women were tear-gassed by police as they tried to join the border protest for democracy on Thursday.

The women who are textile workers were on a bus heading for the border post with South Africa when police stopped them 1km from their destination.

The Swazi News reports today (20 September 2008), ‘As one of the buses was stopped at a roadblock mounted a kilometre from the border, the protesters started singing and were ordered to alight from the bus before police issued an instruction to the driver to take all his passengers back to town as they were not allowed to stage any protest anywhere near the border.

‘It was gathered that upon realising that the group was not heeding the orders, the police are reported to have fired numerous teargas canisters,’ the newspaper reports.

Meanwhile, more details of the detention of union leaders on Thursday have emerged. I reported on Thursday (18 September 2008) that union leaders and pro-democracy activists had been held by police who were trying to stop them attending the border blockade.

Today’s Swazi News reports that they were held in the back of a police van for up to six hours. The newspaper said, ‘They were taken on a cross-country ride with their knees resting on their chests given the sitting arrangement at the back of the vans. It was unbearable, they claim.

‘They were bundled into the vans shortly after their arrival at Ngwenya Boarder Post where they were to also meet with their South African counterparts from COSATU [Congress of South African Trade Unions] in staging the blockade.’

Among those held by police was Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions Secretary General Jan Sithole. The Swazi News reported Sithole saying ‘it was a torturing experience.’

The newspaper went on, ‘Sithole said they were not even allowed to respond to the call of nature until they were at Pigg’s Peak Correctional Services where they were ushered into a prison toilet like criminals.

‘“They loaded us into a van at Ngwenya where we were kept for over an hour inside. We asked to be taken to the toilet but they refused. Instead they drove with us to Motshane where they stopped for over 30 minutes and not attending to our requests,” he said.

‘He added that from there they were taken to Pigg’s Peak Correctional Services where after sometime they were allowed to go to the toilet. “From there we were taken into the cars again and they drove us through a dirty road in the plantations. It was hot in the back and no one cared about how we felt,” said Sithole in a low tone.’

For the full Swazi News report click here.

See also

RIOT POLICE BREAK UP SWAZI PROTEST