SWAZILAND STRIKE DAY ONE

Back with the way news agencies report on Swaziland. Below is the report that Reuters released about day one of the two day strike that started in Swaziland yesterday (Wednesday 3 September).

The reporter is himself a Swazi journalist and active in the trade union movement in the kingdom.


Swazi protesters attack corruption, criticise king



Wed 3 Sep 2008, 16:32 GMT

By Charles Matsebula

MANZINI, Swaziland, Sept 3 (Reuters) - About 1,000 people held a rare protest in Swaziland's commercial and industrial centre on Wednesday, calling for democratic reforms and more social spending in the absolute monarchy.

Demonstrators in Swaziland's largest city Manzini criticised what is expected to be a costly 40th birthday celebration for King Mswati III this weekend, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of independence from Britain.

Political groups seeking democratic reforms have become more active in the poor southern African country, where the opposition has been effectively banned since 1973 by royal decree. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for Sept. 19.

"We are also calling upon government to stop romanticising corruption but find lasting and effective strategy in dealing with corruption," Jan Sithole, secretary general of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions, told the largely peaceful march in Manzini, 32 km (19 miles) south of the capital Mbabane.

"Remember, silence means consent with the status quo. This system of government has failed dismally to be responsible to the concerns of the ordinary Swazi citizens and the electorate. Change can only come when civil society and the suffering majority stand up to be counted against such injustice."

Mswati has courted controversy for his lavish lifestyle while two-thirds of his subjects live in poverty, in a nation where about 40 percent of adults live with HIV.

Last month, Forbes magazine listed him as the 15th-richest monarch in the world. He was the only African on the list.

The People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), which is fiercely critical of the government, said last month it would step up pressure on Mswati, saying he showed a "high appetite for leisure" while the economy declines.

"We declare that PUDEMO is embarking on the highest form of struggle and sacrifice of military and combat action against the Mswati regime and all its structures and extensions," it said in a statement.

Last month, Swazi police shot and killed an activist accused of murder and armed robbery. The opposition said his death was politically motivated. Ntokozo Ngozo, 30, was a long-serving member of the Swaziland Youth Congress, the youth wing of PUDEMO.

See also

STRIKE