New Year Message from the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO)
The Swaziland Youth Congress wishes to extend its revolutionary greetings to all the citizens of our beloved country, Swaziland, and also extends warm greetings to all its allies inside and outside the borders of Swaziland. We also extend our greetings to the whole Swazi workforce and democracy lovers.
The year 2008 has been an eventful year for Swazis, the masses have once again been forced to watch the ruling regime squander hundreds of millions of Emalangeni on projects that are not beneficial to the Swazi populace.
The Swazi taxpayer forked out a lot of money funding the 40/40 celebrations where quite a substantial amount of money was used by Emakhosikati to go shopping, whereas the remaining umsizi and the wives of those who perished in the first and second world wars where King Sobhuza II sent them for independence are eating from dustbins and sleeping on pavements and are subjected to severe abuse like rape, hunger and are also killed. The government has literally forgotten about them.
SWAYOCO salute the spirit of the Swazi civic society that has realised that forming splinter organisations will derail the liberation of the Swazi masses from this Tinkhundla monster hence SWAYOCO has been part and has contributed to the formation of the Swaziland United Democratic Front that seeks to unite all swazis towards the realisation of a democratic Swaziland with multi party democracy where everyone will be treated as citizens not a subject.
The Swazi workers have also realised that for a small workforce Swaziland doesn’t need two federations and SWAYOCO that has been calling for the implementation of the slogan one country one federation has won in that the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) and the Swaziland Federation of Labour (SFL) has finally moved towards the realisation of that dream and for the first time in the history of the country the Workers Day celebration was jointly celebrated by Swaziland’s two labour federations and the attendance spoke for itself, SWAYOCO salutes the leadership of these two federations and the workers.
Workers have risen and they have now realised who is their enemy (the Tinkhundla regime) in that the textile workers rose to the challenge and waged a two week strike for better working conditions and every worker downed tools in favour of the strike even after police used live rounds of ammunition after getting orders from above because the people have businesses’ interest in this sector.
SWAYOCO has always affirmed that it is only in unity that we will be able to remove the brutal regime of TINKHUNDLA and setting the people free. SMAWU and SPRAWU, we salute you for working together and in the interest of the workers in the textile sector and also moving towards having one union in one sector.
SWAYOCO applauds the women of Swaziland for organising a march against the lavish spending of Emakhosikati when women in Swaziland are the most poor and abused, these women defied the traditional prime minister who is stroke prone and marched wearing black clothes signifying the death of the country.
The arrest of PUDEMO President CDE Mario Masuku is condemned and we as SWAYOCO say that one day someone will pay dearly for the continuous harassment of the peoples’ president and his family. The government of Swaziland ratifies all conventions on human rights and also guarantees freedom of speech yet all these conventions are not adhered to in the country. CDE Mario has had his charge sheet changed many times and now he is being remanded inside the maximum prison where no one is allowed visitation rights.
This confirms what SWAYOCO has been saying all along that the Tinkhundla regime is dictatorial.
All this happened immediately after the king said PUDEMO and SWAYOCO members must be throttled (abekhanywe) and be wiped out and he swore that their family members would mourn because his armed forces have been tasked to deal with our members.
The imminent disbandment of the oldest customs union in the world, the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) spells doom for the Swazi regime. 80% of the countrys’ revenue comes from this union with the liberalisation of markets Swaziland needs to scour for other sources of income to sustain the falling regime, this is the time that will be reminiscent of the then Zaire where Mabutho Seseseko borrowed the government money to run its affairs.
Tinkhundla will be cash-strapped sooner than expected. We are heading for disaster even dogs and cats will be taxed because the regime is desperate for cash that’s why they have influenced some SADAC countries to sue South Africa for a share of the dividends from SACU.
SWAYOCO applauds university of Swaziland students who have fought relentlessly towards the abolishment of semesterisation although it was a brutal fight, the students persevered and they won.
The university students not only won the semesterisation issue but when the university organized impromptu elections without adhering to the statutes of the university, the students challenged that and the elections were annulled Proper elections were held and the students elected overwhelmingly the leadership that they want. The Tinkhundla backed candidate lost.
SWAYOCO calls for the priotiraisation of the following as we enter the New Year:
1. The unconditional release of pudemo President cde Mario
2. The return to multi party
3. Quality health for all
4. Free housing for the poor
5. Free education
6. The unbanning of all political parties
SWAYOCO held its extra ordinary congress in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa and Imbokodvo has stooped so low in that it tried to plant its agents to come and destabilise the congress and call for the resignation of leadership that was five months in office, what an opportunistic tendency.
One thing Tinkhudla didn’t know was that at SWAYOCO, when we talk of democracy we also practice it.
The year 2008 was the worst year for Swazis in that the country was elected to head the Organ Troika on Defence and good governance.
SWAYOCO calls for the intervention of the African Union in Zimbabwe where human rights abuse is escalating. Activists are subjected to torture and are kept where their families don’t know and even court orders are defied.
This is not right, the people are hungry there’s no food even in shops. The outbreak of cholera has worsened matters, more than a thousand Zimbabweans have died of these epidemic as hospitals have run out drugs.
May the warring factions put the interest of the citizens first before theirs and find a lasting solution to this matter but SADC must speed up the process.
Israel must be isolated- it has done more damage in the Middle East and time has come for the international community to act. The Zionist regime of Israel has unleashed a reign of terror on innocent people of Palestine innocent lives are lost, lives of children and women are lost for no reason, the silence of the super powers on this latest onslaught of Palestine is a cause for concern-it must be condemned from all directions.
HIV/AIDS continues to be a scourge. We are still leading and if we don’t take this disease seriously. We will be wiped out in no time and time has come for us to be proactive and learn from the Ugandans on how they have managed to bring it under control because if we continue to be unfaithful to our partners and have unprotected sex we will die so let us act responsibly we don’t need multiple partners.
SWAYOCO wishes the people of the world a happy new year and they must remember aids kills and they must abstain or use condoms. Speed kills so make sure you reach your destination don’t drive recklessly.
PHINDANGENE MNDZEBELE
SWAYOCO Deputy President
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