The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has joined the chorus of condemnation against the presence of Swaziland King Mswati III at the inauguration tomorrow (9 May 2009) of Jacob Zuma as president of South Africa.
Cosatu joins the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) which have already condemned the king’s attendance.
King Mswati is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch and rules a kingdom where political parties are banned, the parliament has very few powers and the king makes all the important decisions.
Below is a media release from Coastu.
Swaziland: Dictator Not Welcome
8 May 2009
The Congress of South African Trade Unions fully supports the call by the Swaziland Solidarity Network and others for South Africa not to permit King Mswati III of Swaziland to attend the inauguration of President Jacob Zuma on 9 May 2009.
The Presidential inauguration will be a celebration of democracy, the culmination of a long process in which first the rank-and-file of the African National Congress and then the people of South Africa have democratically selected a president and government of their choice. Comrade Jacob Zuma is a worthy recipient of the honour which is to be bestowed upon him by the people.
King Mswati on the other hand has been elected by nobody. He inherited his position of absolute power and has used it to deny his people any democratic rights. The leader of the PUDEMO democratic opposition movement, Mario Masuku, has been incarcerated in jail since 15 November 2008. Opposition parties remain banned, trade union rights are curtailed and any opposition demonstrations are ruthlessly suppressed.
The presence of this despot at the inauguration will be an insult to all the people of Africa. It will give him credibility and democratic credentials which he does not deserve. South Africa should not make the same blunder as the Southern African Development Community which incredible elected him as the Chairperson of the SADC Organ Troika, which is supposed to be enforcing the regional community’s commitment to democracy. He should be treated as a pariah.
COSATU calls upon all its members to refuse to provide any goods or services to the King if he should set foot in South Africa. The federation will continue to give every possible assistance to the Swazi people’s struggle for democracy and respect for human rights.
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