Stiffkitten blog
7 August 2012
Swazi students to
hold conference amidst national crisis
The Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) – one of
the most dynamic organisations in the Swazi democratic movement – is to hold
their general conference between October 12 and 14 amidst mounting economic and
social crisis in Swaziland.
SNUS has invited foreign delegations, including student
organisations, unions and others from around the world to take part in the
conference that will include presentations, discussions, and workshops on the
role of education in development.
The government of Swaziland’s absolute monarch, King
Mswati III, has reacted with increased brutality to any protests against its
rule. SNUS President Maxwell Dlamini has himself felt this brutality on several
occasions, most recently when he was detained, tortured and wrongfully charged
last year.
He has since been released on bail and no credible
charges have been brought against him during his court case. In a mail to
Africa Contact, he said that SNUS “especially seeks to invite all those that
were involved in the Free Maxwell Dlamini-campaign” that he says played an
important role in him being released on bail.
The invitation to the conference states that the
conference in to revolve around the theme “building a united, vibrant and
radical student movement in Swaziland to transform education and society,” and
that delegates – local and international – are urged to join in the discussion
of these matters in regard to both Swaziland and internationally.
SNUS has always insisted that their role, apart from
being to deal with concrete students issues, is to help bring about a political
system in Swaziland that upholds the rights and welfare of students and other
citizens alike.
“We are members of the community before we are students,”
as SNUS motto goes. But Swaziland is presently a community where King Mswati
III rules by decree and spends excessively of the national coffers, where two
thirds of the population live in absolute poverty, where secondary and tertiary
education is well beyond the means of most people, and where the scholarships
of those who have somehow been able to afford further education have been
lowered as a consequence of Swaziland’s financial quagmire that is mainly due
to government corruption, overspending and financial mismanagement.
To contact the organisers of the conference:
Maxwell Dlamini, SNUS President, 00268 7816 3172, maxwelldlamini@yahoo.com
Palesa Dlamini, SNUS Secretary for Gender and
International Affairs, 00268 7636 2273, dlaminipale@gmail.com
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