The Swaziland
Government has banned a prayer meeting due to take place in the kingdom to mark
the first anniversary of the formation of a trade union federation.
The government, without recourse to the law courts, announced that the intended meeting organised by the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) was illegal because the Industrial Court had recently decided that TUCOSWA could not be a registered federation because there was no law in the kingdom that allowed it.
The government, without recourse to the law courts, announced that the intended meeting organised by the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) was illegal because the Industrial Court had recently decided that TUCOSWA could not be a registered federation because there was no law in the kingdom that allowed it.
TUCOSWA
wanted to hold a prayer at the Caritas Centre in Manzini yesterday (9 March 2013) to
mark the first anniversary of the federation’s formation.
But,
the government, in the kingdom ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s
last absolute monarch, said it did not believe it was a prayer meeting.
Instead, it said, it was a disguised meeting of workers.
Government
spokesperson Percy Simelane, in a statement, said the government would not
allow the prayer to go ahead because it believed TUCOSWA was not a legal
entity.
He
said, ‘The said entity [TUCOSWA] was declared not to be a workers’ federation
under the provisions of the Industrial Relations Act 2000, because there is no
provision in the said Act for the registration of federations.’
He
said consequently, TUCOSWA cannot and is not capable of convening meetings of
workers or any other activities of workers involving labour relations issues.
‘Any
meeting or activity organised by the entity would be illegal and His Majesty’s
Government will not allow any such activities to be undertaken by the said
entity,’ he said.
He went
on, ‘Government has been reliably informed that there is a proposed gathering
disguised as a prayer service organised by the same entity. Government has
noted that the function is being organised by an entity which is neither a
religious institution nor a registered federation of workers in terms of the
laws of the country.’
This
is not the first prayer meeting to be banned in recent weeks. On 16 February
2013 60 armed police broke up a prayer meeting at the Our Lady of Assumption cathedral in Manzini without a court order or a
warrant.
Police
spokesperson Inspector Khulani Mamba, said at the time they were acting on
information that the prayers were a meeting to plan to disturb forthcoming
national elections. The action, which contravened the Swazi Constitution’s provisions
on both freedom of assembly and freedom of religion, was condemned both inside
and outside Swaziland.
See
also
COURT
BLOW FOR LABOUR FEDERATION
POLICE
SAY PRAYERS WERE POLITICAL
CHRISTIANS
CONDEMN PRAYERS RAID
RAID
ON PRAYERS UNCONSTITUTIONAL
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