Police in Swaziland fired
live gunshots and teargas as workers at a factory were locked out following an
industrial dispute.
It happened at Juris Manufacturing
in Nhlangano on Monday (6 February 2017). The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the
kingdom, reported ‘about 1,600 workers reacted angrily to a rumour that
management was planning to purge the staff of troublesome elements’.
The Times reported, ‘Interviewed workers said the violence was
triggered when the employees found the main gate to the factory locked when
they reported for duty yesterday morning, as management was planning to make
the workers enter in different groups. Soon word spread that the new entry
arrangement was a plan to get rid of male employees of the company who
management believe were sowing discontent among the staff.’
There has been a long-running dispute at the factory about management style and
accusations of racism by one boss in particular.
The Times reported, ‘A witness said when the workers were not satisfied
with the communication from management, they ganged up and vandalised the
factory structure. The situation worsened when police officers tried to
control the workers and fired teargas.’
The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III who
rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, put the number
of workers involved at 2,000.
It reported, ‘The company
premises resembled a war zone as the workers and police exchanged
missiles.
‘Police fired warning gun
shots in the air, hoping to scare off the workers who were on the rampage.’
It added, ‘They fired
teargas at the strong crowd of workers who ran helter-skelter in all http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2016/09/police-fire-rubber-bullets-on-strikers.htmldirections.’
The Observer reported, ‘A thick cloud engulfed the area with some of
the employees seen dashing towards the nearby forests as police were hot on
their heels to ensure they keep a distance from the company premises.’
It is commonplace in
Swaziland for armed police to intervene on behalf of managements during
industrial disputes.
In September 2016, media in
Swaziland reported women strikers were
ambushed by armed police and ‘brutally attacked’ at the
Plantation Forest Company, near Pigg’s Peak. Police had previously used rubber bullets and teargas
against the strikers and had fired
live rounds to disperse a crowd.
In 2013, the Open Society
Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) reported that Swaziland was becoming a
police and military state.
It said things had become so bad in the kingdom that
police were unable to accept that peaceful political and social dissent was a
vital element of a healthy democratic process, and should not be viewed as a
crime.
These complaints were made by OSISA at an African Commission
on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) meeting in The Gambia on 10 April 2013.
OSISA said, ‘There are also reliable reports of a
general militarization of the country through the deployment of the Swazi army,
police and correctional services to clamp down on any peaceful protest action
by labour or civil society organisations ahead of the country’s undemocratic
elections.’
OSISA was commenting on the trend in Southern Africa
for police and security services to be increasingly violent and abusive of
human rights.
In particular, OSISA highlighted how the police
continued to clamp down on dissenting voices and the legitimate public
activities of opposition political parties prior to, during and after
elections.
In a statement
OSISA said in February 2013 a battalion of armed police invaded
the Our Lady of Assumption Cathedral in Manzini and forced
the congregation to vacate the church alleging that the
service ‘intended to sabotage the country’s general elections’.
OSISA added, ‘A month later, a heavily
armed group of police backed up by the Operational Support
Services Unit prevented members of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland
(TUCOSWA) from holding a peaceful commemoration prayer in celebration of the
federation’s anniversary. In both instances there was no court order giving the
police the legal authority to halt the prayers.’
In 2015, Swaziland was named as one of the ten worst
countries for working people in the world, in a report
from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
See also
POLICE
NO RIGHT TO DISRUPT PRAYERS
POLICE
FIRE RUBBER BULLETS ON STRIKERS
POLICE FIRE SHOTS AT WORKERS’ PROTEST
KINGDOM
ONE OF WORST IN WORLD FOR WORKERS
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