Kenworthy News Media
Several workers were badly
injured from beatings, rubber bullets and teargas fired by police in riot gear
during demonstrations for better wages and working conditions in Swaziland on
Tuesday (18 September 2018), writes Kenworthy News Media.
Tens of thousands of people
had stayed home from work and taken to the streets of Swaziland’s capital
Mbabane, commercial centre Manzini, and smaller towns Nhlangano and Sitiki in
demonstrations led by trade union congress TUCOSWA.
Great numbers and police
brutality
In a statement, the Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF) condemned the brutality of the police.
– The police fiercely
harassed workers who were protesting in Manzini and injured six of them in the
process. The workers had to run helter-skelter for safety. These rogue measures
by the police are simply desperate means of defending King Mswati’s passionate
love for luxury, SUDF Secretary General Brian Sangweni said.
National Organizing
Secretary of trade union ATUSWA, Wander Mkhonta, was at the demonstration in
Nhlangano. The town was completely shut down for six hours by around 7000
garment workers, he said.
– We are humbled by the
great numbers. It goes to show that TUCOSWA represents the aspirations of the
downtrodden majority, said Mkhonta.
Stalwart activist
Mphandlana “Victim” Shongwe, who took part in the demonstration in Siteki, said
that it was time to stand up and be counted “because the power of the people is
more powerful than those in power”, he said.
Protest action will
continue on Wednesday and Thursday in Manzini, Siteki and Nhlangano, TUCOSWA
said in a statement issued on Tuesday night.
No freedom or democracy
Amid the protests, Swaziland is to hold national elections on Friday. In a survey released Monday by Pan-African research network Afrobarometer, only 7 percent of the 1200 people surveyed said they saw Swaziland as a full democracy and one fifth believed that they are completely free to speak their mind.
London-based human rights
organisation Amnesty International has called Swaziland’s Suppression of
Terrorism Act, which is used to charge politically active Swazis with
“terrorism” for trivial offences such as wearing a political t-shirt,
“inherently oppressive”.
US-based research-NGO Freedom
House rates Swaziland as a country with little political freedom where
“political dissent and civic or labour activism are subject to harsh punishment
under laws on sedition and other offenses”.
And last year,
international NGO Oxfam published a briefing paper that called Swaziland the
most unequal country in the world. Two thirds of Swaziland’s 1.3 million
citizens survive on less than $2 a day, many of food aid, whilst King Mswati
owns 13 palaces and is worth an estimated $200 million.
See also
Swaziland
Set for Days of Strikes and Protests in Run-up to National Election
Swaziland
Nurses Picket, Drugs Run Out, Lives Put at Risk as Government Fails to Pay
Suppliers
Swaziland
Police Fire Gunshots During Textiles Dispute, Third Attack on Workers in a Week
Swaziland
Teacher Who Stopped Police Chief Shooting Into Unarmed Crowd Appears in Court
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/08/swaziland-teacher-who-stopped-police.html
Police in Swaziland Attack Nurses With Taser During Peaceful Protest Over Pay
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/08/police-in-swaziland-attack-nurses-with.html
Police in Swaziland Attack Nurses With Taser During Peaceful Protest Over Pay
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