Police in Swaziland blocked
nurses who were legally trying to deliver a petition to government as part of
their ongoing
campaign against service cuts.
One local newspaper
reported a policeman’s baton was broken in two during the confrontation.
It was the fourth time in
the past two weeks that police had attacked workers who were taking action legally.
The latest happened on
Friday (7 September 2018) in Mbabane, the capital of Swaziland, recently
renamed Eswatini by the kingdom’s absolute monarch King Mswati III.
The Observer on
Saturday
newspaper in Swaziland reported, ‘A police officer saw his baton
break into two pieces while he was trying to control nurses from marching on
their way to deliver a petition through one of the streets of Mbabane.
‘There was a brief
confrontation between the nurses and members of the police service, which
resulted in pushing and shoving as the police blocked the march by the nurses.
‘That is when one of the
police officers saw his baton broken into two pieces after a shoving by the
nurses.’
It added, ‘During the
confrontation with the police officers, the nurses asked why they were being
blocked yet they had permission to hold the march.’
The newspaper reported, ‘Journalists
on the ground were also on the receiving end of the angry police officer who
called them young boys while walking with his broken baton. This was when one
of the journalists enquired about what had happened to his baton and he rudely
told him to go and ask the nurses.’
Nurses, along with other
public service workers are protesting about a freeze on their cost of living pay
adjustment. Nurses are also protesting about the shortage of medicines and
other health equipment in government hospitals and clinics across
Swaziland.
Police tried to redirect
the march away from an agreed route when the trouble began.
The Observer reported, Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU)
President Bheki Mamba, told the nurses, ‘We’re seriously not happy with many
Emaswati [Swazi people] losing their lives because government cannot provide
drugs in hospitals. We’re saddened that people die before us and we are left
with nothing to save their lives.’
During the past two weeks police in Swaziland fired several gunshot blasts at Nhlangano while
textile workers, mostly women, protested about poor pay. Police shot
and wounded a schoolteacher
in Manzini and in Mbabane
nurses were tasered during protests about pay.
See also
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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