Condemnation of the Swaziland police’s brutal attack on protesting workers is growing.
In the week up to the
kingdom’s national election trade unionists organised by the Trade Union
Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) planned three days of strikes and protests starting
Tuesday (18 September 2018) in Mbabane, Manzini, Nhlangano and Siteki.
On the first day they were
met with violence across the kingdom recently renamed Eswatini by absolute monarch King Mswati III.
Armed police were deployed
across Swaziland. Videos
and photographs of brutal police attacks were uploaded on social media
throughout the day.
The Southern
Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) in a statement
on Wednesday said, ‘The videos
circulated on social media relating to police interventions yesterday indicate
unlawful police actions, and require urgent investigation.’
It added, ‘Several workers
were wounded after police fired stun grenades to disperse the crowd in Manzini.
These police officers then unleashed a wave of assaults against striking
workers in an effort to quell the protests.’
It said, ‘SALC condemns
these police attacks on protesting workers and urge the police to act with
restraint.’
Workers want a national
minimum wage of E3,500 (US$ 234.27) a month, and an increase in elderly grants
(pensions) to E1,500. Public sector workers also want a 6.5 percent cost of
living salary adjustment. The Government says it is broke and has offered zero
percent.
Many of the protestors also
want the legalisation of solidarity strikes, an increase in health and
education funding and an end to arbitrary evictions especially on the working
class and poor.
The Swaziland Human Rights
Network UK in a statement on Wednesday said, ‘The violent attack on peacefully
demonstrating TUCOSWA members is reprehensible as it was a violation of their
constitutional right to freedom of assembly and expression.’
It added, ‘The Eswatini
government has turned the country into a violent police state where the
security services have been turned into tools of suppression to protect the
interests of not just the government but the regime of King Mswati III.
‘The routine use of
firearms against unarmed and peaceful demonstrators marks a dangerous and
violent policy by the Eswatini government and we call for the immediate
prosecution of those involved in the senseless brutality against workers.’
It added, ‘We demand an
immediate investigation into the violent events in Manzini. We demand to know
who gave the order to use firearms, water cannon, teargas and batons against
unarmed and peaceful workers.’
The Communist
Party of Swaziland (CPS) in a statement on Wednesday estimated 100,000 workers
marched on the streets. It said, ‘By 16h00, Tuesday 18 September 2018, the
confirmed number of workers who were injured either after receiving rubber
bullet shots or after heavy assault by police batons stood at 10. This occurred
in the march that was in Manzini.’
National elections are due
on Friday (21 September 2018). Political parties are banned from taking part.
People are only allowed to elect 59 members of the House of Assembly; the King
appoints a further 10. No members of the 30-strong Swazi Senate are elected by
the people. The King chooses the Prime Minister and Cabinet members. He also
chooses top civil servants and judges.
The CPS said, ‘These sham
elections are undemocratic and Mswati is trying to force the people to
participate in them. Desperate to intimidate workers, he unleashed his police
on unarmed peaceful workers in Manzini.’
The strike comes after a series of protests
and rallies in the last couple of weeks which saw police violence in attempts
to suppress the protestors. Police shot and wounded a
schoolteacher at a vigil protesting
their salaries in late August. Nurses in the kingdom’s capital city of Mbabane were tasered during
a pay protest.
SALC said in its statement,
‘The protests are taking place in the context of vast inequality and where the
monarchy maintains a lavish lifestyle. In April, King Mswati held a lavish 50th
birthday party alleged to have cost millions of dollars. Public servants were
ordered to contribute to his birthday celebrations. During the 2018 birthday
celebrations, Mswati wore a watch worth $1.6 million
and a suit beaded with diamonds.
Days prior to the birthday celebrations, the king had received delivery of his second
private jet, an A340-300 Airbus.
‘According to a 2018 World
Bank Report, an estimated 63 percent of the population lives below the poverty
line, and about 29 percent lives below the extreme poverty line.’
Below and above: some of the pictures that circulated on Facebook
See also
Vicious
Attack by Swaziland Police on Defenceless Workers Captured on Video
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
No comments:
Post a Comment