Armed
riot police invaded the Hlatikhulu
Government Hospital in Swaziland and it ‘almost turned into a battleground’
during a legal protest by nurses.
It was
another attack by police against workers in recent weeks.
The Times
of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the
kingdom recently
renamed Eswatini by absolute monarch King Mswati III, reported on
Friday (12 October 2018), ‘The
Hlatikhulu Government Hospital was almost turned into a battleground after riot
police invaded the facility, while nurses were engaged in a protest action.’
It said
police with guns patrolled the hospital. They had entered the premises on
Thursday after nurses started singing and chanting slogans, ‘in protest over
what they described as unfair treatment by their management’.
It added,
‘Sparking the anger was the abusive language that was allegedly employed by the
over 10 officers, who were sent to the hospital.’
The Times reported, ‘Angry nurses who were
demonstrating around the hospital premises confronted the police after the
latter became aggressive and ordered them to halt their action.’
Police in
Swaziland have an written policy to use violence against protestors. In the week up to the kingdom’s national election on 21 September 2018 workers
organised by the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) took part in three
days of strikes and protests in Mbabane, Manzini, Nhlangano and Siteki.
Armed police were deployed
across Swaziland. Videos
and photographs of brutal police attacks were uploaded on social
media.
The Southern
Africa Litigation Centre (SALC)
in a statement said, the videos
circulated on social media indicated ‘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.’
The strike came after a
series of protests and
rallies 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.
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
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
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