Jan Sithole, the former Manzini North Member of
Parliament and President of the Swaziland Democratic Party (SWADEPA), has
died. He was taken ill at home and later died in hospital. He was 67 years
old.
He was one of the best-known campaigners for
democratic reform in Swaziland (eSwatini) which is ruled by King Mswati III, as
sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
In 2013, Sithole was elected to the Swaziland
House of Assembly. Political parties are banned from taking part in elections and
King Mswati appoints the Prime Minister and government ministers.
Sithole had
campaigned for many years for multi-party democracy and came in for much
criticism at the time from prodemocracy campaigners for standing for parliament
and giving the poll legitimacy.
In an interview at the time with writer
/ journalist Shaun Raviv,
Sithole said his change in strategy was a
continuation of his past actions and beliefs.
 |
|
Jan Sithole who has died
|
‘I still subscribe to
social justice, human dignity, democracy, rule of law, separation of powers. I
believe in seeing a Swaziland that is economically vibrant, with jobs for all.
And a Swaziland that provides equality for men and women and respects the
international covenants that it has ratified. That’s me in the past, that’s me
now. What has changed is the forum that I want to use to achieve the same
principles.’
Sithole came to international
attention in when he was leader of the former Swaziland
Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) which led a series of national
strikes in the kingdom during 1995-1997 which had ‘27 demands’, for economic and social changes.
His campaign for democracy continued for years and he
was arrested many times. The most
recent was in December 2019 when he and other prodemocracy leaders had
their homes raided by police and were arrested. They had recently formed the Political
Parties Assembly (PPA) to advocate for change.
See also
Democracy leaders detained by
Swaziland police as illegal march halted
Swaziland political parties unite
in bid to end absolute king’s power
Interview with new MP Jan
Sithole
No comments:
Post a Comment