Swaziland police fire gunshots and shoot student with rubber bullet as campus protests continue

Police in Swaziland (eSwatini) fired live ammunition and shot a university student with a rubber bullet as class boycotts entered their second day.

It was the latest police shooting during legal protests in the kingdom ruled by absolute monarch King Mswati III.

Students across the kingdom are angry that the government failed to keep its promise to pay them their allowances for books, accommodation and other equipment.

The shooting happened at the Southern Africa Nazarene University (SANU) in Manzini.

Armed police patrolled the campus after students boycotted classes and set up a roadblock and started fires near the university.

The SANU administration ordered the university to be closed indefinitely and told students to vacate the premises immediately.

That was when police moved in, the Times of eSwatini reported. It quoted sources saying, ‘That is where all hell broke loose and the students clashed with the law enforcers who were trying to drive them out of the institution.’

It added students lit a fire on a public road. ‘As a result of the students’ behaviour, the police fired several warning shots in the air and also used rubber bullets to disperse the scholars, who ran helter-skelter.’

Phephile Sifundza, aged 20, a student, was shot in the leg.

The Swazi Observer reported, ‘[Sifundza] said she was not among the protesting students but was crossing the road at the traffic lights towards Manzini City. She said she was in the company of her friend when she heard gunshots.’

It quoted her saying, ‘In a moment, I was on the ground and I realised that I was hurt. I tried to call out for help but everyone was running around.’ When the chaos died down her colleagues took her to hospital.

On Thursday (31 October 2019) workers marched in protest against police brutality and delivered petitions to the Ministry of Public Service, Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Ministry of Education and Training and the police headquarters in the Swazi capital, Mbabane.

Police recently used live ammunition, rubber bullets, teargas and water cannon against public service workers engaged in legal protests. More than 30 people were injured by police.

Last month (October 2019) the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) condemned police brutality. ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow said in a statement, ‘Respect for workers’ rights, good faith dialogue and a government that responds to people’s needs and concerns – just like any other country, this is what eSwatini needs, not state violence against the people. eSwatini’s King Mswati pledged to us earlier this year to build these bridges, yet now we are seeing the government pulling all stops to undermine them.’

See also

Swaziland students boycott classes as Govt. breaks promise to pay allowances

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/11/swaziland-students-boycott-classes-as.html

 

Swaziland police brutality under attack from international workers’ group

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/10/swaziland-police-brutality-under-attack.html

 

Swaziland workers to march and petition against police brutality

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/10/swaziland-workers-to-march-and-petition.html

Swaziland students boycott classes as Govt. breaks promise to pay allowances

Students in Swaziland (eSwatini) boycotted classes and at least one college has been closed after the government failed to honour its promise to pay allowances.

Some students have been without payment for the past two months.

The William Pitcher teacher training college at Manzini was closed down indefinitely, according to a report from the Swaziland Youth Congress.

Students at the Southern Africa Nazarene University at Manzini have also boycotted classes.

The government fails to pay allowances on time most years and boycotts routinely take place. In September 2019 students only agreed to return to classes after the government promised to double their allowances and pay it monthly. No payments have been made in the past two months.

A statement from the SANU student representative council (SRC) said it wanted the immediate release of book, practical and monthly allowances; scholarship for all students admitted at the institution and allowances to be increased to meet students’ economic needs.

SANU SRC Secretary General Colani Khulekani Maseko sustained serious injuries during a confrontation with other non-protesting students and was admitted to the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital, the Observer on Saturday reported.

It said some students who were not government sponsored wanted to continue with classes. Police were called to SANU after students marched on the university administration.

SANU SRC President Tholumuzi Gubevu Simelane told the newspaper the first day of class boycott was a huge success. ‘The boycott continues until our demands are met,’ he said.

The Swazi News reported Simelane said the students were concerned about government’s inability to uphold its agreement to pay their monthly allowances within a period of 30 days. This was stipulated by a clause contained in the pre-service tertiary education study loan agreement form the students signed in September 2019. 

Simelane said they had not received their allowances for September and October.

In a letter to tertiary institutions the Ministry of Labour and Social Security said payments had been delayed because it did not have all students’ bank details.

See also

Striking Swaziland students win victory in dispute with government

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/09/striking-swaziland-students-win-victory.html

 

Students march on government

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/02/students-march-on-government.html

Swaziland’s absolute monarch grants scholarship to student who begged him on hands and knees

King Mswati III, the absolute monarch of Swaziland/ eSwatini, has granted a scholarship to a female student who publicly got down on her hands and knees to beg him for one.

The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the King, said on Tuesday (15 January 2019) this ‘proved that he listens to the needs of the people and acts fast’.

Mphilwenhle Matsebula, aged 26, a first year student at the Southern Africa Nazarene University (SANU) made international news in September 2018 when according to the Observer ‘she literally begged for a scholarship’. It happened when King Mswati was touring the International Trade Fair at Manzini.

The Observer reported, ‘Matsebula has been granted the scholarship as per His Majesty’s order. Previously, Matsebula’s life at the institution was very difficult because government had initially refused to grant her the scholarship. She had been told she did not qualify for it.’

Swaziland’s education system like all public services is presently in crisis because the government, handpicked by King Mswati, is broke. In November 2018 it was reported students were forced to sell themselves for sex to businessmen and affluent tourists because government had not paid allowances.

The Sunday edition of the Swazi Observer reported at the time, ‘delayed payments of allowances which themselves are meagre force girl students into availing themselves for sexual favours in exchange for food, drinks and other goodies’.

There is an ongoing dispute between students and the government over the payment of scholarships and allowances that cover fees, living expenses and items such as books. In May 2017, the Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) launched a campaign for scholarships for all. They want the Swazi Government to reverse a decision to prioritise courses and cut scholarships by 60 percent. Students want all students admitted to higher learning institutions to have scholarships, regardless of the programme they are doing or the institution they are in.

Meanwhile, the outgoing President of SNUS Brian Sangweni told its 11th National General Congress in 2018 that thousands of high school graduates with good grades remained idle at home because the government would not pay them scholarships to study.

He said, ‘Those who are lucky to make it and enrol into the institutions are also not off the hook of suffering due to lack of living allowances to enable them to live a healthy and dignified period of study and to realise their optimal potential.’

He added students were finding it hard to concentrate to their studies and some dropped out or committed suicide because of the pressure.

Mpilwenhle Matsebula begs King Mswati Swaziland’s absolute monarch (far left) for a university scholarship. (Picture: Swazi Observer)

See also

In full public view, on hand and knees student begs Swaziland king for scholarship

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/09/in-full-public-view-on-hand-and-knees.html

In Full Public View, On Hand And Knees Student Begs Swaziland King For Scholarship

Mpilwenhle Matsebula begs King Mswati Swaziland’s absolute monarch (far left) for a university scholarship. (Picture: Swazi Observer)

A female university student got down on her hands and knees in front of Swaziland’s absolute monarch King Mswati III and begged him for a scholarship so she could go to university.

He granted her plea.

It happened in full public view when the King visited the International Trade Fair at Manzini in Swaziland, the kingdom the King renamed Eswatini on his 50^th birthday in April 2018.

The Swazi Observer a newspaper in effect owned by the King splashed the story on its front page on Monday (10 September 2018).

It said Mpilwenhle Matsebula, aged 26, a first year student at the Southern Africa Nazarene University (SANU) ‘literally begged for a scholarship’.

The Observer described Matsebula as ‘indigent’ and said, ‘It seems His Majesty King Mswati III was very touched by the student’s predicament and has given an instruction that she should be granted her wish.’

This was not the first time King Mswati’s subjects had ‘literally begged’ him for help. The Observer recalled the case of Hlob’sile Ndlovu who ‘a couple of years back jumped at an opportunity and pleaded for employment from the King. The King is still looking into her request.’

In July 2016 it was reported that desperately poor people camped outside the King’s office at Nkhanini  over many months to ‘beg’ the King for work. They said they would rather die than return to poverty, the Times of Swaziland reported at the time.

The Times reported, ‘However, on numerous occasions, the undeterred group would be told that there were currently no vacancies but would continue to sit and hope for a different answer.’

The newspaper reported the jobseekers said they ‘would rather die outside the gates of Nkhanini than to return to poverty’.

The Times reported, ‘They said they were sending a plea to Their Majesties to find it befitting to issue a Royal Command for them to be given jobs as they were currently ravaged by poverty.’

It added, ‘They said they were determined to go to Their Majesties to beg for the jobs.’

They had heard rumours that there were vacancies for jobs such as cleaning staff, groundsmen and other general duties, which did not require special skills in order to carry out.

Seven in ten of the estimated 1.1 population in Swaziland live in abject poverty with incomes less than the equivalent of US$2 per day.

The global charity Oxfam named Swaziland as the most unequal country in the world in a report that detailed the differences in countries between the top most earners and those at the bottom.

At his 50^th birthday in April the Queen Mother gave the King Mswati a dining room suite made of gold. It went alongside a lounge suite trimmed with gold that he was given by senior members of his government. 

He also received cheques totalling at least E15 million (US$1.2 million) to help pay for his birthday celebration that took place on 19 April 2018.

On that day he wore a watch worth US$1.6 million and a suit weighing 6 kg studded with diamonds. Days earlier he had taken delivery of his second private jet. This one, an Airbus A340, cost US$13.2 to purchase but with VIP upgrades was estimated to have cost US$30 million.

The King has 13 palaces. He also owns fleets of top-of-the range Mercedes and BMW cars. His family regularly travel the world on shopping trips spending millions of dollars each time.

The Swazi Observer reported that more than E15 million had been given to pay for the so-called 50-50 Celebration that marked the King’s 50^th birthday and the 50^th anniversary of Swaziland’s Independence from Great Britain.

At least E1.6 million came from public funds. The Royal Swaziland Police Service and the Royal Correctional Service gave E300,000 each and the Public Service Pension Fund gave E1 million. The Observer reported at the time King Mswati was in ‘a jovial mood as he received the gifts’.

See also

King Eats Off Gold, Children Starving

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/06/king-eats-off-gold-children-starving.html 

Swazi Cabinet’s Gift Of Gold

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/06/swazi-cabinet-gift-of-gold-to-king.html 

Kingdom Bottom In World Health Ranking

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/11/kingdom-bottom-in-health-ranking.html

Swazi Govt ‘Killing Its Own People’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/05/swazi-govt-killing-its-own-people.html

Swazis Among Hungriest In The World

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/11/swazis-among-hungriest-in-world.html

King Parties, His Subjects Go Hungry

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/06/king-parties-his-subjects-go-hungry.html

STUDENT PROTEST LEADERS SUSPENDED

A university in Swaziland has suspended student leaders for ‘misconduct’ for organising a protest over fees, allowances and poor facilities.

And, all first-year students at the campus in Manzini have been sent home indefinitely following continued class boycotts.

It happened at the Southern Africa Nazarene University (SANU).

The Student Representative Council (SRC) Secretary-General Tiger Nxumalo and President Zamokuhle Mamba were handed letters of suspension. Other members of the SRC executive were informed verbally of their suspension.

The Swazi Observer (16 February 2018) quoted Mamba saying they had been charged with misconduct and were awaiting a disciplinary hearing.

A spokesperson for SANU said property had been vandalised by protesting students.

Students at SANU have a number of issues including delayed payment of allowances for first-year students, withholding of ongoing students allowances, unreasonable allowance reduction, lack of project allowances, exorbitant fees and poor infrastructure. They petitioned the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the Swaziland Higher Education Council (SHEC) on Monday (12 February 2018). The petition came after a class boycott that started on the previous Wednesday.

There have been class boycotts across college campuses in Swaziland. Students at the kingdom’s biggest university UNISWA have been protesting about delays in payment of allowances. The university was closed on Monday.

SANU has a poor history of student relations. In 2014, they were told they could not resume their studies following class boycotts in the Faculty of Health Sciences unless they gave the university the names of strike leaders.

 

Students were forced to reapply to study and as part of that application they were told to complete questionnaires which included three questions: How did the student body resolve to boycott classes in the absence of a student representative council? Who was responsible for calling all students out of their classrooms to join the strike? Do you know who were in the forefront of the strike action / the leaders? Name them.

The students went on strike in a dispute over allowances, poor learning conditions in the institution, insufficient books in the library and lack of laboratory equipment for science experiments. 

See also

STUDENTS MARCH ON GOVERNMENT

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/students-march-on-government.html

COLLEGES SNUB STUDENT LEADERS

Student leaders in Swaziland are complaining that universities and colleges in the kingdom are refusing to allow them to represent their constituents.

The Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS), a national body that is not recognised by the Government, says a number of tertiary institutions fail to recognise duly-elected Student Representative Councils (SRCs). Instead, SNUS said in a statement, the administrations in many of them choose students themselves to be the spokesperson for their colleagues.

SNUS Secretary General Dlamini Stacky said, ‘It has come to our attention that some tertiary institutions are still operating like “farms” as students are continuously repudiated freedom of expression and right to representation. This is evidenced by various tertiary administrations’ failure to recognize Student Representative Councils (SRCs) as legitimate bodies put up to champion student’s issues.

‘What is of shock and embarrassment is the fact that these bodies were democratically elected by the studentry to be their voices.’

SNUS listed a number of tertiary education institutions that were ignoring duly-elected student leaders.

Stacky added, ‘As we speak tertiary institutions like Good Shepherd have no SRCs not because the students do not want such structure to be in place but it is due to arrogant repressive uncooperative dictating administration.

‘We are reliably informed that in Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, the SRC is not taken seriously as the institution’s administration works hand in hand with imposed ambassadors who tend to be rumour mongers and spies of the administration.

‘We are aware of the compromise of SRCs in colleges like William Pitcher and Ngwane as the Dean of Student Affairs play double roles; that of being a lecturer (who carries a red pen) and that of being an office addressing student’s concerns.

‘SRC members work in fear of victimization as the officer vehemently threatens them not to question anything seen to be maladministrative or face suspension, failure if not expulsion.

‘Institutions like SANU (Southern Africa Nazarene University), SCOT (Swaziland College of Technology)  and UNISWA (University of Swaziland) treat SRCs as “political minded confused kids” who are incapacitated to lead, this is displayed during elections.

‘The administrations always want to put their own deployed stooges into positions and if such does not materialize, they either halt student’s operations by frustrating them financially or delay hand-over so they can shorten their period of office.’

See also

STUDENTS TOLD: NAME STRIKE LEADERS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/10/students-told-name-strike-leaders.html

STUDENTS TOLD: NAME STRIKE LEADERS

Striking students in Swaziland have been told they cannot resume studies unless they give their university the names of strike leaders.

 

The Southern Africa Nazarene University (SANU) made the demand following a dispute in the Faculty of Health Sciences. 

Students are being forced to reapply to study and as part of that application they are asked to complete questionnaires which include three questions: How did the student body resolve to boycott classes in the absence of a student representative council? Who was responsible for calling all students out of their classrooms to join the strike? Do you know who were in the forefront of the strike action / the leaders? Name them.

All students were also asked to answer this question: ‘You participated in a class boycott between the period 3 September and 10 September 2014 and destroyed University property in the process. State and show cause why you as an individual should not be held accountable for the damage you caused to the University property.’

The students went on strike in a dispute over allowances, poor learning conditions in the institution, insufficient books in the library and lack of laboratory equipment for science experiments. They boycotted classes for a week in early September 2014 and the Faculty of Health Sciences has been closed since.

Students who are being assisted by the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) are considering taking the matter to court to force the reopening of the faculty.

GOVERNMENT MUST RECOGNISE SNUS

The Swazi Government must recognise the Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) as one of the legitimate voices of youth in the kingdom.

Yesterday (10 February 2011), Minister of Labour and Social Security Magobetane Mamba, refused to accept a petition from SNUS because it is not officially recognized by the state.

This is technically true and is a situation that the Swaziland Government must rectify at all possible speed.

Whether the minister likes it or not, SNUS has a mass support in the kingdom, ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. On Tuesday, between 500 and 3,000 students (depending on who you read) marched through the Swazi capital, Mbabane, to deliver a petition protesting about a new policy on scholarships that the government intends to implement.

Students from tertiary instructions, including the usually conservative Southern Africa Nazarene University, defied college authorities to take part in the march.

One of their complaints was that students had not been consulted in the process that decided the new scholarship rules. This was revealed to be true yesterday when Minister Mamba said he would distribute copies of the scholarship policy to student representative councils in educational institutions across Swaziland. Clearly, he had not previously done so and it follows that students wouldn’t have been able to give their views on the policy.

The SNUS also accused Mamba of being arrogant in his dealings with students. The offhand way Mamba dismissed the students as irrelevant tends to support the SNUS case.

According to a report in the Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in Swaziland, today Mamba ‘kicked’ SNUS President Maxwell Dlamini out of a meeting, accusing SNUS of being an ‘illegal student organisation’.

The Times quotes Mamba saying, ‘I will not make any responses on the contents of the said petition until I am given proof that SNUS is a properly registered union.’

The solution is simple: register the SNUS. It is clear that SNUS commands support among students and that it can mount large-scale protests in the kingdom.

SNUS deserves to be part of the consultation process. Mamba is a very short-sighted politician if he doesn’t recognise that it is in the government’s interest to have the SNUS on board.

As the former US President LBJ once put it, ‘It’s better to have them in the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.’

SWAZI STUDENTS TO PROTEST AGAIN

Swaziland students are preparing to take to the streets to demonstrate against the government’s policy on the awarding of scholarships.

The Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) is busy organising a campaign that will probably include a mass march on 7 February 2011.

A meeting of student representatives from across the kingdom met this month (January 2011) to discuss the quality of tertiary education in Swaziland and also the controversial scholarship policy that will mean some students have to pay tuition fees and personal allowances will be slashed.

According to a statement from the SNUS, sent to members of the SNUS Facebook group, the Swaziland Government ‘is covertly planning to implement the hoggish scholarship policy which the students openly rejected last year’. The government has rejected the student’s submissions and opinions on the proposed policy.

SNUS says, ‘We want to reaffirm our stand that any document or policy that seeks to reduce education to a commodity that can be bought and sold at the behest of the wealth will be met with the strongest resistance from the courageous students of Swaziland. We declare war against the government and the policy itself. We will surely be in the streets mobilizing and organizing all the people of Swaziland, the exploited working class, the unemployed youth, labor unions, high school children and pastors to help us bury this unjust document once and for all.’

SNUS also says there are serious problems with the quality of colleges in Swaziland. Some buildings are too old and not fit for purpose. There is also overcrowding at the University of Swaziland (UNISWA), where some classes have to take place in tents that were originally erected as temporary examination halls.

SNUS says, ‘In the Southern Africa Nazarene University, the girl’s hostels [built in 1939 for missionaries] are inhuman as they are actually falling apart.’ There are also issues about the quality of libraries in tertiary institutions in Swaziland.

SNUS also says colleges are being turned into ‘farms’, where ‘the students have been intimidated not to question anything said or done by the administration. Those brave students who have justly done so, have been either hauled before the disciplinary committees or systematically failed’.

Students will have a mass meeting on 5 February 2011 to plan future action, with 7 February set aside as a possible day of mass action.