Swaziland breaks promise to pay off its suppliers to halt public services meltdown

The Swaziland (eSwatini) Government failed to meet its promise to repay E3billon (US$200 million) its owes to suppliers by the end of September 2019.

Public services, especially in heath and schools, are in crisis because businesses are refusing to provide goods and services until their bills are paid.

The government has failed to secure loans to settle the arrears. The failure is a significant setback to the government that was not elected but handpicked by absolute monarch King Mswati III.

After it came into power following the September 2018 election it pledged to get the ailing economy back on track.

The Times of eSwatini, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, reported, ‘When asked whether they had been able to meet the September deadline as earlier promised, Ministry of Finance Communications Officer Setsabile Dlamini could only say: “raising money for the settling of arrears is work in progress. However, it still has to go through Parliament.”’

Dlamini added, ‘Government was engaging a number of financiers, both local and external, with a view to pay up the arrears with intent to ultimately bolster eSwatini’s economy for the better.’

The Times reported, ‘Dlamini assured that a detailed austerity measures report would be issued soon.’

It added ‘In his presentation of the integrated annual report, Central Bank of Eswatini Governor Majozi Sithole further noted that the economic activity was projected to decelerate to 1.4 per cent in 2019 from 2.4 per cent in 2018.’

This contradicts a statement by Finance Minister Neal Rijkenberg who as recently as September 2019 told the African Development Bank, ‘We believe there’s not a problem we can’t solve … We believe that we’ve turned a corner. The indicators … are turning from an unsustainable future to a sustainable future.’

In June 2019, he told newspaper editors in the kingdom, ‘Government is working on proposals to financiers to secure funding of arrears of around E3billion as at 31st March 2019. It is important to note that payment of suppliers is an ongoing process, payments have never stopped, we pay as and when revenue is received.’

Meanwhile, the Swazi Government continues to insist that it does not have the money to pay public servants 7.8 percent cost-of-living salary increases. Unions have been striking for more pay while the government has offered zero percent.

Public services across the kingdom have ground to a halt with reports of people dying for lack of medicines and children going hungry because the government was unable to pay suppliers of meals for children.

In 2017 King Mswati was named the third wealthiest King in Africa by the international website Business Insider. It reported he had a net worth of US$200 million (about E3 billion in local Swazi currency). The King rules a population of about 1.3 million people and seven in ten of them live in abject poverty with incomes of less than E30 per day. 

King Mswati and his family live a lavish lifestyle, at the expense of the people of Swaziland. 

The Swazi Government paid US$30 million to buy the King a private jet plane in 2018. King Mswati now has two private planes, 13 palaces and fleets of top-of-the-range BMW and Mercedes cars. He wore a watch worth US$1.6 million and a suit beaded with diamonds weighing 6 kg, at his 50th birthday party in April 2018. He received E15 million (US$1.2 million) in cheques, a gold dining room suite and a gold lounge suite among his birthday gifts. 

His family regularly travel the world on shopping trips spending millions of dollars each time.

Meanwhile, the World Food Program said it could not raise the US$1.1 million it needed to feed starving children in the kingdom.

See also

More deaths in Swaziland as government fails to pay medicine suppliers

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/05/more-deaths-in-swaziland-as-government.html

 

Swaziland schoolchildren learn under trees or in tents as government runs out of money

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/05/swaziland-schoolchildren-learn-under.html

Swaziland police violence rampant, children die as economy collapses, report shows

Police in Swaziland (eSwatini) attacked striking public servants with live ammunition, rubber bullets, teargas and water cannon as a long-running dispute over pay dragged on. The police behaviour has become typical in the kingdom ruled by King Mswati III as an absolute monarch. The number of injured was initially estimated as 15, but that more than doubled as more information became available. Separate from this there were new fears that police had a ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy after three men who escaped from a correctional facility were gunned down.

These were some of the main events in the period July to September 2019 and contained in Swaziland: Striving for Freedom, volume 35 of the compilations of reports posted on the Swazi Media Commentary website and available to download free-of-charge from Scribd.

The kingdom continues in financial meltdown, with health and educational services crippled. Schools and hospitals have run out of supplies and staff have been sacked and other vacancies left unfilled. Up to 200 teachers had reportedly died from stress-related illness over the past two years as a result. Cancer patients have been refused treatment because the government has not paid hospital bills. At least 11 children died of diarrhoea because of drug shortages.

Elsewhere, Lisa Peterson, United States Ambassador to Swaziland renewed her call for the Royal Decree that keeps King Mswati in power as an absolute monarch to be scrapped. Oxfam, the international anti-poverty charity, named Swaziland as the country with most income inequality in Africa. Human Rights Watch reported restrictions on freedom of association and assembly continued in Swaziland although the kingdom had signed the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance in January.

An extensive survey revealed LGBTI people in Swaziland suffer mental health issues and many have attempted suicide because of the way they are discriminated against in the kingdom.

Swazi Media Commentary is published online, updated most weekdays. It is operated entirely by volunteers and receives no financial backing from any organisation. It is devoted to providing information and commentary in support of human rights in Swaziland.

See also

Swaziland public services in meltdown and corruption goes unchecked: new report surveys the kingdom
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/07/swaziland-public-services-in-meltdown.html

Swaziland in economic freefall with human rights failings, report shows
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/04/swaziland-in-economic-freefall-with.html

King Mswati in complete control as another year of human rights struggle ends in Swaziland
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/01/king-mswati-in-complete-control-as.html

Swaziland Striving for Freedom Vol 35 July to Sept 2019 by Richard Rooney on Scribd

Norwegians protest against Swaziland police shooting

Kenworthy News Media

SOURCE

Protestors in Swaziland during the strike. Pictured from Facebook

Norwegian union confederation protests police brutality against striking workers in Swaziland, writes Kenworthy News Media.

In a letter sent to Swazi Prime Minister, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, on Tuesday, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions, LO Norway, protests against police firing rubber bullets and teargas at public sector workers on strike last week. Several of the strikers, who were demanding cost of living adjustments and a 7,85 per cent salary increase, were injured.

– LO Norway is shocked to learn that the General Secretary of the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) was shot with live ammunition, requiring his urgent transfer to Raleigh Fitkin Hospital. LO Norway condemns in the strongest terms this brutal attack, part of the letter reads.

– In addition, your government directed the National Industrial Relations Court to have the strike declared illegal, under reasons of being a “threat to national interest”. We recall that the use of violence, even for purported reasons of internal security, constitutes a serious violation of human and trade union rights, the letter continued.

Union condemnation 

Others, including the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Public Services International (PSI) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), have also condemned the conduct of the Swazi police.

– 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, said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.

– PSI condemns in the strongest terms the barbaric behavior of the Kingdom of eSwatini police who fired rubber bullets and threw teargas into crowds of striking workers who were only demanding a Cost of Living Adjustment they have not received for 3 years now. Workers attacked included Dumisani Nkuna, Secretary General of the Manzini Branch of our affiliates the National Public Services & Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), who was shot in the back, PSI said in a statement.

Public sector workers were last awarded salary adjustments in the 2015/2016 financial year and all negotiations with employers have not yielded any positive results, PSI added.

– Employers have remained adamant on their position of a 0% salary increment. This put in the context of annual inflation rates estimated as follows: in 2017 it was 6.22%, in 2018 it was 4.83% and in 2019 it is estimated to be 5.63%., the statement concluded.

COSATU, in neighbouring South Africa, also issued a strongly worded statement.

– We strongly denounce and rebuke the manner in which Swaziland police have dealt with the strike action. The peaceful workers’ protest turned into a battlefield when King Mswati once again set his gladiatorial “trigger happy” police force on unarmed civilians in the city of Manzini. Live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas were opened on 8000 workers who were demonstrating, as part of the public servants’ strike for an increase in cost-of-living salary payments, COSATU said in a statement.

In its annual Freedom in the World-report, independent watchdog organisation Freedom House concludes that “political dissent and civic and labor activism are subject to harsh punishment under sedition and other laws. Any criticism of Swazi culture and traditions or defacement of national symbols—including the king’s image—can draw fines and up to two years in prison”.

Human Rights Watch concluded in their 2017 report that “Swaziland continued to repress political dissent and disregard human rights and rule of law in 2017”.

See also

Swaziland police brutality under attack from international workers’ group

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

Swaziland police brutality under attack from international workers’ group

 

 The International Trade Union Confederation has condemned police brutality during last week’s public sector strike in Swaziland (eSwatini).

Previously the ITUC had criticised other police attacks on workers. It also declared that the tiny southern African kingdom, which is ruled by King Mswati III as an absolute monarch, had one of the worst records on workers’ rights in the world.

More than 30 people were injured when police opened fire with rubber bullets. They also used water cannon and teargas on protestors during a three day strike for a cost-of-living salary increase. 

ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow said in a statement on Tuesday (8 October 2019),‘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.’

In a letter addressed to Swazi Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini, the ITUC highlighted past commitments to establishing dialogue. It added, ‘The use of violence, even for purported reasons of internal security, constitutes a serious violation of human and trade union rights.’

Burrow said, ‘The government claimed that the strike was a threat to national interests. If the Swazi people asking for decent working conditions is against this government’s version of “national interest”, then the government has got it totally wrong.’

In the letter to the PM, ITUC, which represents 207 million workers across 163 countries,  called for an ‘urgent and impartial investigation’ into the police shootings. 

It added King Mswati had made a commitment at a meeting with the ITUC at the International Labour Conference in Geneva in June to engage in good faith in dialogue to improve industrial relations. ‘The violence and repression against the protesters and the legal obstacles for strike actions and protests undermine this commitment,’ ITUC said.

Swaziland has one of the worst records in the world for workers’ rights, according to an ITUC report.  Reviewing the year 2018, ITUC said ‘police brutality reached unprecedented levels’ and ‘security forces fired live ammunition at protesting workers’.

In September 2018 police fired live bullets, rubber bullets and teargas at workers and demonstrators who had been legally protesting during a three-day strike. The streets of Manzini, the kingdom’s main commercial city, were turned into a ‘battlefield’, according to local media. The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, said the bus rank in Swaziland’s major commercial city was ‘turned into a warzone as stun grenades, teargas, teasers and rubber bullets became the order of the day’.

The Times of Swaziland , the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, called it an ‘open battlefield’.

The ITUC said there was no guarantee of workers’ rights in Swaziland  and it was getting worse. It put Swaziland near the bottom of 145 countries in its Global Rights Index for 2019 that ranked countries on the degree of respect for workers’ rights in law and in practice.

In July 2018 the ITUC protested to the Swaziland Government after police attacked peaceful demonstrators in the kingdom’s capital Mbabane. Four people were seriously injured, with two left critical, after police fired stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannon.

The demonstration organised by the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) was over accusations that millions of dollars had been removed from the national pension fund by the government which was not elected but chosen by King Mswati.

Pictures show the wounds suffered by two of the protestors. Sourced from Facebook

See also

Police fire stun grenades at protest

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/06/police-fire-stun-grenades-at-protest.html

Two critical after police attack

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/06/two-critical-after-police-attack.html

Broke Swaziland Govt wants to borrow another E1bn to complete unnecessary convention centre

The Government of Swaziland / eSwatini is to seek another E1.2 billion (US$83 million) in loans to complete the building of a conference centre and hotel to house an African Union summit that will not now take place.

Costs of the building under construction at Ezulwini have already exceeded E1bn and are estimated to be a further E2bn over the next three years.

The International Convention Centre and five star hotel project known as ICC-FISH was started because Swaziland hoped to house an African Union summit in 2020. But it has not won the contract for this.

The Government of Swaziland, which was not elected by handpicked by absolute monarch King Mswati III, tabled a ‘certificate of urgency’ on Monday (7 October 2019) to pass a bill to allow it to borrow US$83 million (about E1.2bn) from the Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

The Times of eSwatini reported there was controversy in the House of Assembly when the bill was sent to be discussed by committee as it was not clear if a majority of members present voted in its favour.

The Eswatini News (formerly Swazi News) reported last week that costs of ICC-FISH had already reached E1.027bn and this had been financed mainly by Taiwan. Bathroom fittings alone at the hotel cost E78m.

Swaziland’s economy is in meltdown and public services in health and education are grinding to a halt. However in March 2018 the government declared the building of ICC-FISH to be a priority and earmarked E1.5bn for it in the national budget. This was more than the sum allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture (E1.4bn) or the Ministry of Defence (E1.15bn). It was the biggest single capital project in Swaziland’s budget that year. Total capital spending was set at E5.6bn.

The hotel and conference centre is another project supported by the King Mswati III. He believes such buildings add to the prestige of his kingdom and will make it a First World nation by 2022. He already has an airport named in his honour that cost an estimated E2.5bn to build but only has one airline using it. King Mswati III International Airport has been described as a ‘white elephant’ and a ‘vanity project’ for the King.

In 2013 when the plan for the development of ICC-FISH was announced the cost was estimated at E1bn. Completion of the work was expected by 2016.

In September 2017 it was reported that King Mswati had visited Las Vegas in the United States to try to get the Caesars Palace company (famous for its hotel and casino) to manage the ICC-FISH. ‘The King’s Office Correspondent’, writing at the time in the Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the King, reported Caesars Palace management had promised to submit a proposal on what it would cost to manage the ICC and hotel. 

In 2013, when the plan for building was announced the Swazi Observer reported, ‘The scope of the project include a facility of international standards with a Swazi theme, a facility to handle up to 4,500 delegates at a time, trade centre for high value exhibition, a secure chamber room to take 53 heads of state, 3,500 seat banqueting hall, restaurants, 1,500 seat theatre, and special holding rooms.’

ICC-FISH was intended to house the African Union (AU) summit which is held twice a year and lasts about eight days.

In February 2019 it was announced Swaziland had missed out to South Africa on the chance to host the 2020 AU summit. Media in South Africa said this was because Swaziland did not have the resources to fulfil the role.

It is no secret that Swaziland is broke. Hospitals have run out of vital drugs and schools have been forced to close because the government has not paid its suppliers. In his budget speech in March 2018 Finance Minister Martin Dlamini said government owed E3.1bn (US$230 million) in total to its suppliers for goods and services. 

In 2016, when King Mswati was Chair of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) he took about E40m, mostly from public funds, to host a lavish Heads of State summit at a time when his government was so poor it could release only E22m of the E305m earmarked for drought relief in that year’s national budget. 

When he formally opened the Swaziland Parliament on 8 February 2019, King Mswati demanded severe public spending cuts for the coming year. He said the kingdom’s spending had ‘surpassed sustainable levels’ and government debts were increasing. The kingdom’s financial reserves were falling and there was little economic growth. He warned that taxes collected in Swaziland would not be enough to pay the bills.

See also

King’s deal with $18bn bankrupt

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/swazi-king-deals-with-18bn-bankrupt.html

Swaziland Govt’s investment ‘fantasy’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/10/swaziland-govts-investment-fantasy.html

Swaziland has highest rate of cervical cancer in world

Swaziland / eSwatini has the highest rate of cervical cancer in the world, a new report reveals.

The cancer affects the neck of the womb in women. The top 20 countries in the list reported from Global Cancer Observatory, which is owned by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), are in Africa.

Swaziland has a rate of 75.3 per 100,000 people in a mathematical measurement based on age. Second was Malawi with 72.9.

There are a number of causes of cervical cancer and these can include diet, nutrition, smoking tobacco and the physical activity a woman takes. Early sexual experience and a relatively high number of sexual partners increase the risk and severity of infection and may be seen as indirect causes of cervical cancer, the reported stated.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cervical cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer in women in the world with an estimated 570,000 new cases in 2018. Approximately 90 percent of deaths from cervical cancer occurred in low- and middle-income countries. 

WHO stated, ‘The high mortality rate from cervical cancer globally could be reduced through a comprehensive approach that includes prevention, early diagnosis, effective screening and treatment programmes. There are currently vaccines that protect against common cancer-causing types of human papilloma virus and can significantly reduce the risk of cervical cancer.’

According to WHO data there were 380 new cases of cervical cancer and 238 deaths reported in Swaziland in 2018. Cervical cancer topped the list of cancers in the kingdom. It amounted to 36.1 percent of all cancer deaths in Swaziland.

Women in Swaziland are particularly vulnerable because the public health service is in meltdown as the government, which is not elected but handpicked by absolute monarch King Mswati III, has run the economy into the ground.

In July 2019, it was reported cancer patients and other seriously ill people in were being denied life-saving treatment because the government had not paid its bills to hospitals.

At least E66 million (US$4.6 million) was owed through the government-funded Phalala Fund that pays for Swazi people to travel to neighbouring South Africa for treatment. Some of the unpaid bills dated back to 2013. 

See also

Swaziland cancer patients refused treatment because Govt. has not paid hospital bills

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/07/swaziland-cancer-patients-refused.html

 

Nurses angry as Swaziland Govt ignores health crisis

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/07/nurses-angry-as-swaziland-govt-ignores.html

Princess says Swaziland King can solve mysteries by seeing into the future

King Mswati III, the absolute monarch of Swaziland / eSwatini, can solve any mystery because he can see into the future, a newspaper that the King in effect owns reported.

Previously, the King had claimed he had a direct line to God and had received messages from angels.

The latest claim was made by Princess Sikhanyiso, Minister of Information, Technology and Communications, at a trade meeting. The Princess is the King’s eldest daughter and was appointed by him to her position, in 2018. The Princess was not elected to Parliament by the people.

The Sunday Observer reported she told the meeting that the King could solve any mystery. It reported, ‘She said the King could do this through his transcendent wisdom, foresight and the ability to foresee the future of his people and in time yet to come.’

Nearly seven in ten of Swaziland’s estimated 1.2 million people live in abject poverty. Public services in health and education are grinding to a halt because the government, which is not elected but handpicked by the King, has run the economy into the ground. Public service workers have been violently assaulted by police while striking for increased cost-of-living salary adjustments.

The Observer reported the Princess told the meeting, ‘Due to the King’s discernment, strength and tenacity, eSwatini boasted of having one of the best road networks, airports and overall quality of life in Africa.’

The King himself had previously claimed to have a direct line to God. In October 2018, he told a meeting of the kingdom’s ‘People’s Parliament’ known as Sibaya that he had been visited by angels and they told him who he should appoint as the kingdom’s new Prime Minister.

The Times of Swaziland reported at the time, ‘He said the angels and ancestors would show him the man who was given the authority to run the country.’

In March 2018, the Queen Mother in Swaziland, known as the Indlovukazi, told her subjects they must bow down before her and the King to earn forgiveness from God to be able to enter heaven. She said they must always obey those in authority over them.

The Sunday Observer reported at the time she said, ‘If you are a child of God, one day when you have left this world, Jesus will say I am forgiving you, because I have seen you travelling the journey to the extent of bowing to Their Majesties, enter in my Father’s Kingdom.’

The newspaper reported, ‘She added that it would be difficult for Christians to please God if they failed to respect and bow before those in authority in their communities, saying the genesis of faith was respecting leaders.’

The Queen Mother also said, ‘Whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but too bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority?’

In 2013, African Eye News Service reported King Mswati’s elder brother, Prince Masitsela Dlamini, said that God had given the royal family authority to rule over other Swazi clans. ‘The Dlaminis are closer to God,’ said Dlamini.

In 2011, the King said God spoke to him through a TV remote control. It happened at the Lozitha Palace, near Mbabane. The Times of Swaziland reported in October 2011, ‘His Majesty saw a miracle yesterday when he was preparing a sermon [to preach to a group of evangelical Christians.] The King said a remote control lay at the centre of a coffee table but something mysteriously brought it down.

‘He said there was no person or wind that could have brought it down.  The King said he realised that God was with him.  It was Him who brought the remote control down.’

In September 2013, the King told his subjects he had received a vision during a thunderstorm and was told that the political system in Swaziland that puts the King at the head and bans political parties should from then on be called ‘Monarchical Democracy.’

On 21 October 2009, the Swazi Observer told its readers King Mswati was ‘ordained by God to lead his people’. Musa Ndlangamandla, the Observer chief editor at the time, reported that Lutfo Dlamini, then Swaziland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, wrote a poem to the King that included the line, ‘You are living proof that Kings and Monarchs are ordained by God to lead his people’.

Following this, the most senior ‘traditionalist’ leader in Swaziland Timothy Velabo Mtsetfwa was reported in the Observer saying ‘Royalty was a gift from God’. He said this while urging the Swazi nation ‘to respect the Royalty because it cares for the needy’. 

Mtsetfwa also spoke about how multi-parties which are banned in Swaziland, ‘were a monster to which many countries had succumbed and fell’. He then went on to say, ‘in other countries, especially those under multi-party democracy, the leaders only think of themselves and their immediate families and forget about the needy people’. 

See also

Swazi King’s ‘God delusion’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/04/swazi-kings-god-delusion.html
 

Fears over King’s mental health

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/10/fears-over-kings-mental-health.html

God is like King Mswati: Govt Minister

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/01/god-is-like-king-mswati-govt-minister.html

Swaziland Govt withdraws bid to overturn High Court on married women’s rights

The Government of Swaziland / eSwatini has withdrawn a legal appeal to fight a court ruling that allowed married women equal rights to their husbands over assets.

The High Court had struck down provisions in the Marriage Act which gave men control over their wives and there assets. It said the common law doctrine of ‘marital power’ offended women’s constitutional rights to dignity and equality.

Swaziland is ruled by King Mswati III, the last absolute monarch in sub-Saharan Africa, and is a deeply conservative society. The King has himself taken at least 15 wives. In Swazi culture women are considered to be children and are ruled by their fathers, husbands or other male family members.

Attorney General Sifiso Mashampu Khumalo said in a statement that a new marriage bill was being drafted and he hoped to ‘fast-track’ it.

The withdrawal of the appeal means that the judgment of the High Court stands and women married through civil rites and in community of property will no longer have to seek consent from their husbands when buying or selling property.

See also

Swaziland High Court rules married women equal under the law to their husbands

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/08/swaziland-high-court-rules-married.html

Swaziland union leader shot by police during strike put his hands up and pleaded: don’t shoot

The trade union leader who was shot in the back with a rubber bullet at close range by police in Swaziland /eSwatini during what was until then a peaceful strike has told how he put his hands up and pleaded at the officer not to shoot.

Dumisani Nkuna, Secretary General of the Manzini Branch of the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), was a marshal at a march in Manzini, the kingdom’s main commercial city, on Wednesday (2 October 2019).

About 8,000 people marched through the city as part of a public servants’ strike for an increase in cost-of-living salary payments.

Nkuna told the Times of eSwatini (formerly Times of Swaziland), the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom ruled by absolute monarch King Mswati III, ‘I raised my hands and shouted; “Please do not shoot. I am a marshal”’.

From his hospital bed he told the newspaper he had been working with police to control the march which had begun to get unruly. He ran away with other demonstrators when police fired teargas. Armed police followed them.

He said after he raised his hands the police were very close to him. ‘He saw one of them aiming to shoot towards him, and he decided to take it to his heels,” the Times reported.

It quoted him saying, ‘It was then that they shot me in the back. I fell down the slight slope and crawled towards the main road near Mzimnene River where I was assisted to get into a car and was rushed to hospital.’

‘I thank God for making a quick decision to run again because if I had delayed for a few minutes, maybe the rubber bullets would have pierced through my stomach and I do not know what would have happened,’ he said.

He was taken to Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital where two pieces of the rubber bullets were removed. It had previously been reported by media in Swaziland that he was shot with a live bullet.

The Times also interviewed Fikile Nhlabatsi, who was not part of the protest and works for an insurance company, who said she was shot four times at close range. She was hit by two rubber bullets in the right hand and two of her fingers were fractured.

She was returning to her place of work when she saw people running and a police armoured vehicle. When she heard live gunshots she hid in a hedge.

She said she was ‘gripped by fear’ and lay face down and covered her face with her hands.

‘I heard two shots hitting the hedge right next to me and thereafter two rubber bullets hit my right hand,’ she said. When the firing died down she was taken to a local health centre and then to RFM where she was admitted.

Another victim of the police rubber bullets was Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) member Londiwe Mdlovu who was shot with a rubber bullet in her left arm.

She told the Times she was running away with two other marchers from the police when they fired rubber bullets and tear gas canisters at them. They escaped and were walking to a KFC fast-food restaurant when a group of armed police officers alighted from a speeding armoured vehicle and fired rubber bullets at them. The officers then jumped back into the vehicle which drove off, she said.

They were treated by the Baphalali Eswatini Red Cross Society, who cleaned their wounds and bandaged them.

Later, in a statement posted on Facebook, the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) condemned the ‘barbaric action that is continuously done by the “trigger happy” police, in shooting unarmed citizens of the country’.

It added,  ‘We promise that we shall take up this matter with the relevant bodies locally and internationally if need be, since it has become a chronic disease in the country.’ 

The Swaziland Solidarity Network, a group banned in Swaziland because of its prodemocracy activities, said in a statement posted on Facebook, ‘The brutalisation of these innocent workers is an example of the way all pro-democracy activists are treated in Swaziland by King Mswati whenever they organise peaceful activities to protest against his illegitimate regime.’

It added, ‘While we condemn the actions of the Swazi dictatorship, we also extend an accusing finger to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which even today continues to pretend as if Swaziland is another democratic state.’

See also

Swaziland police shoot union leader in back as peaceful workers’ protest turns into a ‘battlefield’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/10/police-shoot-union-leader-in-back-as.html

 

Swaziland police fire rubber bullets and teargas injuring 15 during national strike

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/09/swaziland-police-fire-rubber-bullets.html
 

Swaziland police fire teargas into classroom packed with children

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/09/swaziland-police-fire-teargas-into.html

Swaziland police shoot union leader in back as peaceful workers’ protest turns into a ‘battlefield’

Police in Swaziland / eSwatini once again attacked striking workers using teargas, water cannon and rubber bullets. One union leader was shot in the back with a live bullet.

The kingdom’s main commercial city Manzini was brought ‘to a complete standstill’ and ‘became a battlefield,’ according to local media.

The AFP international news agency reported the majority of shops in Manzini were closed due to the unrest.

This was the third time in a week that police attacked workers. 

The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, said thousands of people took part in demonstrations. The People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), a prodemocracy group banned in Swaziland, in a statement on Facebook, put the number of protesters at ‘well over 7,000’. The Times of eSwatini (formerly Times of Swaziland), the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, put the figure at 8,000.

The Observer and the Times said about 10 people were injured. PUDEMO put the number at 17. The Observer reported one of the injured was National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) Manzini Branch Secretary General Dumisani Nkuna. It said he ‘was shot at, allegedly with live rounds of ammunition, in the back, just close to the spinal cord’. He was admitted to the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital.

Another person had two gunshot wounds in his hand, the newspaper said. PUDEMO said the injured woman might be permanently disabled.

Public sector workers were striking for a 7.85 percent cost-of-living salary increase.

The Observer reported the demonstration was peaceful until riot police, the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU), fired teargas after a small fire was lit by protesters in the middle of a street.

Last week during a three-day national strike, police fired rubber bullets and teargas at striking public service workers, injuring at least 15. The workers were at the end of a three-day strike. The violence happened in Mbabane after what local media called ‘a long day of peaceful protest’. 

On Monday the Government applied to the Industrial Court for an interim order to have the march declared illegal which has since been granted. A full hearing is due to be heard on 17 October 2019, the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) said in a statement posted on Facebook.

Union leaders and Swaziland police are expected to meet on Thursday morning.

Public sector strikers peacfully march in Manzini: Picture source Facebook

See also

Swaziland Government goes to court to try to stop public sector workers’ pay strike

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/10/swaziland-government-goes-to-court-to.html

 

Swaziland police fire rubber bullets and teargas injuring 15 during national strike

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/09/swaziland-police-fire-rubber-bullets.html
 

Swaziland police fire teargas into classroom packed with children

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/09/swaziland-police-fire-teargas-into.html

Swaziland Government goes to court to try to stop public sector workers’ pay strike

The Government of the tiny southern African kingdom of Swaziland / eSwatini has applied to the Industrial Court to have a continuing public service unions’ strike for more pay declared illegal.

It says the strike has gone beyond being just an industrial dispute.

Swaziland is ruled by King Mswati III as an absolute monarch. The kingdom is regularly criticised by international groups for the lack of workers’ rights.

In the latest move the Attorney General Sifiso Mashampu Khumalo said in court documents that the strike was against ‘the national interest’. He said the economy would be damaged. He claimed lives would be put in danger.

The court action is directed at the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) and the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT). It was heard on Monday evening (1 October 2019). No ruling has yet been announced.

Khumalo alleged that strikers had intimidated workers and had caused violence at some schools.

 

Last week during a three-day national strike, police fired rubber bullets and teargas at striking public service workers, injuring at least 15. The workers were at the end of a three-day strike over cost-of-living pay rises. The violence happened in Mbabane after what local media called ‘a long day of peaceful protest’. 

Workers want a 7.85 percent cost-of-living salary increase. The Government says it is broke and cannot pay. Negotiations have broken down.

Before the court intervention, unions planned to ‘shut down’ all government departments in Swaziland’s main commercial town, Manzini.

See also

Swaziland police fire rubber bullets and teargas injuring 15 during national strike

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/09/swaziland-police-fire-rubber-bullets.html

 

Swaziland police fire teargas into classroom packed with children

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/09/swaziland-police-fire-teargas-into.html

Swaziland police fire teargas into classroom packed with children

Police in Swaziland /eSwatini fired a canister of teargas into a primary school classroom packed with children.
 

It happened when police attacked striking workers in Malkerns.

Children at St. Andrew’s Primary were taken to Mankayane Government Hospital for treatment.

Police fired teargas, water cannon and live bullets during a strike of kombi (bus) drivers and conductors on Friday (27 September 2019).  It was the second time in three days that police had fired teargas at striking workers.

The workers blocked roads in the small town, the Observer on Saturday newspaper in Swaziland reported. It said the workers were only armed with stones and bottles. ‘Armed police officers charged in firing some shots and teargas canisters,’ it reported. Some of the workers entered the school during the violence.

The protest was over the continuing arrest for traffic offences of public transport drivers servicing the Malkerns route. ‘To them, the rate at which they were time and again found to be on the wrong side of the traffic laws was an orchestrated move aimed at victimising them,’ the Observer reported.

Two days earlier, police fired rubber bullets and teargas at striking public service workers, injuring at least 15. The workers were at the end of a three-day strike over cost-of-living pay rises. The violence happened at Mbabane after what local media called ‘a long day of peaceful protest’. Workers had been protesting across the kingdom.

See also

Swaziland police fire rubber bullets and teargas injuring 15 during national strike

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/09/swaziland-police-fire-rubber-bullets.html

 

Police Turn Swaziland City Into ‘Warzone’ as National Strike Enters Second Day

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/09/police-turn-swaziland-city-into-warzone.html

Widespread Condemnation of Swaziland Police Brutal Attacks on Workers

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/09/widespread-condemnation-of-swaziland.html