Communist
Party of Swaziland
On Friday 29 June 2018 the
workers of Swaziland took to the streets of the capital city of Swaziland,
Mbabane, under the leadership of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland
(TUCOSWA) raising various demands with the government of Mswati III,
Swaziland’s absolute monarch. The workers called for improvement of wages and
working conditions, an end to heavy taxes on the working class, an end to
colonial-style evictions, respect for the right to assemble and protest
peacefully, and other demands. About 70 percent of the people of Swaziland
survive on less than US$2 a day, but on 19 April 2018 they were forced to pay
over E1 billion (about US$75 million) to finance Mswati’s birthday party.
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| Workers led by the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) engaged in a peaceful protest action along Mbabane City streets against the tinkhundla regime on 29 June 2018 |
Despite the peace that
characterised the protest action on Friday, the police responded with indescribable
brutality, clearly with the intent of disrupting the action, without a care
whether workers died or not. In an official statement issued shortly after the
action, TUCOSWA stated, “The police then used unnecessary force to change a
peaceful protest action to a violent one.”
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| One of the workers who was brutally assaulted by the royal police of Swaziland |
As per schedule, the workers
were committed to deliver their list of demands to the office of the Deputy
Prime Minister when the royal police water tanker started to spray the
protestors and followed with stun grenades. The police further pursued the
workers, beating everyone on sight with batons. Victims of this unprovoked
assault included people who had not initially been part of the protest action.
The police were assaulting anyone they could meet as they pursued the
peacefully protesting workers.
One of the workers, a poorly
paid security guard, who received the heaviest assault all over the body, was
left unconscious after the heavy assault. He was severely beaten by the police
using batons, kicks and fists. Meanwhile, the police refused to allow him
passage to the nearest hospital for medical attention despite the evident risk
to his life. He could only receive first aid from some of the workers only
after pushing and shoving, as the police were blatantly refusing to see the
worker receiving any medical help despite the blood oozing on his face, whilst
he lay unconscious on the floor, from head injuries inflicted by the police.
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| A worker lies motionless on the ground as blood oozes through his head after heavy assault by the royal police of Swaziland. The royal police prevented any first aid from being given to him. It took forceful measures from the protesting workers to finally give him first aid. |
The Communist Party of Swaziland
condemns this barbaric act of brutality by the royal Swaziland police against workers.
To suppress the voices of the people and therefore legitimise the sham
elections to create a puppet parliament, the regime will continue to engage
desperate means, as it has shown its hand. We call upon the workers and all the
oppressed people of Swaziland to unite against Swaziland’s tinkhundla regime in
the fight for democracy, where accountability of all state organs will be
guaranteed by a people’s constitution. The Party will also continue mobilising
workers for the September 2018 week-long shutdown strike action proposed by the
federation.
*The demands of the workers as
table by TUCOSWA are as follows:*
1. Cost of Living Adjustment
(COLA) for Public Sector and SOE Workers.
2. E3500 (US$ 254.07)
National Minimum Wage.
3. E1500 (US$108.89) Elderly
Grants.
4. Legalise Solidarity
Strikes.
5. Increase Funding for
Education and Health.
6. Pass the Amended
Employment Bill.
7. Away with Public
Enterprise Unit (PEU) Act.
8. Schools' Support staff must
be employed by government.
9. No to Labour Brokers.
10. No to Scab Labour.
11. No to taxation of
benefits.
12. No to VAT on
Electricity.
13. No to unaffordable E500
passports.
14. Stop the looting at the
Public Service Pensions Fund (PSPF)
15. No to 12 hours shift
without compensation.
16. Give back land for
Vuvulane Farmers.
17. Reinstate long service
benefit.
Issued by the Communist
Party of Swaziland
Contact:
Kenneth Kunene
General Secretary
+27 72 594 3971
Or
Njabulo Dlamini
International Organiser
Mobile: +2687 603 9844
Facebook: Communist Party Of Swaziland – CPS
Twitter: @CPSwaziland
