Justin Arenstein
As anti-monarchist and labour protests in Swaziland continued this week, a prominent human rights campaigner claimed the country’s ruler, King Mswati III, appears to have been sidelined in a palace coup.
Ironically, although the protests are directed against Swaziland’s Tinkhudla traditionalist system of government, the 27-year-old absolute monarch remains popular with the Swaziland
“It looks like traditionalists in the royal court, headed by the Queen Mother Nthombi Twala, have effected a type of palace coup so as to ensure that the more liberal factions in the court don’t give in to the protesters,” said Human Rights Association of Swaziland (HRAS) secretary general Simon Noge this week.
“You see, even under a democracy, the king would retain his status and at least some power. But the lesser royals stand to lose all their influence, and so they are dead against any reforms,” he said.
Noge also dismissed rumours that Mswati had briefly fled Swaziland on Tuesday, at the height of the violence, saying the rumours seemed to have originated from the royal court itself.
“The rumours could have been started to discredit the king. We certainly don’t believe them. But, the people of Swaziland are beginning to wonder why the king doesn’t make a stand and flex his powers,” he said.
At least four people died and four popular union and youth leaders were arrested during clashes between Swaziland’s security forces and pro-democracy protesters this week.
Spearheaded by the kingdom’s biggest union, the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) and various banned political parties as well as civic organisations, the strikes effectively crippled Swaziland.
By Wednesday, the streets of Mbabane were filled with the stench of uncollected refuse and rotting supermarket perishables as the government refused to accede to the striker’s demands and the strikers, in turn, refused to restore the capital’s electricity supply.
The electricity cuts forced the few businesses, including state-run newspaper The Swazi Observer, to close their doors. The black-out forced Matsapha International Airport to reroute incoming flights and to close completely on Wednesday. It also led to sporadic petrol shortages, as Mbabane’s petrol pumps ceased working and millions of rands worth of perishable foods were spoiled when commercial refrigerators switched off.
The four fatalities occurred on Tuesday when police clashed with demonstrators in the commercial capital Manzini and Mbabane. Two plain-clothes CID detectives, who infiltrated a crowd of demonstrators in Mbabane in an attempt to identify the protest’s ringleaders, were injured when riot police opened fire on the crowd.
Noge attributed Tuesday’s violence to the unexpected arrest of SFTU president Richard Nxumalo, SFTU secretary general Jan Sithole and his assistant, Jabulani Nxumalo, on Monday evening. Noge confirmed that Pudemo and other political leaders had gone into hiding to avoid being arrested.
The three SFTU leaders were arrested after the government was forced to withdraw a high court interdict to have the strike declared illegal.
Police let Nxumalo and his to colleagues address demonstrators who had gathered outside the court, but arrested them individually at their homes later that evening.
Their trial, held on Tuesday, was closed to the public and press.
After charging the men with contravening the Labour Relations Act, the court remanded the case until January 30. Neither of the men’s relatives nor legal representatives were informed where the men would be held or where the next hearing will take place.
Other arrests include Mphandlana Shongwe, the chief marshal of the Swaziland Youth Congress (Swayoco) who was detained in Manzini for allegedly tearing down a Swaziland flag and dancing on it. Boeman Tsela, another Swayoco executive member, was also reportedly
Pudemo, the SFTU and Swayoco participated in similar strikes which crippled Swaziland for two days in March 1995. The government was forced to agree to a list of 27 demands centred around a redrafting of outdated 1963 labour legislation, a repeal of the 1973 banning of all political parties and an undertaking from the government to institute democratic government structures.
“But instead of honouring its promises, the government used the next few months to push the hated Labour Relations Act, which effectively bans union leaders from instigating strike action, through Parliament,” said Noge.
“With all our political parties and leaders banned, the unions became the only effective voice for the population — and now the government tried to silence them as well.”
After eight months, the SFTU announced another national strike in November, in an attempt to force the government to abide by its
Government negotiators immediately met union members and pledged substantial reforms by the new year if the strike were cancelled. SFTU says there were no reforms and thence the strikes. — African Eye News Service