Traditional authorities in the tiny kingdom of Swaziland on Monday ordered the cancellation of a planned two-day strike, saying the labour action would ”disturb the kingdom’s ancestral spirits”.
Labour movements and unofficial opposition movements were planning a mass protest on December 19 and 20 against the purchase by King Mswati III of a $45-million luxury jet, money they say should be spent on famine and Aids relief.
The groups want to put pressure on the government to cancel the purchase and recover the $2,8-million already paid by government as a deposit on the jet, believed to be undergoing refurbishment in Europe.
Jim Gama, governor of Swaziland’s traditional headquarters at Ludzidzini, outside the capital, said the planned strike could disrupt a traditional ceremony, held at the end of the year by the the king.
”It is un-Swazi to go on a mass stay-away during such an important time,” Gama told national broadcaster Radio Swaziland.
During the Incwala ceremony, the king undergoes a traditional cleansing with water and herbs, symbolising the cleansing of the whole Swazi nation before a new crop season.
”Incwala means a lot to us as a kingdom and if the workers decide to go ahead with the stay-away, this would greatly disturb country’s ancestral spirits,” Gama said.
Both Swaziland’s unofficial opposition, the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) and the country’s labour movement, the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) said the mass action would go ahead.
”We, PUDEMO, support the mass stay-away. This is the time of action that would democratise this country. We have to stand united in order to address the failure of King Mswati III’s handpicked government in taking the right national priorities,” opposition leader Mario Masuku said in a statement.
The strike is also supported by Swaziland’s teachers, said Dominic Nxumalo, secretary general of Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT).
”Teachers are in full support of the proposed mass action, especially because the issues the workers are protesting about also have an effect on the teachers,” SNAT said in a statement.
The stay-away follows a judicial crisis that saw six top South African judges resign from the bench of Swaziland’s Court of Appeal and the country’s lawyers demanding an end to the government’s interference with court decisions. – Sapa-AFP