More than 150 Swazi police guarded the square where pro-democracy protesters had planned to demonstrate on Tuesday, rounding up and detaining anyone standing in groups.
Outside of the square, uniformed and plainclothes police officers kept watch on the streets in Southern Africa’s usually peaceful tiny mountain kingdom. In recent weeks, an online campaign has tried to rally support for Tuesday’s protests, which come exactly 38 years after the current Swazi king’s father, King Sobhuza II, banned political parties and abandoned the country’s Constitution.
Two reporters for a South African radio station were released on Tuesday after being detained for a few hours in Swaziland, where they were sent to cover the planned protests.
Talk Radio 702’s report said police escorted the Nastasya Tay and Tshepo Lesole out of Swaziland’s commercial capital. News of the reporters’ arrest followed a statement by a pro-democracy group in Swaziland that five activists were arrested ahead of planned mass protests.
Observers have reported police putting up road blocks throughout the country in recent days.
An anti-monarchy movement has gained momentum since the government declared a budget crisis and proposed freezing civil service wages. But many Swazis revere the monarchy.
Youth league calls for protests
Meanwhile, SA trade unions and political parties called on South Africans to show support for the anti-government march in Swaziland.
The African National Congress Youth League said it supported the “youth of Swaziland to fearlessly confront the Swaziland monarchy and fight until it has been brought down to its knees on the uprising that starts on Tuesday”.
“The youth of Swaziland should be like the youth of South Africa in 1976 who stood fearlessly against the armed apartheid regime and sustained militant protests and struggles until the regime came to the table for negotiations which brought political freedom and democracy,” the ANCYL said in a statement.
“The youth of Swaziland should be inspired by the youth of Tunisia and Egypt, who brought down regimes sympathetic to imperialists.”
The Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) said it was time for the people of Swaziland to be “brave”.
Swazi foreign minister Lutfo Dlamini told South African Broadcasting Corporation radio on Tuesday morning the Swazi government had been “engaging” with those opposed to the monarchy.
“We are at a stage where we need to find a lasting solution,” said Dlamini.
Agence France-Presse reported that Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini last week declared the demonstrations illegal.
Last month, trade unions protested against cuts in civil servant salaries while the king and his 13 wives live in luxury. – Sapa-AP, Sapa