The Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) supports the call by workers to march against union bashing by the Mswati regime as well as state-sanctioned police brutality.

Workers will march and deliver petitions to the government of Swaziland on Thursday, 31 October 2019, in the capital city, Mbabane.

As part of the marches, workers organised under the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), Swaziland Democratic Nurses' Union (SWADNU), National Public Services and Allied Workers' Union (NAPSAWU) and the National Workers’ Union of Swaziland Higher Institutions (NAWUSHI) will deliver petitions at the Ministry of Public Service, Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Ministry of Education and Training, and the National Police Headquarters.

Public sector workers were brutally assaulted by the royal Swaziland police during their most recent action from 23 September to 2 October 2019 in which they demanded 7,85 per cent cost of living adjustment. The police also fired live rounds during a peaceful march and, due to the shooting, one worker had one of her fingers amputated. Mswati’s government also issued threats to leaders of the unions, even attempting to suspend and expel some of them, particularly teachers. The government also threatened teachers who would attend the celebration of World Teachers’ Day.

Union bashing and police brutality has been a reality in Swaziland, ruled by the absolute monarch, Mswati, since the banning of political parties on 12 April 1973 by the late absolute monarch, Sobhuza II.

The Communist Party of Swaziland calls upon its cadres, students, women, peasants as well as the unemployed to actively support the workers’ action. The action against union bashing and police brutality is at one and the same time a protest for people’s rights to freedoms of assembly, association, and movement. While the regime aims to divide the population, we must always band together as the oppressed and unite for total freedom and democracy.

Issued by the Communist Party of Swaziland