The Swaziland government has threatened to expel workers at Nkalashane Farm in the Lubombo region if they do not return to work without personal protective equipment (PPE). The farmworkers have been on strike since 20 April 2021, demanding PPE. The PPE they last received six years ago is now worn out.

Dr. R.X. Dlamini, the Director of Veterinary and Livestock Services, sent the threatening letters to the workers last week. The government is threatening to withhold their salaries should they refuse to return to work. This is under the government’s notorious “no work, no pay” rule.

To conduct their work safely, the workers require boots, gloves, overalls, hats/helmets, bush-knives. Over the years, they exposed themselves to injuries while working without the much needed equipment. To lessen personal injuries, they were sometimes forced by circumstances to use their meagre salaries to purchase PPE.

In April this year, after all the years of requesting PPE without success, they finally resolved to go on strike. They vowed to go back to work only when the government gives them the required PPE.

Some of the farmworkers have worked for more than 30 years and have experienced the brutality of the government. The more they work, the deeper they sink into poverty due to the government’s incompetence.

Communist Party activists on the ground are working closely with the workers. The CPS stands in solidarity with the workers, and calls for more progressive forces to give strength to the workers.

The royal government has failed our people, treats them like slaves in their homeland. The healthcare and education systems have collapsed, infrastructure and other social services are absent in most communities.

The tinkhundla system is the root cause of the suffering of the people. The most immediate action needed now is to end the system, and it must be ended now!

ISSUED BY THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SWAZILAND