Communist Party of Swaziland’s May Day message: Let us unite in struggle against tinkhundla capitalism, establish true democracy to end all social miseries

The CPS greets the workers of Swaziland and the world in the struggle against all forms of oppression and exploitation, for the establishment of a new world order free from poverty, diseases and all forms of social ills.

This year May Day is celebrated under trying times when the world is engulfed by the COVID 19 pandemic. This pandemic has caused much distress to the working class and will continue to affect negatively the working class people more than the capitalist ruling class of today.

A post-pandemic Swaziland and world will have to be completely different if we are to overcome the impact of the pandemic. Only the socialisation of our societies, i.e. by building socialism will make them sustainable and able to cope with the effects of future health threats - for example by having robust well funded, free public health systems and by having comprehensive social security systems.

Capitalism is unable to provide these, as the neoliberal diktat places profit over human need. Neoliberal capitalism is the reason why most capitalist countries have been hopelessly ill-prepared in confronting the pandemic.

Health workers in Swaziland are the most affected in the present statistics of the virus infection.  The entire working class is consequently the most devastated socially as all the necessary measures to curb the spread completely hold back the life patterns of the poor in our country.

The crisis has brought to the fore the acute crisis of tinkhundla capitalism in its form as an autocracy. Without a comprehensive and all round mobilisation to bring down the Mswati autocracy, all effort to save the lives of the people against the virus, will be less effective. Our experience is that, whilst the pandemic has put to test the health capacity of countries, in Swaziland it found an already collapsed health system.

The precautions measured to curb the spread only helped the regime consolidate political repression. The lockdown in Swaziland is more an instrument of human rights abuse and suppression of political opposition than to help facilitate the noble lockdown restrictions of life saving.

The workers in Swaziland have been subjected to unprecedented levels of oppression, exploitation and subsequently impoverishment. The limited rights to organise and unionise, to protest and bargain, have all gone along since the 1973 state of emergency.  This has gone too long.

The CPS therefore calls all the workers of Swaziland to unite under the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) to fight to archive democracy in Swaziland.  The unity of workers in our country is our priority now in order to achieve the goal of democracy so desperately needed now.

Further, the CPS calls for all in the pro democracy movement to work decisively for the unity of the entire oppressed people of our country. The struggle for democracy supersedes all what occupies our activities now.

We call upon all Party activists to continue to intensify activism towards organising workers and the working class population throughout the country. Our message is simple: Let us organise to overturn tinkhundla dictatorship and bring Swaziland to the path of democracy which will end the social devastations that have persisted in our society for quite too long.

Let this be the decade of our democratic victory. Let us continue to work closely in solidarity to deny COVID 19 any ability to end our lives. Let us not make Mswati and his governing elite to celebrate as the virus ambush to our population.

The Mswati dictatorship and COVID 19 are equal enemies, let us defeat both.

Long live workers' unity!

Long live TUCOSWA!

Democracy Now!