CPS rejects the transport hike! Reject the monarchy!

Reject the wars of imperialism! Build People's Power!

Date: 9 October 2026

The Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) calls upon the working people, the youth, the unemployed, the rural poor, and all oppressed sections of Swazi society to rise in total rejection of the latest transport fare hike imposed by tinkhundla regime in the midst of a devastating cost-of-living crisis and grinding poverty in the country of abundance.

This hike is not an accident. It is not an isolated policy error. It is a deliberate transfer of wealth from the pockets of the poor into the coffers of a tiny parasitic elite — an elite that produces nothing, contributes nothing and answers to no one.

The working people of Swaziland are being asked to pay more to travel to jobs that barely pay enough to survive. They are being asked to absorb the cost of a fuel crisis manufactured by imperialist wars fought over resources and markets. They are being asked, once again, to sacrifice while the royal family and its business allies live in obscene luxury.

We reject this. Totally and without compromise.

The transport hike cannot be understood in isolation. It is the direct product of a system that serves a handful of billionaires and monarchs at the expense of millions.

The capitalist system breeds war, and war breeds crisis. Wars of dominance — in the Middle East, in Eastern Europe, and beyond — disrupt global fuel supply chains. Oil prices surge. Transport costs rise. And who pays? Not the oil executives. Not the arms manufacturers. Not the imperialist powers who start these wars. The poor pay. The workers pay. The people of Swaziland pay.

Capitalism does not simply tolerate war — it profits from it. Every barrel of oil priced higher, every route disrupted, every supply chain squeezed is an opportunity for speculation and accumulation. The war profiteers grow richer while the masses grow hungrier.

The absolute monarchy of Mswati is a willing accomplice. Tinkhundla dictatorship  does not govern in the interests of the Swazi people. It governs in the interests of itself and its foreign backers. It is a puppet regime — politically oppressive at home, economically subservient abroad.

The monarchy has no plan to address the cost-of-living crisis. It has no plan to reduce fuel dependence. It has no plans to develop public transport. It has no plan to create jobs. Its only plan is to protect the wealth of the royal family and its cronies — and to use state violence to silence anyone who dares to object.

When the people protested in 2021, the regime responded with bullets. When workers demand a living wage, the regime responds with repression. When the poor cannot afford to eat, the regime responds by building palaces.

Imperialism backs the monarchy because the monarchy serves imperialism. Why does the West, which claims to champion democracy, continue to support Africa's last absolute monarchy?

The answer is simple: because the monarchy guarantees the conditions for exploitation.

Political oppression ensures that workers cannot organise freely. It ensures that unions are weakened, that wages are suppressed, and that resources are extracted without resistance. It ensures that a small comprador class — the royal family and its business allies — can accumulate wealth while the masses are kept in poverty.

This is not a failure of the system. This is the system working exactly as designed.

The CPS does not call for reforms that leave the system intact. We call for the total rejection of the system itself.

We demand:

1. The immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the transport fare hike.
2. The nationalisation of public transport under democratic workers' control — so that mobility is a right, not a commodity.
3. The overthrow of the absolute monarchy and the establishment of a democratic republic in which the people hold power.
4. The end of all wars of imperialist domination, and the redirecting of resources from destruction to development.
5. The cancellation of all illegitimate debts used to trap our country in dependency. (the regime continues to plunge our country to new debts)
6. The redistribution of land and wealth to the working people who create it.
7. The release of all political prisoners and the unbanning of political parties.
8. The right to organise, to protest, and to strike without fear of state violence.

The CPS calls upon all Swazi people — workers, students, the unemployed, the rural poor, women, and youth — to mobilise.

Reject the hike. Refuse to pay. Organise transport committees in your communities. Boycott where possible. Strike where necessary.

Reject the monarchy and tinkhundla parasites. Build people's committees in every community, every workplace, and every school. Prepare for the day when the people take power into their own hands.

Reject the wars. Link our struggle to the struggles of workers and oppressed peoples across the world. Imperialism is a global system — our resistance must be global too.

The future belongs to the people.

Forward to the total rejection of the transport hike!

Forward to the overthrow of the absolute monarchy!

Forward to the defeat of imperialism!

Forward to people's power!

Long live the struggle of the Swazi people!

Long live the Communist Party of Swaziland!