MSWATI DROP ALL CHARGES AGAINST OUR LEADERS

DROP ALL CHARGES AGAINST PEACEFUL PICKETERS

07 February 2016

The Communist Party of Swaziland is calling for increased solidarity from progressive forces inside and outside Swaziland in response to the arrest of two liberation movement activists for their role in a picket by public sector unions.

The two are Mcolisi Ngcamphalala, a CPS Central Committee member and member of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) together with Mbongwa Dlamini, Manzini Regional Chairperson of teachers union, SNAT. They were charged with obstruction by taking part in a picket to demand the release of a government report on public sector pay reviews.

In typically disproportionate style, the regime swooped on the two men at their homes in the evening of Thursday 4 February 2016, deploying officers from the serious crimes unit (also referred to as the anti terrorism squad).  They were then held in custody and before being granted bail of E1000 each pending their trial.

The picket, which is being held regularly every Wednesday to protest the secrecy of government pay policy for public sector workers, is part of a defiance campaign by public servants. They are banned from organising protest demonstrations and are resorting to more flexible and small-scale ways of highlighting their demands, such as pickets. Ngcamphalala and Dlamini’s offense was to have blocked the road where the picket was held, for which an arrest warrant was subsequently issued.

The CPS stresses that the extreme reaction to the picket shows the Mswati regime’s resolve to crack down on pro-democracy voices within the public sector, and in particular to target high profile left activists, such as Ngcamphalala and Dlamini.

This comes at a time when Mswati is brown-nosing the EU, Commonwealth and other sections of the international “community” with hints of democratic reform in return for their moneyed and political support to keep the distinctly anti-democratic autocracy in clover for the foreseeable future.

The CPS urges all supporters of Swaziland’s pro-democracy movement to send messages to protest to Swazi diplomatic missions and their own governments about the stifling of protest and opposition in our country, and to demand that Ngcamphalala and Dlamini have all charges against them dropped.

Contact:

Kenneth Kunene

General Secretary

Mobile:+27 72 597 3971

Email: cpswa.org@gmail.com

THE CPS ON THE SENTENCING OF COMRADE ZONKE DLAMINI

4 March 2014, Johannesburg

Communist Party of Swaziland condemns imprisonment of Zonke Dlamini, calls for isolation of Mswati regime 

The Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) has condemned the Mswati regime in Swaziland for passing a 15-year jail sentence on pro-democracy activist Comrade Zonke Tradwell Dlamini, allegedly for terrorism offenses.

Dlamini was sentenced last week Friday 28 February 2014, following a show trial to uphold the draconian Suppression of Terrorism Act (STA) of 2008.

The STA categorises the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), its youth wing the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), and other elements of the democracy movement as terrorist groups.

The CPS has urged human rights groups, international civil society, and governments monitoring the escalation of repression of pro-democracy activity in Swaziland to highlight the case of Zonke Dlamini, who is a member of PUDEMO and SWAYOCO.

“We are demanding the release of all political prisoners, detainees and those persecuted by the courts using the STA,” CPS general secretary Kenneth Kunene said today.

“The charges against Comrade Zonke were brought by a government intent on eliminating activism for democracy and basic democratic freedoms in Swaziland. The STA has no legitimacy in such a situation, and is merely a tool to perpetuate Mswati’s absolute power. The regime has imposed what amounts to a life sentence on Zonke Dlamini, sending a signal that it is clamping down further on pro-democracy activists.”

The CPS has been running the “Break the Chains Campaign” to spotlight and resist the Mswati regime’s use of the courts, prison sentences, banning of political parties and persecution of individuals to suppress the pro-democracy movement.

The campaign is highlighting the need to unban all political parties and pro-democracy activity, and to make this the rallying point of all pressure, including international pressure, on the Mswati regime.

“There is also a need now to urge concerted sanctions against the regime. We have seen some piecemeal activity on a cultural boycott and border blockades, but we need to work towards the full isolation of the Mswati regime,” says Kunene.

“The regime thrives on being accepted by other countries as a legitimate government. This acceptance must be reversed. Mswati has no place in the community of democratic states.” ENDS