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.RI
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
Fuente: Solidnet/PrensaPopularSolidaria
http://prensapopular-comunistasmiranda.blogspot.com
Correo: pcvmirandasrp@gmail.com
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