Labour unions in Swaziland are planning three months
of protest against government over a range of issues including tax increases,
the minimum
wage, social welfare programmes and unfavourable labour laws.
It starts on 13 April 2018 with a mass march organised
by the Trade
Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) to deliver petitions to
government ministers.
The protest will take place less than a week before
the so-called 50/50 Celebrations designed to mark the King’s 50th
birthday and the 50th anniversary of the kingdom’s Independence from
Great Britain. King Mswati III rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last
absolute monarch.
TUCOSWA Deputy Secretary General Muzi Mhlanga was reported by the Sunday Observer
newspaper in Swaziland (25 March 2018) saying the demonstration was just the
beginning and more protests were to be staged if their demands were not met.
‘We are beginning on the 13th of April. We have been writing to the
different ministries concerned and they have not responded while others have
provided unsatisfactory responses. For instance, we wrote a letter to the
Ministry of Natural Resources alerting them that we were against the hike on
electricity tariffs and we are not happy with their response, just like several
other ministries,’ he said.
Mhlanga said more protests would be staged in three consecutive months;
June, July and August.
See also
SWAZI
POLICE BLOCK WORKERS’ PROTEST
PUBLIC
SERVANTS PAY STRIKE ON WAY
SWAZI
GOVERNMENT ‘IS BROKE’
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