Schoolteachers in Swaziland want the United States to tell
the kingdom’s absolute monarch King Mswati III to ‘stop wasting public resources’
on expensive overseas’ trips and use the money to pay salary increases to civil
servants.
The request was made in a petition delivered to the US
Embassy in Swaziland on Thursday (27 September 2018).
Teachers marched through Mbabane, the capital of
Swaziland, (the
kingdom recently renamed Eswatini by King Mswati) to deliver the
petition. They had been blocked from taking part in a three-day
strike this week by the Industrial Court.
Teachers and other civil servants want pay increases
of 6.55 percent to meet changes in the cost of living. The Swazi Government
says it is broke and has offered zero percent.
In what is believed to be an unprecedented move,
members of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) asked a
foreign government to intervene in a pay dispute. In a two-page letter
addressed to the US Ambassador in Swaziland Lisa
Peterson it said SNAT saw the United States as
‘defender number one of human rights and fundamental freedoms’.
Protestors were attacked by police and security forces
with guns, teargas and stun grenades during recent protests over pay and one
teacher was shot and wounded at a SNAT mass meeting on 24 August
2018.
In its letter SNAT said, ‘The Right to Freedom of
Association and Assembly has been infringed upon by the state security organs.’
The letter asked the US Embassy to press the Swazi
Government to pay the cost of living adjustment.
It also asked it to, ‘Engage members of the Royal Family, particularly the King, to stop wasting public resources with the huge and unnecessary delegations that normally accompany him abroad. [The King is presently at the United Nations General Assembly in New York]. The money that caters for their allowances can be used to pay civil servants, including teachers. The King may as well sell his private jet to fund teachers’ salaries.’
It also asked it to, ‘Engage members of the Royal Family, particularly the King, to stop wasting public resources with the huge and unnecessary delegations that normally accompany him abroad. [The King is presently at the United Nations General Assembly in New York]. The money that caters for their allowances can be used to pay civil servants, including teachers. The King may as well sell his private jet to fund teachers’ salaries.’
Teachers had their planned strike postponed until 23
November 2018 by the Industrial Court. SNAT said teachers would attend school
but planned a series of events that would disrupt teaching.
King Mswati III who rules
Swaziland as one of the world’s last absolute monarchs wore
a watch
worth US$1.6 million and a suit
beaded with diamonds weighing 6 kg, at his 50th birthday
party in April. Days earlier he took delivery of his second private jet, a A340
Airbus, that after VIP upgrades
reportedly cost US$30 million. He received E15 million (US$1.2
million) in cheques, a
gold dining room suite and a gold
lounge suite among his birthday gifts.
Seven in ten of Swaziland’s
1.1 million population live in abject poverty with incomes less than the
equivalent of US$2 per day. The King has 13 palaces. He also owns
fleets of top-of-the range Mercedes and BMW cars. His family regularly travel
the world on shopping
trips spending millions of dollars each time.
The SNAT letter to the US Ambassador
See also
Swaziland
Court Forces Teachers to Postpone Strike, Bans Public Servants’ Action
Swaziland Police Shoot, Wound Teacher During Protest
Over Pay, Tensions High on Eve of National Election
Police Turn Swaziland City Into ‘Warzone’ as
National Strike Enters Second Day
Widespread
Condemnation of Swaziland Police Brutal Attacks on Workers
Vicious
Attack by Swaziland Police on Defenceless Workers Captured on Video
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