Clashes have erupted between police and protesters, who first took to the streets in the capital Mbabane on Monday, accusing King Mswati III of failing to pay high enough wages. |
Violent clashes erupted in eSwatini on Wednesday after police cracked down on civil servants protesting against low pay and rising living costs in Africa's last absolute monarchy.
Teachers and
workers went on strike last week in the four main towns of eSwatini -- a tiny
southern African kingdom until recently known as Swaziland, surrounded by South
Africa and Mozambique.
They accuse
King Mswati III of draining public coffers at the expense of his subjects, and
flocked to the capital Mbabane from Friday to discuss action with opposition
pro-democracy groups.
Police
fired tear gas, stun grenades and water cannons on Wednesday to disperse the
crowd, who responded by pelting rocks at police cars and government buildings.
"Our problem is
that we have a selfish king," said Sibongile Mazibuko, who heads the Ngwane
National Liberatory Congress pro-democracy group. "He loots national
coffers to satisfy his personal greed."
Sibongile Mazibuko, head of the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress |
Mazibuko blasted the
king for wasting money on "expensive" royal ceremonies and trips
abroad involving "huge delegations" and "shopping sprees".
"The
same government says they have no money," he said.
Frustrations
have boiled over into a series of protests around the country this week.
More than
3,500 people marched in Mbabane and the neighboring city of Manzini on Monday,
and around 3,000 protesters showed up in the capital again on Wednesday.
South
Africa's trade union federation announced "border protest action" in
the neighboring province of Mpumalanga on Wednesday "in support" of
the eSwatini strike.
"The
workers demand only 7.8 percent salary adjustment while the Mswati regime
spends millions of Rands for his lavish lifestyle," said the Congress of
South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in a statement.
Wandile
Dludlu, national coordinator of an eSwatini pro-democracy coalition, welcomed
COSATU's support.
"This
is (a) fight," said Dludlu. "Protest action is not like a coffee
session."
The
government said earlier this month that it was unable to meet the protesters'
demands.
"Government
is in a challenging financial situation, hence (its) inability to award civil
servants with a cost of living adjustment for the past two years," Prime
Minister Ambrose Dlamini said in a statement.
King
Mswati III was crowned in 1986, when he was just 18. He has come under fire for
his expensive tastes, frivolous spending and prioritising his family's needs.
King Mswati III with his wives |
He is
currently attending the UN general assembly in New York.
"It is
not true that there is no money in this country," said Dludlu.
"The PM
is not a problem, we know where our problem lies. We have a greedy king.
The
royal family impoverishes this country," he told reporters.
eSwatini
ranked 144 out of 189 in the UN's latest Human Development Index. Around two
thirds of the country's 1.4 million inhabitants lives below the poverty line.
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