Civil servants threaten protest action

The Swazi government faces mass protest action by labour unions, human rights groups and banned political parties over the treatment of a local chief and his followers, who were evicted from their land for a second time by royal police in defiance a court ruling. The government's previous refusal to abide by a Court of Appeal ruling, allowing the chief and his people to return to their homes, resulted in the resignation of the entire bench and sparked a rule-of-law crisis. In an ultimatum delivered to the prime minister's office on Tuesday, the Swaziland National Association of Civil Servants, along with the Swaziland National Association of Teachers and the Swaziland Nurses Association, noted with concern the government's continued "defiance" of court rulings. "Despite sustained public outcry from both the local and international community ... [and] despite your undertaking to uphold the rule of law, your government has continued to defy court rulings. Government has further displayed its defiance through the continuous unlawful and inhumane eviction of [Chief] Mliba Fakudze," the civil servants' associations said. The government contends that Fakudze defied a royal edict. In a statement delivered to parliament on Tuesday night, Prime Minister Themba Dlamini said cabinet had erred in honouring the Appeal Court decision allowing Fakudze and 200 evictees to return to homes in Macetjeni. They had been ejected from the area in 2000, after they defied a palace order that a new chief, King Mswati's brother, Prince Maguga Dlamini, be installed in their area. Police did not interfere with the evictees' resettlement on Thursday, but armed security forces ordered them out on Sunday. "It was unfortunate that the return of Mr Fakudze overlooked the involvement of the traditional structures and mechanisms," the prime minister told MPs, pointedly refusing to refer to the headman as Chief Fakudze. MPs were forbidden to ask Dlamini any questions. "The prime minister is appointed by the palace, and so is cabinet. In his statement the premier was admitting where power lay - with royalty and not the courts. The palace will never permit subjects who defy royal edicts to go unpunished," a source at the Swaziland Law Society said. The unions also want the commissioner of the Royal Swaziland Police Force to be jailed on contempt of court charges - another appeal court ruling the government will not obey. A justice ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity told IRIN it was unlikely that government would accede to the labourers' demands by the deadline of midnight tonight. Meanwhile, deposed Chief Fakudze is staying in Siteki, provincial capital of the eastern region of Lubombo. The Court of Appeal, which resumed hearing cases last week, noted the second eviction of Chief Fakudze. Judge President R. Leon, a South African, said in a press statement, "The Court of Appeal has been informed that, after the Order of Court was carried out regarding the return to their homes of members of the Fakudze family, they have once again been evicted by police action. "The reasons are not clear to members of this court. Until clarification, we consider it our duty, in fairness to the appellants whose cases are before us, some of which have been pending for two years or more, to continue functioning as the Court of Appeal," the statement said. Judge Leon said the court would reconsider its position once it received a response from the justice ministry, headed by King Mswati's brother, Prince David Dlamini.