Strikers beaten by police

The first day of a three-day protest action by Swazi labour federations on Wednesday was broken up by the security forces and one unionist was reportedly killed. The national strike and demonstrations were called to protest the governance record of King Mswati III. Some 5,000 protestors gathered in the capital, Mbabane, and 1,000 in the central commercial city of Manzini. Demonstrators broke windows and caused minor vandalism in Mbabane and riot police responded with teargas. When the protestors attempted to reassemble, they were beaten by baton-wielding security forces. Agence France-Presse reported a trade union official as saying that one man was beaten to death by the police. In the eastern sugar plantation region, agricultural workers attempted to meet at the Tambankhulu stadium. Police fired on them with live ammunition. At least one worker was admitted to Good Shepard Hospital in Siteki with a gunshot wound. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), in a gesture of solidarity with its Swazi counterparts, managed to shut down the Mananga border gate connecting northern Swaziland with South Africa's Mpumalanga Province. Demonstrators picketed at other border posts, but the largest, at Oshoek, reportedly remained open, although with reduced traffic. The labour federations had vowed to shut down all border crossings. COSATU's blockade began on Tuesday and is expected to last until Friday, to push for "democracy and respect for human rights in Swaziland", a COSATU statement said. South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma reportedly told her Swazi counterpart, Roy Fanourakis, on 10 August that South Africa would not intervene, so long as COSATU and its allies did not break the law. The Swaziland Transport Workers Union wanted to shut down the railway system as well, but relented after the CEO of Swaziland Railways, Gideon Mahlalela, cited a UN convention: "The UN Transportation Convention, Articles 125 to 159, says you can't block transit traffic from a landlocked country to the sea," Mahlalela told IRIN. "The trains are running. Some have skeleton crews, but they are operating." Government closed all schools in anticipation of the teachers' union joining the strike action. Some banks and businesses were closed, and electrical power was intermittent in some urban areas. In a change of tactic from previous national strikes, the unions kept the public transportation system operating. "We used to stop the buses to discourage strike-breakers, but police would stop the buses we hired to transport our people to demonstrations. The only way we can travel is by public transport, with the general public," a strike organiser said. The strike action was timed to coincide with the Global Smart Partnership International Dialogue Summit, a three-day conference on sustainable development, which opened on Wednesday night with a gala banquet hosted by King Mswati. "It is hypocritical for government to boast of its achievements by hosting a leadership summit here, that is dedicated to better communication between the public and private sectors," Africa Magongo, president of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions told IRIN. "Government is not 'dialoguing' with anyone. To be heard, we must take to the street with mass action." Summit convenors, like Mswati's brother Prince Guduza Dlamini, disputed allegations that the government did not try to accommodate labour and human rights groups, and insisted the workers' federations were determined to cause embarrassment during the largest summit ever hosted by Swaziland. Police blocked a march by workers to the Smart Partnership Summit Village in Ezulwini, 10 km west of Mbabane. The demonstrators said they wanted to give delegates flyers listing what they said were the failings of King Mswati's rule. "One out of four Swazis will be without food by 2004. Our economy is in tatters. There are no jobs. Thirty-eight percent of Swazis have HIV or AIDS," said Thandi Mabuza, a protesting worker in Mbabane. Neither the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions, the Swaziland Federation of Labour, the Swaziland National Association of Teachers or other workers' unions reached by IRIN said they had been contacted by summit organisers. "They say anyone who wants to come, can - but it costs each person US $300 to participate as a delegate. That's more than a month's salary for most workers, and it goes to pay for cocktail parties for the elites," said one trade unionist. One of the most vocal critics of the summit is Nimrod Mabuza, a columnist for the independent Times of Swaziland. "[Wouldn't] it have been smarter to put our house in order first, before inviting the world inside? I fear we are heading for disaster," he wrote on Wednesday. "What achievements could our leaders want to market? If running the country down and turning powerful people into violent brutes is an achievement, then our government is justified to showcase it."