Police Attack Unarmed Protesters in eSwatini

By Connor Worley

Riot police on September 18 deployed stun grenades, rubber bullets, and batons on unarmed strikers in Manzini, eSwatini, injuring several protesters.

Workers in eSwatini, which was formerly known as Swaziland, have been protesting since April over low wages, mismanagement of the state pension fund, and a lack of free elections. According to Reuters, the flash-point for the original protests was the removal of $70,000 from the national pension fund for King Mswati III’s extravagant birthday celebrations.

eSwatini is the last absolute monarchy on the continent. Though the country has a parliament and nominal elections, political parties are banned, all candidates must be loyal to the king, and final authority related to all governmental matters resides with King Mswati.

"The election is a farce, of course," said Bheki Makhubu, the editor of the Nation, who the authorities jailed in 2014 for exposing government corruption.

Times of Swaziland conducted a survey of voters in 2018, in which 34 percent of all Swazis reported that the country was not a democracy, while 17 percent said that democracy existed in their country but was fraught with problems. According to the East African, voters were recorded saying, "the parliament can talk all they want, but at the end of the day there is only one boss."

In addition to possessing absolute political authority, King Mswati is known for living a lavish lifestyle, buying expensive cars, flying in private planes, and hosting exorbitant parties for his 14 wives and 25 children. Despite these luxuries, eSwatini remains among the poorest nations in the world, with an estimated 63 percent of the population living in poverty. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 26 percent of the country’s adult population is HIV positive, the highest prevalence in the world.

Before the protests, the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland accused the king and his government of removing millions of dollars from the national pension fund. eSwatini’s parliament ordered a probe into the alleged corruption, but the probe was quickly disbanded.

The protests took place in Manzini, eSwatini's economic center. The organizers also promised that demonstrations would occur in other major cities such as Lobamba and the capital, Mbabane, but these protests have not yet materialized.

A video taken at the scene and published by News24 shows that protesters were met by riot police who dispersed the unarmed crowd by firing rubber bullets, throwing stun grenades, and beating the remaining strikers with batons.

The Southern African Litigation Centre requested an immediate investigation into the riot police's actions, citing eSwatini's Public Order Act of 2017, which affirms the rights of citizens to assemble peacefully and states that "police may only intervene in a gathering when there is an immediate danger, and any action taken by the police must be necessary and proportionate.”

Though, according to Al Jazeera, the protests are unlikely to bring an immediate change, activist Jan Sithole has hope for the future, noting that “there is nothing as permanent as change. You can slow it down, but it always keeps coming.”