By IPS Correspondents
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 5 1997 (IPS)

An indefinite strike by Swaziland’s workers is the latest of a series of protests that are likely to continue in Africa’s sole absolute monarchy unless demands for constitutional reform are met.

Since Monday, the 83,000-strong Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) has been leading a mass stay-away to press for democracy in the tiny Southern African nation. Four STFU leaders have been imprisoned for calling the strike.

Swaziland, a nation of about 900,000 people sandwiched between South Africa and Mozambique, is the only country in Southern Africa that does not allow multi-party politics.

A similar strike by Swazi workers last year had led to a promise by King Mswati III, Swaziland’s ruler, that a process of political reform would be started, but little has changed since then.

Richard Cornwell, a political analyst of the Africa Institute of South Africa, is convinced that Mswati will not give in.

“He is not exactly a modern man and, because of its nature, the monarchy does not lend itself to constitutional reform so that it becomes a constitutional monarchy,” he told IPS. Either it goes completely or it stays, according to Cornwell, who added that the majority of Swazis still living in the rural areas believe in the legitimacy of the institution.

Moreover, “two major trusts that run business in the country sponsor the monarchy,” he explained. “These are Tisuka and Tibiyo, established to fund development but which are now held in trust by the King, apparently on behalf of the nation. It is this economic power that is at stake if change occurs.”

These trusts control nearly all aspects of the Swazi economy, including hotel chains, sugar plantations, insurance firms, brewers and financial institutions.

For five years after independence from Britain in 1968, Swaziland’s monarchy coexisted with a parliament comprising legislators elected on party tickets as others nominated by the king.

However, in 1973, the then monarch, King Sobhuza II, passed a decree suspending the constitution, dissolving the legislature and banning political parties. Parliament was revived in 1978 but its members are elected in non-party polls, while the king singlehandedly appoints the cabinet.

Since the early 1990s, political violence, arson, strikes and mass stay-aways have been frequent in Swaziland as political and interest groups press for reforms opposed by traditionalists.

In January 1996, Swazi workers staged the longest general strike in their country’s history, staying away from work for eight days. Their demands included the repeal of the 1973 royal decree, constitutional reforms and a commitment from government not to interfere in union meetings.

The strike, which at its height cost the economy an estimated 2.2 million dollars a day, led Mswati to set up a committee to map out constitutional reforms. However, the Constitutional Review Committee has been viewed as partisan since its members are handpicked by the king.

This week’s stayaway, like last year’s strike, is backed by advocates of change, including Swaziland’s most vocal opposition party, the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO). “The strike will go on,” said PUDEMO President Mario Masuku. “The people of Swaziland are clamouring for political freedom and the government has not shown good faith in negotiations but arrogance and violence.”

PUDEMO has argued that the government has to make the political climate conducive to negotiations with interested parties if it is to avoid chaos.

The attitude of the monarchy to the pressure from labour has not been conciliatory. Over the weekend, four SFTU leaders were arrested and charged for contravening a section of the 1963 public order act. Immediately after that, the government passed an extraordinary gazette providing for a life sentence for anyone charged with sabotaging essential services.

Those arrested are Secretary-General Jan Sithole, Assistant Secretary-General Jabulani Nxumalo, President Richard Nxumalo and his deputy, Themba Mnisi.

In neighbouring South Africa, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) have been closely monitoring the current developments in Swaziland.

“COSATU is in full support of the SFTU demands including the demand for the scrapping of the evil public order act and the draconian 1973 decree which has been used to arrest and charge the trade unionists,” the South African federation said in a recent statement.

“We are not happy that the leaders of our sister union are in prison,” said COSATU spokesperson Nowetu Mpati.

“We have called upon our members to embark on a go-slow when handling Swaziland-bound goods in solidarity,” Mpati said. “On Thursday, we will picket at the Swazi embassy and next Tuesday, at our national executive committee meeting, (we) will consider further forms of solidarity.”

Swaziland’s government has taken the threat seriously since its economy is inextricably bound to that of South Africa, through which virtually all its imports and exports pass.

Swazi Foreign Minister Arthur Khoza complained Tuesday, at a meeting with his South African counterpart Alfred Nzo, that COSATU was interfering in his country’s internal affairs.

Excerpt: