[DEBATE] : Fwd: [COSATU Press] Solidarity with Swaziland people

[Dominic Tweedie]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Patrick Craven <patrick at cosatu.org.za>
Date: 2008/9/15
Subject: [COSATU Press] Solidarity with Swaziland people
To: cosatu-press at googlegroups.com


COSATU  TO  STAGE  PROTEST  ACTION  AT  THE  OSHOEK  BORDER  GATE  IN
SOLIDARITY  WITH  THE  PEOPLE  OF  SWAZILAND.


On 18 September 2008 COSATU members in Mpumalanga will embark on a
protest action in solidarity with the struggling masses of Swaziland
for democracy in that country.

COSATU is consistent in its support for the workers and the people of
Swaziland, as  nearly every year COSATU members have staged border
blockades  at all the borders  between South Africa and Swaziland to
call for  democracy and the rule of law in that  country.

On 19 September 2008 the people of Swaziland will be forced to observe
and participate  in an illegitimate and undemocratic  lections which
are run and controlled by the Tinkhundla regime.  These elections
takes place under  conditions where political parties  are banned,
where the freedom of association is denied, where the constitution of
the country has been imposed unto the people, where political
activists are harassed and tortured by the Swaziland Defence Force and
police on daily basis, where young men and  women have fled the
country and are exiled because of their activism.

The Tinkhundla regime has politically failed the people of  Swaziland,
it is a neo-colonial  and semi-feudal system founded on the exclusion
of the overwhelming majority of the people of Swaziland. The economy
of Swaziland is today characterized by the following:

·         HIV/AIDS prevalence at 40%
·         Highest levels of  inequalities between the rich and the  poor
·         The economy not growing but stagnating
·         Women abuse is dressed in nice gown called tradition
·         About 70%  of the population live below the $1 a day and
over 300 000 of  the  around 1 million citizens depend on food  aids.
·         Unemployment rate is amongst the highest in the SADC Region .

COSATU in Mpumalanga calls upon all peace-loving people of Mpumalanga,
the  Alliance,  the Mass Democratic Movement, the NGOs  and  CBOs,
members of the  community to join us in the protest action to liberate
the  people of  Swaziland from  the  yoke of oppression .

For  more  information  please  contact  Norman  Mokoena  at
0828036712  or  Raymond  Mnguni  at  0827123559.