Swazi+May+Day+test+for+democracy+movement,+Bell,+B+Rep

Business Report, April 21, 2006
=Swaziland's May Day is a litmus test for the democracy movement=


 * By Terry Bell**

This May Day could be a decisive moment for Swaziland's embattled pro-democracy movement. The fairgrounds in the industrial centre of Manzini, south of Mbabane, is where May Day rallies are traditionally held.

This year will be no different, but for the fact that the rally should reveal whether the largely trade union-led democracy movement has managed to heal recent rifts or if new lines have been drawn in the battle against Africa's last absolute monarchy.

The announcement this week by King Mswati 3 that a new constitution is now in place has not changed matters.

"It merely entrenches the king's power, allowing him to approve or veto all laws," notes Mario Masuku, the president of the still officially illegal Peoples' United Democratic Movement (Pudemo).

He has been invited to speak at the May Day rally by the country's largest union, the Swaziland National Association of Civil Servants, which last week distanced itself from the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU). It is usually the SFTU that invites speakers to and organises the rally in Manzini.

This is one of the indications of the serious rifts that have appeared in the movement to introduce multi-party democracy to Swaziland. And the rifts have been gleefully exploited by the monarchists, who have portrayed democracy as a crocodile-infested island remote from the security of the kingdom.

But the fact that the new constitution will allow more voices of advice (which the king can choose to ignore) has seen some non-governmental organisations argue that engagement from within would be better than opposition from without.

Opposition from outside the officially designated system was epitomised last week by the protest blockades of Swaziland's borders with South Africa.

These were co-ordinated on the South African side by Cosatu in solidarity with pro-democracy campaigners in Swaziland.

But the SFTU did not join the protests. Instead, on the eve of the blockades, SFTU general secretary Jan Sithole issued a joint statement with Musa Dlamini, the acting president of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (Snat), warning Snat and SFTU members not to join the protests.

Confusingly, Snat is not affiliated to the SFTU. It is regarded as highly conservative and pro-monarchist.

The confusion caused by the call by Sithole and Dlamini had hardly begun to register when news came through of seven South African trade unionists being shot and injured and 25 arrested by the South African police while attempting to blockade the Matsamo border post.

The use of rubber bullets and the arrest of leading trade unionists have caused anger throughout the labour movement.

It also appears to have resulted in considerable embarrassment in Swaziland's pro-democracy movement and to have contributed to renewed calls for unity.

"South Africans suffered in solidarity with us while some of our leaders were playing politics," an SFTU official notes bitterly.

In the wake of the police action, the SFTU stated: "Our non-participation at this particular event should not be interpreted as either disassociating ourselves with the struggle or the issues."

Sithole claimed he had been misrepresented. He remained committed to the struggle for democracy; his opposition to the blockades had arisen because he and the SFTU were not adequately consulted.

However, Swazi trade unionists point out that Sithole has been directly involved in discussions about the blockades. Last year he announced: "It's either the king listens to us, his subjects, or he faces an escalation of mass protests. We will not hesitate to blockade the borders as part of these protests."

His disagreement with Cosatu, they feel, may have more to do with the fact that the South African federation has completed a report on the management of the SFTU, which is understood to be critical of Sithole. The investigation was at the request of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions following complaints from unions in Swaziland about a lack of transparency and accountability in the SFTU.

These criticisms surfaced obliquely but publicly at the May Day rally in Manzini last year. Masuku, speaking on behalf of Pudemo, warned that the affairs of all sections of the democracy movement had to be transparent in their actions and accountable to their members.

Yesterday Masuku would not be drawn on the issue, remarking only that Sithole's earlier comments about the blockades had been "unfortunate and ill-timed".

It was a comment typical of the diplomatic remarks that publicly abound as a major fence-mending exercise gets under way. May Day should reveal how successful this exercise has been or whether any new fissures exist in the political landscape of Swaziland.


 * From: http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=553&fArticleId=3212728**

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