Forces fire at protesters in eSwatini
DEMONSTRATORS in eSwatini yesterday demanded reforms to the absolute monarchy while security forces tried to repel them with gunfire and tear gas.
“I can hear gunshots and smell tear gas. I do not know how I will get home, there is nothing at the bus rank; there is a strong presence of riot police and the army,” Vusi Madalane, a shop assistant in the capital Mbabane, said by telephone.
Acting Prime Minister Themba Masuku denied some media reports that King Mswati III had fled the violence to South Africa.
Anger against Mswati has been building for years, and protests occasionally turn violent, with police using tear gas, stun grenades and water cannons to disperse stone-throwing protesters.
Security forces set up road blocks to prevent access by some vehicles to Mbabane yesterday. Some banks said they had shut until the unrest – which started at the weekend and turned violent overnight – subsided.
Government spokesperson Sabelo Dlamini said schools and bus stations had been ordered to close. Schoolchildren were seen hurrying home on the outskirts of Mbabane.
Campaigners say the king has consistently evaded calls for meaningful reforms that would nudge eSwatini, which changed its name from Swaziland in 2018, in the direction of democracy. They also accuse him of using public coffers as a piggy bank, funding a lavish lifestyle off the backs of his 1.5 million subjects, most of them subsistence farmers.
“His Majesty King Mswati III is in the country and continues to lead in working with government to advance the kingdom’s goals,” a statement from Masuku said. “We appeal for calm, restraint and peace from all emaSwati (eSwatini citizens).”
The 53-year-old king denies being an autocrat, and is impenitent about the lifestyle enjoyed by him and his 15 wives, who between them occupy several state-funded palaces.
A spate of crackdowns, such as the arrest of opposition leaders and activists in 2019, has done little to discourage anti-monarchy sentiment in the kingdom.
Lucky Lukhele, the spokesperson for the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), a movement based in South Africa, said yesterday that eSwatini had erupted into utter chaos, as the police and army occupied the streets.
According to reports, there have been cases of looting as businesses closed their doors.
In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the SSN said the situation on the ground was extremely volatile as supermarkets and industrial plants had been set alight by unidentified people, with the army deployed to control the situation. “There are allegations that more than one bystander or protester has already been killed by the army or the police,” it said.
The SSN urged the Southern African Development Community to act urgently on the crisis.
“While we stand by the people of Swaziland in this very difficult period, we wish to urge the international community once again to play a proactive role in minimising casualties,” said Lukhele.