SWAYOCO president back from Danish tour

MBABANE—President of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) says he met several Danish political organisations and government officials.

Wandile Dludlu left the country two weeks ago in a trip financed by the Foundation for Socio-Economic Justice (FSEJ). He was representing both the Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) as well as the SWAYOCO.

“I was happy to be afforded the opportunity to meet a director from the ministry of Foreign Affairs. Basically, he was interested in the political developments in Swaziland. We told him about our concerns in terms of the Terrorism Act which is sometimes used by government to silence dissenting voices. We also explained how government breaches the Constitution with impunity.

“He was also interested in knowing more about the Mario case. We explained the circumstances that led to his arrest, as well as the arbitrary raids carried out by police in houses occupied by members of progressive organisations. The director promised to engage our government on the issue through the normal diplomatic channels,” he said.

Dludlu was travelling with FSEJ Coordinator Dumezweni Dlamini. The primary role of the trip was to raise the profile of the organisation in the international community.
 “We also met student unions who were surprised upon learning of our problems especially because they were of the understanding that Swaziland now has a constitution that guarantees imperative freedom and human rights.
Above that, they said they were also interested in assisting the local youth on issues pertaining to unemployment, HIV/AIDS as well as in education.

What was interesting was that their education system was tailored in such a way that everyone, from primary school level to tertiary, has access to education. Their country’s policy emphasises on developing human capital. Once educated, their citizens are then able to develop their country’s economy and infrastructure,” he said.
He said they were also able to meet some leaders of the country’s Communist Party, the Alliance of The Left, the teachers’ union and the Youth league of the ruling party.

“What I liked most about the country is that they have political parties that run the government while the Queen of the country is detached from mainstream politics. They love and respect their monarchy even though they have political parties. I think we can learn a lot from their political set up,” he said.