POLICE, PROTESTORS CLASH DURING MARCH

MBABANE – Like raging bulls in the same kraal, police and demonstrators  clashed a number of times.

This was during a march led by pensioners to deliver petitions to government ministries and Cabinet offices yesterday. The petition was about the reversal of the Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF) from being a Category A parastatal to Category B. The pensioners were mostly retired teachers and were joined by members of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) and representatives of other trade unions. Police and some demonstrators had to be separated a number of times from exchanging fists during the march, attended by less than 500 people. The first heated moment was witnessed near the Embassy of the Republic of China on Taiwan, where some demonstrators blocked the intersection going towards the Central Bank. A senior police officer forcefully moved the demonstrators out of the way to allow traffic flow, however, the protesters refused.

More police officers had to jump to their boss’ aid as he was outnumbered by the young supporting protesters. Eventually, the situation was contained but only for a while as yet another scuffle happened adjacent  to the Mbabane Government Hospital. This was after the petition delivery to Cabinet. Pensioners initially said they would board transport that would ferry them to Parliament to deliver the petition. Protestors broke the police barrier line and marched towards the Ministry of Education and Training, in the process blocking a vehicle from the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) from driving past them. The protesters formed their own barrier line, while dancing and chanting in front of the vehicle ignoring the sound of the sirens. Police officers had to again come to the rescue as they physically shoved them  out of the way. This was not taken kindly by the marchers, who shoved back and exchanged heated words with the law enforcers.

So visible was the confrontation that construction workers at the Mbabane Government Hospital stopped working and watched while others took pictures. Another serious confrontation happened at the intersection, next to Galp Filling Station, which started after a protestor was shoved by a police officer for marching towards the direction of Kia Motors. The demonstrator told the officer not to touch him as they were not friends. The police officer continued to shove him away but other protestors joined in and told the officer not to intimidate one of their own. More police officers also joined the scuffle and a war of words ensued. “Do not ever touch me like that again as we might cross paths some day,” the protestor said.

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