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SNUS, TUCOSWA MARCH TO DEMAND COLANI’S RELEASE

02/02/2022 08:20:00 Stanley Khumalo and Sibusiso Zwane

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MANZINI – The Swaziland Union of Students (SNUS) and the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) will tomorrow stage a march, to demand the release of Colani Maseko.

Maseko, who is the President of SNUS, was arrested and charged with sedition and two counts of malicious damage to property. Subsequent to this, a meeting was held yesterday wherein TUCOSWA and the SNUS leadership took a resolution to march to demand for the release of Maseko while also voicing out the concerns over the recent occurrences faced by students’ union leaders. TUCOSWA Secretary General Mduduzi Gina said the federation noted the supposedly increasingly deplorable political state obtaining in the country and had agreed in unison that the political situation was one that required serious attention.

Resolutions

He said in their meeting, four resolutions were reached, which included that the federation must attend all planned activities calling for the unconditional release of political prisoners including the SNUS president, the two incarcerated legislators in Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube. “In this connection, it was resolved that the federation should participate in the activities planned by SNUS for the February 3, 2022, in Manzini,” Gina said. He said it was resolved further that, a petition be delivered to the Manzini Police Regional Headquarters (RHQ) in protest against the alleged ongoing senseless and targeted assault of activists. He said a case in point was that of Sakhile Nxumalo , the Political Educator and Training Officer of the SNUS, which happened yesterday.

Gina also claimed that there was the general victimisation and intimidation of pro-democracy leaders supposedly by the State security forces. Furthermore, he said it was resolved, that in consultation with other formations in the Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF), a consideration must be made to have sleepover protests in selected United Nations offices and embassies. This, he said, would be a build-up towards a mass stay away, which must ensue through wide membership consultations. Supporting this was SNUS Secretary General Wakhile Lukhele through a statement. Lukhele said the SNUS leadership had taken a resolution to call upon all forces to the battlefield as of tomorrow, February 03, 2022. He said the SNUS appealed to all its allies, the youth, the church and all members of the mass democratic movement to join forces and render the country ungovernable.

In the statement, Lukhele said, the freedom of all emaSwati was in their hands. Lukhele also urged all students and the nation at large to stay united and rally behind the union and its president, all political prisoners inclusive of Amos Mbedzi and the two incarcerated legislators. In the statement, the secretary general said history had taught them that when the youth united against any injustice that prevailed, no matter what the circumstances, they would conquer. “Even now, in this moment, the union leadership is confident that any form of injustice that attempts to silence the voice of students can be defeated in solidarity,” he said. Lukhele said while the SNUS president was officially charged, the campaigns officer of the organisation Sibusiso Commander Nkwanyana, was released after allegedly being tortured and throttled by police officers at Mliba Police Station.

He also said another student, Simphiwe Sgubhu Gamedze from the University of Eswatini (UNESWA) Luyengo campus, was taken to Malkens Police Station and was later released on the same day. He alleged that the SNUS political and education officer (Nxumalo) was tortured and later taken to the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital. This, he said, made it clear to them that they were supposedly being kidnapped, tortured and injured. He advised students to be vigilant and safe from the police. Meanwhile, TUCOSWA held a consultative meeting yesterday at the Shosholoza Preschool Hall to reflect on the increasing attack on pro-democracy activists. The meeting was necessitated by the arrests of Student Union leaders that happened on January 31 and February 1, 2022, respectively.

Meanwhile, the meeting wherein the resolutions were taken was attended by the national executive committees (NECs) of the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) , Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), Swaziland Commercial and Allied Workers Union (SCAWU) and Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU).
Also present were National Workers Union of Swaziland Higher Institutions (NAWUSHI), Swaziland Health Institution and Allied Workers Union (SHIAWU), Swaziland Transport Communication and Allied Workers Union (SWATCAWU), Swaziland Agricultural Plantation Workers Union (SAPWU) and the Youth Structure.