POLICE, COUNCIL STOP TUCOSWA MARCH AGAIN

MANZINI - The Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) is unhappy following that the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) and Municipal Council of Manzini have once again denied the workers’ federation to host a gathering in the hub of the country.

The workers were supposed to march to deliver a petition to the at Manzini Police Regional Headquarters over arbitrary arrests and police brutality. The stand of the federation is contained in a statement which was issued by its Secretary General Mduduzi Gina yesterday afternoon. Gina said on October 25, 2021, the federation notified the office of the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, of its intention to hold gatherings in various towns and cities across the country. He said the notification of the ministry followed an administrative directive issued by the same department, in respect of issuance of permits to gather within urban local authority areas.

Statute

“It was clear then that the Public Order Act of 2017, as a governing Statute for such matters was being violated. In its response, the ministry informed the federation that in actual fact, the local governments were stripped off the powers to entertain notices of gatherings not by the ministry but by the executive in its collective,” reads part of the statement. Thereafter, he said it was getting clear then that the law and the constitutional rights of citizens to gather, were under the carpet of the executive and it was broken. After that, he said on October 28, 2021, government supposedly sent the police and the army to violently crush the intended gathering of the federation, which had followed all the known procedures for a legal gathering. As a result, he said workers from Mhlume were heavily assaulted by the army personnel in the bushes at KaLanga, after their bus was forcefully diverted. He added that the workers were beaten with sticks by the soldiers and ordered to roll in the muddy ground.

After that, Gina said on February 2, 2022, the federation notified the Municipal Council of Manzini of its intentions to petition the police on various reports regarding their supposed brutality and arbitrary arrests. Again, he said the municipality denied them the permission on the basis of the said minister’s directive. He said the matter was taken to court and the municipality learnt that government disowned the said directive.

Municipality

“The municipality was ordered by the court to consider the notice of the gathering. On February 17, 2022, the federation again notified the same council of its desire to proceed with the police petition on February 23, 2022 (today) on the strength of the court ruling,” Gina said. Following that, he said a consultation meeting was held on Monday, February 21, 2022, for the determination of the gathering logistics intended for  today. He said the meeting was held at the council chambers.
“The police indicated that the country was not ready to host any kind of gathering due to security issues. The security issues were not disclosed in the meeting,” Gina said.
Thereafter, he said the municipality, through a letter dated February 21, 2022, communicated to the federation its prohibition of the gathering and cited national security and public order concerns as a reason.

Gina said it was clear to the federation that there was allegedly an undeclared State of emergency in the country. He said this was because the suspension of the application of the rule of law could only apply during a state of emergency. “If indeed there are security concerns at the level that constitutional rights of citizens should be suspended, which we do not agree they exist, the government should declare a State of emergency,” the unionist said. He added that the covert declaration of a State of emergency by the security forces was negative as it discourages potential investors and it was likely to cause civil disobedience.

Subsequently, he said they held a consultative meeting with affiliates of the federation on Monday, and it was resolved that they should prepare all its structures and the general membership to cause for the restoration of a civil constitutional order. In this connection, he said the federation would engage in a country wide membership consultation for strategies and tactics that would assist it in carrying out its mandate, including defying unjust and authoritarian orders. He said this process would take two or three months.

Advice

Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni, said the police were not supposed to comment on such issues as they only advice the municipality. She referred this publication to the municipality. Efforts of getting a comment from the Municipal Council of Manzini Information Communications Officer Mathokoza Thwala, proved futile as his mobile phone rang unanswered yesterday afternoon.  A WhatsApp message was sent to him and he was asked to confirm that the municipality had denied TUCOSWA to gather in the city today. However, he had not responded by the time of compiling this report.

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