Solidarité avec le peuple et les jeunes communistes du Swaziland-Solidarity with the People and the Young Communists of Swaziland

english version below

Depuis mai 2021, lorsque le militant étudiant Thabani Nkomonye a été tué par la police lors d’une manifestation pacifique, le peuple du Swaziland est en soulèvement contre la monarchie absolue du roi Mswati II et les forces réactionnaires qui soutiennent son règne. Malgré la répression brutale de l’État, le chômage, l’expulsion de l’école, les fusillades, la torture, l’exil et la mort, les syndicats ouvriers et étudiants et toutes les forces progressistes se sont mobilisés pour la lutte en faveur d’une république démocratique. Nous saluons le travail tenace du Parti communiste du Swaziland (PCS), et en particulier des jeunes cadres du Parti qui risquent leur vie pour la cause de l’émancipation des masses.

Plusieurs lois en vigueur restreignent sévèrement la liberté d’expression et d’association, notamment la loi de 1938 sur la sédition et les activités subversives, qui continue d’être invoquée, la loi de 1963 sur l’ordre public et la loi de 2008 sur la suppression du terrorisme. En outre, l’état d’urgence, déclaré en 1973 et toujours en vigueur, suspend les libertés constitutionnelles et interdit les partis politiques. En 2014, le gouvernement a dissous toutes les fédérations de travailleurs et d’employeurs du Swaziland, y compris la Confédération syndicale du Swaziland.

Le 28 février 2023, le camarade Mvuselelo Mkhabela, 21 ans, du PCS, a été enlevé et torturé par les forces du roi pour la deuxième fois au cours de ce mois. Le camarade Mvuselelo avait organisé une manifestation de jeunes appelant au boycott des élections proposées par le roi. Dans la ville rurale de Hluti, à environ 180 kilomètres au sud de Mbabane, la capitale du Swaziland, les jeunes ont dressé des barrages routiers pour empêcher le « comité électoral » du roi d’entrer, brandissant des bannières portant les slogans « Levez l’interdiction des partis politiques » et « Libérez tous les prisonniers politiques ». La police est arrivée et a tiré sur la foule sans avertissement, et dans le chaos qui a suivi, le camarade Mvuselelo a été kidnappé par la police et torturé avant d’être emmené à l’hôpital quelques heures plus tard sans aucuns premiers soins ni triage.

Quelques semaines auparavant, le 7 février, des policiers lourdement armés avaient fait irruption à 4 heures du matin au domicile du camarade Mvuselelo et l’avaient arrêté avec le camarade Bongi Mamba, 25 ans, du PCS, deux jours après qu’ils eurent mené une manifestation locale antimonarchiste appelant à la levée de l’interdiction des partis politiques et à la libération des prisonniers politiques.

Le 9 mars, le PCS a publié une vidéo du camarade Mvuselelo dans laquelle il déclare qu’il est en sécurité, mais qu’il finira probablement en exil. De nombreux leaders des manifestations ont été contraints de fuir pour sauver leur vie, comme Sticks Nkambule, secrétaire général du Syndicat des travailleurs des secteurs du transport et de la communication du Swaziland, qui a été exilé après avoir mené une grève. Le camarade Mvuselelo a déclaré avec force : « Je n’ai pas d’autre choix que de lutter contre la monarchie. Parce que mon rêve d’étudiant ne peut être réalisé que main dans la main avec le rêve d’un meilleur Swaziland où les gens détiennent le pouvoir et la richesse, et non le roi. »

Nous exprimons notre solidarité totale et inconditionnelle avec la lutte du peuple du Swaziland, en particulier avec la jeunesse et les étudiants courageux et révolutionnaires. Nous soutenons leurs justes revendications concernant la légalisation des partis politiques, le retour en toute sécurité des exilés et réfugiés politiques, la levée de toutes les restrictions au droit de manifester, la fin de la censure des médias et la tenue d’élections parlementaires sans restrictions. Nous appelons tous les syndicats, les associations étudiantes et les organisations démocratiques du Canada à se joindre aux revendications du mouvement démocratique au Swaziland.

Since May 2021, when student activist Thabani Nkomonye was killed by police forces during a peaceful protest, the people of Swaziland have risen up against the absolute monarchy of King Mswati II and the reactionary forces that prop up his rule. Despite being faced with the brutal brunt of the state’s repression, unemployment, expulsion from school, shootings, torture, exile, and death, the trade unions, student unions, and all progressive forces have been mobilized for the struggle for a democratic republic. We salute the tenacious work of the Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS), and in particular the youth cadre of the Party who are risking their lives for the cause of the emancipation of the masses. 

There are several laws in place which severely restrict freedom of expression and association, including the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act of 1938, which continues to be invoked, the Public Order Act of 1963, and the Suppression of Terrorism Act of 2008. In addition, the state of emergency, which was declared in 1973 and remains in effect, suspends constitutional freedoms and prohibits political parties. In 2014, the government dissolved all workers’ and employers’ federations in Swaziland, including the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland. 

On February 28, 2023, 21-year-old comrade Mvuselelo Mkhabela of the CPS was abducted and tortured by the king’s forces for the second time in that month. Comrade Mvuselelo had organized a demonstration of young people calling for a boycott of the king’s proposed sham elections. In the rural town of Hluti, about 180 kilometers south of Swaziland’s capital Mbabane, the youth set up roadblocks to stop the king’s “election committee” from entering, carrying banners with the slogans “Unban political parties” and “Free all political prisoners.” Police arrived and fired on the crowd without warning, and in the ensuing chaos comrade Mvuselelo was kidnapped by the police and tortured before being taken to a hospital hours later without any first aid or triage.

A few weeks prior, on February 7, heavily armed policemen had barged into comrade Mvuselelo’s home at 4 a.m. and had arrested him alongside 25-year-old comrade Bongi Mamba of the CPS, two days after they had led a local anti-monarchist protest calling to lift the ban on political parties and release political prisoners.They were tortured before being released the next day, after a relentless protest outside the station.

On March 9, the CPS released a video with comrade Mvuselelo where he stated he was safe, but would likely end up in exile. Many of the protest leaders have been forced to flee for their lives like Sticks Nkambule, general secretary of the Swaziland Transport, Communication and Allied Workers Union (SWATCAWU) who was exiled after leading a strike. Comrade Mvuselelo strongly stated, “I have no choice but to struggle against the monarchy. Because my dream as a student can only be fulfilled hand-in-hand with the dream of a better Swaziland where people hold the power and wealth, not the king.”

We express our full and unconditional solidarity with the struggle of the people of Swaziland, in particular the courageous and revolutionary youth and students. We support their just demands for the legalization of political parties, the safe return of political exiles and refugees, the lifting of all restrictions of the right to protest, the end of media censorship, and unrestricted parliamentary elections. We call on all trade unions, student unions, and democratic organizations in Canada to take up the demands of the democracy movement in Swaziland.

International Working Women’s Day

The economic crisis that has coincided with the pandemic has had a serious impact on women in the workforce, leading to the popularization of the portmanteau “she-cession.” The wage gap affects all members of the working class, as an artificially low wage for gender-oppressed workers drives down wages for all workers. Rising inflation is increasing the gendered wage divide. Equal pay for equal work remains an important fight in the class struggle.

Attacks by the provincial and federal governments on public social services and workers that provide them are disproportionately affecting sectors with a higher portion of women workers; healthcare, education, and civil service administration. Throughout the pandemic, inflation, and now the threatening recession, women and workers have found ways to fight back. They have organized to demand better wages, paid sick days, and well-funded hospitals and schools. As young communists we need to agitate for a public monopoly on social services, with universal not tiered or qualified access. This is our answer to the ruling class demands for austerity measures.

It is clear to us as Young Communists that the main force sustaining patriarchy and male chauvinism today is capitalism. The drive to produce new generations of working people has always fallen on women, who, in modern capitalist society, are forced to work the “double burden” of both the regular work day and unpaid domestic labour, including cleaning, child-rearing, cooking, and other household duties. The patriarchy and the capitalist system rely deeply on each other and mutually reinforce one another. Communists have always taken up the call for increased gender equality, and have continuously fought for accessible childcare, reproductive healthcare, truly equal pay rates, and higher rates of education for women and gender-oppressed people.

Today and tomorrow, the YCL-LJC remains committed to the fight against all forms of oppression. Oppression strengthens and reinforces the exploitation of one class over another.

“Solidarity among the male and female workers, a general cause, general goals, a general path to that goal — that is the solution to the ‘woman’ question in the working-class.” —Nadezhda Krupskaya