“The activity of the Communist and Workers’ Parties under the conditions of the pandemic and the capitalist crisis, for safeguarding the health and the rights of the popular strata, in the struggle to change society, for socialism. ”
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Communist Party of Swaziland
The people of Swaziland’s struggle for democracy entered its 47th year this year, since 12 April 1973 when the monarchy banned political parties and all political activity and created the absolute monarchy that still rules with an iron fist. The creation of an absolute monarchy occurred with the direct political and economic support from apartheid South Africa as well as international capital. The consequence of the autocracy has been the disempowerment of Thokozane Kenneth Kunene, the people, politically and economically. The public General Secretary healthcare system has virtually collapsed while the royal family has been further enriched through the exploitation of the people. Imperialism continues to play a major role in the strengthening of the autocracy. International institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) continued this year to advance loans as means of rescuing the bankrupt regime – and to sink the economy of the country into more debt –with the United States of America (USA)rescuing the regime in terms of donations, either in the form of monetary donations or the training of, particularly, young people of Swaziland. These measures have worked to mask the deplorable economy and the poverty engulfing the country. Close to 70 percent of the people of Swaziland live below the poverty line. Unemployment and inequality remain very high, while those who are employed, particularly women in the factories, are profoundly underpaid. About 77 percent of the people live in the rural areas, under land directly administered by the chiefs on behalf of the monarchy. Rural people are among those who face the harshest treatment from the regime as they face eviction for any political dissent, which include participation and membership in workers’ unions, student struggles, as well as for participation in calls for democracy. The Swaziland struggle reached a new level of intensity in late 2019 when the people made a decisive call for the fall of the dictator, Mswati III – who rules the country as an absolute monarch – uniting under the campaign #MswatiMustFall! The Communist Party of Swaziland(CPS) supported this call and campaigned for its deepening and broadening, calling for a national uprising against the autocracy. The actions of the absolute monarchy have proved time and again, even to the most conservative elements, that absolute monarchy cannot be reformed and dressed in democratic robes but must be overthrown. The CPS seeks a revolutionary transformation of society, occasioned by the end of the opIB Special Edition
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