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COSATU, together with its allies and sister organisations in Swaziland, convened a forum of South African civil society organisations and their Swazi counterparts in Benoni on 12th August, 2009. The conference received comprehensive reports from Swazi civil society, led by the Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF) and from COSATU on its own activities and campaigns on the Swaziland issue since the last meeting in 2008.

The meeting welcomed, for the first time, traditional institutions who have taken an active interest in developments in Swaziland and are keen to play a critical role in supporting the cause of democracy, and affirming the compatibility of tradition and human rights, as proven in South Africa.

They came out clearly in support of the need to assure traditional Swazis that, from their own experience in South Africa, the rich cultural heritage of Africans in general and Swazis in particular is not under threat from the expansion of democracy on our continent and in Swaziland in particular.

The issues under discussion were concluded as follows:

1. The draconian suppression of terrorism law
• The General Secretary of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions, Jan Sithole presented a political report that outlined the situation in the country and assisted in generating the rich discussions that followed.

• He also indicated that over the past weekend, he was part of a groups of senior leaders of Swazi civil society organisations who went to check PUDEMO President, Mario Masuku, in Jail and found him to be in very high spirits and as unshaken as ever.

• According to the report, Cde Mario Masuku called for unity amongst the progressives and resoluteness in very trying times

• The meeting noted the Suppression of Terrorism Act as an attempt to silence and induce fear amongst the people and the Civil service Bill which criminalises the legitimate right of public sector workers to exercise their rights to associate, organise and speak out on issues affecting the country and their welfare, thus denying them their status as citizens of the country

• They have passed a law that allows government to intercept communications between people, thus infringing on their private space and turning the country into a military despotism

In the subsequent discussions the following issues were identified:

• If there were any illusions about prospects towards democracy or the availability of political space in Swaziland, then the latest incidents have closed that debate, amongst them the intensified arrests of activists for merely wearing t-shirts calling for the release of Mario Masuku.

• The mood on the ground is very tense and angry, which threatens further possibilities for a peaceful resolution of the problem, owing to the extreme arrogance of the royal regime and intensified persecution of the people by the state security forces

• Possibilities for access to health, education and other amenities are being closed for ordinary people, for example the scholarship process and government tendering processes, which are all now subject to a very tight royal prescription and are used to impose royal patronage

• The king is now a businessman who has his hands in every part of the economy and seeks to outdo any possible competitor, owing to his unfair advantage as a ruler, with the powers to make and change laws, as he wishes. He also uses that leverage to bully the whole of society into compliance with his personal and political dictates.

• The king's wives are about to engage in another overseas trip, including France, for another shopping spree, estimated to cost around R50 million, on top of the 12 royal palaces, whilst the public health system is collapsing and education is a disaster

• The Swazi royal regime unapologetically supported the apartheid regime, whilst ordinary people supported the liberation struggle and paid heavy dues for that. We must be reminded that De Kock never needed a passport to go into Swaziland, as part of that co-operation between the apartheid regime and its royal friends.

• We must target members of the royal family who enjoy access to good facilities outside the country, particularly in South Africa, including education, health and related amenities, whilst subjecting the Swazi people to the silent genocide back home, where all these privileges are no longer possible, causing the massive suffering and deaths being recorded daily.

• Swaziland has been placed by the ILO in the ‘special paragraph' (which means it is already an international ICU case). In November it will have to report how far it has gone in addressing the issues that are engulfing not only to the country, but the whole world. This makes it easy for us to call for sanctions and total isolation of the royal regime.

• SADC must be condemned for its failure to take decisive measures against Mswati, worst still for rewarding him with a crucial position as the Chairperson of the Organ troika for security, defence and co-operation.

• The Swazi regime seeks to use 2010 as an opportunity to position itself as a tourist destination, including excessive promotion with South African municipalities and the 2010 LOC. We must wage an intensive campaign to ensure that the regime is isolated and engage the 2010 LOC, SALGA, SAMWU and the municipalities to support the cause of democracy in Swaziland, true to the traditions of the anti-apartheid cultural boycott campaign against the then apartheid South Africa.

• Traditional structures and institutions in South Africa must be engaged to promote the view that culture and tradition do not necessarily conflict with democracy, except for its excesses and abuses for narrow royalist interests, which are not compatible with democracy.

2. The Non-handling of Goods and Services to Swaziland Campaign

• A detailed report of the campaign, adopted by the CEC of COSATU on 1-3rd September 2008 was presented by the task team led by the Campaigns Co-ordinator of COSATU, Cde George Mahlangu. It was originally started as a campaign targeting Zimbabwe and Swaziland. Developments in Zimbabwe called for the programme's temporary suspension, but that was not the case for Swaziland.

• Following the request last year by the Swazi trade union movement, particularly the SFTU, calling on COSATU to campaign against the handling of goods and services destined for Swaziland, COSATU identified ten key affiliates to drive this process and were linked closely with their Swazi union counterparts identified by the request submitted to COSATU.

• A discussion on co-ordinating solidarity in South Africa to improve cohesion between South African and Swazi comrades, in which case a Joint Swazi Action Committee was proposed. The Joint Action Committee will be able to link all activities happening outside the country with the actual momentum inside Swaziland to avoid disjuncture, parallelism and fragmentation of efforts.

• We must target the following goods for the boycott:

o Arms
o Petrol/fuel
o Sugar
o Electricity (subject to various considerations to be elaborated at a meeting of relevant unions)
o Luxury goods (largely targeting products enjoyed by the royalty) and all royal beneficiaries of South African institutions, such as students studying in academic institutions and all who access private health care in South Africa, funded by the poor Swazi taxpayer who cannot access such in the country.

• We must also engage Mozambican unions, because Swazi sugar exports to Europe now go by rail to Mozambique, where it is finally sent by sea to Europe.

3. The Release Mario Masuku Campaign
• The Campaign for the Release of PUDEMO President Mario Masuku is an integral part of the campaign for multiparty democracy and the liberation of the people as a whole.

• The Campaign must be for all who support the struggle for democracy and freedom in Swaziland. It must be used to highlight the suffering of the people as a whole, recognising that while he is President of PUDEMO, he represents the broad aspirations of all the Swazi people.

• The Campaign presents an opportunity for the Swazi case to be put on the world stage with much firmer moral strength. The world community of democracy-loving people must be mobilised to organise global support, whilst also mobilising world opinion and resources to support the cause of the people as a whole.

• The SUDF must lead and co-ordinate the campaign. While fully recognising that PUDEMO is critical, it must work to ensure that it draws all forces into active participation.

The Role of traditional institutions and Cultural Boycott Campaign against tinkhundla regime
• Organise a sustained cultural boycott of Swaziland, by drawing in all progressive musicians to isolate Swaziland. CWUSA should take a leading role and concretise a programme in due course

• We shall develop a programme for the official launch of the Cultural boycott campaign, which shall call on workers to boycott all musicians who collaborate and stage shows in Swaziland

• The presence of traditional leaders and institutions in the meeting assisted a great deal in clarifying the importance of these institutions in building and sustaining democracy

• Traditional institutions in South Africa were called upon to do education amongst their Swazi counterparts, assuring them that democracy does not threaten our rich heritage as a nation and as Africans.

• They must also show their counterparts how democratic institutions allow and nourish the development of their profession and practices, in a manner that promotes good co-habitation with the rest of society. This includes recognising that in South Africa traditional medicine has been formally accredited and earns credits for practitioners, which the University of Swaziland still refuses to recognise.

• Advocate for democracy and the rights of traditional institutions to be recognised and protected from royal abuse in the context of promoting the rights of all the people. This should allow all Swazis to respect the dignity of such institutions and make them the rich preserve of the nation as a whole and not of a royal minority that uses them for its own narrow selfish interests.

5. Action Plan

Global week of Focus on Swaziland (1-6 September, 2009)
• The whole week should be focussed on raising the profile of the Swazi people's struggle, including the case of Cde Mario Masuku, with a range of activities highlighting the situation and suffering of the people of Swaziland all over the world, including emails, messages of solidarity, pickets and other actions.

• Co-ordinate action on 4th September as a of global action

• 25th September is trial date for PUDEMO President Mario Masuku and we shall stage a major action on the date, whose exact details will be communicated in due course.

• A Joint Swazi Action was established, whose terms of reference will be finalised in due course, and shall be constituted by:

o SUDF, SFTU and SFL in Swaziland
o COSATU, and 3 identified people representing credible and strategic structures, to form part of the Committee.
By end of next week, we shall have forwarded the names of the committee members.