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The Young Communist League of South Africa [uFasimba] joins progressive forces across the world in congratulating our sister organization, the biggest youth movement in Swaziland, the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), on their 29th anniversary.

SWAYOCO has since its formation been at the forefront of the struggle for democracy in Swaziland together with People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), the Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) and other progressive formations. Both SWAYOCO and PUDEMO were proscribed under Swaziland’s Suppression of Terrorism Act, and that has resulted in the liberation movement in Swaziland being subjected to organizing underground.

The actions of the Swazi government under the dictatorship of Africa’s last remaining absolute monarch, King Moswati III, are not new, neither are they surprising. Liberation movements in South Africa resonates with such tendencies very well as they reflect the nature and tactics of the former apartheid government. The Communist Party of South Africa (now the South African Communist Party) together with the Young Communist League of South Africa were the first to be banned and declared terrorists under the Suppression of Communism Act 44 of 1950. Later other liberation forces such as the African National Congress were banned. This is mainly the price that movements for democracy and liberation pay for the journey towards social justice and political freedom.

SWAYOCO’s resistance to the pressure and brutality of Mswati’s regime on its leaders and members should be an encouragement to youth formations across the SADC region in our struggle for social justice and prosperity across the region, particularly the struggle for democracy in Swaziland.

On the occasion of the 29th anniversary of SWAYOCO, the Young Communist League of South Africa calls for the unity of all progressive youth formation against the brutality and undemocratic dictatorship of Mswati’s rule. We further call upon progressive forces to unite and not compromise the historic struggle for the total liberation of the African continent. The urgent need for democracy in Swaziland, the right to self-determination of the Saharawi people against the colonial rule by Morocco on Western Sahara, the need for peace in Sudan and the independence of African states from the dictatorship of International Finance Institutions are the most urgent immediate struggles if we are to protect the progress of our historic struggle.

Issued by the Young Communist League of South Africa [ufasimba]