Swazis strike for 2nd day
2005-01-26 13:10
Manzini - About 300 people took part on Wednesday in a second day of protest in Swaziland, heeding a call by trade unions pushing for democratic reforms in Africa's last absolute monarchy.
The protesters marched through the streets of Manzini, Swaziland's economic capital, closely watched by police who surrounded the crowd.
A few hundred had also turned out for the protest held on Tuesday in nearby Mbabane where thousands of police and military personnel had been deployed, manning roadblocks at the entrances to the capital.
Shop and business owners appeared to shrug off the call to join in the two-day nationwide strike against King Mswati III's rule, with many remaining opening.
Jan Sithole, secretary general of the umbrella Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) which had hoped to draw some 20 000 protesters said on Tuesday that he expected more people to turn out in Manzini.
Mswati, 36, who has ruled Swaziland by decree since he ascended to the throne in 1986 at the age of 18, has indulged in a lavish lifestyle in the southern African country wracked by poverty and the world's highest Aids infection rate. - AFP
- SAPA