Swaziland Communist Leader Slams Mswati’s Ban on Non-Christian Religious Teaching in Schools
Friday, 27 January 2017 16:18
The Communist Party of Swaziland has condemned the effort of the Mswati regime to ban all religious teaching in Swazi schools except Christianity.
“This is a cack-handed attempt to clamp down on the Muslim community, evidently to suck up to the ‘war of terror’ posturing of the US and its imperialist allies,” said CPS General Secretary Kenneth Kunene.
“Now that President Trump is re-ramping up the most brutal and idiotic aspects of US anti-terrorism policy, Mswati is seeking kudos from Trump by taking similarly counter-productive and witless steps. He probably thinks he’ll get an invitation to Trump Tower and the White House.”
But Kunene warned that racist and discriminatory moves against the Swaziland’s Muslims will only backfire, generating yet more disaffection with the Mswati regime.
“Communists and other progressive forces must reach out to those in the Muslim community to make clear that they are not alone and to include them in the pro-democracy fold.”
Kunene said that CPS education policy for a post-Mswati democratic Swaziland is to develop secular education in public schools. But this does not mean that discrimination against non-Christian religions should be tolerated.
“We believe that the history of religion and religious ideas should eventually replace religious instruction in public schools. And in this too there would be no discrimination bias hardwired into how the subject is presented. Until then, and while we have the current system, it should be as open as possible to all religious persuasions.”
Kunene pointed out that the Mswati regime also binds Christianity to his own notions of traditional culture to intimidate Swazis and maintain his own domination of the country by asserting himself as a quasi-divine entity.
Swazi Communists: Solidarity with SANU students facing funding halt
31 January 2017
The Communist Party of Swaziland calls for full solidarity with students at Southern African Nazarene University (SANU), who are on strike over unpaid academic allowances.
The SANU is a state health training institution operating under the Nazareth health institutions in Swaziland, and has campuses at Steki Good Shepherd and Manzini Nazarene Hospitals.
The students are protesting at the sudden stop to their allowances, which has disrupted the payment of fees and access to academic books, accommodation, food, textbooks andother essentials.
The students have been on strike since 27 January. The university management has responded by calling in the police to try to break up the strike.
The presence of the police on campus is putting the lives of the students at risk.
Mswati’s police are increasingly deployed to clamp down on peaceful protests linked to the failures of the dictatorship to provide necessary services to the people.
The CPS calls on the administration of the institution to get the police off campus and to engage with the students to address their grievances without delay.
We call on student organisations and other progressive formations in Swaziland and outside the country to work in solidarity with the Swazi students and the Swaziland National Union of Students.
What limited rights there are in Swaziland concerning access to learning must be defended tooth and nail in the face of constant efforts by the regime to avoid its meager public spending commitments.
Kenneth Kunene
General Secretary
For details contact
Njabulo Dlamini
National Organiser
+268 7603 9844
The Communist Party of Swaziland has condemned the effort of the Mswati regime to ban all religious teaching in Swazi schools except Christianity.
“This is a cack-handed attempt to clamp down on the Muslim community, evidently to suck up to the ‘war of terror’ posturing of the US and its imperialist allies,” said CPS General Secretary Kenneth Kunene.
“Now that President Trump is re-ramping up the most brutal and idiotic aspects of US anti-terrorism policy, Mswati is seeking kudos from Trump by taking similarly counter-productive and witless steps. He probably thinks he’ll get an invitation to Trump Tower and the White House.”
But Kunene warned that racist and discriminatory moves against the Swaziland’s Muslims will only backfire, generating yet more disaffection with the Mswati regime.
“Communists and other progressive forces must reach out to those in the Muslim community to make clear that they are not alone and to include them in the pro-democracy fold.”
Kunene said that CPS education policy for a post-Mswati democratic Swaziland is to develop secular education in public schools. But this does not mean that discrimination against non-Christian religions should be tolerated.
“We believe that the history of religion and religious ideas should eventually replace religious instruction in public schools. And in this too there would be no discrimination bias hardwired into how the subject is presented. Until then, and while we have the current system, it should be as open as possible to all religious persuasions.”
Kunene pointed out that the Mswati regime also binds Christianity to his own notions of traditional culture to intimidate Swazis and maintain his own domination of the country by asserting himself as a quasi-divine entity.
Swazi Communists: Solidarity with SANU students facing funding halt
31 January 2017
The Communist Party of Swaziland calls for full solidarity with students at Southern African Nazarene University (SANU), who are on strike over unpaid academic allowances.
The SANU is a state health training institution operating under the Nazareth health institutions in Swaziland, and has campuses at Steki Good Shepherd and Manzini Nazarene Hospitals.
The students are protesting at the sudden stop to their allowances, which has disrupted the payment of fees and access to academic books, accommodation, food, textbooks andother essentials.
The students have been on strike since 27 January. The university management has responded by calling in the police to try to break up the strike.
The presence of the police on campus is putting the lives of the students at risk.
Mswati’s police are increasingly deployed to clamp down on peaceful protests linked to the failures of the dictatorship to provide necessary services to the people.
The CPS calls on the administration of the institution to get the police off campus and to engage with the students to address their grievances without delay.
We call on student organisations and other progressive formations in Swaziland and outside the country to work in solidarity with the Swazi students and the Swaziland National Union of Students.
What limited rights there are in Swaziland concerning access to learning must be defended tooth and nail in the face of constant efforts by the regime to avoid its meager public spending commitments.
Kenneth Kunene
General Secretary
For details contact
Njabulo Dlamini
National Organiser
+268 7603 9844
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