Countries In Southern Africa

"Siyinqaba (“we are the fortress”)"

"Whenever we [people of Swaziland] go abroad, people refer to us as Switzerland."

"Nearly one-third of the rural population has a high expenditure on food, thus having little capacity to cope with the combined effects of production shortfalls and increased market prices, and can quickly fall further into food insecurity. Swaziland has seen an increase of food insecurity in the country with many households unable to eat three meals a day. Acute malnutrition rates have increased by 2.5 per cent from the average of 3 to 5.5 percent [of the population]"

"My wife works at the university. Last month they got paid late. And they don't know what will happen when it's pay day again. In the health sector, it's worse. Some people got only half their salaries. There is no money - only panic."

"Africa's last remaining absolute monarch, King Mswati III of Swaziland, took power at the age of eighteen. Since then he has allowed his country to slide into extreme poverty, with 69 percent of the Swazi people living on less than $1 a day. Swaziland has the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the world: almost 40 percent. The nation operated without a constitution for thirty years. Mswati agreed to implement a new one in 2006; however, it bans political parties, gives Mswati the right to reject any laws passed by the legislature, and grants him immunity from all possible crimes."

"The Industrial Relations Act did not provide for the registration of labour federations. The Swaziland government has had this issue on its plate for several years. We understand that the Industrial Relations Act is now being looked at by government as a Bill was tabled in parliament by the Ministry of Labour this week, but the amendments have to be passed fully to allow for labour unions to work collectively to improve workers’ rights."

"These are equally important because even if federations are registered, the question remains whether or not citizens and workers will be allowed to have peaceful public gatherings without interference by the police? Amendments to these two pieces of legislation should allow for a process of transparency and objectivity in deciding how people can come together for public gathering. As the law is currently interpreted, any public gathering can be stopped, as has happened in the past. We are concerned because this interpretation negatively impacts the rights of labor unions and members of the public to gather to hold May Day celebrations and other meetings to talk about conditions of employment and other issues which affect the economy broadly."

"There is a need to give police better guidance so they can do proper law enforcement. No one can say Swaziland, just like any other country, has no right to have reasonable limits on behavior that can be threatening but right now the law is overly broad."