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afrol.com / AENS, 29 November - Roughly 200 pro-democracy protestors campaigning for political reform in Swaziland turned trucks and other commercial vehicles away from the Oshoek border post between the kingdom and South Africa on Wednesday morning. At least 30 cargo trucks were turned back by the chanting demonstrators on the South African side of the border, but normal travelers and tourists were not harassed or stopped. A planned mirror demonstration on the Swazi side failed to materialize after the local army staged roadblocks and police posted a heavy presence at the border, turning all suspected demonstrators away. The protest marks the start of a three-day anti-monarchist border blockade by Swazi unionists, students and underground political parties campaigning for multi-party political reforms in sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarchy. The protestors are calling on King Mswati III to repeal a 1973 royal decree banning politics, to dilute the wide powers enjoyed by traditional leaders, and institute an interim government during a proposed transition to a multi-party democratic political system. Swaziland Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini has publicly rejected the demands and refused to make concessions during a last ditch attempt to negotiate with unionists in Mbabane on Wednesday night. The South African protests were led by exiled Swaziland activists, but included Congress of South African Trade Union (COSATU) and Johannesburg-based Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) members. Smaller demonstrations at Swaziland's seven other international border posts between South Africa and Mozambique were poorly attended and failed to disrupt either commercial or ordinary traffic. South African police at Jeppies Reef border in Mpumalanga reported a small group of roughly 16 chanting demonstrators but said no-one turned up on the Swazi side of the border. Swaziland Federation of Trade Union (SFTU) secretary general, Jan Sithole, attributed the low turnout to a concerted security force clampdown inside Swaziland over the past week. Police and army, he said, staged joint roadblocks right across the kingdom of roughly one million people and ordered anyone suspected of being a demonstrator to return home immediately on pain of arrest. Roughly 150 key union and political leaders sneaked out of Swaziland at the weekend, however, to avoid possible detention and to organize the South African mirror demonstrations. - This is only the beginning. The build-up has been slower than we would have liked, but you have to realise that hundreds of supporters have been turned away by Swazi police, said Sithole. "We are, however, managing to convince truck drivers to turn back, and we therefore achieving our aim of imposing economic pressure on the Swazi government." South African police commander at Oshoek, Superintendent Thys Loedolf, said the demonstrations had been peaceful and would be tolerated as long as they did not incite violence or interfere in traffic flow. All trucks that had turned back, he said, appeared to have done so voluntarily after listening to demonstrators' arguments. "We are confident that there will be no serious incidents if protestors continue behaving as well as they have," said Loedolf. COSATU's Mpumalanga deputy chairman, Linah Malatjie, said additional protestors were being bussed in from South Africa's industrial centers in Gauteng and Witbank to swell the picket lines. "We intend showing the Swazi government that they cannot silence genuine grievances by using overwhelming force. Democracy cannot stopped by borders or roadblocks," said Malatjie. Swaziland police and army meanwhile maintained a visible presence on the streets of all major cities, clamped down on the attempted distribution of pro-democracy posters in the capital Mbabane, and prevented all public gatherings of more than four people. The border blockade is the latest protest in an escalating campaign for political reform that included an illegal two-day strike earlier this month, sporadic anti-monarchist street protests and a bevy of High Court challenges against the government. The authorities responded by closing the country's only university, arresting key political leaders, placing Sithole under house arrest, beating and hospitalizing at least four other unionists and deporting foreign journalists. The clampdown has sparked international condemnation from neighbouring countries, South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC), media watchdogs and international labour organisations.
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