Maravi

(MnG, AFP) Swazi teachers demand freeze on king's assets

COMMENT - Another day, another 'IMF riot'. This is in the wake of the IMF telling Swaziland to introduce austerity measures, so they can make up for letting go of the customs union that provided most of the government's revenues. (Read: Swaziland must get its house in order, warns World Bank, or the more blunt: "Swaziland must cut spending") My guess is that the IMF wants to get rid of King Maswati. They know that austerity makes rulers extremely unpopular, because of cuts in services like education.

Swazi teachers demand freeze on king's assets
MBABANE, SWAZILAND - Jun 01 2011 20:36

About 3 000 Swazi teachers marched to the South African and American embassies on Wednesday to appeal for an international asset freeze against King Mswati III, Africa's last absolute monarch.

"We appeal to you to identify and freeze assets owned by the ruling elite and invested in the US resultant from their looting of our economy over the years," read the petition by the Swaziland National Association of Teachers.

The union appealed to Washington to ask countries in the Group of Eight to also freeze assets of Mswati and his inner circle.

Mswati has drawn condemnation for his lavish lifestyle with 13 wives and more than 20 children.

Excluding the cost of overseas trips and refurbishing palaces, the royal family's budget allocation this year was $30-million -- 20% more than last year.

The angry teachers brought the capital Mbabane to a standstill in the first demonstration since pro-democracy protests in April were dispersed with water cannons and batons. This time police did not intervene.

"We are saying as Swazis, it is enough! We are in a bus that is burning and we are kicking out the emergency window," union leader Sibongile Mazibuko told the crowd.

The United States is the country's biggest donor, putting millions of dollars into the fight against AIDS in the country with the world's highest incidence of HIV.

"We remain partners with the Swazi government and people ... We seek to strengthen key government institutions that uphold democratic values," said US embassy political adviser Craig Pike.

Teachers fear that Swaziland's lilangeni currency could be de-linked from the South African rand.

They petitioned the South African embassy for assurances on the currency peg and asked President Jacob Zuma "to intervene in helping Swaziland becoming a multi-party democratic state".

Swaziland is reeling after a 60% drop last year in revenues from a regional customs union, its main source of income.

The country has been paying civil servants by drawing down foreign reserves, but as the crisis deepens the cash is running out. -- AFP

Labels: NEOLIBERALISM, SWAZILAND, TEACHERS

posted by MrK @ 2:34 AM