POLITICAL PARTIES: BIG MARCH IN MANZINI ON FRIDAY

MANZINI – Despite the ban on the delivery of petitions, political parties have vowed to peacefully ground Manzini this coming Friday.

This is according to the President of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), Mlungisi Makhanya, who spoke on behalf of the Political Party Assembly (PPA). Makhanya said the PPA would have a four-week mass rolling action which shall consist of a massive peaceful march in the hub of the country – Manzini – on Friday. Leading to this march, the PUDEMO president said there would be decentralised activities throughout the week, whose itinerary would be released by the PPA today.
This follows that the political parties’ leaders could not meet yesterday to formulate their programme due to certain logistics. Furthermore, Makhanya, in an interview with South African 24-hour news channel – eNCA – said they were convinced as the PPA that their struggle was getting headway. He emphasised that they would be filling the streets in a build-up for Friday in what he termed the mother of all marches as they were resolute in intensifying their call for democracy.

Swipe

Also, Makhanya took a swipe at people he described as arm chair critics as he emphasised that it was simple for those watching from afar to be critical of the civil society groups as they lacked the facts. He said they were privileged to interact with people, most recently being families of those who were injured and died during the pro-democracy protests a fortnight ago. The pro-democracy protests which had started peacefully as protesters delivered petitions to their constituency centres, took a turn for the worst when violence, looting and torching of businesses and structures happened. The violence started at Siphofaneni Constituency when protesters were denied an opportunity to present their petition to the Member of Parliament (MP), Mduduzi Simelane. This soon spiralled countrywide as it climaxed on June 28, 2021, when supermarkets were looted, vandalised and torched, resulting in the army being deployed to beef up security in the country.

During these protests, many people were allegedly shot by security personnel and government, who first denied any casualties, later confirming 27 while pro-democracy activists have been claiming that over 60 people died and many sustained injuries due to being shot with live rounds. Meanwhile, Makhanya said the violence had not stopped as a mourner was supposedly run over by a vehicle filled with security personnel. Therefore, the PUDEMO president said it was apparent that people were being forced to be scared. On the other hand, he said there was immense support for pro-democracy advocates in their quest to pursue the ideal of a democratic society. He said a number of organisations in the region, inclusive of South African political parties, were in solidarity with the people of Eswatini.

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