Police stop workshop at Sidvokodvo

MBABANE – Police stopped a youth workshop on human rights, democracy and elections held at a church in Sidvokodvo on Thursday.

The workshop was organised by the Swaziland Youth Empowerment Organisation, otherwise known as Luvatsi.

This is the same organisation that recently slammed Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Hlobisile Ndlovu over claims that the African Union was not a space for toyi-toying.
The group made known its support for South African youth activist Malaika Wa Azania who clashed with the minister during the AU Youth Forum held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

About 50 young people from Sidvokodvo and surrounding areas are said to have assembled at the Pentecostal Church for the workshop when the police arrived.
Luvatsi Coordinator Colani Nhleko said when they arrived at the venue they found one police officer who told them that the workshop would not be allowed to proceed.

“When we asked him the reasons for stopping the workshop, he said we should go to the police station for answers. We went to the police station and found two officers who told us to wait for the station commander who was on his way. We waited for about two hours but the station commander did not pitch, instead, two officers arrived and attended to us.”

Nhleko said the two officers told them that the station commander had left them with an order not to let the workshop continue.
“When we tried to get reasons for the workshop being stopped, they told us that it was only the station commander who had answers.”
He said they left the station and headed back to the venue and as they began addressing the youth, the police arrived and spoke to a member of the church telling him that the workshop should stop.

Nhleko said they eventually had to abandon the meeting as around 10 armed police told them to stop the gathering.
“We went back to the police station to try and meet the station commander but he was not there yet the officers kept telling us that he was the only one who could tell us the reasons for stopping the workshop.”

Eventually, Nhleko said, they were left with no option but to abandon the gathering.
Others from Luvatsi who had attended the workshop were Sakhephi Manana (Secretary General), Sizwe Vilakati (Assistant Coordinator) and Nosimilo Ntuli (member).

Nhleko said they were surprised by the action of the police because they had previously held similar workshops in areas such as KaPhunga and Khalangilile without a problem.

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