from SAMBULO DLAMINI in Mbabane, Eswatini
MBABANE, (CAJ News) – HIGH school students have joined in the pro-democracy protests in Eswatini after boycotting class to join their university counterparts to demand reforms and the release of opposition activists.
This is worsening the crisis in the Southern African country gripped by demonstrations against the administration of King Mswati III.
University of Eswatini students are currently engaged in a strike action due to unpaid meal allowances by the government.
The situation has taken a new dimension after high school students at some schools boycotted classes this week.
Among affected learning centres are Elulakeni, Emvimbeko Nkanini High Schools in Hlatikulu, Manzini and Ncandweni respectively.
Some have been carrying placards demanding the freeing of their Members of Parliament (MPs) detained during a clampdown on dissent by the beleaguered government of Msawti III.
These are prominently, Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube, who were arrested in July as police upped their clampdown on pro-democracy movements.
They face terrorism charges for allegedly inciting the protest action against the government.
The Economic Freedom Fighters in Swaziland has endorsed the protest action by the high scholars.
“We are the generation we have been waiting for,” the movement stated.
The government has reportedly deployed the army and police in schools around the country, raising fears of the showdown that left scores dead in July.
There have been reports of security personnel beating students at William Pitcher College this week as the tertiary students engaged in a protest over unpaid meal allowances.
Some students were reportedly injured when soldiers fired teargas inside their rooms.
Government was yet to comment on the upheaval at schools, some which have been targets of arsonists in recent times.
The administration of Mswati III, who has ruled the kingdom since 1986, has been facing its worst protests in decades.
– CAJ News