ZCTU takes swipe at Swaziland PM

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has castigated the Prime Minister of Swaziland Sibusiso Dlamini for threatening trade unionists from his country who attended the United States-Africa Summit in Washington, DC, with strangulation upon their return to Swaziland.

Dlamini, in an address to Parliament, called for the strangulation of Sipho Gumede of the Swaziland Lawyers for Human Rights and Vincent Ncongwane of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) for taking part in a free speech demonstration at the summit.

In a statement, ZCTU secretary-general Japhet Moyo said the government of Swaziland had a history of violating workers' rights, adding other governments should immediately urge Dlamini to withdraw his statements.

Moyo said a high-level International Labour Organisation fact-finding mission to Swaziland in January this year had found that the country had made no meaningful progress in promoting freedom of association.