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The healthcare situation in Swaziland, particularly in so far as Covid-19 is concerned, is worse than the picture that is painted by the Mswati autocracy. It is clear that there is serious underreporting of Covid-19 infections and deaths. Funeral homes have already reported on the extreme shortage of coffins as well as the lack of space in their mortuaries due to the increased number of deaths, most of which are Covid related, prompting them to direct that funerals must be held on daily basis, no longer on a Thursday to Sunday basis. Clinics and hospitals are also unable to cope with the overwhelming number of patients. Clearly, the numbers reported by Mswati’s government are far above the 10773 confirmed cases and 268 deaths to date.

The Mswati regime worsened the infection rate among healthcare workers by refusing to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to the workers, prompting the nurses’ union to take the government to court to force it to provide PPE. The facts also show that Mswati helped spread the virus through his annual ritual, incwala, a super spreader which has already overseen the infection and death of many of those who attended the ritual. The tightened lockdown measures announced yesterday are nothing but a sorry reaction by a puppet government which turned a blind eye to Mswati’s ritual and thus helped spread the virus.

The spread of the virus and the consequent deaths are crimes directly traceable to the doorstep of the absolute monarchy. The Covid-19 crisis ravaged a country already devastated by a collapsed healthcare system, traceable to the autocracy’s governance which prioritised Mswati’s opulent lifestyle at the expense of the people.

The Communist Party of Swaziland calls upon workers’ unions to stand strong and unite in defence of workers’ rights, particularly those on the frontline. As the people of Swaziland, we must unite in defence of workers’ rights and in the fight against the tinkhundla regime which oversaw the collapse of the healthcare system. The regime is incapable – and unwilling – to revive the healthcare system. As such, the fight against Covid-19 must at one and the same time be bound up with the fight against the oppressive tinkhundla regime.

Issued by the Communist Party of Swaziland