About 100 members of the Swaziland Democracy Campaign have protested outside parliament against the R2.4-billion loan given by the South African government to King Mswati III.
Cosatu’s Western Cape provincial organiser, Mike Louw, told Politics LIVE: “The bailout is unacceptable. The only legitimate way of providing a loan is under the condition that political prisoners are released, and that the Swazi government agrees that political parties and trade unions could operate freely”.
Led by Cosatu, the campaign plans to march in Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth on Thursday.
A group of 30 Cosatu leaders, including the federation’s deputy president, Zingiswa Losi, have been in Swaziland since Monday, taking part in a week of protests organised by Swazi trade unions.
Another 50 Cosatu leaders are set to travel to the kingdom today and tomorrow, Cosatu said yesterday.
In June this year, rumours circulated that Mswati had asked President Jacob Zuma for a loan of R10-billion.
The government denied it for two weeks, until the Department of International Relations and Cooperation confirmed that there had been a request from the Swazi government to borrow money.
The loan was later granted by the government on the grounds that it would help alleviate a looming crisis of poverty in Swaziland.
Mswati is one of the last absolute monarchs in the world. According to the Forbes 2009 list of the "World's Richest Royals", he is worth R670-million.
There have been no democratic elections in the country since 1973, unions and political parties are banned, and 70% of Swazi citizens live below the poverty line. Despite this, the SA government has always maintained cordial relations with the Swazi regime.
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