Eswatini Student Protests Prompt School Shutdowns

Youth opposition to schooling costs and monarchical rule in Eswatini sparked a nationwide halt on schooling this week. (Wikimedia)

Eswatini government officials announced an indefinite stoppage to student instruction on October 16. The African state has been grappling with ongoing unrest over education fees and disapproval over the current administration.

The pause comes just days after the authorities dispatched soldiers and police members to numerous schools, where students have protested for weeks. They have been demanding a change in regime, free educational instruction, and the release of two lawmakers who were imprisoned during pro-democracy protests last year.

Africa’s last monarchy witnessed great turmoil this past summer as citizens rose up against King Mswati III and his administration. The protests were led mostly by young members seeking to uproot their leader of 36 years. They were provoked in May by the murder of a law student, in which many people suspect state-backed police were involved. Discontent increased in June after the government banned any protests against the king’s authority. The UN appealed for an independent investigation into alleged human rights abuses during this period of turmoil.

Roughly 28 citizens were killed, and another 150 were injured in June and July as residents of the sparsely-populated state objected to Mswati III’s rule. He is being widely disparaged for his luxurious lifestyle and his corruption. Like other African states, the country’s already existent economic woes were exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, with roughly 40 percent of the population now unemployed—a grim situation in stark contrast with Mswati’s lavish cars and sprawling wealth.

The latest stain on Mswati’s increasingly unpopular authority has been this week’s shutdown. In an interview with CNN this past week, Eswatini Prime Minister Dlamini proclaimed that citizens seeking change will have to wait until the 2023 parliamentary elections to reorder the constitution. However, Mswati’s party has long repressed journalists, media, and prominent opposition parties such as the People’s United Democratic Movement, the most notable challenger within the state.

Wonder Mkhonza, General Secretary of the Amalgamated Trade Union of Eswatini, expressed yesterday that ruling elites are “hell-bent” on “taking the whole country down with them” as the country continues to grapple with a myriad of systemic political, economic, and social issues.