SACP Limpopo Province statement on the conviction of Comrade Amos Mbedzi
4 September 2012
The SACP in the Limpopo province has learnt with serious concern about the conviction of comrade Amos Mbedzi by the henchman of King Mswati in the name of Judge Maphalala. The conviction does not come as a surprise since the discredited monarchy does not have any functional judicial system. Comrade Mbedzi`s case wastreated with absolute bias from the beginning. That is why apartheid torture tactics were applied immediately after his arrest on 20 September 2008. King Mswati ordered that Comrade Mbedzi be put in solitary confinement and in a cell with no lights, which led to his partial blindness.
We call on revolutionaries across the world to condemn the undemocratic and illegitimate "Tikundla System" by the last absolute monarch in the world, King Mswati. The Swaziland government had no case against comrade Mbedzi from the beginning. It doesn`t take "Jurisprudence 101" to realise the unfairness in which comrade Mbedzi was treated in the Swaziland courts. How can a person be arrested for allegedly bombing a bridge and subsequently be convicted for attempting to murder the King? We call on SADC and the AU to immediately suspend Swazilands membership in their respective organisations and the South African government to send the High Commissioner of Swaziland packing. Mswati is a liability and an embarrassment to Africa`s reforms, particularly the movement towards democratisation of countries and must not be tolerated.
As the SACP we demand the following:
- The immediate release of all political prisoners in Swaziland
- The unbanning of political parties in Swaziland
- The abolition of the undemocratic, feudal and fascist "Tikundla System of Governance" where only wives, girlfriends, concubines, relatives and friends of the King are allowed to occupy key positions in government
- The creation of constitutional multi-party democracy in Swaziland
We wish the Socialist International a successful XXIV Congress being held in Cape Town and call upon delegates to express themselves on injustices around the world with particular condemnation of the gross Human Rights violations in our unpalatable neighbour, Swaziland!
Issued by The South African Communist Party, Limpopo Province:
Contact; Gilbert Kganyago, Provincial Secretary on 0725867340 or Walter Mothapo, Provincial Head of International Commission on 082 696 0176
