April 2011 - Centre for Civil Society - University of KwaZulu-Natal

the royal family’s privileged position against members his own class and
family.’
@SwaziMedia posted regular updates on the April 12 uprisings: The army
were deployed along with the police in the capital Manzani; the University
of Swaziland was closed down and 40 students on their way to the protests
were briefly detained; a group of some 200 were picked up and dumped in
a forest 100 km from the city with no transport to return; many leading
activists were arrested and the police reportedly used rubber bullets,
water cannons and teargas to disperse protestors.
The protests continued on Wednesday with an estimate of hundreds of
people arrested.
@SwaziMedia: 'Pro-democracy activists estimate number of arrests so far in
Swaziland to be in the hundreds.’
‘Swazi police hunt down and continue to brutalize democracy advocates’.
StiffKitten blogger Peter Kenworthy’s post on the Swazi protests further
reinforce the understanding that the uprisings across the continent are
self-identifying and self-organising, as, despite the arrest of the entire
leadership including Mario Masuku of the banned People’s United
Democratic Movement, the protests continued throughout 12 and into 13
April:
‘After the entire leadership of the Labour Coordinating Council was
arrested, the labour unions simply continued with their protest as planned.
When they entered the centre of Manzini city, ordinary people from all
walks of life joined them to voice out their support for the uprising.
‘Swazi security forces are trying to shut down the uprising with water
cannons, tear gas and random beatings and arrests, but have so far only
managed to shut down Manzini’s shops and businesses. “Freedom Square
[in Manzini, Swaziland] is under siege by the state security forces. In fact
there is no business in the city today,” said Thamsanca Tsabedze from the
Foundation for Socio-Economic Justice.’
A really interesting development is a threat from COSATU (Congress of
South African Trade Unions) [Video], who marched on the Swazi border
demanding the unbanning of political parties, the return of all opposition
leaders in exile and media freedom. If their demands are not met they will
blockade the border.
www.pambazuka.org
Algeria: Spring of discontent
Socialistworld.net 14 April 2011
On 12 April in Algiers, tens of thousands of students from numerous schools
and universities marched through the streets of the capital, where
demonstrations are still officially forbidden. The students were
demonstrating against a new system of requirements for receiving
academic degrees, and, in general, against problems in the universities
and the lack of public funding for education. Political slogans were also
heard on the demos, such as “Fed up with misery, fed up with the
ministry”, “Students enraged, system get out!”, or the now familiar refrain