Pius Vilakati: Class Struggle in Swaziland: Pre-and-Post-Independence Swazi Socio-Economic Conditions

Blossom of Thought

Pius Vilakati is the guest for this episode. Pius is a political activist and International Secretary of the Communist Party of Swaziland. He is a political exile, resident in South Africa. He is a former president of the Student Representative Council (SRC), a student board, of the University of Swaziland. In this episode, we explore the subject of Class Struggle in Swaziland: Pre-and-Post-Independence Swazi Socio-Economic Conditions.

We discuss:

• Pre-colonial socio-economic conditions in Swaziland and Europeans’ integration with the native aristocracy for the exploitation of the masses.
• The Swazi resistance to colonialism
• The establishment of a capitalist state in Swaziland, class struggle, and the rise of trade unions in Swaziland - moving from feudalism and communalism to capitalism.
• Post-independence and neo-colonialization of Swaziland
• The Swazi royalty cooperated with colonizers to oppress the Swazi people.
• How Sobhuza II’s sabotaged the workers' movement to benefit the royal family (Swazi aristocrats) and European settlers.
• Monarchical absolutism.
• How Sobhuza II undermined the Azanian/South African liberation struggle through.
• Like all Africans, the people of Swaziland have always fought for the control of their land.
• In neo-colonialism, the colonizers will give you “freedom”, the flag, elections, national anthem, parliament, etc., but they control your economy and policies.
• Swaziland is still a source of raw materials for exploitation and a labour force for the exploitation of our people for the benefit of foreign capital – e.g., the textile industry.
• In Swaziland we need a democracy where ownership of the country and means of production are at the hands of the people – that means a truly sovereign state independent of foreign influence.

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