stories BY SIHLE MAVUSO
MBABANE-The People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) will fight on despite the new stance by government on the banned political movements.
PUDEMO President Mario Masuku said they saw it coming and it actually confirms their fears about the new Prime Minister, Sibusiso Dlamini.
He said the new stance by the government will not silence them for their quest to a democratic Swaziland.
"This intimidation, persecution and elimination of our members will not stop us from calling for democracy in the country," he said.
He said people must be aware that PUDEMO was not formed in an office or hotel, but on the river bank of Mbuluzi and that was in 1983," he said.
He said they were expecting government to come up for a dialogue and what they have done is nothing but putting forward their ego and looking down upon the real issues which are affecting the country," he said.
Punishment
He said listing the organisation and its bodies as terrorists' formation and the punishment that goes with being an associate to the organisation is meant to discourage the members of the movement.
"I am not a terrorist and the members of PUDEMO and the other branches are not terrorists. We are responsible citizens of this country who are not asking for anything but our fundamental right which is enriched in their royal constitution," he said.
... you do not scare us - SSN
MBABANE-The Swaziland Solidarity Network has brushed aside the declaration by government to have them listed as a terrorist movement in the country.
The network has laughed out at the government stance, stating that it is really impossible to have it banned because it is not based in Swaziland but in South Africa.
SSN Spokesperson, Lucky Lukhele said government had no jurisdiction on their network because it is for the South Africans who are in solidarity with the Swazis.
"To us this sounds like they are chucking out the South Africans from their country and if that is the case we will not hesitate to move out and actually start by closing out the border and see how that country will survive," he said.
He said SSN was mainly formed by all the labour and political movements in South Africa and they were fully aware of the political problem in Swaziland.
" We will not stop supporting the organisations that are calling for democracy in Swaziland and may we say that whatever programme that we had is going to be put aside and we just want to concentrate on Swaziland and see what will happen," he said.
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