SWAZILAND’S authorities are using Covid-19 as an excuse to use violence to “silence the people,” Communist Party general secretary Thokozane Kenneth Kunene warned today.

He condemned incidents of police brutality on Saturday in the city of Manzini, where people were insulted and beaten during the enforcement of coronavirus lockdown measures, and called for unity among the oppressed.

Mr Kunene warned that the police have “intensified their war against the people,” knowing that there will be no repercussions for their actions.

“In June, the police shot at children who were playing football and a 15-year-old boy was badly injured in the process. Even before the pandemic, the royal police were known to use extrajudicial means in their interaction with the people.

“As a result, many people have been tortured, arbitrarily detained and killed, without any consequences falling upon [King] Mswati’s police,” he said.

The Communist Party of Swaziland called on the people to stand together against both coronavirus and the ruling autocracy which oppresses them.

“The people have been left with no choice but to employ whatever revolutionary means necessary to defend themselves while they continue to arm each other against Covid-19,” he said.