Bus drivers in Eswatini’s two major cities went on strike on Wednesday, blocking highways leading to two major cities in protest at rising fuel costs, a union said.

Drivers of buses and mini-buses blocked the roads leading into Mbabane and Manzini, demanding that government regulators increase fares and salaries.

The official price of petrol jumped nearly 6% last month, to 16.25 lilangeni (just under R16) a litre — the third increase in six months.

Drivers want government to nearly double the fares they can charge, while also raising their salaries from 1 500 to 4 000 lilangeni per month.

Wonder Mkhonza, spokesman for the Amalgamated Trade Union of Swaziland, said drivers were struggling at a time when King Mswati had decided to purchase two new jets, “ignoring the plight of the poor.”

Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, is the last absolute monarchy in Africa. Nearly two-thirds of its 1.2 million people live in poverty.

SOURCE:

Bus drivers protest fuel prices in Eswatini | Fin24 (news24.com)