MANZINI, Swaziland, Dec 20 (AFP) - Some 2,000 protesters marched Friday through Swaziland's second town, Manzini, on the second day of a strike called by opposition groups to protest the Swazi king's purchase of a luxury jet.
The profligacy of Africa's last absolute monarch, King Mswati III, in the face of crushing poverty has enraged the labour and opposition movements who organised the 48-hour strike, which has so far been poorly supported.
Protesters gathered at a bus rank in the industrial town, which lies about 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of the capital Mbabane, and were addressed by various speakers before marching through the city, an AFP correspondent reported.
The speakers included Daniel Marasane, president of the Lesotho Clothing and Allied Worker's Union who told the marchers: "We are here to give moral support."
March organisers also read a message from the head of South Africa's largest trade union federation, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) president Willie Madisha.
"Your success is our success as workers from the region and your failure is our failure as workers of the region. Keep the home fires burning," the message said.
As well as protesting against the king spending 45 million dollars on his new plane -- more than double the annual health budget of 20 million dollars -- the protestors were also calling for democracy and a return to the rule of law.
But on Thursday only a few thousand opposition members joined the strike action, with shops and most businesses running as usual.
The protest follows a bitter row between the Swazi authorities and the judiciary over a court case brought by the mother of an 18-year-old girl allegedly abducted to become the king's 10th bride, before the mother indefinitely dropped the proceedings.
Six top South African judges resigned from the bench of Swaziland's Court of Appeal after the government said it would ignore a court ruling because it impinged on royal prerogative.
The country's lawyers demanded an end to government interference with court decisions, and on December 13 three employers' and business groups called for a return to the rule of law.
In August, UN agencies reported that 19 million dollars in emergency aid was needed for Swaziland to ensure the survival of 250,000 people -- a quarter of population -- who have been left without sustenance because of drought-induced crop failures.
The people of Swaziland, a mountainous state sandwiched between South Africa and Mozambique, are also ravaged by AIDS, which is estimated to have killed some 50,000 of them.
The United Nations says that 33.4 percent of adult Swazis are HIV-positive.
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