Photo: James Hall/IRIN

Rural pupils fetch water for school.

The Industrial Court in Swaziland has refused to allow the government to jail the entire executive of the teachers' union for leading a pay strike.

The Swazi Government had previously gained an order at the same court outlawing a strike over a 4.5 percent pay claim.

But, some members of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) went ahead with the indefinite strike. For the past week the strikers have been visiting schools where some teachers continue to work to persuade them to join the strike.

The government claimed the SNAT was in contempt of the court order and wanted the entire executive of SNAT jailed for 30 days.

But, the Industrial Court ruled the government failed to prove that the SNAT executive were behind the strike. It also said government had failed to show that there was an urgent need to have the court rule on the matter.

Police have been using teargas and rubber bullet against striking teachers and school pupils who support them.