Swaziland labour and student activists vowed to push on with pro-democracy protests in Africa's last absolute monarchy despite a court blocking planned demonstrations on Wednesday.
Anti-government protests have mushroomed over the past year amid deepening frustration among impoverished Swazis, over a crippling financial crisis under the reign of King Mswati III.
The government obtained a last-minute court order prohibiting a march on Wednesday, the first of four days of planned demonstrations.
"Nothing has changed, we are going ahead with tomorrow's (Thursday's) protests," said Vincent Dlamini, secretary general of the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union.
"Of course we anticipate that the police will use their underhanded tactics, but we won't back down."
The protests commemorate a ban on political parties and suspension of the constitution that have allowed the king to rule by decree since 1973.
Police arrested two activists and set up roadblocks across the capital Mbabane and the commercial hub Manzini in anticipation of the demonstrations.
"We see this as an intimidating tactic meant to frustrate and destabilise tomorrow's protests," Dlamini said.
Student leaders also vowed to take to the streets on Thursday.
"We have already mobilised our members to ensure that they attend in numbers. We are however, aware that government will try to suppress the protest, hence we expect our members to be vigilant and outwit the enemy," the leader of Swaziland National Union of Students, Maxwell Dlamini told journalists.
A South African journalist working for the private etv news channel was also arrested, and his notes and laptop were confiscated, said an AFP reporter at the scene.
Amid the country's financial crisis, students and labour unions, angered at the closing of schools and moves to slash salaries, have spearheaded the pro-democracy protests.
The Swaziland Democracy Campaign condemned the arrests as "barbaric acts by the backward forces of the Mswati regime".
"We demand freedom of expression and the right of journalists to freely cover the events in Swaziland so that the world can know that the myth of a peaceful country... is a fallacy and a lie," said a statement.
Security forces last year violently dispersed rallies around April 12.
Since then, more than 60 protests have rattled the country, many of them small, but nonetheless marking a sea of change in a kingdom that tolerates little dissent.
Demands for reform are expected to increase as Swaziland heads for legislative elections next year. Normally the votes are an orchestrated show of support for the king.
No parties are allowed to contest the polls, candidates are vetted by local leaders, and afterward Mswati appoints the prime minister and cabinet.
Protesters in this vote want the king to allow political parties.
On the economic front, they have demanded the government scrap a new 14-percent value added tax imposed last week.
Swaziland relies on income from the Southern African Customs Union, a regional bloc dominated by heavyweight neighbour South Africa.
Despite declining customs receipts, the International Monetary Fund says the government has overspent on defence, travel and projects such as a new airport, while struggling to pay civil servants and keep schools and clinics open. - Sapa-AFP
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