Trade unions in Swaziland have been forced to call off mass demonstrations planned for this week after the government obtained a court order blocking them.

Unions had called the strike to draw attention to a three-month paralysis of the country’s courts, which lawyers have been boycotting in protest at the dismissal of a top judge accused of insulting King Mswati III.

"Government is doing that strategically to frustrate us because the courts are not working properly," Muzi Mahlanga, secretary general of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers, said of the court process.

The unions obtained special permission from the national Law Society for their attorney to break the boycott and represent them in court.

The four-day nationwide strike was due to begin Tuesday.

The judicial crisis was sparked by the suspension and ultimate firing of high court judge Thomas Masuku for a ruling deemed insulting to the king.

Lawyers are also up in arms over a controversial directive by Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi giving the king and his office immunity from all legal proceedings.

Critics say the directive places Mswati, Africa’s last absolute monarch, above the law.

Despite the interdict, unions said their leaders would deliver a  petition Tuesday to the high court in the capital, Mbabane, demanding an end to the legal crisis.

Trade unions are the only organisations legally allowed to protest in Swaziland, where political parties are banned. But they must prove their demands are labour-related.

The government has gone to court several times this year to bar union demonstrations.