Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Swaziland:
Striving for
Freedom
As seen through the pages of Swazi Media
Commentary
Volume 20: October to December 2015
CONTENTS
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Introduction
King Mswati III
Human rights abuses
Free speech
Political parties and democracy
Police action
Army shootings
Media
Food and drought crisis
Health
House Speaker crisis
UNISWA and Black Wednesday
About the author
Other publications
2
3
17
24
28
32
37
40
42
46
47
51
55
56
INTRODUCTION
Swazilands King Mswati III was in the international spotlight in the last quarter of 2015. He
was reported to the United Nations over the deaths in a traffic accident of children and young
women who were on their way to dance half-naked for him at the kingdoms annual Reed
Dance. It is argued that the ceremony is unlawful and perpetuates forced marriages,
inconsistent with international human rights standards.
In the British Virgin Islands, the King is being personally being sued over a US$3.5 million
debt relating to repairs and improvements to his private jet aircraft. His representative told the
court that he had no financial assets outside of Swaziland. In the past it was reported that
King Mswati had a net worth of US$200 million.
These are some of the stories from the past three months that have been reported by Swazi
Media Commentary. This compilation brings together posts that originally appeared on the
Swazi Media Commentary website from September to December 2015.
Elsewhere, lawyers in Swaziland and an international human rights group CIVICUS jointly
called judicial persecution, harassment and intimidation of members of civil society
organisations in the kingdom to end. In a submission to the United Nations they also call for
restrictions on freedom of assembly to be lifted.
Swaziland has become an open-air prison, a militarised society and a royal farm in which
people become mere farmworkers for the King and his family, according to research
published in the international academic journal, Review of African Political Economy.
Swazi Media Commentary website has no physical base and is completely independent of
any political faction and receives no income from any individual or organisation. People who
contribute ideas or write for it do so as volunteers and receive no payment.
Swazi Media Commentary is published online updated regularly.
In fact, due diligence places a strict standard of conduct upon the government of Swaziland
to protect all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction, including the girls
and women.
I argue that the government of Swaziland has the supreme duty to prevent acts such as those
highlighted above that can cause arbitrary loss of life such as the unnecessary deaths of these
girls.
King Mswati came in for heavy criticism after the crash because journalists were prevented
from reporting the event. King Mswati rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africas last absolute
monarch and media are heavily restricted in his kingdom.
There was a dispute over the number of deaths. The officially sanctioned figure was 13, but
prodemocracy groups in Swaziland said it was as high as 65.
Punch, the Nigerian website reporting on Falanas petition to the UN, caused controversy in
August 2015 when it incorrectly reported that girls and young women in Swaziland were
forced to undergo public virginity tests before King Mswati III decided whether to take them
as his wife.
See also
DEAD GIRLS ARE VICTIMS, NOT HEROES
DEAD GIRLS TRANSPORTED LIKE CATTLE
COVER-UP ON SWAZI REED DANCE DEATHS
CANCEL REED DANCE AFTER DEATHS
behalf, stated the King had no commercial assets outside of Swaziland. He also stated the
King, does not own any assets in the United Kingdom and that the King did not own any
assets in any overseas territories of the United Kingdom.
He also stated that the King and the Kings company Inchatsavane, which is also being sued,
do not own any other property, solely or jointly, in their own name or not, in any other
jurisdiction outside of Swaziland.
King Mswatis wealth is a closely guarded secret. In August 2007, Forbes magazine first
disclosed that his personal net worth was US$200 million (E1.4 billion at the then exchange
rate). That figure was revised downwards in later years.
In June 2014, Forbes estimated his wealth had fallen to US$50 million, which made him the
third wealthiest monarch in Africa.
Forbes reported, The King is one of Africas wealthiest royals. His personal net worth is at
least $50 million, based on the annual $50 million salary that he is paid out of government
coffers.
He also controls Tibiyo TakaNgwane, an investment holding company that owns stakes in
sugar refining giants Ubombo Sugar and Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation (RSSC), dairy
company Parmalat Swaziland, spirits manufacturer Swaziland Beverages and hotel chain
Swazi Spa Holdings. The company has assets worth over $140 million, but he holds it in trust
for the people of Swaziland.
In 2012, Forbes named King Mswati as one of the top five worst rulers in Africa.
It reported the King ruled over a kingdom which has one of the worlds highest HIV
prevalence rates: over 35 percent of adults. Its average life expectancy is the lowest in the
world at 33 years; nearly 70 percent of the countrys people live on less than US$1 a day and
40 percent are unemployed.
It added, But for all the suffering of the Swazi people, King Mswati has barely shown
concern or interest.
He lives lavishly, using his kingdoms treasury to fund his expensive tastes in German
automobiles, first-class leisure trips around the world and women. But his gross
mismanagement of his countrys finances is now having dire economic consequences.
Swaziland is going through a severe fiscal crisis.
The kingdoms economy is collapsing and pensions have been stopped. In June last year
[2011], the King begged for a financial bailout from South Africa.
In February 2011 the Mail & Guardian newspaper in South Africa reported King Mswati also
had US$10-billion that was put in trust in King Mswatis name for the people of Swaziland
by his father, King Sobhuza II.
In 2015, a report from the United States government report concluded there was no oversight
in the kingdom on how the King, his 15 wives and vast Royal Family spent public money.
See also
KING DIVERTS WEALTH FROM HIS SUBJECTS
KINGDOMS WEALTH STAYS WITH THE KING
KING MSWATI SPENDS AND SPENDS
He practises polygamy and currently has 15 wives, which isn't the problem. No, the problem
is that not all of his brides consented to marrying him. One, as young as 18, disappeared from
her school and was later found being forced to marry Mswati III, an act that was condemned
by Amnesty International.
Still, he builds his wives palaces and sends them to Europe on his private jet for lavish
shopping sprees. Unfortunately this benevolence doesn't extend to Swaziland's general
populace, with over 60% of the population living on under $2 a day.
He's also been accused of using force (even lethally) to silence dissenters, activists and
journalists. With Swaziland's monarchical system deeply entrenched in the Swazi way of life,
his reign isn't ending anytime soon.
The King has at least 13 palaces, a private jet, a fleet of top-of-the-range Mercedes Benz and
BMW cars and at least one Rolls Royce car.
Swaziland faces a severe financial crisis and the government, which is not elected by the
people but handpicked by King Mswati, has announced that elderly grants (old age pensions)
are to be abolished for some people. This is to save the government money.
Meanwhile, as recently as Friday (30 October 2015) the Mail and Guardian (M&G)
newspaper in South Africa reported that despite the financial meltdown in the kingdom, King
Mswatis government has approved a plan to lease a private A-340 jet for the King. The
M&G reported, Industry sources estimated the annual cost of leasing an A-340 over and
above running costs and fixed costs such as insurance at about $9-million (E122-million).
M&G also reported, King Mswatis wealth is a closely guarded secret, but it has been
variously estimated at between US$50-million and US$200-million.
In addition to his enormous government salary, Mswati controls the royal investment house,
Tibiyo Taka Ngwane, which draws mining royalties and has stakes in the Royal Swaziland
Sugar Corporation and hotel chain Swazi Spa Holdings. He has direct stakes in other firms,
including 10 percent of MTN Swaziland.
It added, Swazilands Gini coefficient is 51.5, meaning that of 187 countries ranked by the
United Nations Development Programme in terms of wealth inequality, it stands at 170.
In 2012, Forbes named King Mswati as one of the top five worst rulers in Africa.
It reported the King ruled over a kingdom which has one of the worlds highest HIV
prevalence rates: over 35 percent of adults. Its average life expectancy was the lowest in the
world at 33 years; nearly 70 percent of the countrys people live on less than US$1 a day and
40 percent are unemployed.
It added, But for all the suffering of the Swazi people, King Mswati has barely shown
concern or interest.
He lives lavishly, using his kingdoms treasury to fund his expensive tastes in German
automobiles, first-class leisure trips around the world and women. But his gross
mismanagement of his countrys finances is now having dire economic consequences.
Swaziland is going through a severe fiscal crisis.
The kingdoms economy is collapsing and pensions have been stopped. In June last year
[2011], the King begged for a financial bailout from South Africa.
In February 2011 the M&G newspaper in South Africa reported King Mswati also had
US$10-billion that was put in trust in King Mswatis name for the people of Swaziland by his
father, King Sobhuza II.
In 2015, United States government report concluded there was no oversight in the kingdom
on how the King, his 15 wives and vast Royal Family spent public money.
Swazi King wants 10pc of Coca-Cola
4 November 2015
Coca-Cola, the global firm that accounts for about 40 percent of Swazilands economy, has
threatened to leave the kingdom because King Mswati III has demanded it give him a 10
percent stake in its Swazi subsidiary for nothing, a prodemocracy group reported on
Wednesday (4 November 2015).
The Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) said in a statement, Reliable sources within the
kingdom have informed our network that the company flatly refused to yield to Mswatis
demand and would rather leave.
It added, If he does not back down from this demand Coca-Cola will be forced to relocate its
operations to another country, a move that will be catastrophic for economy of the tiny
impoverished kingdom and will lead to the loss of many jobs.
It added this would worsen an already desperate situation for Swazi workers as many of
them became unemployed when the kingdom lost beneficial trading rights with the United
States under the Africa Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA). This was because King Mswati,
who is sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch, refused to allow democratic reforms in
Swaziland.
Swaziland supplies the Coca-Cola concentrate (the sugary syrup the drink is made from) to
most of Africa, big parts of Asia and all of Australia and New Zealand from its industrial
plant in Matsapha.
Swaziland has been mortgaged to Coca-Cola (trading as Conco Swaziland) ever since it
allowed the company to use it in its fight against workers interests in other countries. In
2009, Coca-Cola closed its concentrate supply plant in Nigeria, citing an unfriendly
manufacturing environment in that country. It had made little profits because of the high
manufacturing costs.
Coca-Cola also has an impact on the international standing of Swazilands economy. The
money generated by Coca-Cola is what largely accounts for the kingdom being classified as a
lower-middle income developing country (and therefore not eligible for certain types of
international aid), even though seven in ten of Swazilands one-million population live in
abject poverty, earning less than US$2 a day.
Peter Kenworthy, of Africa Contact, writing in 2011, said, The real point, though, is that
Coca-Cola is probably in Swaziland because it is a dictatorship that oppresses its unions and
population. This allows wages to be kept low and unemployment high.
Kenworthy visited one of the sugar cane fields in Eastern Swaziland, which produces sugar
for Coca-Cola.
He wrote, The area that I visited, Vuvulane, is managed by the Vuvulane Irrigated Farms
(VIF) but the sugar cane fields are under the auspices of the Swaziland Water and
Agricultural Development Enterprise and the Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation who lease
them to individual farmers, who in turn employ casual labourers.
In a small village in Vuvulane, most of the adults worked in the sugar fields as casual
labourers for between 400 and 550 Rand (US$40-55) per month. This is not enough to pay
for medicine, proper food or school fees for our children, one villager told me. Sometimes
we do not eat for days. We used to have our own vegetable gardens but these were
confiscated by the sugar company. We sometimes fish in the nearby dam in the evening,
when it is dark. If we are caught we will be arrested as the dam is owned by the sugar cane
company, another villager said.
Practically none of the children in the village, who were clad in dirty and ripped clothes and
looked underfed, attended school and many of the villagers, receive food aid. In addition to
this, the water supply is controlled by a privately owned company that readily closes the
water supply form the village if they are not paid on time.
In 2012, the prodemocracy group the Swaziland Democracy Campaign called on Coca-Cola
to leave Swaziland immediately.
See also
SWAZILAND, SPONSORED BY COCA-COLA
COCA-COLA SUPPORTS SWAZI DICTATOR
COCA-COLA COLONISES SWAZILAND
Last Friday (13 November 2015) the Mail and Guardian (M&G), a South-African based
newspaper published details of the aircraft purchase on its website.
Most of the M&G report was not new. In April 2015, the Swazi Media Commentary website
revealed details behind the purchase. It reported that the Kings own company Inchatsavane
paid the US$9.5 million cost of the McDonnel Douglas McDonnell Douglas DC-9-87 (also
known as an MD-87). Later, a further US$4.1 million was spent on refurbishing the plane.
The Sale and Purchase Agreement for the plane dated 18 April 2012 stated the purchaser as
Inchatsavane Company (Pty) Ltd. The agreement describes Inchatsavane as a limited
company formed under the law of Swaziland under certification of incorporation No 581 of
2010. The companys office address is given as 1 st Floor, Ellerines Building, Swazi Plaza,
[Mbabane], Swaziland.
King Mswatis signature appears on the document as sole shareholder / owner of the
company. For the first time Swazi Media Commentary has released a copy of the document
online.
The seller is given as Wells Fargo Bank Northwest, National Association, not in its
individual capacity but solely as owner trustee.
A Bank of America Wire Transfer dated 26 April 2012, shows US$9.5 million dollars was
transferred from the account of His Majesty King Mswati III, bank account number
0240037517401, at the Standard Bank Swaziland Ltd, Stanbic House, Swazi Plaza, Mbabane,
Swaziland.
Swazi Media Commentary has also released online a copy of the bank transfer.
The money was transferred to McAfee and Taft escrow account in the United States. An
escrow account is a bank account for keeping money that is the property of others.
Under US law funds wired to an escrow account must come directly from the purchaser and
not a parent, subsidiary, related company, officer, governor or director. King Mswati
personally signed the escrow agreement. Swazi Media Commentary has for the first time
released a copy of this document online.
What is not clear is where King Mswati got the money to pay for the jet. In 2012, the Swazi
Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini, who was personally appointed to office by the King, said
on government-controlled radio that the King had been given the jet as a birthday gift, from
development partners and friends of the King, to be used by their majesties for travels
abroad.
The Swazi Government denied public money had been used to buy the jet. Government
spokesperson Percy Simelane was reported by the BBC saying the jet was a gift to the King
from, people already involved in the social and economic development of the country.
11
There has been speculation that the jet was donated by Kuwait, but if this was the case it has
not been explained why the oil-rich state made the gift and what it expected in return.
In April 2012, the Swazi Government categorically denied that the plane was donated by the
Kuwait Government.
It issued a statement saying, It is true that His Majesty the King received a gift in the form of
a Mcdonnell DC-9 Aircraft for his and the Queen Mothers travels abroad on engagement on
national interest.
It is also true that the sponsors of this magnificent gift, exercising their rights, elected to
remain anonymous.
It is not true that the Kuwait Government or countries and companies mentioned in the
South Africa media purchased the aircraft for His Majesty the King or contributed in any
form whatsoever towards this present.
Seven in ten of the Kings 1.3 million subjects live in abject poverty, with incomes of less
than US$2 per day, three in ten are so hungry they are medically diagnosed as malnourished
and the kingdom has the highest rate of HIV infection in the world.
See also
WHO PAID FOR SWAZI KINGS JET?
KING'S COMPANY AT CENTRE OF JET ROW
before he would marry them. Amnesty International has accused him of violating the human
rights of women and girls by subjecting them to forced marriage, and his lavish lifestyle in a
country where most people live on less than 1 per day has also attracted regular criticism.
He is reported to spend 37m (US$56m) per year keeping his 15 wives and at least 24
children in 13 separate palaces. Political parties are banned in Swaziland and Mswati remains
an absolute monarch.
King Mswati never gets a good press outside of Swaziland, where media regularly report on
the abuses of human rights that take place in Swaziland. Political parties are banned from
taking part in elections, the King chooses the Government (Barnabas Dlamini, the present
PM, was not even elected to the Swazi parliament) and opposition groups are banned under
the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
Pettiness of the Kings red carpet
2 December 2015
News that spread internationally that in Swaziland only King Mswati III should be afforded
the honour of a red carpet at special events reminds us of another time the King wanted to
assert his superiority over his subjects.
That time, according to a cable from the US Embassy in Swaziland, the King made his
advisors sweat in 40-degree heat in a basement to demonstrate his power over them.
The issue of the red carpet emerged when it was reported that the red carpet at the Business
Woman of the Year Awards ceremony this year (2015) was rolled away. The same happened
at the Swaziland Inter Municipal Games Association (SIGA). The Times of Swaziland, the
only independent newspaper in the kingdom, reported that the Swazi Police had ordered
SIGA to remove the red carpet. Barnabas Dlamini, the Swazi Prime Minister, was at the
event to give a speech.
The Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), a prodemocracy group banned in the kingdom,
then reported the police ordered the ban on the instructions of King Mswati.
Later, the Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, reported the Swazi
Police spokesperson Superintendent Khulani Mamba saying no police action was ordered.
However, he said the red carpet might have been removed as is might be, misconstrued in
other quarters as equating himself to the Head of State [King].
He added, A well-intended gesture may have unintended consequences and be read totally
out of context.
The Observer reported Mamba saying, [N]o specific individual instructed the cops to
remove the red carpet but was feeling of those who were waiting to welcome him that such
good gesture may be lost in interpretation, hence the decision to remove it.
13
The Prime Minister had not ordered it, nor ordered its removal, but given his stature it was
felt that such a gesture may be seen as setting him up against authorities.
It is not surprising that the Prime Minister or any other of the Kings subjects would not want
to upset him.
A cable from the US Embassy in Swaziland, made public by Wikileaks, gave a startling
example of how the King behaves.
The US Embassy said King Mswati III was not intellectually well developed and is not a
reader. It also called him imbalanced.
The comments about the Swazi King came from Earl Irvine, the then US Ambassador to
Swaziland, in February 2010.
In a confidential cable to Washington released by Wikileaks, Irvine said King Mswati had a
lack of wisdom.
Quoting an informant, Irvine wrote the king was not a reader, and will not review documents
left for him. [The informant] called the king not intellectually well-developed, and
contrasted the current sovereigns scant educational background with Sobhuza II, who was
educated at Lovedale College in South Africa alongside future leaders of South Africas
African National Congress (ANC).
Essentially a bastard outsider to the royal family, King Mswati III was plucked from relative
obscurity when members of the royal family could not come to an agreement on a successor
to King Sobhuza II, the cable said.
After Mswati III was selected to be the next king, a posthumous marriage of Sobhuza II to
Ntombi [the Queen Mother] was quickly arranged, according to our interlocutor.
Irvine wrote, Unlike in his early years, the King now identifies and pushes specific projects,
and will look to replace ministers or employees who are unable to provide progress on those
projects.
Irvine quoted his informant calling King Mswati imbalanced. He gave an anecdote to
illustrate this. The King, [the informant] said, invited about forty officials and advisors to a
basement in one of his palaces, where they all sat on the floor to attend to him. King Mswati
III turned up the heater, which warmed the floor first, until the temperature in the room
reached about 40 degrees Celsius, and told inconsequential stories to those gathered while
they sweated, merely to show them he was in power.
See also
US FRANK ASSESSMENT OF SWAZI KING
14
15
The annual event is called a sacred event by traditionalists, but has been dubbed unChristian and Pagan by others.
The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africas last
absolute monarch, has been running numerous reports supporting Incwala. It quoted Swazi
Deputy Prime Minister Paul Dlamini on Tuesday (29 December 2015) saying, Incwala just
unites us as Swazis where we get to be together in one place and dance. This is also a way in
which children are taught about life.
So this must be preserved as it has helped so many people. For those who have disowned
culture, they are facing different problems in their lives where some get pregnant before
getting married; some dump children because they are not able to take care of them. So we
need to go back to our own ways of doing things and respect culture.
In 2014, the Observer reported, The ceremony, which also marks the fresh fruits of the
season, has a spiritual power that is largely lost on outsiders, and indeed many of its inner
workings remain shrouded in secrecy.
Journalists who try to report the event are harassed and in 2011 a street vendor who sold
pirated DVDs of Incwala was hauled in by the police and handed over to traditional
authorities for a grilling. He was ordered to reclaim all the copies of the DVD he had sold.
Failure to do so might have seen him banished from his homeland, local media reported at the
time.
A first-hand account of alleged activities at Incwala has been circulating on social media
outlets for years.
In 2011the Southern Africa Report and Africa is a Country website, reported the eyewitness
testimony of Incwala. Africa is a Country said, The ceremony is cloaked in secrecy and
marks the kings return to public life after a period of withdrawal and spiritual contemplation.
Among its highlights is a symbolic demonstration by the King of his power and dominance
in a process involving his penetration of a black bull, beaten into semi-conscious immobility
to ensure its compliant acceptance of the royal touch. The royal semen is then collected by a
courtier and stored, for subsequent inclusion in food to be served at Sibaya traditional
councils and other national forums.
See also
ILLEGAL TO POSSESS INCWALA SONGS
SWAZI KING AND BESTIALITY RITUAL
NOW, EVEN HOLY SPIRIT IS SEDITIOUS
16
society meeting on the promotion of democracy in Africa on the sidelines of the African
leaders summit hosted by US President Barack Obama in August 2014.
The activists had also participated in peaceful demonstrations aimed at highlighting threats
to freedom of expression in Swaziland. While addressing the Parliament in Swaziland, the
Prime Minister called for both activists to be interrogated and strangled when they return to
Swaziland.
Sipho is a member of Lawyers for Human Rights (Swaziland) and Vincent is the Secretary
General of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA).
On 1 May 2014, Mario Masuku, President of the pro-democracy Peoples United
Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) and Maxwell Dlamini of the Swaziland Youth Congress
(SWAYOCO), were arrested after addressing a crowd of about 7,000 people during a Labour
Day event in the capital, Manzini.
They were charged with singing a seditious song and uttering seditious statements under the
Suppression of Terrorism Act. The state argued in court that their utterances were serious and
threatened the leadership of Swaziland. They were denied bail on two occasions before they
were released on bail on 14 July 2015 by the Supreme Court.
The report said that the Swazi Constitution guaranteed the rights of citizens to assemble
freely, but these rights were being ignored.
The report said, However we remain concerned that the authorities regularly suppress
peaceful demonstrations, Persons considered leaders of such protests have been arrested and
subjected to judicial persecution and some have been charged under the Suppression of
Terrorism Act.
In March 2015, security forces prevented members of the Trade Union Congress of
Swaziland (TUCOSWA) from holding their national executive committee meeting at the
premises of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT). In dispersing the
participants, security forces harassed the Secretary of SNAT, Muzi Mhlanga after he took
pictures of the police actions against protesters.
Again on 28 February 2015 security forces forcefully dispersed a meeting of TUCOSWA
because the participants discussed multi-party democracy.
On 24 April 2014, Mlungisi Makhanya, Secretary General of PUDEMO and six others were
arrested at the High Court in Mbabane as they demonstrated against the manner in which the
trial of Thulani Maseko and Bheki Makhubu was conducted.
They were charged for contravening the Suppression of Terrorism Act for wearing and being
in possession of tee-shirts on which the word PUDEMO was inscribed.
The authorities noted that the tee-shirts reflected terrorist demands. They were also charged
with chanting terrorist slogans and for conspiring with others to commit seditious acts. In
18
May 2014 they were all released on bail of E15,000 (approximatelyUS$1,106) and asked to
pay E5,000 (approximately US$368) upfront and provide surety of E10,000 (approximately
US$737).
On 5 September 2013, security forces in Swaziland arrested and detained Jay Naidoo, a
South African trade union activist, Bishop Paul Verryn from the Methodist Church in
Johannesburg, South Africa and Zimbabwean human rights lawyer and activist Alec
Muchadehama ahead of a planned global inquiry scheduled for 6 September 2013.
Those arrested were part of an international panel of experts who had been requested by
TUCOSWA and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to engage in a dialogue
with workers about the effect of violations on labour rights on all Swazis. The panellists were
followed from the airport and arrested at a roadblock on their way to Manzini. They were
then transported to a police station where they were interrogated about the rationale for the
planned meeting. They were later released after questioning and had to return to
Johannesburg as the authorities closed the George Hotel in Manzini where the inquiry was
scheduled to take place.
On 12 April 2012, the police intercepted pro-democracy protests planned to be held at
Coronation Park in Mbabane and arrested 15 organisers. The protests had been planned to
coincide with King Sobhuza IIs 1973 Proclamation which outlawed political parties. The
venue was filled with police and security offices who prevented protesters from entering.
Protesters who were driving from other parts of the country were stopped at road blocks,
prevented from entering Mbabane and sent back to their home towns.
The organisers of the protests had planned to use the day to call for democratic reforms, the
organisation of multiparty election, for freedom of association to be respected and express
concerns over the imposition of tax on basic goods.
See also
KING BLOCKS JUDGES INDEPENDENCE
CALL TO END SWAZI MEDIA CENSORSHIP
19
Phineas Magagula, Minister of Education and Training, warned that teachers who beat pupils
should be reported to the ministry so that they could be disciplined, according to a report in
the Times of Swaziland.
The directive was issued without fanfare and few teachers appear to know it has been made.
Swaziland has a long history of atrocities committed by teachers against their pupils in the
name of discipline. Although there were rules about how corporal punishment could be
administered, these were largely ignored.
As recently as September 2015, the Times reported a 17-year-old school pupil died after
allegedly being beaten at school. The pupil reportedly had a seizure.
In March 2015, a primary school teacher at the Florence Christian Academy was charged
with causing grievous bodily harm after allegedly giving 200 strokes of the cane to a 12-yearold pupil on her buttocks and all over her body.
In February 2015, the headteacher of Mayiwane High School Anderson Mkhonta reportedly
admitted giving 15 strokes to a form 1 pupil for not wearing a neck tie properly.
In April 2015, parents reportedly complained to the Ndlalane Primary School after a teacher
beat pupils for not following his instruction and shaving their hair.
In October 2014, 20 pupils were thrashed before they sat an examination because they had
been absent from school studying for the exam the previous day.
On Thursday (15 October 2015), the Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King
Mswati III and the voice of the traditionalists in Swaziland published an article against the
abolition of corporal punishment.
Observer journalist Fanyana Mabuza wrote that if corporal punishment was abolished, [T]he
future could be bleak, especially for the children who for their own good need a bit of
spanking to bring them to order.
The article in the Observer, a newspaper that believes Swaziland will be a First World
nation by 2022 added, We just do not see the future clearly without the cane in our schools.
See also
SWAZI SCHOOL TORTURES STUDENTS
CHILDREN CHAINED AND FLOGGED BARE
PROBE VICIOUS SCHOOL BEATINGS
SCHOOL HEAD PUBLICLY FLOGS ADULTS
20
21
ACTSA, which is the successor to the Anti-Apartheid Movement, issued a report ahead of the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting due to be held in Malta on 27-29 November
2015.
In a submission to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, ACTSA said Swazilands
lack of respect for Commonwealth principles, along with its violations of international human
rights law, resulted in the subordination of the vast majority of the kingdoms population.
The report noted the growing internal criticism of the Government of Swaziland, including a
call for a transformation of the political system and added internal pressure for reform can
be bolstered by external pressure.
ACTSA said Swaziland must address: bans on political parties participating in the democratic
process; restrictions on freedom of expression; a weakened judiciary; and abuses of womens
rights.
The report challenged Swazilands response to previous recommendations made by the
Commonwealth and demanded that the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group take action.
ACTSAs Director, Tony Dykes, said in a statement, The Swazi government has led the
Commonwealth on a merry dance. If the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group - and thus
the Commonwealth as a whole - is to command respect, it absolutely must take action to
ensure Swaziland lives up to the commitments it has made. The time has long come for the
Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to formally consider the Government of
Swazilands status with respect to the Commonwealth Charter. The people of Swaziland
deserve nothing less.
See also
NO LET UP IN CALL FOR DEMOCRACY
COMMONWEALTH CALLS FOR DEMOCRACY
22
if she refused to have sex with him, if she argued with him, if she went out without telling
him, if she neglected the children and if she had sex with other men.
APA reported, Silindelo Nkosi, the Communication and Advocacy Officer for Swaziland
Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) said, These beliefs of justifying abuse have
increased to the worst rate resulting in more young women dying in the hands of their lovers
or husbands.
It added, Clinical Psychologist Ndo Mdlalose describes this as an abusive mentality where
men also tend to claim they are correcting their women by beating them.
The report told us nothing new about Swazi culture and its abuse of women and girls.
The world famous medical journal, the Lancet in 2009 reported that one in three girls in
Swaziland had experienced sexual violence by the age of 18, according to a study.
Sexual violence was defined as forced intercourse; coerced intercourse; attempted unwanted
intercourse; unwanted touching; and forced touching.
The most common perpetrators of the first incident of sexual violence were men or boys from
the girls neighbourhood or boyfriends or husbands. Over a quarter of all incidents of sexual
violence occurred in the respondents own home, with a fifth occurring at the home of a
friend, relative or neighbour.
In June 2008 it was reported that the National Democratic and Health Survey found that 40
percent of men in Swaziland said it is all right to beat women. The same year, the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) found that the status of some women in Swaziland is so
low that they are practically starved at meal times, because men folk eat first and if there is
not enough food for everyone, the women must go without.
Women, who under traditional Swazi law are treated as children and are in effect owned by
their husbands or fathers, were expected to live lives devoted to their men and families. A
report on the State of the Population in Swaziland said that Swazi women were responsible
for childbirth, raising the children and taking care of the entire family.
Women are expected to give their husbands sex on demand and those who refuse have been
blamed for men who rape children.
See also
SWAZI CULTURE LETS WOMEN STARVE
TWISTED SWAZI MEN RAPE CHILDREN
SHOCKING LIVES FOR SWAZI WOMEN
23
3. FREE SPEECH
Kings word block free speech
23 November 2015
People in Swaziland have been ordered not to comment on the controversial sponsorship of a
new soccer tournament because King Mswati III has pronounced on the subject.
In a stark example of the lack of freedom of speech in the tiny kingdom where King Mswati
rules as sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch, the most senior monarchy loyalist TV
Mtetwa has pronounced that members of parliament, [cabinet] ministers and whoever must
be silent on the matter.
The controversy surrounds the E9 million (about US$900,000) sponsorship of the
Ingwenyama Cup tournament by the government parastatal Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle
Accident Fund (SMVAF).
SMVAF exists to compensate victims of road accidents.
King Mswati himself launched the tournament at an event at Lozitha, one of the 13 palaces
he has in Swaziland.
A range of critics said the amount of sponsorship was too much to spend in a kingdom that
was presently battling with poverty and a drought. Seven in ten of the Kings 1.3 million
subjects live in abject poverty with incomes of less than US$2 a day.
But, the Observer on Saturday, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, reported on
Saturday (21 November 2015) that Mtetwa, who is generally regarded as the traditional
prime minister, said people must stop discussing the topic, because the lion has already
roared on the matter.
The newspaper is part of the Swazi Observer group, which was called a pure propaganda
machine for the royal family by the Media Institute of Southern Africa in a report on press
freedom in Swaziland.
The Observer on Saturday reported Mtetwa, emphasised that it was wrong for people to
publicly talk about what the King has already pronounced and set in motion.
The newspaper added, Mtetwa said since time immemorial it had been a traditional norm
that no one speaks after the King had spoken.
The newspaper said, He warned all critics to guard against being seen to be going against
pronouncements made by the King.
24
The newspaper added, Also sought for comment, was traditionalist and National Court
President Ndumiso Dlamini who put it clear that he expected no one to taint what the king
had blessed.
He said it was a known traditional or and cultural practice that once His Majesty had spoken,
no one is expected to say a word against his.
Earlier, some members of parliament told Minister for Finance Martin Gobizandla Dlamini
that they were against the allocation of E9 million to the soccer tournament. The money will
be paid over three years.
from addressing public rallies. Whilst no longer incarcerated, the charges against both men
have not been dropped.
Additionally, on 17 and 18 March 2014, charges of criminal contempt were brought against
human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko and editor in chief of the Nation, Bheki Makhubu. Both
men were charged following publication of articles in the Nation that questioned the
reasoning behind and circumstances of a case before the High Court of Swaziland. The state
action taken against them was subject to condemnation by UN experts in June 2014. The
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported concerns that the
detention of both men was related to the legitimate exercise of their right to freedom of
expression as recognised in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Swaziland.
The OHCHR stated that it was of the view that the detention and trial of Maseko and
Makhubu for the exercise of their right to express an opinion on the court case was counter to
Swazilands international human rights obligations. The two men were subsequently
sentenced to two years in prison without benefit or bail where the usual sentence is 30 days.
Following much international condemnation and the dismissal of the judge who had
imprisoned them, Bheki Makhubu was finally released on 30 June 2015 having spent 447
days in prison, the prosecution having decided not to oppose his appeal against conviction.
The prosecution adopted a similar approach in the case of Thulani Maseko who was also
released in July of this year.
The use of oppressive laws to limit freedom of speech is not limited simply to the use of
existing legislation; there are also instances of unhelpful commentary by government officials
that is indicative of the repressive nature of the Swazi State. For example, in August 2014,
Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini, the Swazi prime minister, made a speech in Parliament in which
he publically threatened Sipho Gumedze from Lawyers for Human Rights and Vincent
Ncongwane, the General Secretary of TUCOSWA, by suggesting that members of their
constituency must strangle them.
These comments were made following their attendance at the US-Africa Leaders Summit in
Washington DC.
These actions are in contrast to the Charter that commits the Commonwealth to peaceful
open dialogue and the free flow of information through a free and responsible media to
enhance democratic traditions and strengthening the democratic processes.
The Commonwealth Observer mission in 2013 heard testimony that a number of journalists
critical of the government had lost their jobs, faced legal action or jail, with the consequence
that the practice of self-censorship had grown amongst reporters. The media are Swaziland is
overwhelming controlled by the state, and thus, ultimately, by the king.
The repeated arrests of the editor of one of the very few independent publications that has
been critical of the state and its institutions is clearly intended to intimidate those who would
seek to challenge the current regime.
26
The recommendation made by the Commonwealth Observer mission urging the Government
of Swaziland to encourage and facilitate private media has apparently failed to inspire action.
Instead, efforts to intimidate and restrict the media in fulfilling its legitimate role are
ongoing.
Beyond this, the much-criticised STA is being used to suppress political dialogue and thus
scupper democratic processes. We believe that CMAG must not be a bystander whilst there
are ongoing, serious and persistent violations of fundamental Commonwealth values.
See also
SWAZI TERROR ACT TRIAL PUT ON HOLD
SCRAP SWAZI TERROR ACT AMNESTY
27
It is the economic and aid support from multi-party democracies that keeps Swaziland
functioning. But traditionalists refuse to openly discuss why it is that all these multi-party
democracies have such successful political systems that they can afford to be charitable to
Swaziland, while Swaziland, where parties cannot contest elections, cannot support itself.
Tens of thousands of Swazi people are predicted to go hungry during the present drought that
grips southern Africa. Swaziland will only stop its people from starving because food will be
donated by multi-party democracies.
While the Swaziland Government runs around like headless chickens unable to cope with the
drought, which recurs year after year, other, multi-party democracies in the area have put in
place schemes to cope with the crisis.
In Botswana (a multi-party democracy) for example, dams and pipelines take water from
areas with water to those without. Financial schemes are in place to compensate farmers
when crops fail and livestock die.
The government has worked on this for years, not only because it believes it is the right thing
to do, but also because it knows that if it fails the people will throw it out at the next election
and vote in an alternative government to meet their wishes.
People in Swaziland have no such choice. In the Swazi system the people elect only 55 of the
65 members of the House of Assembly; the King appoints the other 10. No members of the
Senate are elected by the people. King Mswati choses the Government: the Prime Minister
Barnabas Dlamini was not elected to parliament by the people, nor did they choose him to be
the government leader.
There is nothing the people in Swaziland can do. It makes no difference who they vote for.
Whoever they elect into parliament, the decision-making remains with the King and nothing
will change.
Richard Rooney
See also
SWAZIS WANT DEMOCRACY - SURVEY
EU TELLS KING: FREE PARTIES
UK CALLS FOR PARTIES TO BE UN-BANNED
NO PARTIES AT SWAZILAND ELECTION
29
The meeting called by some talks about democracy failed to materialise after it became
clear that some participants had drawn up a list of demands for the King. These included the
unbanning of political parties and a commitment to democracy.
The Observer Sunday, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati and described by the
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) as belonging to a stable of newspapers that was a
pure propaganda machine for the Royal Family, reported Prince Masitsela, a senior
traditionalist in Swaziland, saying the Royal Family had not taken kindly to reports that
civil society representatives at the meeting had demands for the King.
The newspaper reported (4 October 2015), This has been viewed as a sign of disrespect
towards the King.
It added, Senior Prince Masitsela is one of the people who have come out to state publicly
that chances of the political formations meeting the King were now slim.
The Observer also reported, The 85-year-old prince said he did not see the meeting taking
place as it was unheard of that Swazi citizens would openly say they have demands for the
King.
Prince Masitsela is an advisor to the King on the Ludzidzini Council.
See also
NOW, PUDEMO SAYS IT WILL MEET KING
KING WONT MEET DEMOCRACY LEADERS
PUDEMO ON DEMOCRACY TALKS WITH SWAZI KING
KING TO MEET DEMOCRACY GROUPS
31
5. POLICE ACTION
Textiles protest: Police fire guns
9 October 2015
Police in Swaziland fired guns and teargas at workers engaged in a legitimate protest against
employment conditions.
According to different local newspaper reports between 2,000 and 3,000 workers at the
Zheng Yong Garment factory in Nhlangano had a confrontation with the companys security
guards.
According to the Swazi Observer newspaper one of the workers was assaulted heavily by the
guards which led to workers throwing missiles.
Management at the textile firm called in the police.
According to the Observer, It was then that gunshots were heard which saw another
stampede as the workers ran in different directions.
According to the Times of Swaziland, Witnesses said the violence was sparked by an
incident, on Wednesday [7 October 2015] afternoon, where one of the textile firm workers
was attacked by the security guards, following a misunderstanding with one of them.
Apparently, the worker had complained after he discovered that his E10 had gone missing
from a table where one of the security officers was keeping guard.
An argument ensued when the man enquired about the whereabouts of his money from the
security guard, leading to an exchange of blows.
Other security guards stationed at the company are said to have wasted no time and rushed to
the scene upon receiving a report.
However, it is alleged that instead of calming the situation, they added fuel to the fire.
Police are routinely called in during legitimate industrial disputes and there is a long history
of weapons being fired at striking workers. Police in Swaziland have also been criticised for
having a shoot-first-ask-questions-later policy.
In June 2015, Swaziland was named as one of the ten worst countries for working people in
the world, in a report from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
32
33
teargas as children protested against alleged corruption at Mhubhe High School in Ngculwini
Police were called after school pupils boycotted classes.
Local media reported police were armed with rifles and pistols. Gunshots were fired at the
pupils after police drove them away from the school, but they tried to return.
Legitimate protestors are also targets. In February 2012, a woman at a protest march in Siteki,
called by vendors and transport operators over plans by the town hall to move the local bus
rank, was shot in the hand as she walked away from police. Reports said she was only 2
metres away from police when they fired.
Police in Swaziland also shoot innocent bystanders. In May 2012, a student was shot in the
leg by police as they tried to break up a protest at the Limkokwing private university in
Mbabane. The 23-year-old was not part of the protest and was caught in crossfire, according
to human rights activists in the kingdom.
See also
SWAZI POLICE SHOOT-TO-KILL
POLICE SHOOT TWO STUDENTS IN HEAD
POLICE SHOOT INNOCENT BYSTANDER
SWAZI GUN COPS ENDANGER CHILDREN
POLICE SHOOT AND KILL MENTALLY ILL MAN
POLICE SHOT ACCUSED RAPIST IN HEAD
POLICE KILL SUSPECT IN COLD BLOOD
35
We had come here to listen to a case in which we are involved with the government. It is
disturbing to find that we are now denied access to the High Court, which is a public place,
the Swazi Observer quoted him saying.
The protest was to be organised by the Public Sector Associations (PSA). The PSA includes
SNAT, the Swaziland National Association of Civil Servants (SNACS), Swaziland Nurses
Association (SNA), and Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting
Personnel (SNAGAP).
Members of the PSA had intended to go to the offices of the Ministry of Public Service to
demand release of a salary review report.
Swazi Government lawyers said the PSA had not consulted the Mbabane Municipal Council
and the Hhohho regional police about the proposed march.
In Swaziland at least 14 days notice must be given for a march and police permission
obtained.
In June 2015, Swaziland was named as one of the ten worst countries for working people in
the world, in a report from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
A week after that report was issued, the International Labour Organization (ILO) told
Swaziland it must stop interfering in the activities of trade unions; ensure workers
organizations are fully assured of their rights and ensure they have the autonomy and
independence they need to represent workers.
The ILO placed Swaziland in a special paragraph in its annual report to highlight the
deficiencies in the kingdoms commitment to freedom of association.
See also
KINGDOM IN TOP 10 WORST FOR WORKERS
ILO URGES SWAZI WORKERS REFORM
36
6. ARMY SHOOTINGS
Army shoot 16 bullets into smuggler
16 October 2015
Soldiers in Swaziland put 16 bullets into a man and killed him because he would not stop his
car at a road check.
This was the latest in a long line of incidents that show the kingdoms army is out of control
and also enforces a shoot-first-ask-questions-later policy.
The army in Swaziland is known as the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force (USDF) and has
King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch, as its chief.
The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the King, reported on Friday (16
October 2015) that the soldiers, found themselves with no option but to open fire when a
Toyota Tazz bearing foreign registration numbers was smuggled into the kingdom with the
occupants failing to stop when ordered to do so.
It added, A total of 16 bullet wounds were found on the deceaseds body which the army
riddled through at him as he tried to escape.
The shooting occurred at Gege. There were two occupants in the vehicle believed to have
been stolen from around Piet-Retief. The driver was killed on the spot while his colleague
who also got shot managed to flee with several bullet wounds, according to the Observer.
The newspaper added, Army mouthpiece Madoda Mkhatshwa said the soldiers tried to stop
the car but the driver ignored them even after firing warning shots.
This incident comes less than two weeks or so after soldiers also gunned down another
suspected car smuggler near Mshololo not far from Zombodze Emuva.
In July 2015 it was reported by Titus Thwala a member of the Swazi parliament that
Swaziland soldiers beat up old ladies so badly they had to be taken to their homes in
wheelbarrows. They were among the local residents who were regularly beaten by soldiers at
informal crossing points between Swaziland and South Africa.
This was not the first time soldiers in Swaziland have been accused of beating and torturing
people. A man was reportedly beaten with guns and tortured for three hours by soldiers who
accused him of showing them disrespect.
Soldiers have been out of control in the kingdom for a very long time. In January 2010 they
were warned by the Swaziland Human Rights and Public Administration Commission that
their attacks on civilians amounted to a shoot to kill policy and this was unconstitutional.
37
In July 2015 it was reported by Titus Thwala a member of the Swazi parliament that
Swaziland soldiers beat up old ladies so badly they had to be taken to their homes in
wheelbarrows. They were among the local residents who were regularly beaten by soldiers at
informal crossing points between Swaziland and South Africa.
Soldiers have been out of control in the kingdom for a very long time. In January 2010 they
were warned by the Swaziland Human Rights and Public Administration Commission that
their attacks on civilians amounted to a shoot to kill policy and this was unconstitutional.
In April 2013, the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) condemned
Swaziland police and state security forces for their increasingly violent and abusive
behaviour that is leading to the militarization of the kingdom.
In a report to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) meeting in
The Gambia, OSISA said, There are also reliable reports of a general militarization of the
country through the deployment of the Swazi army, police and correctional services to clamp
down on any peaceful protest action by labour or civil society organisations ahead of the
countrys undemocratic elections.
See also
SWAZILAND BECOMING MILITARY STATE
SWAZI SOLDIERS TORTURE OLD LADIES
39
7. MEDIA
Jailed journalists seek millions in compensation
20 October 2015
The two Swaziland journalists who were jailed for writing and publishing articles critical of
the judiciary but later released by the Supreme Court are suing the Swazi Government for
millions of emalangeni.
Thulani Maseko, a human rights lawyer and writer, wants E20 million (about US$2 million)
and Bheki Makhubu, the editor of the Nation magazine, where the articles appeared, wants
E3.7 million.
The pair spent about 470 days in jail of a two-year sentence after being convicted of contempt
of court in a case that attracted condemnation from across the world.
They claim unlawful arrest, prosecution and detention.
Makhubu, in his letter of demand directed to the office of Attorney General Majahenkhaba
Dlamini, says his arrest, prosecution and detention were unlawful and without probable
and/or reasonable cause and were motivated by malicious intent.
Makhubus claim includes compensation for malicious arrest, prosecution and detention;
defamation of character; emotional trauma, shock and discomfort and legal costs incurred
during his trial.
Thulani Maseko who is claiming E20 million stated that he was maliciously prosecuted and
he was released when the Crown conceded that the arrest, prosecution and detentions were
unlawful.
See also
SWAZI HUMAN RIGHTS WORSEN: AMNESTY
JOURNALISTS JAILED TO DETER OTHERS
US BACKS CONVICTED SWAZI JOURNALISTS
JUDGE RESTRICTS PRESS FREEDOM
SUPPORT FOR CONVICTED JOURNALISTS
WHAT CONVICTED JOURNALISTS WROTE
40
The King, in effect owns the group which is part of the Tibiyo Taka Ngwane that he controls
in trust for the nation, but uses as a source of personal finance.
The six-member board includes two members of his family and one chief. In Swaziland,
where King Mswati rules as sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch, chiefs owe their
positions to the Kings patronage.
The Swazi Observer group has been called a pure propaganda machine for the royal family
by the Media Institute of Southern Africa in a report on the lack of press freedom in
Swaziland.
The board of directors has been in place since 2013 and will sit until 31 October 2018.
In a report in the Swazi Observer on Thursday (26 November 2015) Chair of the Board
Sthofeni Ginindza was reported saying, Bayethe Wena Waphakathi. Thats all we can say as
a board and thank the King for showing confidence in the board and ours is to continue with
our mandate to ensure that our newspaper remains independent in its presentation of news.
Despite Ginindzas statement on independence, the Swazi Observer group has made no
secret that it exists to support King Mswati and his so-called traditionalists.
On 1 March 2010, Musa Ndlangamandla, the then editor-in-chief of the Swazi Observer
group, wrote in his own newspaper, But our collective stand as a newspaper is that the
integrity of Swaziland as a democratic State and His Majesty King Mswati III as the
legitimate leader of the Swazi nation, must never be compromised in any way.
On 8 January 2011, Alec Lushaba, then editor of the Weekend Observer and now editor of the
Sunday Observer, wrote in his own newspaper, We commit ourselves into respecting and
observing the institution of the Monarchy by ensuring that all publications with regard to
Their Majesties are factually, culturally and traditionally correct. The sensitivity of the
institutions demands that all facts be checked or verified with the traditional structures and/or
have been in direct consultation with Their Majesties.
The full board of the Swazi Observer group is: Sthofeni Ginindza, Prince Mandla Roland
Dlamini, Senator Princess Phumelele Dlamini, Chief of Ezulwini Mashampu Sifiso Khumalo,
Dumsile Lavumisa Sigwane and Simanga Zibuse Simelane.
41
population account for nearly half of total consumption and there is an ever-widening gap
between urban and rural development. There are clear signs that poverty and unemployment
are on the rise. About 84 percent of the countrys poor people live in rural areas, where per
capita income is about four times lower than in urban areas, and food consumption is two
times lower.
A large proportion of rural households practice subsistence agriculture. About 66 percent of
the population is unable to meet basic food needs, while 43 per cent live in chronic poverty.
When drought hit Swaziland in 2004 and 2005 more than one quarter of the countrys
population required emergency food aid.
To underline the income inequality in Swaziland, in June 2015, the Nation magazine, an
independent monthly publication in Swaziland, revealed that the budget for King Mswati and
the royal household rose 25 percent in 2015 from E630 million [US$63 million] the previous
year to E792 million.
SEJUN said the effects of the drought in Swaziland were, a result of long-term
environmental degradation and policy blunders at all levels.
It said, among others, the following measures were needed:
Strengthen, improve early warning systems to prepare local people and build their resilience
before the disaster hits;
The National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) needs proper financing or
enhancement. The Swaziland government need to set aside adequate funding to address
impact of climate change without relying much on donor community.
SEJUN added, We therefore propose that as an immediate solution the problems of drought
in the Lubombo region the following needed to be done:
The Minister of Agriculture as well as Minister of Health must visit the affected areas for a
first-hand account of what is happening around these areas. This will assist the Honourable
Ministers to develop ideas and suggestions which would serve the remaining livestock and
prevent any human loss of lives through practising safety precautions.
This is because the poverty stricken people of these areas tend to eat some of the decaying
meat and this is a health hazard and could cause an outbreak of many diseases. Some of the
cattle die in the muddy streams only to find that downstream there are people who are using
the water for cooking and washing. This is an early warning that very soon we could face
problems of loss of human life.
Immediate water and food supply to the people. This is necessitated by the fact that it is not
just animals that are affected by this drought but ordinary people too who have not planted
any crop in the last year owing to the drought. These people were surviving by selling their
43
cattle and right now there is no longer anything they can sell nor eat. Government must
immediately assist the our people with food and water.
The government must immediately provide hay as a temporary measure for those cattle that
have survived the drought. Government also needs to dispatch a veterinary team to inspect if
the cattle have not been infected by any diseases and to assist the people in getting their cattle
back.
Government, working with the communities, must also assist identify and burn the dead and
decomposing cattle in an environmentally safe way.
See also
KING GETS NEW JET AS PEOPLE STARVE
SWAZIS AMONG HUNGRIEST IN THE WORLD
HUNGER INCREASES IN SWAZILAND
GOVT DELIBERATELY STARVING PEOPLE
CORRUPTION LEADS TO STARVATION
FEAR OF MASS HUNGER IN SWAZILAND
confirmed that it does not have a budget to feed the thousands of people affected by the
drought brought about by El Nino.
The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, reported Dlamini saying
the figure requiring food aid would rise to 200,000 by March 2015. The Observer added,
Dlamini stated that statistics had revealed that next year 200,000 people would be starving.
The Times reported, Dlamini said their predictions showed that by March and April, about
300,000 people would be in need of food aid.
The Observer reported, The deputy prime minister stated that unfortunately government
would not be able to help the affected people due to financial constraints.
45
9. HEALTH
Kingdom bottom in health ranking
3 November 2015
Swaziland has come last in a study of the healthiest nations in the world.
The kingdom came bottom out of 145 countries in the Worlds Healthiest Countries report published
by Bloomberg. Data for the report was compiled from the United Nations, the World Bank and the
World Health Organisation.
The Bloomberg rankings gave each country with a population of 1 million or more a health
score and a health-risk score.
Each countrys place was calculated by subtracting their risk score from their health score.
The health score is based on factors such as life expectancy from birth and causes of death,
while health-risk is based on factors which could impede health such as the proportion of
young people who smoke, the number of people with raised cholesterol and the number of
immunisations
46
constructively. The Speaker Honourable Themba Msibi acted improperly and violated the
privileges of House by acting ultra vires.
4. The Speaker plotted the ousting/removal of the Right Honourable Prime Minister Sibusiso
Dlamini from the Premiership position. The presiding officers abuse the name of the
monarchy for their own selfish ends. They were a deadly combination that sought to
destabilise the government as messengers of royalty.
5. The Speaker has no admiration, respect, regard and reverence for members of parliament;
as he took two secretaries, including his favoured Secretary 1, for a trip to Korea.
6. That the parliamentary organogram and remuneration need review; particularly the
Hansard Department. The entire staffing system in parliament has been grossly corrupted.
7. The presiding officers interfere and jeopardise the work of the clerk to parliament.
Unfortunately, the clerk gets intimidated and succumbs to their whims.
8. The Speaker did hire and promote parliamentary staff, yet there is no single piece of
regulation or policy that assigns that responsibility to his office.
9. The Speaker not only practices nepotism in parliament, but also promotes anarchy. The
Speaker is running parliament like a personal fiefdom, without any regard for the
governments general orders which govern the parliaments staff.
10. The Honourable Speaker did unscrupulously try to siphon the select committees
investigation information from the Technician working with the select committee, as
evidenced by the police statement attached.
11. The Speaker Honourable Themba Msibi fails to control his temper, as per evidence of
Honourable Sitezi Dlamini, Library1, Library 2, assistant clerk 4 and others.
12. The Honourable Speaker did engage in corrupt practices, which include his failure to
recuse himself or at least declare interest to the Parliamentary Service Board meetings when
accounts 1, cleaner 1, canteen 1were interviewed.
13. The Speaker is not trustworthy and is fraudulent.
14. The Speaker treats parliament as an extension of his own personal property.
15. The Speaker does have dubious, shady, and adulterous relationships with parliamentary
female staff members. It is unfortunate that about half of those ladies associated with the
Speakers shenanigans are married.
16. The Speaker usurped the responsibility of procurement from the office of the clerk and
made it his own business, obviously for unclean and unprofessional reasons.
17. The Honourable Speaker has no respect for parliament, as he flatly refused to appear
before the select Committee while on the other end continued to tarnish the image of
48
parliament by making headlines in the media, responding to the allegations he was being
investigated for.
18. That in parliament, there are serious allegations of sex for jobs.
19. That the Honourable Speaker has uncontrollable weakness for women.
Recommendations
1. The presiding officers interference in purely administrative matters should be condemned
in the strongest terms since it is tantamount to flagrant abuse of authority. Therefore a review
of all the illegal appointments made should be undertaken by the Management Services
Department and a way forward mapped out.
2. Parliament should expedite the enactment of the Parliamentary Service Board Bill, so that
a properly constituted PSB can be established.
3. The whole staffing system needs a thorough review that will address improved working
conditions, including remuneration, promotion etc.
4. The hiring of parliamentary staff should be based on the principle of meritocracy, to avoid
the sex for jobs scenario.
5. The Joint House Committee must resume its duties forthwith, as it was illegally dissolved
by the presiding officers. Those responsible for its dissolution should not be allowed to
interfere in its operation ever again.
6. The Honourable Speaker must be surcharged by Treasury for
a) The money unduly paid to him in refund for a book he bought in London, which remains
unaccounted for;
b) Defrauding government by filing for full per diem on a fully sponsored trip to South
Korea; and this must also include all those who formed part of his delegation;
c) The computers that he unilaterally purchased.
7. Fraud, corrupt practices, theft and abuse of authority are covered in the Prevention of
Corruption Act, 2006. It is expected therefore that the Anti-Corruption Commission will
execute its mandate as provided in law; without fear or favour. It is quite incontestable, if not
indubitable, that the findings portray the administrative atmosphere in parliament as so
polarised and corrupted that the long arm of the law has to intervene.
8. The House business should continue with or without the Speaker. Parliamentary
Committees should not compromise the integrity of Parliament by remaining indifferent even
when the institution is being eroded. No individual has the right to stall parliamentary
business, for this is a sacred institution.
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9. It is crystal clear, and one need not be a rocket scientist to tell that the current Speaker
Honourable Themba Msibi is not fit to hold the office of the Speaker; and cannot be
rehabilitated.
In light of the preceding revelations, which include acts of corruption, fraud,
misrepresentation of facts, illegal procurement, graphic sexual escapades, nepotism,
favouritism, abuse of power, bringing the name of the monarchy into disrepute; it is,
therefore, concluded that the Hon. Speaker, Honourable Themba Msibi must sacrifice the
seals of his office.
The Honourable Speaker must, within seven (7) days from the adoption of this report, do the
honourable thing and resign as Speaker of the House of Assembly; failing which a vote of no
confidence be passed on him in terms of Section 102(7)(b) of the Constitution of the
Kingdom of Swaziland.
See also
SWAZI HOUSE SPEAKER SUSPENDED
KINGS MAN STANDS FOR SPEAKER JOB
CONFUSION AS SPEAKER NOT ELECTED
DISSIDENT STANDS AS HOUSE SPEAKER
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The violence that ensued after soldiers swept through campus has been a sensitive subject
with government ever since. A commission of enquiry had its report secreted away for years,
with a bowdlerized version finally released to the public in 1997.Two students who were
seriously injured sued government for damages, and their cases were settled out of court.
IPS reported that not only was the traditional leaderships fear of democracy revealed on
Black Wednesday, but also a proletariat attitude of resentment, displayed by the soldiers,
was shown against the educated student elite. The military's code name for the university
invasion was Operation Tinfundiswa (educated ones).
It was a time of wild rumors, recalled Khumalo-Matse. We heard that government feared
we would burn down the library, which belied common sense because we were inside and
would have incinerated ourselves.
The army officials in charge gave students a five-minute warning, and then unleashed what
one onlooker later told an investigating committee was a military riot against civilians.
Students were beaten as they emerged from the library to escape teargas canisters hurled
through windows, and had to run a gauntlet of soldiers. Other soldiers chased students until
they cornered them along fences. As they beat students with batons, the soldiers informed
them they were being punished.
People in Swaziland were shocked by the brutality. Particularly offensive was one newspaper
photo depicting a young woman carried out of the library between soldiers like a slaughtered
pig, according to a letter writer to the Times of Swaziland.
After the invasion, Michael Prosser, a professor from the United States who was working at
the University of Swaziland, posted an account of what he saw on his personal website. A
version of this later appeared in a book he co-edited called Civic Discourse: Intercultural,
International, and Global Media.
This is his account from his website that is no longer available online.
BLOODY WEDNESDAY IN SWAZILAND
November 14, 1990, Bloody Wednesday in Swaziland still lingers as a most important
moment in my life. It was the only day that I thought I surely might die. I was a Fulbright
Professor at the University of Swaziland in south east Africa that year.
University students began boycotting classes on November 12 in protest of a lack of faculty
lecturers, poor food conditions, and the suspension of a popular young sociology lecturer for
promoting democracy in Swaziland.
Early on November 12, all 1 600 university students held a protest meeting and boycotted all
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classes. At noon, they dumped their plastic wrapped lunches at the administration office door.
The Swazi radio, and tv stations, Swazilands newspapers gave extensive coverage to the
dumping of the lunches. Many Swazis were subsistence farmers who often went to bed
hungry; thus this student decision reflected very badly on them. All students received a
University notice demanding the end of their class boycott on November 13. They decided to
continue it. The University Council demanded their return to classes on November 14, or be
considered in defiance of the twenty-three year old King Mswati III.
Another student meeting on November 14 continued the boycott. About 500 students
peacefully barricaded themselves in the two-storey university library. Several hundred
students left campus or stayed in their student hostel area. At about 5pm, armed Swazi
soldiers entered the high fenced campus.
A university official drove through the campus announcing the immediate campus closure.
Five young women rushed to me and asked for emergency protection in my home. I took
them there immediately.
A fifteen hour rain and thunderstorm had just begun. The young women were quite terrified.
The young soldiers broke into the library and the student hostels, dragging students out,
beating both men and women with their night sticks on their arms and legs, and forcing them
to run a gauntlet toward the front gate while the soldiers gave them sharp blows.
The soldiers taunted the students: Well beat the English out of you. They were especially
vicious toward the women. The soldiers had been stationed that day at the high school next
door to the campus and drank lots of beer before they attacked the campus, making them
even more violent than otherwise so likely.
A neighbor warned us that at 10pm, soldiers would search our houses and arrest any students
found there or on campus. Two Canadian families and I, in a caravan of three autos, took 11
frightened Swazi students in the three cars to the front gate to take them to safety.
With a gun pointed the first drivers cheek, he got permission from the guard to leave the
campus with the students. In the swirling rain, lightening, and thunderstorm, we took the
students to safe shelters. When we returned to campus late in the evening, two soldiers were
posted all night in the back and in the front of our houses.
With some students, I drove to the nearby hospital where more than 120 students had
received emergency treatment. We visited more than a dozen badly injured students. We
learned that soldiers possibly had injured as many as 300-400 and had killed perhaps as many
as two-four students.
The Swazi radio and tv stations gave no information about what had happened after the
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students had dumped their food. However, the two Swazi newspapers did give the event
considerable coverage over several weeks. They also printed many letters to the editor
decrying the incident and called for a national judicial enquiry. Reuters News Agency and the
South African press gave it some coverage.
Amnesty International cited it in their 1991 Annual Review. The University remained closed
for two months, reopening on January 14. A national judicial enquiry, more heavily critical of
the student boycott than the hostile military response, began on March 14, 1991 and ended on
May 14.The enquiry panel never released any details to the public.
The print media called the incident Black Wednesday but my students and I attempted to
have the newspapers rename it Bloody Wednesday since so much innocent student blood had
been shed.
I always recall that day as my worst and best day in Swaziland when much evil occurred but
many good people at the campus, the hospital, and nearby clinics generously helped the
students. Do these former African students, now in their thirties, still remember that day? I
assume so. I certainly always do.
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55
BOOKS
2013. The beginning of the End? 2012, a year in the struggle for democracy in
Swaziland
This compilation of newsletters from Africa Contact in collaboration with Swazi Media
Commentary contains an assortment of news, analysis and comment covering the campaign
for freedom in Swaziland throughout 2012. These include the Global Action for Democracy
held in September; campaigns for democracy spearheaded by trade unions and students and
the continuing struggle for rights for women, children, gays and minority groups.
2012. The End of the Beginning? 2011, a year in the struggle for freedom in Swaziland
This book looks at activities in the freedom movement in 2011. It starts with a section on the
unsuccessful April 12 Uprising followed by separate chapters looking at events in each
month of 2011, including the Global Week of Action held in September. They also highlight
the numerous violations of rights suffered by the poor, by children, by women and by sexual
minorities, among others, in the kingdom.
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Volume 13: Jan 2014 to March 2014, is available free of charge here
Volume 14: April to June 2014, is available free of charge here
Volume 15: July to September 2014, is available free of charge here
Volume 16: October to December 2014, is available free of charge here
Volume 17: January to March 2015, is available free of charge here
Volume 18: April to June 2015, is available free of charge here
Volume 19: July to September 2015, is available free of charge here
OTHER VOLUMES
Volume 1, Jan 2013, is available free of charge here.
Volume 2, Feb 2013, is available free of charge here.
Volume 3, March 2013, is available free of charge here.
Volume 4, April 2013, is available free of charge here.
Volume 5, May 2013, is available free of charge here.
Volume 6, June 2013, is available free of charge here.
Volume 7, July 2013, is available free of charge here.
Volume 8, August 2013, is available free of charge here.
Volume 9, September 2013, is available free of charge here
Volume 10, October 2013, is available free of charge here
Volume 11, November 2013, is available free of charge here
Volume 12, December 2013, is available free of charge here
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