Swaziland Newsletter No. 869 – 21 March
2025
News
from and about Swaziland, compiled by Global Aktion, Denmark (www.globalaktion.dk)
in collaboration with Swazi Media Commentary (www.swazimedia.blogspot.com),
and sent to all with an interest in Swaziland - free of charge. The newsletter
is also available online on the Swazi Media Commentary blogsite.
Female pupils
whipped naked
By Joseph
Zulu, eSwatini News, 15 March 2025
LUYENGO: In a shocking incident at St. Christopher’s
High School in the Manzini Region, pupils have come forward to allege that they
were whipped while naked for noise making.
The troubling episode, said to have occurred last
Sunday, has sparked outrage among parents and calls for a thorough
investigation into the punishment which they view as alleged abuse. The
incident has shed light on deeper issues regarding pupils’ welfare and the need
for robust disciplinary practices within the educational system.
The affected pupils are said to be those in the
institution’s boarding facility. It is alleged that at the time of the alleged
corporal punishment, they were watching television. According to the
girls, they were busy in the TV room, enjoying their time when a familiar male
voice was heard, complaining about their noise levels. The girls alleged
that the official grimly informed them that they would be punished for their
behaviour.
The name of the official cannot be mentioned as the
matter is still under investigation. “We then begged to at least go and
dress up properly, but he refused us to do so,” they alleged. Some of the
girls alleged they were naked, others left with only underwear. This was due to
the hot weather at the time. There were those who wore towels, they claim.
They alleged that the ones with towels were ordered to remove them before being
whipped.
Despite the girls’ protests concerning their lack of
clothing, the official allegedly proceeded to administer corporal punishment on
the pupils. The girls alleged the grim event turned a seemingly innocent
gathering into a traumatic experience. This is also said to have led to outrage
among the school community.
Immediately after the incident, some of the girls are
said to have contacted their parents to report the matter. Concerned parents
who spoke on condition of anonymity wondered how this was allowed to happen and
why an official who is not authorised to do so had whipped the children.
The parents alleged that it was not the first time
such an incident had been reported to the school. They said the girls were also
previously assaulted in a similar manner yet no action was taken.
To read more of this report, click here
http://www.times.co.sz/news/149846-female-pupils-whipped-naked.html
EU pumps in
R15million in support of eSwatini Small and Medium Enterprise businesses
By Musa Mdluli, Swaziland News, 18 March, 2025
MBABANE: The European Union (EU)
has announced R15million in support of eSwatini businesses within the Small and
Medium Enterprise (SME) sector, a grant that seeks to assist eSwatini small
businesses in adopting renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions.
Dr. Thambo Gina,the Minister
of Economic Planning and Development was present during the signing of the
agreement, others include Karsten Mecklenburg, the EU Ambassador to eSwatini
and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Resident Representative Henrik
Franklin who emphasized the importance of empowering women-led MSMEs while
ensuring that, at least 40% of supported businesses are women-owned or led.
On another note, the project
seeks to assist eSwatini achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
particularly Goal number (7) seeking to ensure access to affordable, reliable,
sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030, focusing on universal access,
increasing renewable energy share, and improving energy efficiency.
European Union pumps-in R15million in support of eSwatini Small and Medium Enterprises
Poverty does exist in eSwatini
By Sabelo Gabs Nxumalo, Times
of eSwatini, 18 March 2025
ESWATINI is a very unequal
country. It has one of the highest levels of inequality in the world after
countries like South Africa. What does this really mean? There are very rich
emaSwati who can afford to live a life of opulence, a word that also means abundance.
Fellow emaSwati who can afford to spend on vanity items they don’t need, but a
show of wealth.
A local lawyer I once heard
boasting about spending an insane amount on an expensive pen, Cuban cigars and
expensive whiskey. A businessman talking about his family holiday in Dubai
seems like normal conversation around the high-end restaurants of Mbabane or
Ezulwini. Most of the insanely rich emaSwati keep their real wealth in South
Africa and even offshore accounts.
The reality is that it is not
only emaSwati, but the whole world has gone crazy. Capitalism is a disease
which has long infected humanity. We hear of the Americans spending US$300
billion on the Ukrainian war, which has killed Ukrainians and Russians alike,
who are ethnic brothers.
This is about five trillion in
Rands or Emalangeni. This could end hunger in Africa and empower the African
continent in unimaginable ways. The Grand Inga Dam project in the DRC needs
only US$80 billion and can produce clean electricity for the DRC and all SADC
countries.
Poverty is very real in the
Kingdom of Eswatini. Many fancy definitions are given to poverty, but they
never hit the mark like when you see it in person or, God forbid, actually live
through it. As one of those emaSwati who have been lucky not to have been
through this experience, I found myself vehemently disputing reports that there
was serious poverty in my country. As a loyal traditionalist, I took these
reports of poverty as negative propaganda narratives being peddled by
progressive forces to discredit the government and our Monarchy. Over the
years, I have had to change my view and admit that there is indeed severe
poverty in my country.
To read more of
this commentary, click here
http://www.times.co.sz/feature/149864-poverty-does-exist-in-eswatini.html
Government offers hope to healthcare workers displaced
by US funding cuts
By Bongiwe Dlamini, eSwatini Observer, 19 March
2025
Healthcare workers in Eswatini
who lost their jobs due to the discontinuation of US-funded programs may find a
lifeline through government's promise to absorb them into public service.
Minister of Public Service,
Mabulala Maseko, acknowledged that the health sector was significantly impacted
by the withdrawal of US funding, leaving many skilled professionals without
employment. He emphasized that government recognizes the critical roles these
workers played and aims to retain their expertise.
"We will not let go of
healthcare workers who held critical positions," Maseko stated. "We
will work with the Ministry of Health to see how we can absorb them with a
smaller budget."
The Minister stressed that
while government is committed to re-employing these individuals, the
availability of funds will be a key consideration. He assured that specialists
would be prioritized, aiming to utilize their skills within the public health system.
EU support to GBV
survivors and people with disabilities in eSwatini
Statement, press and information team of the
Delegation to eSwatini, 19 March 2025
The ‘Hlonipheka – Thriving for
Dignity Programme’, co-funded by the European Union and implemented by UNFPA,
held its first steering committee meeting at the UN House in Mbabane on 19
March 2025 to take stock of what has been achieved since the launch of the
project exactly a year ago.
The project itself helps to
promote human rights and fundamental freedoms of survivors of gender-based
violence (GBV) and of persons with disability. The project does this through
creating safe communities that actively pursue social justice and protect women
and girls as well as people with disability.
It also helps to create
communities that are anti-tolerant to violence as well as enable GBV survivors
and people with disability to become economically active and independent.
Speaking during the steering
committee meeting, EU Head of Cooperation, Eva-Maria Engdahl, said, through
this project, the EU was very proud to contribute to the implementation of
Eswatini’s national policies that share the same values and principles of EU
strategies on gender issues and rights of persons with disabilities.
Engdahl said gender-based
violence, in its different forms, was recognised globally as one of the most
widespread and persistent violations of human rights.
“Due to the alarming increase
in the violence against women, GBV has become a national emergency also in
Eswatini. The inclusion of people with disabilities is also a key issue to make
social justice real and to concretise the principle of leaving no one behind,”
said Engdahl.
Amongst the project’s many
achievements so far, 64 survivors of GBV have been received in shelters across
the country and these survivors have also received counselling as well as
educational and medical support.
Rape cases surge to over 2 per day
By Stanley Khumalo, Times of eSwatini, 14 March
2025
MBABANE: The alarming
statistics surrounding sexual violence in the country paint a grim picture as
not less than two women are subjected to sexual assault every single day.
These figures are not just
numbers; they represent the traumatic experiences of real individuals whose
lives are irreparably altered by such senseless acts of violence. A tragic
example of this occurred recently when a two-year -old toddler became a
survivor of rape - a brutal act that defies comprehension and highlights the
urgent need for action.
The toddler is one of three
family minors sexually violated at Dvudvusini. The three children were said to
have been discovered by a family member aged 21, who reported to the police
that during the month of January 2025, she discovered that her nieces aged two;
five and five were forced into sexual intercourse without protection inside a
house by a known person.
The suspect is yet to be
arrested. The three minors are part of the 34 females sexually violated in
the past weeks. Subsequent to this, on Monday this publication reported that
five rape cases were reported in the past five days across the country.
Of the 34 rapes, 17 of them were committed in the broad daylight across various
parts of the country.
In Matsapha, a teenager, 19,
of Eteni reported that on March 5, 2025 at 2am, she was raped once without the
use of protection by an unknown person inside a house at Eteni. In Mbabane, a
40-year-old of Mahwalala Zone 6 reported that on
March 9, 2025 at about 5:10pm, she discovered
that her teenage daughter, 17, was forced into sexual
intercourse once without protection inside a house by a known
person while at Mahwalala.
Meanwhile, two rape cases were
reported in Siteki, where a 14-year-old was forced into sexual intercourse by
an unknown person once without protection in the forest while at Dvokodvweni.
Also in Siteki, a woman aged 38, of Maphungwane, reported that on December 27,
2024 at 8:30 am, her daughter aged 16, was forced into sexual intercourse twice
without protection inside a house by a known person while at New Thulwane
nurses’ home.
On the other hand, at
Siphofaneni on March 8, 2025, at 5pm, a woman aged 31, reported that she had
been forced in to sexual intercourse once without protection in a bush by a
known person while at Phuzumoya. Also, in Mbabane a teenager, 14, of Nkwalini reported
that on March 8, 2025 at 3pm, she was raped twice without protection in a bush
while at Nkwalini.
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