XENOPHOBIA IN THE SWAZI PRESS

Why are the newspapers in Swaziland so xenophobic?

That might seem an odd question to ask when day after day the newspapers publish news reports of the xenophobic attacks taking place in South Africa. And they supplement them with ‘think piece’ articles telling us why xenophobia and racism are wrong and why we should fight these evils.

All these reports and some of the comment articles are sourced from outside Swaziland with most from the South Africa Press Association.

But when you turn to the pages of the newspapers that are written by Swaziland journalists, you get a steady drip, drip, drip of racism and xenophobia.

Here is a selection of articles from recent papers.

Bennett comes hard on Indians influx. Acting mayor of Mbabane, Walter Bennett ‘condemned the high influx of Asian nationals in the country. ‘Calling a spade a spade’ he criticised the government policies which allow the influx of foreign nationals (Asians) to conduct business in the country. Radio personality Beauty Lomatsengela Thwala shared the same sentiments with Bennett. (Swazi News 14 June 2008).

Xenophobic smell on the whyless. Column of radio review about Walter Bennett speaking on SBIS radio. [He] ‘went on and on about Indians taking businesses that would otherwise be easily done or carried out by Swazis’ The reviewer Gogo on the Whyless agrees with Bennett ‘fully’. (Swazi News 14 June).

Thokozani wins Timber City tools. Report about a winner of a competition who received E3,300 (about 470 US Dollars) worth of tools. Acting mayor of Mbabane Walter Bennett handed over the prize. ‘Bennett congratulated Timber City for conducting business in good faith as opposed to other businesses, especially those owned by Asians. However, Bennett acknowledged that not all Asians operated in sleaze, saying some should be recognised for their good work.’ Bennett is quoted saying, ‘The ministry of enterprise and employment should recognise such companies [as Timber City] instead of the Asians who trade at the expense of Swazis.’ (Swazi Observer, 11 June 2008).

Chinese company buying stolen goats? Residents of Siphofaneni area say a Chinese company ‘is largely responsible for the loss of their goats in the area.’ The company is buying goats from people without checking to see if they are stolen. (Times Sunday 8 June 2008).

Hire a Mozambican elections scam exposed. An attempt to register Mozambican nationals for the up coming elections has been exposed. (The Swazi constitution allows for foreigners to vote in certain circumstances). (Swazi News 7 June 2008)

Goat rustling at Siphofaneni Asian community major buyers. Report on Afghan national who is stealing goats and then sells them to his friends as ‘halaal meat’. (Note this is the same area as the Times Sunday story about the Chinese) (Weekend Observer, 7 June 2008).

Celebrating 40 years of food, economic dependency? Teetee Zwane in a confusing article (it’s not clear if Zwane is for or against what she writes about) writes that in Swaziland ‘Revere the Western man with a fat purse and let the African man fend for himself.’ ‘A case in point is the national police force’s response to crime. A man of Western origin calls the police claiming to have been attacked on his property by native Africans in a foreign registered vehicle in Malkerns. Within five minutes, two police vehicles rush to the scene with a third from the Special Investigations Unit (Lukhozi) hot on their colleagues’ heels, guns and rifles literally blazing. The crime? Three Africans speaking eloquent English (even better than the Westerners) against an affluent man considered of more importance because he has supposedly brought investment to the country. What does that tell you?’ (Swazi Observer 4 June 2008)

Bheka Mabuza sums it up. Report of summing up of speeches at the peoples’ parliament. Secretary of the king’s advisory council, Liqoqo, Bheka Mabuza, ‘told the King that Swazis were not pleased by the many foreign investors especially the ones that own fish and chips outlets and grocery shops. (Times Sunday 15 June 2008)

This is a random selection of reports and articles. There is nothing unusual about the list. You could make a similar list any week of the year.

If you researched the types of xenophobic reports being published in the Swazi press, top of the list would be ‘Asians’ – mostly Indians – who, the press leads us to believe are ‘taking our jobs’ or ‘trading (and sometimes living) in the kingdom illegally’.

Also high in the list would be stories about Mozambicans or Nigerians (both ‘untrustworthy’).

Colleen Lowe Morna (who describes herself as ‘a South African born in Zimbabwe of South African parents’), in an article for Gender Links, republished in the Weekend Observer (7 June 2008), describes xenophobia in this way,

‘Xenophobia, like homophobia, sexism, and racism has its roots in the failure to accept “otherness” mixed with misguided notions about the superiority of self. That fragile self is constantly threatened by the potential power of the other, whether numerical, social political or economic.’

You can see from the selection of articles from the Swazi press listed above how the ‘Asian threat’ is constructed in terms of numerical and economic power (the ‘influx’ of Asians Bennett talks about; the ‘fish and chips’ business referred to by Mabuza).

So why does the Swazi press do it? The answer as so often is complicated. The press are not alone in the xenophobia. Three of the xenophobic reports I listed above centred on the acting mayor of Mbabane, Walter Bennett. Bennett is a bit of a darling of the Swazi media (often referred by them as a ‘crime buster’, although in the three years I have been in Swaziland I don’t recall him ‘busting’ any crime). Bennett also knows how to manipulate the media to ensure he gets maximum coverage both for himself and his business.

So, the media cover what he says. What the media don’t easily understand is that Bennett has racist thoughts. His distain for ‘Asians’ and ‘Muslims’ is well known and too often reported uncritically.

There may be some hope on the Bennett front. I saw that although the Observer reported uncritically his racist comments at the store prize handover, the Times of Swaziland, in its report, ignored them and concentrated on the prize giving itself.

But, this is not a blogpost about Walter Bennett. He is, however, part of a bigger problem and that problem is the general distrust of ‘foreigners’ that Swazi people have.

Swazis and their news media like to pass themselves off as friendly, welcoming people, but that actually isn’t the case much of the time. In life generally there is a lot of discrimination against foreigners, including people from nearby African countries. Nigerians, Zimbabweans, Tanzanians and Mozambicans are mostly distrusted in Swazi society. This discrimination extends across all social classes, even into the ‘educated’ classes. There is as much distrust of foreigners at the University of Swaziland (where I work) as anywhere else in Swaziland.

So, the Swazi media are a mirror to the society at large. That doesn’t however let them off the hook. Journalists themselves recognise the role they play in educating the public.

Article 6 of the Swaziland National Association of Journalists (SNAJ) Code of Conduct says journalists must not ‘originate material which encourages discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, colour, creed, gender or sexual orientation’.

All of the articles in my list above contravene Article 6.

Although it is important for SNAJ to have a code of conduct about racist reporting, unfortunately Article 6 lacks details and is not that useful for journalists who are trying to do the right thing.

This xenophobia and racism is not confined to Swaziland. Journalists in other parts of the world have to confront racists and racist attitudes every day and have created their own codes of conduct.

One that is more detailed than that of SNAJ is from the National Union of Journalists in the UK. Here is an extract from its guidelines that journalists in Swaziland might like to take note of.

Guidelines ratified by the National Union of Journalists (UK and Ireland) for all its members to follow when dealing with race relations subjects.

The NUJ believes that its members cannot avoid a measure of responsibility in fighting the evil of racism as expressed through the mass media.

The NUJ reaffirms its total opposition to censorship but equally reaffirms its belief that press freedom must be conditioned by responsibility and an acknowledgement by all media workers of the need not to allow press freedom to be abused to slander a section of the community or to promote the evil of racism.

The NUJ believes the methods and lies of the racists should be publicly and vigorously exposed.

The NUJ believes that newspapers and magazines should not originate material which encourages discrimination on grounds of race or colour, as expressed in the NUJ's rule book and code of conduct.

The NUJ believes that editors should ensure that coverage of race stories should be placed in a balanced context.

Race reporting

Only mention someone’s race if it is strictly relevant.

Do not sensationalise race relations issues.

Immigrant is often used as a term of abuse. Do not use it unless the person really is an immigrant.

Be wary of disinformation. Just because a source is traditional does not mean it is accurate.

When interviewing representatives of racist organisations or reporting meetings or statements or claims, journalists should carefully check all reports for accuracy and seek rebutting or opposing comments. The anti-social nature of such views should be exposed.

Do not allow the letters column or 'phone-in' programmes to be used to spread racial hatred in whatever guise.

See also
PREJUDICE AGAINST MUSLIMS RIFE