SWAZI RULERS 'SELF-DESTRUCTING'

The acquittal on a terrorism charge of Mario Masuku, president of the banned People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), after the High Court threw out the prosecution case shows the undemocratic Tinkhundla system of government in Swaziland ‘has completely run out of tricks and is now knowingly self-destructing’.

This is according to Sikelela Dlamini, one of the most prolific critics of the undemocratic regime in Swaziland.

Dlamini, writing on his blog says, it is only a matter of time before people such as Masuku emerge victorious ‘to reap the rewards of their life-long sacrifices for the cause of Swaziland’s greater political freedom’.

He says the Swazi police are under immense pressure from King Mswati III (sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch) and others in the ruling elite ‘to be seen to be carrying out their witch-hunting mandate to root out largely imagined terrorism; which is in fact a deliberate euphemism for silencing political discontent in all its manifestations’.

Dlamini goes on, ‘We have tirelessly argued that the greatest threat to this country’s security, peace, and stability is not the presence of political dissent but rather its denial.’

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