Spectators will
be charged E250 (US$25) to attend matches at the tournament
set up to honour King Mswati III of Swaziland – at least two weeks’ income for
seven in ten of his subjects.
The controversial tournament called the King’s Super
Cup includes the two giant South African teams Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando
Pirates.
Pro-democracy campaigners have urged the two clubs
not to attend the tournament scheduled for 18 July 2015 because it would be
seen as supporting the King who has been criticised globally for the poor human
rights in his kingdom.
Political parties are banned from taking part in
elections and the King, who rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute
monarch, choses the government and top judges. Groups advocating democracy are
banned under the Suppression of Terrorism Act and people advocating for reform
are jailed.
The tournament’s organising committee chairman Zakhele
Lukhele said that a special dinner would be arranged on the eve
of the tournament and the price to attend would be E15,000 per table.
In Swaziland, seven in ten people have incomes of less than US$2 per
day.
The announcement was made at the Royal Swazi Spa Convention Centre,
Mbabane, on Wednesday (24 June 2015).
The Supersport
website, based in South Africa, reported, ‘The King’s Super Cup is an
initiative of Swaziland’s King Mswati III. “The number one football supporter
in this country,” as one guest said it.’
A campaign started by pro-democracy activists in Swaziland has been
reported by news organisations globally.
Campaigners say if the two South African football
clubs took part in the tournament it would be a ‘mockery to the many activists
that have died at the hands of the government and those who are presently
languishing in jail for having dared to talk against the atrocities obtaining
in Swaziland’.
The People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), in
a statement said, ‘Almost 70 percent of Swazi
citizens live under the poverty line of less than a dollar a day, while Mswati
III’s preoccupation is buying private jets, luxury
cars and touring the world with his throng of wives at the
expense of the Swazi people.’
The statement added, ‘PUDEMO implores the two soccer
giants to reconsider their decision to be involved in a tournament that seeks
to put a human face on a government that has made it its prime occupation to
govern the people with fear and dispossession.
‘The fact that the tournament’s namesake is to
honour an individual who uses fear and corruption to accumulate riches which he
then uses to further suppress freedoms and curtail human rights, should be an
indicator enough that the good game of soccer is being taken to the sewers, and
this tournament will forever taint the good name of these two soccer giants for
having dared to give credibility to a king who sits executive over cold blooded
murder and the incarceration of innocent citizens.’
The Communist Party of Swaziland in
a statement said the participation of the two
football giants in the tournament undermined the efforts of democrats to
isolate the King.
In an open
letter to Irvin Khoza, Chairman of Orlando Pirates
Football Club and Kaizer Motaung, Executive Director, Kaizer Chiefs Foodball
Club, the Swaziland Solidarity Network said, ‘It is clear from the name of the
event that this is not just a sporting event meant to promote goodwill but
rather a political event meant to legitimise a despot who has lost credibility
in the eyes of the world and the country that he rules with an iron fist.’
See also
CALL
TO BOYCOTT KING’S SOCCER CUP
http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/call-to-boycott-kings-soccer-cup.html
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