The
belief that many Swazi people have of themselves as friendly and peaceful
people took a battering on Wednesday (5 October 2016) at a parliamentary select
committee hearing on Asians.
The
kingdom’s only two daily newspapers gave vivid accounts of xenophobia,
ignorance and hatred.
The
Swazi
Observer, the newspaper in
effect owned by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch,
posed the question, ‘Is Swaziland home to 200,000 Asians?’
It
should have known the answer was, No, since that number would account for
around one in six of the entire population.
The
Observer reported that speakers at
the committee claimed, ‘In no
time, foreigners would take over control of the economic and political life of
Swaziland.’
They said that Asians aimed to ‘occupy the country’.
They said the Asians wanted to convert people to become Muslims.
The Observer reported, ‘To make their
alleged take-over of the country very easy, the Asian people flooding the
country are now reportedly marrying Swazi wives.’
The newspaper said the committee had been formed
to, ‘probe the influx of foreign nationals into the country, in particular
those of Asian origin.’
The
newspaper added, ‘The parliamentary committee, which is chaired by Zombodze
Emuva MP Titus Thwala, was elected after a motion that raised, among other
things, concern that Asians were flooding the country amid suspicions of
corruption.’
The Swazi
Ministry of Home Affairs has suspended issuing entry permits to Swaziland for
Asian nationals.
The Times
of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, reported,
‘The general concern by the speakers was that the Asians had one mission, which
was to take over the country and convert all Swazi nationals to the Muslim religion.’
The
newspapers took no opportunity to qualify the claims with facts or context and presented
the statements as if they were true.
Muslims
in Swaziland often feel under attack. In September 2016 it was reported that undercover
police regularly attended prayer meetings as mosques, because Muslims were
perceived as people who wanted to perpetuate violence.
In
July 2016, the editor of the Times
Sunday made a concerted attack on ‘Asians’ in the kingdom, declaring
them to be cheats and scoundrels.
Following Swaziland’s decision to
ban
all Asian people from entering the kingdom a group of 12 Asians were
evicted from their home at Mgazini and banished from the area simply
because they are Asian.
They
had rented a homestead from a local resident, but were later ordered out of the
area by the area’s chief’s representative Indvuna Xolani Vilakati. The Indvuna
or headman reportedly did not meet with the Asians, ‘but only heard of their
presence in the area’.
See
also
ASIANS
EVICTED FROM HOME
ALL
ASIANS BANNED FROM SWAZILAND
Well I have lived in Swaziland now for almost 3 years as a white foreigner from SA and I have to admit that in Swaziland most people are generally peacefull and easy to talk to but unfortunately many foreigners I speak to feel that they will never feel at home here because there seems to be un invisible layer of generalized exclusionism between most people in Swaziland no matter your social standing or income level. If you don't start a conversation first their won't be much to talk about. You can clearly see each man is in it for him/her self here.
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