NUMBER OF REPORTED ABUSE CASES RISES

The number of abuse cases reported in Swaziland is on the increase.

The Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) said reported cases in September 2017 were 11.4 percent up on the previous month.

In a monthly report it said the total number of cases reported to it was 127 compared to 114 in August. People were either sexually, physically, financially or emotionally abused, or suffered neglect.

The Manzini region had the highest number of abuse cases with 68; Hhohho had 48; Lubombo, five; and Shiselweni, four.

According to the report, emotional/verbal abuse continues to record the highest number of cases; followed by neglect, physical, sexual and financial. 

There were 81 female and 46 male clients and 82 male perpetrators and 43 female perpetrators, the report stated. 

The report added parents were the main perpetrators of violence and the home was where most reported cases of abuse took place.

In August 2017, a UNICEF report revealed nearly nine out of ten children in Swaziland suffered violent discipline in the home, nearly four in ten suffered sexual violence and one in three were bullied. UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund) reported that much of this was kept secret within the family.

UNICEF said according to national data, violent discipline in the home, which includes physical punishment and psychological aggression, affected more than 88 percent of all children in Swaziland. The study findings also revealed that sexual violence and bullying affected 38 per cent and 32 percent of children in Swaziland, respectively.

See also

CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT SWAZI CHILDREN

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/campaign-to-protect-swazi-children.html

 

9 IN 10 KIDS SUFFER VIOLENCE AT HOME

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/9-in-10-kids-suffer-violence-at-home.html

CHILD VICTIMS IN HALF OF ABUSE CASES

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/child-victims-in-half-of-abuse-cases.html

PEOPLE DIE AS GOVT. BILLS GO UNPAID

Hundreds of lives are being put at risk and at least three people have died because the Swaziland Government has not paid its bills to South African medical service providers.

This has led to health facilities refusing to accept patients under the Phalala Fund. According to the Times of Swaziland newspaper on Thursday (26 October 2017), the Swazi Government has unpaid debts of E170 million (US$12 million).

Patients on both the Phalala scheme and the Civil Servants Medical Referral Scheme are affected, according to the newspaper.

According to the Swaziland Government, The objective of the Phalala Fund is to assist deserving Swazi citizens who would otherwise not have access to specialist medical care to get it either, within Swaziland or “in special circumstances” outside the kingdom.

The newspaper said in the present financial year (2017/18), 455 Phalala Fund patients and 130 civil servants had been referred, several suffering from cancer.

There is nothing new in this situation. The Phalala Fund has been riddled with incompetence and corruption for many years. Many times in the past South Africa stopped taking patients because of unpaid bills. For example, in 2014 a Ministry of Health’s Senate Portfolio Committee Report said E40 million (less than a quarter of the present day debt) was unpaid and patients were being refused treatment.

In November 2014, the Accountant General Phestecia Nxumalo reported that the Phalala Fund had been defrauded of E9 million because single bills had been paid multiple times.

As long ago as 2006 a report published by the World Bank recommended sweeping reforms to both funding schemes, but these have not taken place.

The report said ‘only a tiny segment’ of the Swazi population benefitted from the large medical subsidy the government paid. It said there were no cost-effective guidelines so the fund could be used on patients who were too sick to benefit from treatment.

Also, fees and other prices were not negotiated before treatment and were ‘completely supplier-determined’.

The report concluded, ‘Thus the two funds provide a “blank cheque” for South African doctors and hospitals: whatever amount they ask is paid for by Government, since it has no recourse but to pay up.’

It also said that management of the funds were poor and it was easy to mistakenly pay bills more than once “due to multiple reminder billings”.’

The report recommended that as far as possible medical care should take place within Swaziland rather than outside using both public and private health facilities and investment should be made to make this happen.

See also

SWAZI GOVERNMENT ‘IS BROKE’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/swazi-government-is-broke.html

SHORTAGE OF HIV DRUGS FOR BABIES

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/shortage-of-hiv-drugs-for-babies.html

 

DRUG SHORTAGE CRISIS DEEPENS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/05/swazi-drug-shortage-crisis-deepens.html

THREAT TO LIFE AS GOVERNMENT DOESN’T PAY BILLS

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/threat-to-life-as-govt-doesnt-pay-bills.html

SWAZI KING’S BUDGET INCREASES US$14 MILLION

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/swazi-kings-budget-increases-14-mil.html

EX-MP SUES FOR ‘JAIL ASSAULT’

A former member of the Swaziland parliament is suing the kingdom’s jail services, alleging he was assaulted while an inmate at a correctional facility.

Charles Myeza says officers at the Bhalekane Correctional Centre squeezed his private parts and smacked his buttocks.

He is not the first former inmate at Bhalekane to allege to have been assaulted in this way.

Myeza has filed a claim at the Swazi High Court and with another former inmate is seeking E600,000 (US$44,000) damages.

The Sunday Observer newspaper (22 October 2017) in Swaziland revealed some of the contents of Myeza’s letter of demand against His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS), seven correctional facility employees, the  Commissioner General  Mzuthini Ntshangase, the National Commissioner of Police Isaac Magagula and the Swaziland Government.

It concerns an alleged incident at Bhalekane on 12 July 2017 at about10-11pm by law enforcement officials who raided dormitories.

The letter reads, ‘As such the client was stripped naked, smacked on the buttocks and had his genitals squeezed by officers, in furtherance of a common purpose to violate the right to dignity. 

‘Such wrongful conduct was conducted by the officers acting in the furtherance of a common purpose with the commissioner of the Correctional Services and acting within the scope of their employment herein, the conduct herein attracts vicarious liabilities herein.’ 

Myeza is not the only former inmate at Bhalekane to allege being sexually abused by warders. In August 2017 the Sunday Observer reported three former inmates alleged they were stripped and had their genitals groped. One said a warder pulled the pubic hair on his testicles. 

Warders were searching inmates for illegal drugs, the newspaper said.

One former inmate told the newspaper he had been kicked in the head by one of the officers. ‘He kept on banging my defenceless head on the ground with his soccer boot. I begged for mercy and he told me that I do not deserve mercy since I was there (jail) to pay for the crimes I committed,’ he said. 

In July 2017, the newspaper reported an entire dormitory of prisoners was ordered to strip naked during a drug search.

The newspaper reported, ‘The officers proceeded to search their dorms for narcotics (dagga) and money.  “They were wearing surgical gloves, ordered us to strip naked and face the wall as they wanted to do a strip search and they wanted things like dagga, cigarettes and money; which we thought was normal,” he said. “However they then started to smack us on our buttocks,” [a former inmate] said, adding how this was closely followed by the use of fists.

‘“I had my private parts squeezed like one does when milking a cow,” he said.’

The HMCS has denied all the allegations. 

See also

JAILERS ‘SEX ASSAULT’ ON MALE INMATES

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/jailers-sex-assault-on-male-inmates.html

 

PRISONERS STRIPPED NAKED, ASSAULTED

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/prisoners-stripped-naked-assaulted.html

‘OBSERVER’ NAMES ANOTHER RAPE VICTIM

The Swazi Observer newspaper has once again named a rape victim in violation of her human rights and journalism ethical codes.

It also disclosed her HIV-positive status.

The Sunday Observer (22 October 2017) reported on a woman it called ‘mentally unstable’. It named her and published two photographs of her as well as a picture of where she lived and of her aunt. It also published a photograph of her youngest daughter. This had her face blanked out but she would be easily recognisable to people in her community.

The newspaper said the woman had been repeatedly raped by men in her community and was now HIV-positive.

By publishing the name of the women, the Observer broke Article 15 of the Swaziland National Association of Journalists (SNAJ) code of ethics on Survivors of Sexual Assault which states, ‘Journalists shall avoid identifying survivors of sexual assault or any information that may lead to the identification of the survivor.’

Journalists across the world generally agree that it violates the rights of rape victims to publish their names without their consent.

This is not the first time the Swazi Observer has named alleged rape victims. In February 2015, it published the names of eight alleged rape victims without their consent.

The Observer published the names as part of a report on the start of a trial of an alleged serial rapist. In its report the Observer listed the women’s names and details of their attacks in what it called ‘a sneak preview’ of the case. It gave their names and details of how each attack took place. The newspaper named one woman and revealed she was a virgin.

In all of the attacks violence including a knife was used. In all cases the alleged rapist did not use a condom.

When the publication of the report caused an outcry the Observer gave a half-hearted apology, saying it had made a ‘boo-boo’. 

In its apology, the Observer said, ‘Indeed, the only decent thing we could do after mixing up the rules is to draw our own sword and hang ourselves.’

The editor nor any other journalist involved in the story was disciplined and the women involved received no compensation. Now, the offence has been repeated it remains to be seen what action will be taken.

The Swazi Observer newspapers are in effect owned by King Mswati III who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Its journalistic credentials have been called into question many times. In a review of press freedom in Swaziland, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) called the Observer, a ‘pure propaganda machine for the royal family’.

The Observer regularly breaks Article 1 of the SNAJ code Article 1which deals with people’s right to information. The article says, ‘The duty of every journalist is to write and report, adhere to and faithfully defend the truth. A journalist should make adequate inquiries, do cross-checking of facts in order to provide the public with unbiased, accurate, balanced and comprehensive information.’

The newspaper is on public record to say that its ‘collective stand as a newspaper is that the integrity of Swaziland as a democratic State and His Majesty King Mswati III as the legitimate leader of the Swazi nation, must never be compromised in any way.’ 

It also publishes false reports about Asians in Swaziland that are capable of string up racial hatred. In October 2016, it claimed that 600,000 people in Swaziland are of Asian origin (14 October 2016). A website called countrymeters that constantly updates statistics recorded Swaziland’s total population at that time as 1,312,881. 

That would mean that about 45 percent of the entire Swazi population were of Asian origin. In fact, every reputable source shows that about 97 percent of Swazi people are African. The sources include the CIA factbook and indexmundi.

The Observer reported on 14 October 2016 that a parliamentary committee set up to investigate Asians in the kingdom was told Asian people had occupied, ‘every available space in the urban areas’. The newspaper did not name the source of this statement. 

The Observer reported as if fact that 90 percent of shops in the kingdom are owned by Asian people (14 October 2016). It said, in Manzini, the main commercial city in Swaziland, ‘almost the entire city is reportedly in the hands of the Indians’ (14 October 2016). 

Other reports it made without giving readers evidence included: Asian people are rushing to acquire Swazi Nation Land to open up small businesses (15 October 2016);  wealthy Asian businessmen are evicting Swazis in massive scales in the areas of Manzini (17 October 2016); Asians are associating themselves with the Swazi Royal Family because it would secure their investments (17 October 2016). 

The constant trashing of Asian people runs against Swazi journalists’ own code of ethics. It amounts to hate speech. The Swaziland National Association of Journalists in Article 13 of its code states, ‘Hate speech. (Journalists shall avoid by all means the publication of speech that might promote hatred, spite and conflict amongst the Swazi or any other nation.)’ 

Richard Rooney

See also

PRESSURE ON ‘OBSERVER’ OVER RAPE

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/pressure-on-observer-over-rape.html

 

‘SWAZI OBSERVER’ NAMES ‘RAPE VICTIMS’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/02/swazi-observer-names-rape-victims.html
 

‘OBSERVER’ SHRUGS OFF ITS RAPE OUTRAGE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/02/observer-shrugs-off-its-rape-outrage.html

 

SWAZI KING’S PAPER ATTACKS ASIANS

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/swazi-kings-paper-attacks-asians.html

 

UNREST AT SWAZI KING’S NEWSPAPER

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/unrest-at-swazi-kings-newspaper.html

 

KING KEEPS GRIP ON ‘SWAZI OBSERVER’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/king-keeps-grip-on-swazi-observer.html

 

FALSE CLAIM OF OBAMA SUPPORT FOR KING

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/false-claim-of-obama-support-for-king.html

 

KING’S PAPER CALLS DEMOCRATS ‘HITLER’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/kings-paper-calls-democrats-hitler.html

 

AGOA PROPAGANDA FROM KING’S PAPER

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/agoa-propaganda-from-kings-paper.html

KING’S PAPER AND ITS AIRPORT FANTASY

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/kings-paper-and-its-airport-fantasy.html

KING FORCES NEWSPAPER APOLOGY

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/king-forces-newspaper-apology.html

RIGHTS NEWSLETTER’S 500th EDITION

A weekly newsletter supporting human rights in Swaziland has published its 500^th edition.

The Swaziland Newsletter which is compiled by Africa Contact, Denmark, in collaboration with Swazi Media Commentary is sent free-of-charge by email.

Swaziland is ruled by King Mswati III as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Political parties are not allowed to contest elections and opposition groups that advocate for democracy have been banned under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. Journalists have been jailed for writing articles critical of the ruling powers.

Advocacy group across the world including Amnesty International and Freedom House have consistently called on the King, who handpicks the Prime Minister and government ministers, to allow freedoms of speech, assembly and association. The King has been estimated by Business Insider to have a personal wealth of US$200 million, while seven in ten of his 1.3 million subjects live in abject poverty with incomes of less than US$2 a day.

The newsletter supports those who want to see a democratic Swaziland. Richard Rooney, a former associate professor and head of the Journalism and Mass Communication Department at the University of Swaziland, who edits the newsletter, said, ‘The newsletter consistently reports on the failures of King Mswati and his government to uphold the rule of law and the denial of basic rights to all sections of the Swazi population, including women, children, political activists, trade unionists, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities and LGBTI people.’

The 500th edition contains reports about the death of one of Swaziland’s foremost traditionalists and human rights violator; the public servants’ campaign for just salaries; poverty-stricken workers demanding the resignation of a cabinet minister; corruption at the forthcoming local elections; a controversial Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Bill that traditionalists want to gut; and a report that government is being sued for allowing illegal school beatings.

The newsletter is available by email here

SAK-Swazinewsletter-subscribe@yahoogroups.co.uk

 

See also

SWAZILAND UPDATE ON HUMAN RIGHTS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/swaziland-update-on-human-rights.html

A DECADE OF NEWS AND VIEWS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/07/a-decade-of-news-and-views.html

HUMAN RIGHTS YEAR-END REVIEW

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/01/human-rights-year-end-review.html

PROGRESS TO SWAZI DEMOCRACY?

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/01/human-rights-year-end-review.html

PUBLIC SERVANTS ACROSS KINGDOM STRIKE

A strike and mass march by public servants in Swaziland is expected to take place on Tuesday (24 October 2017) in the latest round in a pay dispute.

They will march to the Ministry of Public Service before going to the Prime Minister’s Office.

For the first time the kingdom’s main union confederation the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) will take part in the protest.

Workers want a 9 percent cost of living wage rise but the Swazi Government has offered zero. Last week newspapers in Swaziland reported that senior public servants had been given salary increases that could be as much as 115 percent in some cases.

Unions taking part include the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) and the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU).

See also

PUBLIC SERVANTS TO STRIKE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/swazi-public-servants-to-strike.html

SWAZI GOVERNMENT ‘IS BROKE’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/swazi-government-is-broke.html

 

TV CENSORS PUBLIC SERVANTS’ MARCH

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/tv-censors-public-servants-march.html

 

NURSES STRIKE OVER DRUG SHORTAGES

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/nurses-strike-over-drug-shortages.html

PUBLIC SERVANTS TO MARCH FOR MORE PAY

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/public-servants-to-march-for-more-pay.html

SHORTAGE OF HIV DRUGS FOR BABIES

A shortage of drugs in government health facilities in Swaziland has left hundreds of new-born babies of HIV-infected mothers exposed to the virus.

The Ministry of Health said there was a breakdown in communication and that the nevirapine syrup is stuck in central stores.

Swaziland Nurses Association (SNA) Deputy Secretary General Gcinaphi Pateguana told the Sunday Observer (22 October 2017) newspaper in Swaziland there were reports of shortages of a number of drugs, including nevirapine, from across the kingdom.

The Observer reported, ‘Last month the country had a shortage of drugs and supplies used in the administration of health services. In the list of medicines reported to have run out of stock in public hospitals was nevirapine syrup, which is administered to HIV-positive mothers and babies to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. 

‘The Sunday Observer understands that this medication ran out for almost a month in the entire country’s government hospitals.’ 

The newspaper added no alternative drug was given to the mothers.

Ministry of Health Chief Pharmacist Fortunate Bhembe said there had been distribution challenges in September, which led to drug shortages in hospitals. 

She told the newspaper this was mainly due to a breakdown in communication between the health facilities and the Central Medical Stores (CMS). 

‘Another challenge she cited was lack of communication between health facilities, as they could have shared or loaned each other the medication while awaiting their orders.’

Bhembe said Swaziland had not run out of medication.

However, the newspaper reported, ‘On the case of nevirapine, she said she was not aware of any facility that reported shortages during the mentioned period and only learnt of such from the newspaper report.’

There has been continuing shortages of drugs at public health facilities in Swaziland over the past year because the Swazi Government has not paid its suppliers. In September 2017 it was reported there were shortages of drugs for a range of illnesses and conditions including epilepsy, hypertension, diabetes, ulcers and treatments for HIV positive people.

Also hospitals and clinics did not have alcohols and spirits used in disinfecting apparatus, bandages and gloves.

The shortage of drugs has been ongoing in Swaziland for years. The government which is handpicked by King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, often fails to pay its bills to suppliers.

In June 2017, Swazi Senator Prince Kekela told parliament that at least five people had died as a result of the shortage of medicines in Swaziland.

At the time it was reported that about US$18 million was owed to drug companies in May 2017 and they had suspended delivery of medicines until bills were paid. 

In 2014, at least 44 children died and many hundreds were hospitalised during an outbreak of diarrhoea. The Ministry of Health said it could not afford readily-available drugs. Then, the Government spent US$1.7 million on top-of-the range BMW cars for itself.

At present, Swaziland faces an outbreak of malaria and at least four people have died and hundreds have been affected. 

See also

DRUG SHORTAGE CRISIS DEEPENS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/05/swazi-drug-shortage-crisis-deepens.html