Some people in Swaziland
have been refused national identity cards because of their hairstyles.
It happened at a time when
schoolchildren across the kingdom, ruled by King Mswati III as sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch, queued for IDs following a new rule that they
had to have them to sit examinations.
Officials at BMD [registration] offices refused to take photographs of applicants they considered had
inappropriate hairstyles, the Swazi Observer
reported on Friday (6 October 2017).
The newspaper said, ‘They
said they were told by one of the officers that if they had hairstyles, they
had to fix them and return to the BMD offices with their natural hairstyles.’
One boy interviewed by the
newspaper had a Mohawk hairstyle, which he wanted to appear on his ID. The
newspaper quoted him saying, ‘I am here for my ID and have this hairstyle that
I want to appear in my ID because it defines who I am.’
Home Affairs Principal
Secretary Anthony Masilela told the newspaper, ‘We usually advise people
against doing hairstyles because that might compromise the natural appearance
on their ID cards. If they insist on being photographed with their hairstyles,
no one can prevent them from doing that.’
People in Swaziland have
been discriminated in the past because of their personal choices. At the last
national election in 2013. Mana Mavimbela, aged 18, drew international
attention to the undemocratic poll when she tried to have herself nominated to
stand in the primary election for the House of Assembly. The official presiding
officer, employed by the Elections and Boundaries Commission refused to allow
her to do so because she was dressed in jeans.
Mavimbela was not the only woman discriminated against
at the nominations because she was wearing pants. Fakazile Luhlanga of
Ndvwabangeni in the Mhlangatane constituency was also
not allowed permission to nominate a candidate as she was wearing cargo
pants.
Local
media reported Luhlanga saying she was told that she was dressed like a man
and would be a bad influence to the community members as they would want to
emulate her.
Some chiefs
across Swaziland imposed a ban on women wearing trousers, shorts or mini-skirts
at nomination centres. Chief Petros Dvuba of Mpolonjeni in Mbabane, the
kingdom’s capital, said
people who would be going to the nominations should dress properly and show
respect as it was King Mswati III’s exercise. He told local media, ‘Even those who have
relaxed hair should cover their heads when going to that place.’
In a separate incident away
from the election, Nhlonipho Nkamane Mkhatswa, chief of
Lwandle in Manzini,
the main commercial city in Swaziland, reportedly
stripped a woman of her clothing in the middle of a street in full view of
the public because she was wearing trousers.
Also, three women in Dvokolwako in Swaziland were summoned
by ‘traditional authorities’ for wearing trousers after elders in the area had
banned them. One woman said someone reported her after she was spotted wearing
jeans as she was walking to the shops. Another woman was said to be wearing
pants at her home when she was charged.
See also
WOMAN
IN PANTS BANNED FROM ELECTION
CHIEF MAKES WOMAN IN PANTS STRIP
SWAZI
WOMEN DENIED RIGHTS
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