New Frame
Magazine editor Bheki
Makhubu, in spite of harassment from King Mswati III and his cronies, is
undeterred in his bid to expose the regime’s wrongdoings.
The role of dissenting
journalists in eSwatini (formerly Swaziland) is more crucial than ever before.
But the grimy reality is that critical journalists left in Africa’s last
absolute monarchy are rare to find. Bheki Makhubu, an editor of eSwatini’s
monthly political magazine The Nation, is one of the few remaining in
the landlocked country who isn’t scared to speak out.
“I’ve always understood
that the media by its nature calls out authority and it protects the public
interest,” he says. “I think by nature of human existence, people in authority
need to be monitored and called to account, because otherwise, they tend to
forget why they are there and sometimes they are not aware of what they are
supposed to do; we need to remind them of their functions.”
To call authorities to account
in eSwatini is, however, almost an impossible task because of the regime’s
repressive laws towards dissidents. “This country is run by bullies,” Makhubu
says at his magazine’s offices in the country’s capital, Mbabane. He frequently
publishes critical stories against King Mswati III and his stooges. While
working for the Times of Swaziland, the country’s oldest newspaper,
Makhubu once wrote that the king is a “businessman”, a remark that forced him
to issue an apology to the ruler after the paper was put under immense
pressure.
On 17 March 2014, Makhubu
and activist and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko were
jailed for 15 months for criticising eSwatini’s former chief justice Michael Ramodibedi. This was after a government vehicle
inspector whose job it is to check whether government cars are authorised to be
on the road requested authorisation from a chauffeur driving a judge in a
government vehicle. Both the judge and chauffeur allegedly refused, resulting
in the impounding of their car.
No one should
be denied representation
“Ramodibedi had [the
inspector] arrested and charged with contempt of court,” Makhubu says, adding
that the inspector had requested legal representation at court which Ramodibedi
allegedly denied. “I then wrote an article saying that whatever power
Ramodibedi might have, he does not have the power to deny anybody the right to
legal representation,” Makhubu explains. For this, he and Maseko were thrown
into jail.
Makhubu says these are
tactics employed to deter journalists from assuming a watchdog role. “When I
walked out of that prison, almost to this day they don’t know what to do with
me. I almost got complete freedom,” he says.
It’s not only journalists
who interrogate officials’ actions who are deterred from pursuing what’s truly
in the public interest. Makhubu says citizens of eSwatini are also barred from
practising their sacrosanct rights – to debate issues directly affecting them.
“EmaSwati might say they
are not oppressed because the king is there to take care of those he can take
care of,” he says. “All we have to do is be on his downside. I find it utterly
disgusting. As emaSwati we are not some kind of [ethnic group] lost somewhere
in medieval times without any consciousness. People in this country are highly
educated but they don’t like it to be known what they know, because they don’t
know who they might offend.”
Grammar rules
and fear of authority
Making an example of how an
appetite for debate in eSwatini has been lost, Makhubu highlights how
grammatically incorrect the word Eswatini is. It’s what appears on government
letterheads, describing the country itself. He explains that the “s” should be
capitalised regardless of any context as it represents a group of people.
However, only the “e” in the word is capitalised, which ought to be so only in
the beginning of a sentence.
“I’ve challenged a few
experts on the isiSwati language as to why the ‘s’ is [lower case],” he says.
“Nobody wants to answer. In a vibrant society, those people who know better
would have stood up. But you might do that and question this guy in authority
who does not know better than you, he might make your life miserable and
victimise you. People are scared of that and I think that’s the saddest thing
that has happened at eSwatini.”
Makhubu says the fear to
speak out and to challenge the regime has escalated to the point that there’s a
naturalised perception that the country only belongs to the king. “Politics
over the years has tended to shift towards making everybody believe that [the
country] is a real estate belonging to the king and we are simply squatters on
somebody’s land. And in fact, even those who paddle that point do it for
political reasons, because they know it’s not true. They say it because it’s
good for the king’s ego. Unfortunately, this is done at the cost of others,” he
says.
One particular case that
demonstrates how far the king’s iron-fisted hand could go to compromise the
rights of others is his “unthinkable act” almost two decades ago, which remains
a “sore point to emaSwati.” In July 2000, the king forced two chiefs to
surrender their chieftaincy status so that his older brother, Prince Maguga,
could assume a chieftaincy role in both villages which are about 25km apart.
The king does
what he likes
The chiefs did not cede to
the order which led to the king issuing an order through the Ministry of Home
Affairs to evict them along with their supporters. The chiefs and some of their
supporters are still living in exile in South Africa. The king “exercised
authority he did not have. Those who advised the king were trying to assert
this untruth that he can do as he likes when he likes,” Makhubu says, adding,
“The king’s powers are in the main constrained by Swazi laws and customs. He
cannot act outside customary law on matters touching culture and tradition.”
The media has a role to
challenge this perception and “to tell emaSwati that their rights are not
dependent on anybody’s wishes.” However, since constructive debates are muzzled
and those deemed dissidents are threatened with jail, the media is unable to
effectively play its watchdog role. It’s only through Makhubu’s political
magazine, with a circulation of about 5 000 copies, that he tries to push
back the narratives of the establishment.
“As a [member of the]
media, I don’t see myself as a political activist. I’m a journalist and I do
what I do to expose the wrongs. I am not trying to lead any revolution. This
freedom that I seem to have alone, sort of has made me say, ‘let me continue
doing what I do. Perhaps people will be inspired by it,’” Makhubu says. But if
the citizens are not inspired enough to take action, “I write to record it to
history, to say to the people who will be living in Swaziland in 3019, that
there were people who saw [the wrongs] and spoke about [them].”
This article was first published by New Frame.
See also
Journalists
‘scared to do their jobs’
Journalists
in Swaziland endure year of harassment as they try to do their jobs
