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Friday, 20 May 2022

Swaziland Newsletter No. 727 – 20 May 2022

 

Swaziland Newsletter No. 727 – 20 May 2022

News from and about Swaziland, compiled by Global Aktion, Denmark (www.globalaktion.dk) in collaboration with Swazi Media Commentary (www.swazimedia.blogspot.com), and sent to all with an interest in Swaziland - free of charge.

 

Student union president singled out and brutally attacked by King Mswati army

Independent Online, South Africa, 17 May 2022

SOURCE

 

Johannesburg – King Mswati’s military officials have attacked students at the University of Eswatini, among them the president of the Swaziland National Union of Students, Colani Maseko, who was allegedly abducted, brutally assaulted and made to roll on a tarred road before being abandoned.

Maseko had since been found and taken to hospital.

This comes after a student protest that was held at the university, where King Mswati is also its chancellor.

Students took to the streets over the long-standing call for democracy and change of government in the country, while recently student allowances also became part of the agenda as students had not received theirs since the beginning of the academic year.

The fight to do away with King Mswati began last year and has brought the country to a standstill, causing extreme violence and killings.

Maseko was believed to have been at the forefront of the fight for students against the current leader.

Pudemo head of international relations Siboniso Mkhabela believes that this attack was not just against the students but rather a warning for Maseko, given the extent of the attack against him.

“The student fight started last year on May 8 when 4th year student Thabani Nkomonye was brutally killed by the soldiers during the protests that were held against King Mswati. There has since been a national protest in his memory and Colani Maseko was attacked because he was the leader of the protests.”

Mkhabela added that Maseko was also known for his stance of encouraging students to burn the portraits of King Mswati, and that also angered the king.

The students were said to be working on a way forward and it remained unknown when school would resume.

“The university has been closed indefinitely by the army and the police so there are currently no students there, but the students are angry and vengeful and say that there shall be no peace for the police and the army. That is their stance right now,” said Mkhabela.

Mkhabela has also added that “this raid by soldiers and police at the university does not come as a shock because this is how King Mswati has chosen to fight back against protesters time and time again and the students will not be backing down this time.

“Maseko is still in hospital and is expected to spend the night because he is in a critical state, but we are hoping for the best. We hope he doesn’t experience internal bleeding given the level of assault,” said Mkhabela.

It is not yet clear what happens next while they await the recovery of the union president, but it is clear that for the students this fight is far from over.

 

Sive Siyinqaba urges international community to take action after Mswati’s soldiers abducted Students President.

By Bongiwe Dlamini, Swaziland News, 18 May, 2022

SOURCE

 

MBABANE: Ngomyayona Gamedze, the Acting Chairman of Sive Siyinqaba National Movement has called upon the international community particularly diplomats to take action after King Mswati allegedly unleashed soldiers to abduct Colani Maseko, the President of the Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS).

In a public statement sent to this Swaziland News, the National Movement said it was “appalled at the inhuman, cannibalistic and barbaric manner with which a whole battalion of the eSwatini Umbutfo Defence Force brutalised and tortured the unarmed President of the Swaziland National Union of Students Mr Xolani Maseko on Tuesday, 17th May 2022”.

The political organization said the attack on Maseko deserves the condemnation of all peace-loving people and beyond.

“Kicking the young man whilst he helplessly lay on the ground, including a gashing wound opened by a metal object was an atrocity that was too scary to watch and it deserves the condemnation of all peace-loving people in the country and beyond, including the Ambassadors of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the European Union, the Republic of South Africa and others. We have no doubt that such heinous incidents will be reported to the capitals of those nations. Abduction of citizens for torture by members of the Army is not provided for in any law, which renders the whole exercise monstrous and unlawful,” reads the statement in part

Lieutenant Tengetile Khumalo, the Army Spokesperson said she would wait for a report from the Officer-in Charge before commenting on the matter. On another note, Sive Siyinqaba said as an organization, they have not forgotten the mass killings that took place last June.

“It is sad that criminal action of such high magnitude is orchestrated at the highest level of the Army. The citizens of this once great country are now on their own. The protector of Swazis has become the devour of the protected,” reads the statement in part.

 

Soldiers tortured me in the forest- UNESWA student

Swati Newsweek 19 May, 2022, By Eugene Dube

SOURCE

 

MATSAPHA - Melusi Dlamini (29) an engineering student who is doing his final year at University of Eswatini, Kwaluseni Campus, is lucky to be alive after he was kidnapped and tortured in the forest by King Mswati III’s soldiers.

“I live outside the Campus. I went to Kwaluseni to write a test which was to start at 10am. However, upon my arrival I was told by other students that our test has been cancelled as there was an ongoing strike.”

“In no time soldiers who were in a lorry came from the Engabezweni direction, they alighted and just pointed guns at us. Students were all shocked and ran away. The other students ran into the nearby houses. I saw dogs from the nearby houses and I was scared to go there. As a result I kept on running and tried to hide into a field. However, the soldiers saw me, came and assaulted me all over the body with a stick, open hands and rolled me on the ground.”

“The soldiers kicked me, and I got injured on the neck as another soldier put his foot on my neck, throttling the life out of me. I saw my life hanging in the balance when the soldiers threatened to shoot me. How I escape I couldn’t tell as I remember running away as I realized that they were on a mission to kill me.”

“I was tortured in a forest outside the university where there are no homesteads. I later crawled to another home where an elderly welcomed me.” He said in a sombre mood and when you look in his eyes you could see the painful ordeal he had experienced at the hands of deranged soldiers.

Dlamini’s father is a soldier too which may complicate his trauma and healing process as seeing his father would torment his mind.

Colane Maseko, a students’ president has been also tortured by the Swazi royal army. He remains in a critical condition.

Prior to these attacks students in local tertiary institutions have been complaining to the government about their unpaid allow. The Mswati regime refused to address their issues but responded with brutality.

The lingering question is, what is the significance of the army or police force if they would brutalise, torture, shoot at, kill and imprison the people they ought to protect for wanting a just and a democratic governance or their mandate as a force is to protect the capitalists and monarchy while they enslave, impoverish the people inclusive of the very same army and police and their families?

 

People should be free to be who they are or choose to love, says EU Ambassador

European Union Press and information team of the Delegation to Eswatini, 17 May 2022

SOURCE

 

Everybody should be free to be as they are and love who they choose! No one should be discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity. Human rights are for ALL!

On 17 May, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT), the European Union (EU) reaffirms its strong commitment to respect and protect the full and equal enjoyment of the human and fundamental rights of all, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people. As an expression of this commitment, the EU Delegation to the Kingdom of Eswatini hoisted the rainbow flag alongside the EU flag in front of its premises in Mbabane.

Solidarity, diversity, equal rights: these words are key today and we draw the attention of government, policymakers, religious leaders, social movements, the general public and the media to the violence and discrimination that LGBTI people still face in many parts of the world, including Eswatini. Conflicts such as Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine have a severe impact on members of the LGBTI community who are targeted by Kremlin’s heinous disinformation campaigns.

The EU leads by example, showing solidarity locally and abiding by our commitments internationally. According to the LGBTIQ+ Danger Index, six out of ten world’s safest countries for the LGBTI people are EU Member States. We are working hard to advance the rights of the LGBTI people globally. The EU supports the Out & Proud: LGBTIQ+ Equality and Rights in Southern Africa Project aiming at improving the legislative frameworks and non-discriminatory environment in favour of LGBTI people in Eswatini, Malawi and Zimbabwe. The project seeks to strengthen the capacities of and opportunities for LGBTI Human Rights Defenders and their organisations to defend, advocate and promote their rights and fight discrimination.

In this European Year of Youth, the EU stands with young people who face intolerance, harassment and rejection both online and offline due to their sexual orientation and gender identity. Young people need to be valued and accepted for who they are!

Today (17 May 2022), I received a delegation of representatives of the LGBTI community in Eswatini. The Rock of Hope, the Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities, Health Plus 4Men Eswatini, House of Our Pride, Men Without Borders have been at the forefront of the struggle for equal rights. Freedom of association is a constitutional right, in Eswatini as well as in the EU, and the LGBTI people should enjoy it freely, alongside all the other citizens,” said EU Ambassador to Eswatini, Dessislava Choumelova.

 

Swaziland Eswatini police break up pro-democracy protest

AFP, 14 May 2022

SOURCE

 

Eswatini police Friday fired teargas and rubber bullets to break up a pro-democracy protest to mark the first anniversary of the gruesome killing of a student activist. Thabani Nkomonye’s mutilated body was found one year ago, a death fellow students blame on police. Outrage among students sparked deadly protests against King Mswati III, the last absolute monarch in Africa.

About 2,000 protesters marched through the commercial hub Manzini, but police fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse them. “We have no choice. Now it is clear that Mswati will not give us freedom on a silver platter,” said one protester who declined to be named. The protest was organised by the national students’ union. The activists eventually dispersed. At least four were hit by rubber bullets, while one teargas cannister landed in a primary school as children were still in class, the union said. No one has been charged over Nkomonye’s death, and a special inquiry last week cleared police of wrongdoing. His body was left in a field, with both eyes gouged out, and three major punctures in his body. Police say he died in a car crash.

“Thabani must get justice even in his death. As youth we have responsibility to continue this struggle in his honour to liberate (the) youth of this country,” student union leader Colani Maseko said. In Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, political parties are banned, and elections take place in a convoluted system that ensures Mswati faces no meaningful dissent.

 

SWALIMO does not support tinkhundla 2023 elections - Gaw'zela

By Mzwandile Shongwe, Breaking News 82 eSwatini, 14 May 2022

SOURCE

 

Mbabane: Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO) President Mduduzi Gaw'zela Simelane has come out to clarify that they are not supporting Tinkhundla system of governance in the struggle.

“As SWALIMO we want elections with the interest of the masses, which is a multiparty democracy ", lucidly explained Gaw’zela.

Hon G said: “By saying we need at least 40 Members of Parliament(MPs) from SWALIMO, we actually mean that when all has failed, we have alternative strategies set in place to continue the course we've started with Bacede and Mthandeni.”

We need more people to collapse the regime system inside parliament.

It is not about SWALIMO but for all emaswati.

“SWALIMO have platforms and programmes set in place to suffocate that 2023 elections, in case our struggle for democracy does not come by,” added Simelane.

 

UNESWA closed amid violent protests

By Kwanele Sibiya, eSwatini Observer, 19 May 2022

SOURCE

 

With each passing day, the University of Eswatini seems to be plunged into chaos and disorder as the institution grapples with the issue of payment of student allowances and more recently, the writing of the final examination.

Given the recent developments surrounding the payment of allowances and the university’s insistence that examinations will go ahead next week, it was a matter of time before the institution was forced to close.

Once again, students instigated violent protests on Monday night over unpaid allowances, students’ refunds, the administration’s refusal to postpone the examinations scheduled to commence on Monday as well as the deteriorating security measures at the university. 

A decision was taken to close the university with immediate effect yesterday with Senate announcing early in the morning that all three campuses were closed until further notice.

The closure of the university was communicated by the Registrar, Dr Salebona Simelane, through a memorandum issued yesterday.

Vacate

“The senate resolved at its special meeting that the university should be closed until further notice and students should vacate their residence,” read the memorandum.

The senate meeting was held yesterday morning and the students were informed to vacate the campuses by 10:30am.

The protest at the Kwaluseni campus started at around 9pm on Monday when a group of students forced those who were studying for the upcoming examinations out of class.

Thereafter, they are said to have proceeded to the main road situated adjacent the university, where they blocked the flow of traffic by burning tyres in the middle of the road and placing debris such as stones and logs across the road.  

This is said to have left motorists with no choice but to contact the police, who promptly responded to the call.

Upon arrival at the scene, the police reportedly fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets in an effort to disperse the students.

Emerged

The students reportedly ran helter-skelter, while a majority of them ran for cover in their dormitories. 

After a while, the students are said to have emerged from their hiding places and began vandalising property.

They are reported to have first forced entry into the warden’s office, where they broke the door and a window as well as and ransacked the office.

The students are also said to have forced entry into the book shop, where they did not only ransack the place, but also allegedly stole an undisclosed number of items, including laptops and bags.

According to the sources, after realising that the situation was seemingly getting out of hand, police allegedly roped in members of the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF), who also reported to the scene.

Lasted

The chaos, however, lasted until yesterday morning as the students were uncontrollable during the course of the night. 

While the chaos was ongoing at Kwaluseni campus, the same was said to be happening at Luyengo and Mbabane campuses, prompting the administration of the university to announce the immediate closure of the institution.    

At the Luyengo campus, students are reported to have interrupted the flow of traffic as they burnt logs and tyres along the road and police were also called to restore order. 

Chief Police Information and Communications Officer (PICO) Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed that police were deployed at the university.  

 

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