Swaziland
Newsletter No. 731 – 17 June 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.
King, prepares 'new' law to punish pro-democracy
MPs
By Eugene Dube, Swati Newsweek 13 June, 2022
LOBAMBA - King Mswati III
through his cabinet is currently amending an old law to deal with a powerful
emerging generation of pro-democracy members of Parliament who give him
sleepless nights demanding greater political reforms.
The law might be weaponized
by the royal regime to deal with progressive lawmakers.
An insider at Swazi
Parliament said "Currently, the existing law (Parliamentary Privileges Act
of 1967) prohibits the police from entering the chambers of the Houses of
Parliament (House of Assembly and Senate) during a sitting. It provides that
order and security in the chamber can only be provided by officers known as
“Sergeant-at-arms”.
She said, “The proposed law
seeks to amend the 1967 law to allow either Speaker of the House of Assembly or
the Senate President to call the police to get into the chambers if there is
trouble.”
“The proposed law is still
being debated in Cabinet. If it is passed there, it will be gazetted and then
tabled in Parliament as a Bill.”
The senior politician
added, “It can only become a law once it is passed by parliament.”
The politician dropped a
bombshell about the law.
“It will allow the police
to get into the chamber for any reason during a sitting. It would depend on the
Presiding Officer why he/she wants the police in chamber at that particular
moment.”
Mfomfo Nkhambule, a former
lawmaker for Mtfongwaneni Inkhundla condemned the state.
“This is bad. Previously
such draconian laws were used. However now we want democracy hence we must have
sound law. A parliament should be independent.”
“Bayaganga.This bad habit
of bringing police to Parliament started when the late Prime minister Barnabas
Dlamini brought police who removed the late Clerk Ben Zwane at Parliament.”
“Swazis should talk to
their MPs. Such a law should not be allowed in our country. The opposition MPs
are likely to be removed in Parliament because of this repressive law.”
Food
prices surge: Govt to ration food in schools
By Setsabile Nkambule, Times of
eSwatini, 16 June 2022
MBABANE – Due to the insufficiency of the E49 million budget
allocation for the schools feeding scheme, government has decided to ration and
cut pupils’ meals.
This is according to the Ministry of
Education and Training Principal Secretary (PS), Bhekithemba Gama, who was
interviewed by this publication yesterday. Previously, there were a number
of complaints by parents and teachers about the shortage of food in schools,
which resulted in poor concentration levels by some pupils who rely on the food
they get from school on a daily basis. As a result, some schools opted to serve
pupils smaller portions of food. This publication yesterday reported that the
most affected schools were in the Manzini Region. Unconfirmed reports were to
the effect that about 28 schools were no longer able to serve pupils with food,
since the beginning of this academic year.
According to the PS, the prices of food
had increased quite significantly, while the budget allocated towards the
school feeding scheme was only enough to cater for the previous food prices. He
said that was why they took the decision to stop supplying some food items to
schools as they had become too expensive.
Increase
“As we are all aware of the increase in
prices of some food items, we as a ministry, have taken a decision to ration
food in schools. This is because the budget we currently have only caters for
the previous prices before inflation. Due to this, we have not been able to
afford some of the food items such as cooking oil and peanut butter,” he
said. Gama mentioned that the current budget, which went into the schools
feeding programme, was E49 million per annum. The PS said this amount was now
not enough, especially because schools in the country had also increased in
number, which made it difficult for government to cater for them all due to the
hike in food prices.
Gama mentioned that they hoped in the next
financial year to get an improved budget which would cater for the current food
prices. The PS stated that the ministry was still to decide on how to go
about effecting the rationing in the schools as this also caught them unaware.
He said they would have to revisit the prices of the food items and then see
which items they would have to compromise on.
Rationing
“We still have not come up with a plan as
to how we will go about rationing the food, but we will deal with it as we go
through the academic year. This is because this was not planned since the
increase in prices came as a surprise to us,” he said. He advised the public
not to panic as the ministry had the situation under control. Gama
mentioned that the ministry was also working with nutritionists to ensure that
the impact of the food shortage was not felt as much among the pupils. He said
they would also receive suggestions from the different schools through the
regional education offices (REOs), to find out how the schools thought this
would be best dealt with. He said this was because pupils were best known by
their teachers and head teacher, which was why they needed their input in the
matter.
Meanwhile, Swaziland National Association
of Teachers (SNAT) President Mbongwa Dlamini stated that the rationing of the
food by the ministry was a wrong move, as already, the food government was
supplying to the schools was not enough. He said if the hike in food
prices meant the rationing of food in schools, this then meant that even civil
servants’ salaries needed to be reviewed or they would not be able to go
to work as they also could no longer afford food and transportation
due to the hike in prices of various commodities.
“This also then means that we should tell
government that we cannot go to work because our salaries have not been
reviewed, while basic needs have now become expensive .This is just proof that
government has failed emaSwati and the move of rationing the food is making
this situation worse. There are children who only eat at school as they come
from poor backgrounds. This move will not only compromise their concentration
level, but will also bring about sicknesses such as malnutrition,” he said.
Stakeholders
Dlamini mentioned that government instead
needed to engage the different stakeholders such as teachers, head teachers and
parents to find out the best way to deal with these issues.
“Government needed to engage us to find out our opinions on this as clearly
they have failed to look after emaSwati. We would have given them our opinions
and also found solutions to this problem. This is because when the children
fail due to the lack of concentration, government will place the blame on
teachers and their lack of teaching. This will also lead to a high number of
children who will suffer from malnutrition, as due to COVID-19, parents lost
their jobs and those working can hardly afford many things because like government
is saying, things are now expensive,” he said.
Dlamini expressed that emaSwati needed to
come together to fight this as this would create a generation of angry people.
He said as teachers, it pained them that pupils were more than just their
responsibility, but people who they had grown to value. Dlamini said it was
unfortunate that the teachers too could not be of much help as the money they
were earning was not enough to cater for their needs and also help the pupils.
“This makes me really angry because the
pupils will suffer due to this. It is unfortunate that some of the schools are
now operating with the assistance of some teachers who make financial donations
to the schools, and due to the hike in so many commodities, we as teachers are
no longer able to help as we can hardly take care of ourselves,” he said.
Disaster
A nutritionist, who requested to remain
anonymous, stated that this was a recipe for disaster. She said this was
because a large number of children in the different schools were from poor
backgrounds and relied mostly on the food served at the different schools. She
said this also meant that a lot of them would suffer from mulnutrion as
government would not be able to provide some of the most importantfood items.
“Already, these children are not having a
balanced diet at the school. Rationing the food will cause more problems health
wise as these children do not normally eat in their homes. This will also bring
about children who will not attend classes due to hunger and being fatigued. I
think this decision is just a recipe for disaster and will cause so many
problems to the children,” she said.
Review
She said the best advice she could offer
the ministry would be to rather have partners on board who would fund them
until the next financial year where they would then review the situation. She
mentioned that on the other hand, schools needed to reintroduce the growing of
vegetables to avoid running out of food items they could have been able to
grow. “I think the schools should reintroduce gardening as this will
benefit the pupils. They would be able to eat what they get to grow in the
garden, with or without the help from government, on some food items.
Government needs to find partners who will assist through funding while they
wait for the next financial year, as this is just not right and would instead
cause a more angry society. Children who eat poorly are more likely to develop
certain long-term health problems and complications, including Osteoporosis
later in life and cardiovascular diseases,” she said.
Foreign meddling allegations cloud
Eswatini’s dialogue process
SADC should distinguish between this sideshow and the people of
Eswatini’s long struggle for democracy and human rights.
By Ringisai Chikohomero, Institute for Security Studies, 14 June 2022
Recent allegations that Eswatini’s July
2021 ‘winter revolution’ involved foreign-funded protest action aimed at regime
change have put the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the
country’s pro-democracy movements in a bind. They have also emboldened King
Mswati III’s position on the format of the delayed national dialogue – a
process he committed to in November 2021 after SADC’s intervention.
A year after student leader Thabani
Nkomonye’s death, which sparked the most recent violent wave of popular protest and civil
unrest, Eswatini is drifting further away from solving the crisis through
dialogue. Opposition party members and civil society continue to demonstrate,
and the security forces continue to carry out illegal detentions and torture against
protest leaders.
SADC seems to be losing whatever
traction was built by
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa during his visit to Eswatini last
year, and the pro-democracy movement is faltering. The regime change allegations have muddied the waters and
could delay efforts to democratise the kingdom, at least with SADC’s
intervention. The king has yet to give timelines for the traditional Sibaya
talks and still needs to respond to SADC’s terms of reference for the national
dialogue.
On 13 May, the Eswatini
Financial Times published an article that alleged the pro-democracy and anti-monarchy movements
were foreign sponsored. The claims were repeated on Twitter by Zimbabwe’s controversial former cabinet
minister Jonathan Moyo, who produced apparent dates and minutes of meetings and
key players involved.
Regime change allegations have muddied
the waters and could delay efforts to democratise the kingdom
The meetings are said to have taken
place in Rwanda, Mauritius and South Africa. The National Democratic Institute,
an American non-governmental organisation, is reportedly funding the ‘winter
revolution’, with planning and logistics allegedly provided by organisations
like Amnesty International and Canvas Africa. Eswatini’s pro-democracy movement
and the organisations mentioned in the allegations have denied the
accusations.
The government of Eswatini’s response to the
allegations has put SADC in a bind. The story presents the government as under
attack, with the monarch as the main victim. As SADC prepares for its August
summit, it must balance calls by Eswatini’s citizens for democracy and human
rights with perceptions that it supports an endeavour tainted by a
regime-change narrative.
By linking the alleged ‘winter revolution’ with a planned Zimbabwe
protest in May, Moyo strengthened the regime change argument in Eswatini. A
group of social movements in Zimbabwe had pushed for a nationwide shutdown to protest the rising cost of living in the country. The
shutdown failed to materialise.
The narrative is that the global North
is ‘at it again’ – attempting to use concern for human rights and democracy as
a justification to fund and support regime change. This well-worn argument
conjures up memories of alleged efforts by the North to push for regime change
in the region and elsewhere.
SADC is sensitive to any notion of
foreign-sponsored regime change clothed in popular protest
Liberation movements, including South
Africa’s African National Congress, are wary of
foreign powers’ apparent accusations of human rights violations made to topple
legitimate governments. In recent years, Zimbabwe’s government has used this
narrative to get SADC off its
back. The regional bloc has been engaged with that country’s political crisis
since South Africa’s then president, Thabo Mbeki, took on the SADC mediation
role in 2007.
In the case of Zimbabwe, SADC member
states seem to have bought the regime-change story and now sing from the
same anti-sanctions hymn sheet. This position has allowed the government to
continue its draconian tendencies and clampdowns on civic space.
Whether or not the reports of foreign
funding in Eswatini are accurate, SADC is sensitive to any notion of
externally-sponsored regime change clothed in popular protest. The regional
bloc will now likely favour a more cautious approach than what the people of
Eswatini have called for – a firm stance and push for comprehensive and
inclusive national dialogue.
SADC should adhere to its principles and
insist on talks agreed between Ramaphosa and Mswati
There is arguably a thin line between
claims of funding regime change and supporting active citizenship. Eswatini’s
democratic movement risks losing goodwill from stakeholders in the region, such
as South African opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters. The tag of
‘paid mercenaries’ can’t sit well with its supporters.
Regional actors concerned with
Eswatini’s democratisation must consider that the allegations could be a red
herring. SADC needs to distinguish between this sideshow and the citizens of
Eswatini’s struggle that has continued since the 1973 decree banning political
parties.
The regional bloc should adhere to its
principles and insist on the talks agreed between Ramaphosa and Mswati. This
will help ensure that the national dialogue goes ahead and show SADC’s ability
to handle crises decisively.
Eswatini’s pro-democracy movements also
need to change tack. Their current push for extensive reductions in the king’s
power plays into the regime change narrative. The transition requires a
willingness to compromise and work incrementally towards achieving a
parliamentary democracy.
Ringisai Chikohomero, Research Consultant, ISS Pretoria
SACP’s Amos Mbedzi laid to rest
By
ABCNews,
12
June 2022
The South African Communist Party member
who was incarcerated in Eswatini for 14 years, has been laid to rest at his
home village of Makonde outside Thohoyandou in Limpopo.
Amos Mbedzi was sentenced to 85 years imprisonment after a bomb explosion.
The Eswatini government said Mbedzi,
Musa Dlamini and Jack Govender were setting up a bomb to blow up a bridge after
receiving information that King Mswati would be passing over the bridge.
The government said the bomb exploded
prematurely, killing Dlamini and Govender, and injuring Mbedzi.
Hundreds of mourners gathered at the
Makonde soccer ground, to pay their last respects.
Amongst the mourners were
representatives of political parties from South Sudan, Sudan, Mozambique, and
Swaziland.
Mbedzi joined Umkhonto weSizwe in 1988
when he was a student at the University of Venda.
In 1989, he left the country to go to
Uganda for military training. He returned in 1993 and was integrated into the
South African Defence Force but resigned in 1996 to focus on his work in the
South African Communist Party.
Mbedzi was arrested in Eswatini in
September 2008 and sentenced to 85 years in prison in 2011.
This, after he was convicted of the
murder of his accomplices, terrorism and unlawful possession of explosives and
contravening the Immigration Act of Eswatini.
His family says Mbedzi was denied
medical attention while he was incarcerated in Eswatini.
Mkhondo Mbedzi’s son says: “When we made
eye contact, it was the first day I see my father’s tears. He was like, young
man, these are the tears of joy. Don’t think otherwise, I am the strongest man
you know. He was not allowed to speak Tshivenda, but that day he said
“ndikhodibua ngamanda, nikhoda”.
Mbedzi died last week Tuesday, at a
Polokwane Hospital after the Eswatini government transferred him to South
Africa in March, to complete his sentence because he was terminally ill.
The SACP says King Mswati of Eswatini
must be held accountable.
Solly Mapaila, SACP first Deputy
Secretary says: “This was one of our finest revolutionaries, comrade Amos
Mbedzi. He was killed by the despotic Swazi government, and especially by its
leader king Mswati III. And we blame them, the Swazi government for denying him
healthcare and inflicting assault on his body and torturing him.”
Meanwhile, the People’s United
Democratic Movement of Eswatini alleges that the explosives which killed
Mbedzi’s accomplices and left him injured, were set up by Eswatini to
assassinate the trio.
It says the charges faced by Mbedzi were
fabricated by the government, after he survived the assassination attempt.
The Eswatini government said it would
release a statement with regards to the allegations.
Pudemo spokesperson Lucky Lukhele says:
“Firstly Mbedzi was unjustly sentenced and he lost two of his best friends,
advocate Musa Dlamini and his fellow former defence member and MK comrade, Jack
Govender. In one of the charges he was charged for murdering them how bizarre,
that could be. So, King Mswati has killed Mbedzi and that is our first reaction
because Mbedzi suffered a stroke when his mother passed on.
Six years later, terrorism appeal heard
By Kwanele Dlamini, eSwatini News print edition, 11
Jun 2022
It has taken
six years for government’s appeal against the judgment declaring certain
provisions of the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act of 1938 and
Suppression of Terrorism Act of 2008 unconstitutional to be heard.
The Supreme
Court yesterday heard preliminary points of law and reserved its judgment.
Depending on the outcome of the judgment to be issued, if it is favour of the
respondents, it will be the end of the matter and there would be no need for
the court to hear the merits of government’s appeal.
The respondents
the matter include the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) President
Mlungisi Makhanya, former Swaziland Youth Congress SWAYOCO) Secretary General
Maxwell Dlamini, Human Rights Lawyer Thulani Maseko and others. At the time of
his death, former PUDEMO President Mario Masuku was one of the respondents.
The appellants
the Prime Minister, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Director of
Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Attorney General (AG)
The judgment
being appealed by government was issued by a full bench of the High Court on
September 16, 2016.
Judge Mbutfo
Mamba and Judge Jacobus Annandale issued a majority judgment and Judge
Nkululeko Hlophe dissented.
The majority
judgment declared certain provisions of the Sedition and Subversive Activities
Act of 1938 and Suppression of Terrorism Act of 2008, as unconstitutional.
Government filed a notice of appeal on September 23, 2016. On October 11, 2016,
government filed a supplemented notice of appeal. In terms of the rules, a
record of proceedings ought to have been filed between October 11, 2016 and
December 11, 2016, but none was filed. The record was not filed until six
months later, March 17, 2017. The matter was marred by postponements, due to
the non-availability of judges who were not conflicted. A number of judges had
dealt with the matter one way or the other and it was until yesterday that it
was finally heard.
The bench
comprised Chief Justice (CJ) Bheki Maphalala, who was presiding, Judge Stanley
Maphalala, Acting Supreme Court Judges Mabandla Manzini, Judith Currie and
Andreas Lukhele. Government instructed South African advocate Gregory Harpur,
who was assisted by Senior Crown Counsel Vikinduku Manana.
Filled
Unlike in MPs
Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube’s trial, members of PUDEMO and other
supporters of the respondents filled the public gallery. Observers from the
South African Litigation Centre were in attendance.
Harpur was the
first to address the court. He said the application for condonation for late
delivery of the record of proceedings, application for condonation for
government’s non-appearance in court on October 23, 2017 and the
counter-application for an order declaring that the appeal had lapsed were
dealt with in favour of government. He said Judge Phesheya Dlamini, sitting as
a single judge, granted condonation for government’s non-appearance on October
23, 2017, and the matter was removed from the roll. Judge Dlamini ordered that
the appeal be reinstated and referred the file to the registrar for allocation
of hearing dates.
This, according
to Harpur, meant that government had been condoned for late filing of the court
record.
The advocate
also made submissions on the issue of supplementing the record and amendment of
the notice of appeal and supplementary heads of argument. Harpur informed the
court that the supplementary affidavits had been omitted from the record as a
result of a genuine mistake on the part of government.
He said his
instructing attorney did not notice that these aspects had not been included in
the court file and the registrar had similarly mistakenly overlooked that the
documents were accepted by the court into the file. The advocate said it should
be considered a ground of appeal that the court erred in not having regard to
the supplementary affidavits.
Lucky Howe, who
represents, Human Lawyer Thulani Maseko, was the second to the address the
court. He pointed out that the AG had stated that the matter was of national
importance; however, it took the AGs Office six months to file a record of
proceedings yet recognised that the matter was of national importance.
He submitted
that the AG did not apply for condonation for the late delivery of the record
of proceedings. According to Howe, this was because government knew that it did
not meet the threshold.
Judge (Majahenkhaba)
Dlamini, said Howe, who is a former AG, was appointed a Supreme Court judge a
few months after government had defaulted.
“That is their
reason for not filing; that they lost the AG. The AG’s chamber is not a person.
A record does not need the AG to read.
The chamber of
the AG has more than 20 attorneys. The excuse that the AG was appointed a judge
can’t be accepted. They claim that the new AG was away. It’s got nothing to do
with the AG. They had to file a record. They had two chances to file but failed,”
said Howe.
He also
submitted that from 2020, the AG allegedly did nothing about the matter but now
says he recognises that the matter is of national importance.
Howe continued
to say: “They were given a chance to reinstate the matter but the AG believed
that since he was the AG, he could just sit and do nothing.”
Judge Manzini
enquired from Howe if it was not a reason that the matter could not proceed
because a number of judges were conflicted.
Howe said it
was a combination of the two. He said Judge Dlamini, when sitting as a single
judge, condoned the appellants’ non-appearance, struck off the roll the
reinstatement matter and ordered that the rest of the issues would be dealt
with by a full bench.
He disputed
that there was ever any condonation for late filing of the record. He pointed
out that Judge Dlamini reinstated the condonation and abandonment of the appeal
applications.
Police
abducts Nkalashane High student amid protests, reportedly tortured.
By
Bongiwe Dlamini, Swaziland News, 14 June, 2022
LOMAHASHA: Ayanda Matimba, a student at
Nkalashane High School was on Tuesday abducted by Mswati’s police amid a
protest calling for the removal of their Headteacher Ceasar Quamba.
Reached for comments Ceasar Quamba, the
Nkalashane High School Headteacher asked not to comment on the matter
“I have no comment, ngiyacela Nkhosi,
ngiyacela, ngicela kunga-commenthi,” said the Headteacher.
Superintendent Phindile Vilakati, the
Police Spokesperson had not responded at the time of compiling this report.
Speaking to this Swaziland News,
Siboniso Mkhabela, an influential resident of Lomahasha confirmed the arrest of
the student who was allegedly abducted in the morning on Tuesday.
“This follows the consistent and
resilient protests by Nkalashane high school pupils.In 3 months, over 20
parents meetings have been called with no solution.It looks like the issue is
both administrative and political. If we had an effective Government and
Education Ministry this matter would have long been resolved. Clearly the
pupils want their MPs out of jail.This further shows that the young people of
Lomahasha are determined to make the country ungovernable until freedom day,”
he said.
On another note, Mkhabela said they
received information from other officers suggesting that the student was being
tortured at Lomahasha Police Station.
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