Swaziland
Newsletter No. 746 –30 September 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.
One shot, tear gas fired in cops, ratepayers clash
By Joseph Zulu, Times of eSwatini, 30 September
2022
PIGG’S PEAK: It was a bloody clash yesterday [29
September 2022] between police officers and ratepayers in Pigg’s Peak, while marchers
in Manzini also had an encounter with the law enforcers.
In Pigg’s Peak, it all started with a prayer but
instead of getting showers of blessings, ratepayers and residents were sprayed
with tear gas and one got shot, after they clashed with the police. Vusi
‘Beyoncé’ Dlamini, who was among the residents, was shot in the face above the
right eye. It could not be established whether he was hit by a tear gas
canister or a rubber bullet. Vusi was among the residents who had fled when
police officers fired tear gas inside the hall.
The residents, led by members of the Pigg’s Peak
Ratepayers Association, headed to the town council after a brief meeting at the
local park. They had gone to the civic centre to request an audience with the
Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mzwandile Ndzinisa, or any of the officials or
the mayor, regarding their petition seeking to stop the auctioning of
properties of those who owed rates.
They left the park after praying and headed to the
civic centre and found the doors locked. Only police officer Sergeant Busta
Vilakati, who is also the Secretary of the Pigg’s Peak Ratepayers Association
managed to enter the building. Despite requests to meet officials, none of
them made themselves available to address the residents. After about 30
minutes, as more residents began to gather at the civic centre, police officers
were called, some of whom arrived with firearms. Some of the residents
retreated from the entrance but others remained and continued demanding an
audience with the town council officials. Despite arriving at about 11am
at the town council building, the residents lingered around for nearly two
hours but no official came to address them. Meanwhile, more police
officers, including the station commander, began to arrive.
Addressed
At this time, some of the residents and ratepayers
managed to forcefully open the door and enter the civic centre. They then
headed for the hall so that they could be addressed by the CEO or the mayor.
However, the police officers entered the hall and ordered them to leave within
five minutes. At this time, the residents responded and said they would
stay put, until they were addressed by the CEO or the mayor. While the
residents were waiting, tear gas was fired and they dispersed quickly. The residents
fled towards one of the exits, including Vusi. As he was running, he was shot
in the face while looking back as he tried to flee with the others. He
fell to the ground and laid there for about two minutes and then stood up. He
was knocked out by the impact of the canister that struck him.
It was only when he stood up that he realised that he
had been shot, there was blood all over his face. A police officer who was
accused of the shooting was almost assaulted by the visibly angry residents but
he was shielded by his colleagues. The angry residents, upon realising that
Vusi had been shot, approached a group of police officers and one of the
residents shouted, ‘nangu!’, meaning here he is, while pointing at the police
officer. The officer moved back but he was also shielded. Some of the
residents also shielded the police officer and advised against attacking him.
More tear gas was fired to disperse the residents and
ratepayers who were ordered to leave the area near the civic centre.
Meanwhile, Chief Police Information and Communications
Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati, said the police had no record of the
shooting. She said this had not been reported. Meanwhile, the Pigg’s Peak
Mayor, Victor Rodrigues, said he was shocked to learn that there with people
waiting to speak to officials outside. He said they only realised that there
were people when they heard the breaking of one of the doors. “We were in
a meeting since 10am,” said the mayor. Further, he also said he did not
understand what the bone of contention was. He said the issue of rates had been
explained and exhausted. He also revealed that most of the people whose
properties were supposed to be sold had shown up and paid, adding that only two
property owners had still not paid. The mayor said the purpose of their meeting
was also to determine where they went wrong by proposing to auction the
properties. However, he said the conclusion was that the normal procedure was
followed.
Lawyer: Mthandeni, Bacede, 7 inmates assaulted by 20
warders
By Mbongiseni Ndzimandze and Stanley Khumalo, Times
of eSwatini, 24 September 2022
MATSAPHA: Incarcerated Members of Parliament (MPs)
Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube were yesterday reportedly assaulted in
an ordeal that is said to have lasted for about 45 minutes.
According to impeccable sources, the legislators, with
seven other inmates, were allegedly assaulted by officers from His Majesty’s
Correctional Services (HMCS) yesterday at the crack of dawn, just before
6am. It was alleged that about 20 officers from the Rapid Response Unit,
which is a para-military unit of HMCS, went to the cell occupied by the Hosea
Constituency MP Mabuza and Ngwempisi Constituency MP Dube.It was alleged that
during the attack, the Correctional officers had their faces covered in
balaclavas. Upon entry, it was alleged that the officers started assaulting the
two legislators with open hand, fists, kicks and they also used spray guns.
As this was happening, the sources alleged that the
Correctional officers were using expletives and also claiming that it was ‘an
eye for an eye’. Seeing this, it was said that the seven inmates occupying
the same cell with the MPs, tried to intervene and questioned the violence.
However, the intervention of the inmates supposedly drew the ire of the HMCS
personnel as they supposedly started assaulting them as well. During the
skirmish, it was alleged the law enforcers continued to use all sorts of
missiles and assaulted all inmates in the cell.
The sources claimed that MP Dube was also pressed with
a bed and against the wall such that he sustained an injury to his eye. On
the other hand, it was purported that MP Mabuza was assaulted all over the
body, in such a way that he bled profusely through his nose. Following the
allegations of the assault of the legislators and the other inmates, their
legal representative, Ben J. Simelane, went to the Matsapha Correctional
Facility where the incident was said to have happened. He arrived at the
Correctional Facility at about 11am to engage with his clients. Simelane
confirmed the series of events as narrated to him by his clients when he went to
see them. He said: “Dube was also pressed with a bed and against the wall
- he sustained an injury to his eye. Mabuza was assaulted all over the body and
even bled from the nose.”
The senior attorney said the other inmates also
(allegedly) sustained injuries and were treated at the HMCS clinic. Simelane
shared the names of the other inmates allegedly assaulted by the warders as
well. The purported assault of the MPs and other inmates also drew the ire
of social media as Senior Journalist and Editor of The Nation Magazine, Bheki
Makhubu, in a comment regarding the violence in Correctional facilities, said:
“The invasion of cells at night is done as a matter of course in our prisons.
Why nobody has ever taken the prison authorities to court for this, completely
escapes me.
“When I was told about it on arrival at Sidwashini, I
sent a very clear message to the prison authorities that I would make a lot of
noise for them if they ever did it to me. Imagine being stripped naked, slapped
around in the dead of the night by a man young enough to be your son?
(sic)” Makhubu said the assault of inmates horrified him by just merely
thinking about it. Luckily for him, he said: “They got the message because
throughout my time there, not a single cell was ever raided. However, two weeks
after I’d left, they did just that, going back to what they knew best.” He
recalled that on the afternoon he was released, one young inmate told a senior
officer that; “Wahamba Makhubu, sinyile ngini, senitasishaya ngekutsandza
kwenu,” which loosely meant that now that Makhubu has left, you will assault us
anytime you want. Makhubu said the Correctional officer, the message was
addressed to, did not respond. He said that young man would later tell him
after his own release that they did just that (assault them).
Historic Swazi court judgment striking down parts of
sedition and terrorism laws is under threat
By Peter Fabricius, Daily Maverick (South Africa), 29 September
2022
The Eswatini Supreme Court has
controversially reinstated the state’s appeal against a liberal landmark high
court judgment passed in 2016.
After a lapse of six years,
Eswatini’s Supreme Court has controversially condoned and reinstated an appeal
by the government against a 2016 high court judgment that had declared swathes
of the country’s terrorism and sedition and subversive activities laws to be
unconstitutional.
The 2016 high court judgment
had ruled that the 1938 Sedition and Subversive Activities Act and the 2008
Suppression of Terrorism Act violated several rights to freedom enshrined in
the constitution. The verdict was considered a landmark decision upholding the
rule of law against the absolute monarchy of King Mswati III.
Now Swazi democrats fear a
decision by the Supreme Court on 22 September to allow the state to appeal
against the historic high court judgment will almost certainly lead to it being
overturned.
The state’s appeal had
effectively lapsed in 2018 after months of unexplained delays, missed deadlines
and breaches of court rules by the Attorney-General’s office in presenting its
case.
The Supreme Court judgment
delivered by Judge Mabandla Manzini last week did not examine the reasons for
these delays. But it condoned them anyway, saying that the constitutional
issues at stake in the case were too important to be decided by default —
meaning, in effect, that the case should not be decided by the ineptitude of
the Attorney-General’s office.
Thulani Maseko, the human
rights lawyer who was one of those accused of sedition in the case which
prompted the original judgement — and had also represented five other accused —
slammed the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“This case reflects the
highest rot, corruption and lack of independence and impartiality of the
judiciary and the highest court in the land,” Maseko told Daily
Maverick.
He said the Supreme Court’s
ruling was “flimsy, baseless, both factually and legally incorrect”. The
Supreme Court was going all-out “to assist the government to prosecute and
persecute us”.
Maseko said the government had
offered the court no legally plausible reasons for its delays in filing its
appeal. And the Supreme Court had departed from its own precedents on
condonation so as to help the government prosecute its appeal.
To read more of
this article click here
Government’s appeal of court judgment questioned
By Melusi Simelane and Rodrigo Canalli, Southern
Africa Litigation Centre, 25 September 2022
The Supreme Court of eSwatini
issued a judgment that constitutes a threat to the rule of law and the
protection of human rights in eSwatini. In its decision, the Supreme Court
allowed the appeal to proceed in the matter of the Prime Minister of eSwatini
and Others versus Maseko and Others.
The Southern Africa Litigation
Centre (SALC), supporting three respondents in the matter, had emphasised that
allowing the appeal to proceed and not dismissing it, based on the grounds of
civil procedure, constituted a threat to the rule of law and the protection of
human rights.
The Constitution of eSwatini
clearly states the importance of a fair hearing in section 21, which means a
hearing within the provided timelines per the court rules and procedures.
Anneke Meerkotter, the SALC executive director, commented: “Allowing the appeal
to proceed constitutes a disregard for the governing rules of procedure.
“The rule of law means that no
one, not even the government or state entity, is above the law, where the laws
protect fundamental rights. “The judgment presents a bad precedent, with
crucial implications for protecting fundamental human rights.
“(The) SALC is alarmed and
appalled by this disregard for the rule of law and the rules of procedure to
accommodate and facilitate what appears to be a political agenda.
“Such jurisprudence has the
potential to weaken the entire legal system and raises serious questions about
the independence of the judiciary.” In 2016, the High Court, sitting as a full
Bench, declared Sections 3(1), 4(a), 4 and 5 of the Sedition and Subversive
Activities Act of 1938 to be inconsistent with the Constitution, in particular,
sections 23, 24 and 25. The court further held that paragraph 1 of section 2(f)
(g) (i) (ii) (iii), (j), paragraph (b), Section 11(1) (a) (b) and 11 (2),
Section 28 and 29 (4) of the Suppression of Terrorism Act of 2008 were
unconstitutional as it did not align with the provisions of freedom of speech
and association in section 24 and 25 of the Constitution.
The decision by the high court
was appealed by the State, resulting in various delays, which formed the basis
of the judgment by the Supreme Court of eSwatini on Thursday.
On the morning of June 10 this
year, the Supreme Court of eSwatini held the hearing of interlocutory questions
related to the appeal filed by the State after a September 16, 2016, High Court
ruling declared unconstitutional certain provisions of the Sedition and
Subversive Activities Act (1938) and the Suppression of Terrorism Act (2008).
Section 24 of eSwatini’s 2005
Constitution provides that “a person has a right of freedom of expression and
opinion”, which includes “freedom to hold opinions without interference” and
“freedom to communicate ideas and information without interference”.
Despite that, the Sedition and
Terrorism Acts have been continually used by eSwatini’s government to stifle
dissent and silence criticism. The hearing session was closely followed by the
Southern Africa Litigation Centre, not to mention dozens of Pudemo (People’s
United Democratic Movement) members, who filled the court room singing songs
before the session started.
Most of the respondents are
members of the political party Pudemo, deemed a terrorist organisation by the
eSwatini government since 2008. Speaking on behalf of the eSwatini government,
advocate Gregory Harpur argued for the condonation of the late filing of the
record of proceedings by the attorney-general. He also made submissions in
defence of the atypical amendment of the notice of appeal.
Representing three of the
respondents, advocate Jonathan Berger urged the court to “look into the
delinquent behaviour of the AG’s Office” and pointed out that “we are in 2022
and there has not been finality in the matter”.
After hearing the parties’
submissions, the Supreme Court reserved its judgment. Despite not addressing
the merits of the appeal, the issues presented to the court highlights the
utmost importance of the due process of law to the effective protection of
human rights by courts in eSwatini and across the continent.
The right to a fair and speedy
public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial court
is enshrined in section 21 of the Constitution of eSwatini.
Notwithstanding, six years
later some of the respondents died without receiving a final answer from the
Judiciary and the remaining ones still wait for justice. On the contrary, the
due administration of justice repels arbitrary and abusive acts and guarantees
respect for the due process of law. Judicial actors need to understand that the
effective delivery of justice is inseparable from adherence to the rule of law.
The abuse of judicial
procedure, whether by state or private actors, walks hand-in-hand with
tolerance for rights violations. Under the rule of law, diligent and strict
observance of procedural rules is never discretionary, but a safeguard against
capricious and arbitrary measures and a guarantee that the laws will be
properly applied in the way they are supposed to.
In this context, it is
important to emphasise that the government’s right to appeal an unfavourable
decision does not extend beyond their obligation to exert this right in
conformity with the procedural rules by which it is defined and limited.
Simelane is the
civic rights cluster programme manager at the Southern African Litigation
Centre and Canalli is an intern at the centre.
The article was
first published on:www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org.
International support needed for pro-democracy
campaign in Swaziland
Green
Left (Australia), 28 September
2022
Rachel Evans spoke
to Luna Michaels from Friends of Swazi Freedom, an international
activist group working in solidarity with the people of Swaziland, about the
struggle for democracy and an end to absolute monarchy.
* * *
What's the biggest
campaign in Swaziland?
All campaigns in Swaziland tie
back to one simple demand: “Democracy now!” To reach democracy, campaigners are
calling for an abolition of the last absolute monarchy in Africa. To form a
democratic government, activists call for a reversal of “Proclamation No. 7”,
or the Act to Ban All Political Parties — which was introduced on
April 12, 1973.
You do see two names in the
corporate media about Swaziland. The monarch, King Mswati III, declared a new
name for Swaziland — Eswatini — to celebrate independence from the British.
Progressives don’t use this name.
Right now there are textile
workers on strike for a wage increase to (South African Rand) R15.00 per hour,
which translates to AU$1.35/hr. Their current hourly wage is said to only be
enough to pay for a loaf of bread.
The Swaziland National Union
of Students or (SNUS) is leading a campaign to reopen schools because they were
closed due to anti-government protests. SNUS are also campaigning to have
student allowances paid as well as fighting to decolonise the curriculum.
Currently, the curriculum is very pro-monarch.
Teachers are working on
unionising the school staff, with the Swaziland National Association of
Teachers (SNAT), as they are understaffed, underpaid and working without sick
leave or holiday pay.
The government is refusing all
these demands which is just strengthening these movements further.
Which democracy
campaign groups are challenging the monarchy?
There are two main groups
campaigning against Africa’s last absolute monarchy. They are the Communist
Party of Swaziland (CPS) and the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO).
They are the two most active groups.
The Friends of Swazi Freedom
group formed in November 2021, a few months after the mass crackdown of the
democracy movement in June-July in 2021.
What other
campaigns has the group been involved in?
We had a “Hands Off CPS”
campaign, because in March 2022, the government kidnapped a number of CPS
militants and their children. The adults were tortured. The Hands Off campaign
was a successful campaign, everyone was returned. But we continued with this
campaign so the government's actions could be widely condemned and to raise
funds for the families who were being targeted.
We also led a campaign for
activists to send Marxist books to comrades in Swaziland, because the internet
is patchy and surveilled.
[We] also finished a campaign
to fund a healthcare clinic. The clinic is to be able to give health care to
the community. They want psychologists for families who have lost family
members in the democracy movement. In protests there is a lot of violence from
government forces so the CPS wants a clinic to be able to provide basic health
care to activists.
See also
Pro-democracy protests and police violence continue in
Eswatini
Swaziland: Youth call for democracy
Swaziland's history of repression
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