Swaziland Newsletter No. 763 – 3 February 2023
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.
Hundreds
pay tribute to slain eSwatini political activist
AFP,
28 January 2023
MANZINI: Hundreds of
people, including foreign diplomats and activists, paid homage Saturday to a
human rights lawyer who was shot dead in Eswatini, sparking alarm over
political violence in Africa's last absolute monarchy.
Thulani Maseko, a
political activist and fierce critic of authorities in the tiny landlocked
nation, was gunned down through the window of his home last Saturday by unknown
attackers.
Hours before his murder,
King Mswati III had warned activists who defy him not to “shed tears” about “mercenaries
killing them”.
Diplomatic envoys from
the US, European Union, the United Kingdom and the United Nations attended a
sombre memorial service on the outskirts of the commercial capital, Manzini.
Lawyers and rights
activists from several other African countries, as far afield as Kenya, also
travelled to the country - sandwiched between South Africa and Mozambique - to
pay their tributes.
A
portrait of Maseko was displayed in front of a cream-coloured wooden podium
with a spray of white, yellow and red flowers laid out at the bottom.
The
UN representative George Wachira said Maseko’s killing was a “loss not only to
Eswatini but to the world and humanity. We cannot avoid bitterness because
Thulani didn't deserve to die in this manner”.
“His
death shall not be in vain. Thulani was at the core of that theory that through
dialogue this country can be fixed,” he told mourners.
Maseko,
who died aged 52, had spent most of his life fighting state repression and
representing opposition activists in court.
In
2014, he was jailed for contempt of court over articles critical of the
government and judiciary, but he was acquitted on appeal and released a year
later.
At
the time of his death, Maseko led a broad coalition of political and civic
rights and religious groups created in November 2021 to foster dialogue with
the king and seek a way out of the political crisis in the country of 1.2
million people.
Eswatini,
formerly known as Swaziland, has long cracked down on dissent, with political
parties banned since 1973.
At
least 37 people were killed during weeks of anti-monarchy protests in June
2021.
Maseko’s
murder drew widespread international outrage and calls for an impartial probe
and the prosecution of the culprits.
UK
ambassador Simon Boyden, said “human rights defenders, like Thulani, must be
able to able to depend on institutions of the state to protect them from
violence, from intimidation and from death”.
The
Vice President of the Law Society in Eswatini, Sdumo Dladla, bemoaned that
Maseko “had to die such a violent death while he was preaching against violence”.
EU
ambassador Dessislava Choumelova called for the “safety of all citizens
including political activists”.
Paying
tribute to the “fallen, giant baobab”, Mlungisi Makhanya, president of PUDEMO,
a political movement which was banned in 2008, said the killing was “one of the
most brutal acts in the history of” Eswatini.
“There
is a lot of innocent blood on Mswati's hands. For his atrocities, Mswati and
his henchmen must be indicted”.
“It
is time like this that we must intensify our struggle and exert pressure,” said
Makhanya speaking via video link from exile.
Maseko
was also a senior member of PUDEMO, a political movement pushing for the
creation of a constitutional multi-party democracy.
Two shot at march for Thulani Maseko
By Phiwase Phungwayo, eSwatini
News (Times of eSwatini), 28 January 2023
MATSAPHA:
A petition delivery march meant to demand justice for assassinated Human Rights
Lawyer Thulani Maseko turned violent when two marchers were shot by police
officers.
The shot people include Samuel Hlandze,
who has been identified as a member of the Swaziland Liberation Movement
(SWALIMO), and a Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) member, who was identified
only by his surname, Mtsetfwa. Political Party Assembly (PPA) Chairperson
Nombulelo Motsa said Hlandze also has a disability.
The pair was shot about 30 minutes after
political parties and civil society groups had delivered the petition to the
Manzini Regional Headquarters (RHQ). The march started at exactly noon
yesterday, where the political parties and civil society groups began by
singing and dancing to political songs outside the Manzini RHQ. The marchers
would be seen moving along the stretch along the RHQ road.
A platform for delivering speeches was
made for the various political parties and civil society groups, which
consisted of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), Swaziland Youth
Congress (SWAYOCO), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Swaziland, SWALIMO, CPS,
Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) and the Swaziland Rural Women
Assembly. After the speeches were delivered, PUDEMO Secretary General
Wandile Dludlu read the petition, which had eight demands, to the Regional
Commissioner, Schoolboy Simelane. Thereafter, the marchers proceeded to the
Manzini Police Station, which is situated a few metres away from the RHQ. The
marchers were seen chanting political songs. They were stationed there for
about 10 minutes when they later proceeded along the Standard Bank/Nedbank
Road, where some marchers were seen emptying concrete dustbins and singing
political songs.
It should be noted that police officers
were there to monitor the marchers during the course of the march. Oncoming
vehicles were seen trying to navigate along the littered road next to Futi’s
Chicken Cottage. The political parties and civil groups further proceeded
downward towards the Nando’s direction along the Bhunu Mall road. It was
when they reached the KFC road leading to the heart of the Manzini Bus Rank
that some marchers began to block the road by placing stones while others littered
the road with rubbish from concrete dustbins.
Meanwhile, other marchers were seen
throwing stones at the Swaziland Building Society’s refurbished branch, when a
vehicle belonging to the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) with officers
of the law, fired gunshots towards the crowd of marchers. The marchers
were seen dispersing, and the locals who had gone to town were running helter
skelter. In the process, the two members of the political parties were shot.
According to SWALIMO Spokesperson Thandaza Silolo, the shot member in Hlandze
was from the Manzini Region. Silolo disclosed that he was shot in the left leg.
He said Hlandze was stable and was awaiting an operation at the Raleigh Fitkin
Memorial (RFM) Hospital, where he was taken to after the shooting.
“We condemn the violence by law enforcers
who willy-nilly use guns to disperse marchers. My question is; what has stopped
them from using teargas when dealing with a rowdy crowd?” he
questioned. Silolo added that the marchers were going back home to board
various public transport vehicles, and they were not disrupting anything. The
spokesperson was of the view that the officers of the law should have at least
escorted the marchers back to the bus rank, than to fire shots at them. He
mentioned that the marchers were now injured.
CPS Spokesperson Pius Vilakati could not
be reached at the time of compiling this report. However, information gathered
from the SWALIMO spokesperson was to the effect that the shot member of CPS was
identified as Mtsetfwa. He said he was shot in the back. When he was
queried on whether the behaviour of marchers in emptying dustbins and causing
disruption after the petition delivery was provocation, Motsa, the PPA
Chairperson, said it was not. “I think there is a way for police officers
to use when dispersing a crowd besides firing shots. However, this is not
shocking to us because they got an order to shoot,” she supposed.
She alleged that people were being
silenced by the gun. The chairperson said this was something that was expected
from the law enforcers. She declared that in their revolution, they were ready
to be killed by the gun. The chairperson said she thought the law
enforcers used live ammunition when shooting the marchers. However, she said
this was subject to confirmation. She said the shot SWALIMO member was
physically challenged and shot more than once in his leg. When drawn for
comment on the number of people shot, Chief Police Information and
Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said there was no
report of any shot persons. Vilakati was further asked about the report of the
petition delivery march at the RHQ, and her response was: “They arrived, the
petition was delivered.” She did not elaborate.
An expert, who was contacted by this
publication, suggested that the type of ammunition used to shoot at the two
marchers were rubber bullets.
The expert, who requested to comment on condition of anonymity, said a live
bullet had a projectile at the end such that when fired, it was designed to
come straight at a person. He said it could injure or kill a person. On
the other hand, he said a rubber bullet was designed in such a way that it
could immensely injure a shot person. He said it was most unlikely for a person
to be able to walk when they had been shot with live ammunition.
Engage
in peaceful dialogue – US
By
Kwanele Sibiya, eSswatini Observer, 30 January 2023
Head of Mission in the US Embassy in
Eswatini, Earl Miller, has urged Emaswati to come together and engage in a
peaceful dialogue, which the late human rights lawyer, Thulani Maseko,
patiently supported.
Miller said this would also be a way of
honouring Maseko, who was buried yesterday at his home at KaLuhleko.
He said Maseko fought passionately for
non-violence advocacy and reforms and also advocated for the rule of law,
governance and justice during his lifetime.
He described Maseko as a powerful
visionary leader, who raised his voice for positive change and the path for
non-violence.
Miller pointed out that Martin Luther
King, who is one of his favourite heroes, once said ‘the teaching of eye for an
eye principle, only creates a declaration of blind victims in the society.’
“In this difficult day and time, it is
perhaps wise to ask ourselves what direction we want to take, either the one
which Maseko took, as Martin Luther King would have wanted us to go, which is
to embrace our common citizenship and humanity and replace violence with
compassion and warmth,” he said.
He urged Emaswati to honour Maseko’s
legacy of placing commitment to human rights, ensuring that the rule of law was
being upheld by all, as well as his legacy of non-violence.
“American author Maya Angelou once said a
great soul never dies, but it brings us together again and again, surely
Maseko’s legacy will endure and be honoured by all Emaswati coming together in
a peaceful dialogue he so patiently supported,” he said
Miller spoke during Maseko’s memorial
service held at Esibayeni Lodge on Saturday.
He said he knew that Maseko was a
principled, dedicated and zealous person and was deeply saddened by his
passing.
He extended his condolences to Maseko’s
family and loved ones on behalf of the people of the Unites States of America.
“My heart aches, I have two young sons
myself,” he said.
He sent prayers, love and support of the
US Embassy community to Maseko’s family and his admirers around the world.
“We give you our strength, warmth and
love,” he said.
Miller said Maseko was well-known to the
USA, as he was a family and close partner in the fight for justice.
Other reports on the Thulani Maseko
assassination
Thulani
Maseko’s assassination roils Eswatini’s democracy project (By Peter
Fabricius Institute for Security Studies)
https://issafrica.org/iss-today/thulani-masekos-assassination-roils-eswatinis-democracy-project
Eswatini
government denies that it ordered a hit on slain human right lawyer Thulani
Maseko (News 24, South Africa), 27 January 2023
“Assassination
of Thulani Maseko has killed prospects of peaceful struggle in Swaziland”
(by Pavan Kulkarni, Peoples Dispatch)
One
death too many (Times of eSwatini editorial comment)
http://www.times.co.sz/feature/138611-one-death-too-many.html
Eswatini’s
orgy of violence (Sunday Independent, South Africa)
PUDEMO
takes over funeral, members carry casket to graveyard (Times of eSwatini)
http://www.times.co.sz/news/138672-pudemo-takes-over-funeral-members-carry-casket-to-graveyard.html
eSwatini
king ‘uses mercenaries to torture activists’
By
Sandile Motha, Sunday World, South Africa, 29 January 2023
South African-based mercenaries are among
the military extremists reported to have been roped in by the Eswatini government
in its bid to clamp down on pro-democracy forces calling for regime change in
the landlocked country.
This was revealed to Sunday World
by political activists who are leading a campaign to bring an end to king
Mswati III’s reign, who is Africa’s remaining absolute monarch since 1986.
Eswatini government was, however, quick to
point out that there was nothing untoward with the recruitment of foreign
agents to assist in the war against “terrorists”.
Eswatini deputy Prime Minister Themba
Masuku said: “Government has not hired any mercenaries. However, there are
security experts that have been engaged to assist with certain aspects of the
country’s security issues.”
But spokesperson for the Swazi Solidary
Network Mfanafuthi Tsela told this paper that their own intelligence had
revealed that besides the South African rightwing grouping who are also
ex-combatants, other militia grouping from central Asia and the Middle East had
been brought to Eswatini “to hunt down political activists”.
“These mercenaries are used by King Mswati
to carry out assassinations and to torture political activists. They report
directly to the king, and we know through our intelligence that some of these
private military contractors are from Afghanistan, Iraq and Israel,” he said.
Other revelations by Tsela, who is
currently in South Africa following a threat on his life, is that militia
groupings are also responsible for providing training to a group of recruits
assembled to deal with the so-called terrorists. “This training is conducting
in Mhlambanyathi forest. The sole aim is to clamp down on any political
activism in the country,” said Tsela.
According to the Swaziland Solidarity
Network, members of a white supremacist grouping known as “the Boeremag”,
convicted of treason in 2003, are part of the South African private combatants.
The Boeremag , as South Africa enter a new
phase of democracy in the 1990s, were allegedly hellbent on assassinating
former president Nelson Mandela, among other prominent black leaders. In 2002,
the grouping claimed responsibility for a series of bombings targeting black
townships in Gauteng. These included the planting of the bombs, which killed a
woman and injured her husband. The group was allegedly brought to eSwatini by finance
minister Neal Rijkenberg, a South African-born businessman and one of Mswati’s
trusted lieutenants.The political developments come hot on the heels of the
brutal slaying of Thulani Maseko, a known political activist and human rights
lawyer, who was assassinated on January 21 at his home in Luhleko, outside
Mbabane, Eswatini’s capital.
Maseko had been watching a football match
between Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs with his wife and two children when he was
shot at point-blank range in front of his family.
Other political activists have since gone
into hiding.
Spuku Phakathi of the People’s United
Democratic Movement, one of the key political formations in Eswatini, believes
that for far too long Mswati has been allowed “to get away with murder”.
Meanwhile, the South African Council of
Churches is leading a campaign calling for the South African government to take
visible steps against Mswati III.
“The key thing for which we advocate is
that visible active steps must be taken with time frames, and if regular
diplomacy does not work, the next step must be economic sanctions. King Mswati
III is personally heavily invested in much of the country’s economic
activities.
“You can hardly find a tourist or
hospitality facility where he or his networks are not active.”
Community
demand release of suspects
By Nokuzola
Thwala and Bongiwe Dlamini, eSwatini Observer, 2 February 2023
Schools and businesses were closed at Matsanjeni after community members
marched to Lavumisa Police Station to demand the release of 10 people who were
detained following the lynching of four men on Sunday evening.
The police yesterday are said to have visited the area and rounded up a
few people who were alleged to have been part of the mob that tortured and
burnt the four men alive at a sports ground.
The four men who died were aged between 21 and 34 years old, and were
killed on suspicion of being part of a criminal gang behind a string of
housebreakings and robberies in the area.
The suspected thieves were fetched from their homesteads by the mob of
about 200 community members, who accused them of being behind various attacks
and theft from residents in their homesteads.
The murder was strongly condemned by the Deputy Prime Minister, Themba
Masuku, who described the community members’ action as evil while the National
Commissioner of Police, William Dlamini, said it was unSwazi and called on all
those involved to surrender to the police.
This community members, however, believe they were justified in their
actions as police had failed to respond to a number of cases reported against
the men.
When news started circulating in the community in the morning that some
of the people had been taken by the police, they marched to the police station
to demand their immediate release.
Members of kuGonco under Nkonka said the arrest was unacceptable and
wondered how many people would be eventually arrested for the mob justice.
They spent over six hours outside the police station demanding answers
from the police as to why they did not attend to reported cases promptly,
something which they said would have prevented events leading to the deaths and
arrests.
Indvuna, Gadi Siphiwe Mabuza, said the community members stood in
solidarity with those who were taken by the police.
She stated that during the march to the police station, a textile firm
was closed early and four schools closed as well because the pupils were
affected by what was happening.
Adding, she stated that the pupils were not forced out of class but
joined the march claiming that they were also affected by the series of crimes
happening in the area.
She was, however, quick to note that some of the children only marched
but did not reach the police station.
Affected schools were Matsanjeni, Lavumisa and Ndabazezwe Primary, and
Matsanjeni High Schools.
To read more of this report, click
here
http://new.observer.org.sz/details.php?id=19785
Pro-democracy
MPs Bacede Mabuza, Mthandeni Dube’s politically motivated terrorism case
concluded, judgement reserved indefinitely
By
Sicelo Mhlanga, Swaziland News, 31 January 2023
MBABANE: The politically motivated
terrorism case for the incarcerated pro-democracy MPs Bacede Mabuza and
Mthandeni Dube has been concluded, pending judgement.
Speaking to this Swaziland News,Sicelo
Mngomezulu, the lawyer representing the pro-democracy MPs thanked the Nation
and the entire legal team for their support and efforts in the matter.
“I would like to reassure the Nation that
they will be informed about the developments and thanks to the legal team for
their dedication and unwavering commitment to pursuing justice for the MPs,” he
said.
On Tuesday, the respective Counsels for
the Crown and the MPs made their closing arguments, however, High Court Judge
Mumcy Dlamini indefinitely postponed the judgement.
The MPs were arrested and charged
for terrorism allegedly on King Mswati’s order after calling for
democratic reforms in Parliament.
EEC electricity hike: EFF Swaziland calls for a big
protest
By Mthokozisi Kunene, EFF Swaziland Deputy President,
Swati Newsweek, 2 February, 2023
EEC is a public company owned
100% by Swazi citizens and funded through their hard earned taxes. What is now
happening with this exorbitant tariff hike is an attack on the people. It’s
double taxation by the government which wants to top up its coffers through the
dividends they’ll receive from EEC. This is immoral and must be confronted
without hesitation. The people of our country must also remember that another
tax called VAT is in existence. The people are being taxed to death.
The economic freedom fighters
rejects the electricity increase of 10.89%. it comes at a time where the
majority of Swazis are economically oppressed, salaries are not increasing, and
unemployment is reigning supreme as 48% of the young and energetic people are
not employed. The 10.89% hike is way above the current inflation rate in the
country which is at 4,87%.
We believe as EFF that the
246000 customers of EEC will not afford the increase which will dig deep into
their pockets. It will also affect the revenue of the 18 715 commercial
customers.
What is surprising is that EEC
have been making huge profits over the years as in the 2021/2022 financial year
EEC made a profit of 379 million thus making it unjustifiable to call for an
increase in electricity. Swazis are also subjected to exorbitant fees when
installing electricity in their businesses and homes, which in our view its
suppose to be free as these customers will buy the electricity from the same
company.
As EFF we want an electricity
providing company to not be driven by profits but by service for the people. As
we reject this increase we will sit down and engage all stakeholders and the
swazi nation at large to take legal steps to stop the electricity increase. We
will also call upon the masses to a march against this act of depriving people
their right.
SWAZI
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