Swaziland
Newsletter No. 776 – 12 May 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.
eSwatini to hold parliamentary elections in September
By Agence France Presse, May 5, 2023
The last
absolute monarchy in Africa where political parties are banned and lawmakers
are sidelined by the king -- will hold parliamentary elections on September 29,
the election authorities said Friday.
The vote is
unlikely to change the political scenery in the southern African nation of 1.2
million people that has been ruled by King Mswati III since 1986. The king
wields absolute power.
Voter
registration will start next week, and a preliminary round of voting to select
candidates is scheduled for August, said the head of Eswatini's Elections and
Boundaries Commission, Prince Mhlabuhlangene Dlamini.
"Finally,
secondary elections (will take place) on the 29th of September. That will mark
the end of the election process," he told a press conference in Lobamba,
the legislative capital.
Elections in
the country take place in a convoluted system that ensures Mswati faces no
meaningful dissent.
The vote comes
two years after dozens of people were killed as police violently quashed
demonstrations calling for democratic reforms.
Winners in the
59 constituency ballots will take seats in parliament's lower house, along with
10 lawmakers that the king appoints directly.
Mswati can
veto any legislation, appoints the prime minister and cabinet, and is
constitutionally above the law.
He also
selects 20 of the 30 senators in the upper house. The rest are elected by the
lower house.
Candidates
cannot be affiliated to any political group under the constitution which
emphasises "individual merit" as the basis for selecting members of
parliament and public officials.
Mswati has
been widely criticised for his lifestyle, reputedly lavishing his 15 wives with
millions of dollars a year while nearly 60 percent of the population live on
less than $1.90 a day.
See
also
Political parties react to election
dates announcement
http://www.times.co.sz/news/140045-political-parties-react-to-election-dates-announcement.html
Peaceful
Workers Day celebration: TUCOSWA Secretary General Mduduzi Gina says police
were advised to stay-away from Mayaluka Stadium to avoid provocation
By
Wendy Magagula, Swaziland News, 6 May 2023
MBABANE: Mduduzi Gina,the Secretary
General of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland(TUCOSWA) says the peaceful
Workers Day celebration that was witnessed at Mayaluka Stadium on Monday came
as a result of vigorous efforts by the federation and other key stakeholders.
Speaking to this Swaziland News
current affairs program on Thursday, the TUCOSWA Secretary General said they
held meetings before the May Day,even the police were engaged to avoid coming
closer to the workers.
“We advised the police to avoid coming to
the Stadium to prevent confrontations with the workers because whenever the
people see them, they remember the ongoing atrocities that are committed by the
police against the people,” said the TUCOSWA Secretary General.
Gina said the federation was in the process
of formulating policies that will create a legal framework that seeks to
reflect the true identity of the organization and what it stands for.
The Secretary General said the framework
will determine ‘friends’ and partners of the federation and its position on
other political and economic issues among others issues.
eSwatini Supreme Court hears LGBTQ rights case. Advocacy group hopes to legally register
By Daniel Itai, Washington
Blade (United States), 9 May 2023
Eswatini
Sexual and Gender Minorities, an LGBTQ and intersex rights group, is hopeful
the country’s Registrar of Companies will allow it to register after the
Supreme Court heard its case on May 5.
The
Registrar of Companies in 2019 first denied Eswatini Sexual and Gender
Minorities’s request on grounds the organization advocates for LGBTQ and
intersex rights that are illegal.
Consensual
same-sex sexual activity is prohibited under common law, which criminalizes
sodomy. The law, however, has never been enforced, but Emaswati who identify as
LGBTQ or intersex still face discrimination.
Eswatini
Sexual and Gender Minorities in 2020 approached the Supreme Court with the
case. The Supreme Court dismissed it in 2022, but Eswatini Sexual and Gender
Minorities appealed the ruling.
Closing
arguments in the case took place on May 5.
“There is
no law in Eswatini that prohibits the LGBTI+ community from identifying.
Nothing is criminal about that. Don’t we have in this country an association of
ex-prisoners? Isn’t the Registrar not scared that the ex-prisoners association
includes rapists and murderers who will share ideas but is afraid of the LGBTI+
community? How is that association legal and ESGM is not? Homosexuality was not
outlawed by the constitution and therefore the refusal to register ESGM is
clearly a rights infringement,” said Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities in a
statement.
The
Supreme Court has not said when it will issue its ruling.
Eswatini’s
government has not forbidden Pride celebrations or obstructed their planning,
even though it continues to oppose LGBTQ and intersex rights.
Rock of
Hope, an LGBTQ and intersex rights organization, in 2018 organized Eswatini’s
first Pride event.
The
country is the continent’s last absolute monarchy, which has been under King
Mswati III’s rule since 1986 when he was 18. Eswatini is deeply rooted in
traditional and customary practices, which are mostly patriarchal, that do not
include the LGBTQ and intersex community.
According
to Gerbrandt van Heerden, an African researcher, historical evidence in many
instances dispels the notion that LGBTQ and intersex people, as well as
non-traditional gender expressions and identities, are alien to African
culture.
“Whether
it is the elite pushing the gay rights are un-African narrative out of pure
ignorance, or whether power-hungry politicians dance to the tune of the people
they govern in order to remain popular with the electorate, there is no
question that categorizing same-sex attraction as a foreign concept and a form
of neo-colonialism serves as a major obstacle to LGBTI rights on the
continent,” said van Heerden.
Van
Heerden also noted that in order for there to be less stigmatization of LGBTQ
and intersex people, there should be more awareness of the LGBTQ and intersex
community.
“Debunking
the idea that LGBTI people are un-African is another powerful tool to further
LGBTI rights on the continent. It all boils down to education,” said van
Heerden. “Studies have shown that tolerance for gay people is highest among
educated Africans. LGBTI people are among the most vilified groups on the
continent today, but simply paging through the history.”
Although
the government and many Emaswati only see LGBTQ and intersex rights
organizations as advocacy groups, they play a pivotal role in ensuring the
community’s health.
Eswatini
Sexual and Gender Minorities and Rock of Hope have been working to ensure LGBTQ
and intersex Emaswati receive access to health care without discrimination.
The Rock
of Hope last month on Rainbow Health Day provided free medical care to the
country’s LGBTQ and intersex community. This care included COVID-19
vaccinations, HIV testing and counseling, psycho social support, TB and STI
screenings, free condoms and lubricant distribution, among other things.
Time
for eSwatini footballers union
Straight Talk with Ashmond Nzima, Times of eSwatini, 9 May
2023
Are soccer players not humans after all?
They do suffer from nervous
breakdowns, throwing up before games, and missing penalties on the biggest
occasions. It might sound simple to say that soccer players are professionals
who are paid hefty salaries. However, it is always easier said than done because
pressure gets to everyone. Even the best of the best have had nerves get to
them at some point in their careers. The pressure of being a soccer player
is huge. The attention from the media, coupled with the money paid by clubs
demand greater performances and high expectations from a fan base that is ready
to jeer you for any small mistake, which can make life impossible for a player.
As the paragraphs above
suggest, today’s topic is an issue that does not receive any attention or
mention at all. I’m talking about the lack of a players’ union or association
in Eswatini football. Referees and coaches have long organised themselves and
formed their own associations or unions. The formation has helped them have a
voice within the football echelons of power. Sometime back, certain former
players tried to form a union or association, but before it materialised, they
vanished into thin air; to this day, nothing has been heard from them.
The union or association
allows players to stand together to protect their rights from explosive clubs
bosses. It can use its combined strength to force club owners to provide better
working conditions.
Its formation can assist in
many ways, including but not limited to influencing and/or demanding club
owners or bosses insure them for eventualities like death, injuries, and so on.
In the past, we have witnessed players’ careers coming to an untimely end due
to curable injuries, but a lack of insurance to cover such injuries has
crippled a player. Furthermore, other players lost their lives on the field,
and in the end, there was no compensation to their immediate families because
there was a lack of such policies to cover the same. More than that, union
or association representation is important for players because it will protect
current and future generations. Currently, at the highest level of football
power, players are unrepresented and have no voice. The only way things may
change is for players to organise themselves by forming a players’ union.
Furthermore, such a union or
association will assist in the abuse meted out to players by their clubs. It is
disappointing to hear a club announce that they have signed a player for a
specific amount of money with certain benefits accruing, which normally include
signing on fees and salaries. Within a month or so, the parties are at each
other’s throats, with the player alleging non-fulfillment of the contractual
obligation by the club or employer. These are some of the issues the players’
union will be expected to address. Today, players who are generating huge
sums of money for their clubs struggle to pay for basic necessities, not to
mention taking care of themselves.
We are all aware that a
contract is mutual; either party can terminate for good reason. It hurts to see
a player being frustrated by his employer or club, under the assumption that he
has a running contract. While at the same time, the club is fully aware that it
has breached the terms and conditions of the said contract. Club bosses in the
country owe players thousands, if not millions, of Emalangeni in compensation
for signing on fees, unlawful termination of contracts, and unpaid
salaries. That is why it is common to hear that players at certain clubs
are on strike or refusing to train in protest of unpaid salaries.
In many quarters, the failure
of clubs to adhere to labour laws has been attributed, in part, to the armed
forces proximity to state resources. They are accused of poaching players by
promising employment and, in the process, fail to pay a transfer fee. They
further argue that if such a transfer fee were to be fairly paid, such money
may be channeled to the team’s operational needs, including player welfare.
This is an old issue that has been ongoing for many years. Even as I write this
article, the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) has formed a committee to look
into it and make recommendations. Therefore, I’m not about to express my
opinion, whether in favour or not.
Furthermore, the said armed
forces have been accused by their own players of failing to comply with the
terms and conditions of their contractual obligations towards them. These are
the issues the union or association, if it existed, would urgently
address. The union or association will be expected to assist in engaging
the club bosses and, where possible, the Eswatini Football Association (EFA),
and leverage the playing field. This is more so because, irrespective of the
club’s promise of employment to a player, the club is not absolved of honouring
the player’s contract by remunerating him for the services rendered. The
union has a commanding voice in protecting players’ interests and welfare, as
we have seen in other jurisdictions, with clubs being heavily sanctioned by
FIFA and having been approached by the International Federation of Professional
Footballers (FIFPRO).
Lastly, it may be argued that
the EFA Players Status Committee is in existence to address these issues. But
as the word status suggests, this committee is primarily concerned with the
free movement of players from one club to another. Secondly, being in a
grouping is advantageous, as it gives the players bargaining power when
confronting the EFA and PLE Board of Governors or Executive. The formation
of a labour union or association is permissible under the Kingdom of Eswatini
laws.
Unpacking the state of the media in eSwatini
By Bheki Makhubu, eSwatini News, 6 May
2023
For us
here in Eswatini, the uprising of June 2021 put the nail in the
coffin of the traditional media. The influence of online media, which quickly
sprang up during that time, as the vehicle that perpetuated the civil unrest
cannot be underestimated.
Government’s bid to control
the flow of information on online platforms during this most difficult time for
Eswatini, by shutting down the internet on several occasions did not help
because, by doing so, this had the unintended consequence of affecting
commercial transactions, even across our borders, and threatened the broader
economy. It was bad.
I am one of those journalists
who have suffered at the hands of government excesses in its bid to suppress
freedom of expression. I spent 15 months in prison for exercising this right
between March 2014 and June 2015. The government has never acknowledged the
wrong that was done to me and my co-accused, the late Thulani Maseko, despite
the Director of Public Prosecutions conceding that our prosecution was wrong
and the Supreme Court making a legal finding to that effect too.
One can only surmise that
government’s reaction to our misfortune was informed by a belief that
independent media Eswatini will not be tolerated, regardless of the facts. Put
differently, the message is that facts do not vindicate the truth. To
underscore this point, let me quote Judge Mpendulo Simelane when he sentenced
Thulani and I to two years in prison on July 17 2014. He said: “Some journalists
have this misconception that just because they have the power of the pen and
paper they can say or write anything under the disguise of freedom of
expression. This is a fallacy.”
Please note that Mr Maseko was
a lawyer who dedicated his life to human rights and it was I the journalist.
The judge, therefore, took time off to single out the media on free speech
rights in order to send a message to all of us that such freedoms are, indeed,
a fallacy. That’s how I understand this quotation. Why am I telling you this? I
bring it up because I want to highlight the fact that the rise of digital news
dissemination Eswatini also brought its fair share of problems, when you look
at the other side of the coin.
Bills Affecting
The Media
The government of Eswatini had
already been working on legislation to control the exchange of information
online, and particularly social media platforms when the uprising began in June
2021. At the time, I wrote a few articles, published in The Times of
Eswatini, where I pointed out the threat of such laws as the Computer Crime
and Cyber Crime Bill of 2020 and the Data Protection Bill of 2020 posed to
information dissemination and freedom of expression. I also pointed out the
unintended dangers these proposed laws posed to society.
In sum, in the form these
Bills were presented they threatened to criminalise all forms of digital
expression in a country which wants to be seen by the world as tolerant of
diverse views, even if there are no political parties participating in the
governance of the country. However, during the uprising of 2021, the major
online publications that cropped up to push for change, I must say, also relied
heavily on disinformation and downright lies to get an edge over what one could
refer to as the mainstream media.
For instance, in the early
days of July 2021, it was widely reported that King Mswati had fled the country
and had gone into exile as the civil unrest gained momentum. In other words,
the world was told that a coup had succeeded Eswatini hardly a week after the
unrest had begun. When some of us tried to point out that this was not true,
the blowback was vicious from those driving this disinformation campaign
together with their followers. There were many more stories to come that were
just not factually correct told by those who were pushing the change
agenda.
What this tells us is that the
attacks on the media have come from all fronts in this country. I dare to even
say that equal to the government, so are those who seek political change
Eswatini just as hostile towards the media and journalists. During that period
when the uprising was gaining momentum, in my capacity as a journalist, I was
invited to a radio talk show in South Africa to give my views on the political
unrest here. During that interview, where I was part of a panel that included
representatives from some of this country’s political groups, I made what I
honestly thought was an innocuous, but very obvious comment. I said PUDEMO had
hijacked this struggle for change and had made it theirs.
The response from those supporting
the violence and calls for change were furious, after The Times picked
up on the interview and published what I had said in their Sunday edition. I
was lynched on social media, particularly Facebook. So much so that, one day, I
received a call from a very senior police officer at Police Headquarters who
told me that they had become aware that my life was in danger. He told me that
they had actually dispatched a team to watch me for protection. It was a very
scary time.
When the storm blew over, my
comments began to die down, I approached Thulani, who was a PUDEMO man, to ask
him what the farce was all about? He laughed at me and said “Badzinwa
kutsi uyasimaka”. A loose translation of this would be that I was tripping
the mass democratic movement in their quest for change with my comments. I
never could make sense of Thulani’s comments because that was never my
intention, but had said what I considered an obvious truth to an audience
outside Eswatini. Is it, therefore, for government to take action and curtail
freedom of expression when political agendas are pushed with distorted
information and downright lies? My answer is simple; No!
One of the lessons that have
come out of the Eswatini experience is that freedom of expression underscores
one of the most important rights mankind has in its quest towards realising the
values of self-determination. To curtail it, to punish those who use this basic
human right, defeats the very purpose of mankind’s existence. The lesson that
comes out of our experience is that freedom of expression, in its full
spectrum, has this incredible ability to self-correct society, so that the
untruths told by those who seek to deceive the masses, be it government or
those fighting for freedom will eventually be called out by the very people
they seek to capture when the facts are brought to bear.
That is why I strongly
disagree with the use of other means, whether through legislation or brute
force to curtail freedom of expression. Societies grow because, as has been
said before, in the free market of exchange of ideas and information, people
are empowered with the necessary tools to make their own choices and come to
the right conclusions about their circumstances. Nobody should have a monopoly
on information; not government and not those who seek to bring about political
change in society. The people are entitled to make their choices, empowered
with the full information available out there.
To
read more of this article, click here
http://www.times.co.sz/feature/140021-unpacking-the-state-of-the-media-in-eswatini.html
Deputy
Prime Minister (DPM)Themba Masuku who was allegedly involved in killing of
civilians, avoids press conferences amid looming US sanctions
By
Wendy Magagula, Swaziland News, 9 May 2023
MBABANE: Deputy Prime Minister (DPM)
Senator Themba Masuku, who was among the politicians who allegedly unleashed
security forces to shoot and kill innocent civilians, is now avoiding to hold
press conferences and issue human rights violations orders amid reports of
looming targeted sanctions by United States (US).
Senator Christopher Coons tabled
Resolution 174 in the US Parliament, the resolution amplifies calls for
democracy in eSwatini and demands action against those violating human rights.
DPM Themba Masuku did not respond when
asked by this Swaziland News why he is now avoiding press conferences, which
was something he used to call almost every week.
Speaking to this Swaziland News on
Tuesday evening, human rights lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi said some politicians
fully understand what it means to be sanctioned by the United States.
“They fully understand what this means,
once you are sanctioned by the US, even European countries will sanction you
because these are allies,” said the human rights lawyer.
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