Swaziland Newsletter No. 799 – 20
October 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.
Bribery claims rock Senate elections
By Sabelo Ndzinisa, eSwatini News, 14 October 2023
LOBAMBA:
The integrity of the Senate elections was put into question on Thursday
afternoon.
This was after reports that at least two of Senate hopefuls allegedly spent approximately E500 000 apiece on lobbying for votes.
But they ended up on the losing side. Even more astonishingly, it was
alleged that one of the Senate winners had to part with around E1 million just
to win a seat in the upper chamber. Before the start of the elections,
allegations were circulating in and outside the chambers that a certain
businessman, known to this publication, was so desperate for the MPs’ support
that he was allegedly offering E100 000 for a single vote.
After the
final results of the Senate elections were announced, relatives of some of the
Senate losers were overheard cursing the process, branding it as
corrupt. “The elections akanawo emaciniso (the elections lack integrity).
Imagine spending over half a million Emalangeni to win a Senate seat but still
end up on the losing side. This is promoting corrupt practices because there is
no way in the Constitution or Parliament Standing Orders that you must bribe
MPs for Senate votes,” one of the disappointed Senate nominees said.
“These
MPs are not honest because they make you pay for a vote, knowing very well that
their loyalties lie somewhere else. Mind you, these are the same legislators we
trust to pass laws in Parliament yet they have a lot of skeletons in their
closets.” He said the office of the attorney general (AG) should look into
the bribery allegations against MPs. “Accepting a bribe is an act of
corruption and must be punished by law,” one MP said in the midst of it all. “The
sad part is that the payment of the money for votes has become a normal culture
in every election year for Parliament seats and it would seem this is now an
acceptable practice.
“Some of
us want Parliament seats to serve the nation, not to enrich individuals. My
appeal is for the AG to seriously look into how MPs who receive bribes for
votes are punished, because people like us were forced to buy those votes
without any guarantees for victory.” These concerns appeared to have been
given weight by a statement from Mbabane East Member of Parliament (MP) Welcome
Dlamini in the House of Assembly before the start of the Senate elections. His
statement almost caused commotion as some legislators, especially Nkwene MP
Sikhumbuzo Dlamini did not take kindly to it. “Nangabe udle imali yemuntfu
wametsembisa lo-one ungasifaki tsine. (loosely translated to mean: if you have
taken someone’s money with the promise of a vote, do not involve us),” MP
Welcome said.
This
statement appeared to suggest that some legislators may have taken money in
exchange for promises to vote for certain individuals into Senate.
What
sparked the Mbabane East MP’s statement was that before the start of the
elections, Clerk to Parliament Benedict Xaba, who was the returning officer
during this exercise, informed the MPs that they would not mark the ballot
papers from their seats as stipulated by law, but would use the voting booths
provided in the chambers to ensure that their votes remained
confidential. Xaba pointed out that this was necessitated by the fact that
the Senate candidates were stationed at the public gallery; just above the MPs’
seats, hence there were concerns that it would be easy to identify who the MPs
voted for.
To read
more of this report, click here
http://www.times.co.sz/news/142238-bribery-claims-rock-senate-elections.html
See also
Senate elections: new faces dominate,
3 ex-senators back
http://www.times.co.sz/news/142225-senate-elections-new-faces-dominate-3-ex-senators-back.html
Stop MPs from electing senators –
Mangololo
http://www.times.co.sz/news/142285-stop-mps-from-electing-senators-mangololo.html
Clerk to Parliament Benedict Xaba
must be fired for incubating corruption in the race to Senate
Opinion,
by Martin Dlamini (Times editorial executive), Times of eSwatini,
13 October 2023
By the time you read this,
the results for the 10 contested Senate seats would have been issued. The
winner could have either purchased their seat or earned it through merit. Good
luck in your endeavour to differentiate between the saints and the sharks.
In an ideal world, the
country’s elected officials would be people of impeccable character who won
their positions through hard work and talent’, rather than political
connections or money. It’s become very clear, though, that money is now the de
facto criterion for holding political office. This year’s Senate election did
little to dispel the poor reputation of a process that, in 2018, saw the
dignity of Parliament stripped bare by a humiliating bribery-for-Senate-seats
scandal.
We were left baffled and
waited for the law to take its course after several Members of Parliament
revealed they had accepted money from those aspiring to become senators and had
seen nothing wrong with doing so. A new head of the Anti-Corruption
Commission (ACC) had been appointed not long before this, raising hopes that
the new broom would take action to sift the guilty from the innocent. Instead
of being the hunter, however, the ACC had its wheels deflated and rendered
dormant by another arm of government, the Judiciary, where a judgment affecting
the legality of the ACC’s work has not been forthcoming for years.
Now we’re told that the
Executive branch is working to merge the ACC and the Human Rights Commission,
but is doing so at a snail’s pace, even as the nation teeters on the verge of
anarchy due to corruption. The negative consequence of ignoring this
problem is the country’s falling rankings on the Corruption Perception Index
(CPI). In 2017, we came in at number 85 out of 180 countries. By the year 2022,
we had fallen 45 spots, placing us at number 130. This is a damning indictment
on our legislators, the courts and elsewhere. If we continue down this path, by
2028 we may very well be dead last.
Of the 31 countries that
make up the ‘First World’, which we strive to join, it should come as no
surprise that Norway, Singapore, and Sweden are among the least corrupt in the
world. The CPI is produced by Transparency International on an annual basis and
it rates countries by their perceived levels of corruption. Potential investors
use it as a resource, and a country in dire need of new jobs would be foolish
to ignore it. Corruption, which can be simply defined as the abuse of
power for personal benefit, has been institutionalised at every level of our
society.
A life is lost every other
day that corruption is allowed to thrive, thus time is not on our side. It
should go without saying that our Legislature is the first place to look for
remedies to this epidemic, which has rendered service delivery almost
non-existent. This is why it is highly imperative for our new MPs
to denounce corruption. Moreso because the prevailing perception is that those
who make it to Parliament only have personal interests at heart. If not
curbed, this evil is causing further division between the haves and have-nots
for a country that faces a mammoth task to remove another unwelcome tag of
being one of the most unequal societies of the world.
So who will fix this?
Certainly not a person who paid his way to Parliament and is more concerned
about recouping their campaign or lobby money. They have no interest in
creating wealthy citizens. Why would they create future competitors who could
unseat them? Unless we purge this evil practice from our system, it will
continue to marginalise important groups such as people with disabilities
(PWDs). They tried but failed to get elected to the House of Assembly or to
Senate, simply because they have no financial muscle to do so.
Women have a slight
advantage, given the law compelling the representation of at least one per
region to add numbers that comply with the constitutional 30 per cent women
requirement. What about the PWDs? Instead, we are seeing more privileged family
members willing to spend an arm and a leg to occupy seats in the Legislature.
At this rate, somebody will be able to buy the country. It can’t be!
Accepting the silver coin over the Bible was something King Somhlolo warned us
against because it would lead people to compromise their morals in exchange for
power. During the State opening of Parliament, King Mswati III has repeatedly
urged lawmakers to take action, and they should set an example. As we await the
list of appointees, one can only wish the new parliamentarians the best of luck
in the enormous task that lies head of them. Here’s to hoping that come 2028,
we don’t count them as the catalysts for sinking the Titanic to the rock bottom
of the CPI rankings.
Human rights activist slams Taiwan's
support for eSwatini's ‘dictatorship’
By Jono Thomson, Taiwan News, 19 October 2023
TAIPEI: The widow of a prominent Swazi human rights
lawyer and pro-democracy leader said that Taiwan is aiding a dictatorship, and
called on the Taiwan government and its people to help Eswatini achieve
democracy.
Speaking at the Olso Freedom Forum in Taipei on Wednesday
(Oct. 18), Tanele Maseko delivered a strong condemnation
of Taiwan’s support for Eswatini’s government as led by King Mswati III.
Maseko’s husband – a prominent critic of the Eswatini government until his
death – was killed by gunmen in his home in January in an attack
colleagues say was ordered by
the king.
Formerly named Swaziland, Eswatini is one of Taiwan’s 13
remaining formal diplomatic allies, and substantial Taiwanese aid is provided
to the country. President Tsai Ing-wen was received by Mswati during a
state visit to Eswatini last
month, after which she lauded the strengthening of bilateral ties.
Maseko said this relationship was surprising, and that
Taiwan’s aid supports the reign of a dictator. “If Taiwan claims to be a
democracy, if Taiwan supports and values the rule of law, then Taiwan will help
the people of Swaziland,” she said.
Political parties have been banned in the country since
the early 1970s, and the king rules Africa's last absolute monarchy. A 2022
U.S. government report on the country’s
human rights record noted credible reports of government killings, cruel
treatment, political detention, and heavy censorship.
Maseko said Taiwan should pressure the country’s king to
allow political parties to exist, and to free all political prisoners. “The
king must open up a space for an all-inclusive dialogue, where all Swazis will
sit at a round table and be a democracy,” she said.
“No amount of prison, no amount of torture or violence,
and certainly no amount of death will silence us,” Maseko said.
Taiwan News put Maseko’s comments to Taiwan’s foreign
ministry, which provided a statement on Thursday that said bilateral
cooperation based on the “Taiwan Model” would continue with the Eswatini
government and people. A spokesperson said the Taiwan Model refers to
“cooperation and assistance that prioritizes promoting people's well-being.”
All money taken by the King, drugs
shortage continues
By
Eugene Dube, Swati Newsweek, 16 October 2023
MBABANE: Swazis pay R 1 billion yearly for
the upkeep of the Swazi Monarchy yet there is drugs shortage in government
health institutions which has been ongoing for years.
A financial report reveals that King
Mswati III and his mother Ntombi Tfwala had been allocated E431 million
salaries for 2023 financial year.
The right to life is no longer guaranteed
in Eswatini health facilities including government clinics and hospitals as
there is massive drugs shortage.
Elderly people and the youth continue to
die in local Swazi hospitals as the regime fails buying medicines and drugs on
time from international drug companies.
Eswatini elderly citizens are amongst a
group of patients who were turned back at local hospitals because of lack
medication.
They were referred to local pharmacies by
hospital medical staff. Patients are now forced to buy their medicines at local
pharmacies which are expensive.
Lizzie Nkosi, Eswatini Minister of Health
publicly admitted that Eswatini faces a shortage of drugs. She posted a
statement on Eswatini government Facebook page.
King Mswati III told close to 10 000 Swazi
who gathered at his Palace that health institutions had improved. However his statement
sounds has been rejected by many people.
On 03 July, 2023, Eswatini government
Facebook page reported: “The minister of health Lizzie says government has met
suppliers to try and forge a way forward aimed at mitigating the medicines
shortages experienced by the health sector.”
The report continued, “This process is
what leads to the delay in the supply of medicines. However, the Ministry of
health has started supplying the available medicines and medical suppliers to
the country's health facilities. As additional medicines and supplies are received
by the central medical stores (CMS) These are also supplied to the health
facilities as emergency deliveries.”
However Mayibongwe Masangane, the
Secretary General of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) disagrees
with Minister Nkosi and insists that drugs shortage still exists.
“There are no drugs in public
institutions. The crisis is persistent and seemly there is no political will to
resolve it,” Masangane said.
Drugs shortage has been ongoing for over 5
years now. Elderly people who cannot afford private health care have been
affected.
A pro- democracy organisation called the
SUDF led by Lucky Dlamini delivered a petition following the lack of drugs in
Eswatini health institutions including Mankayane Government Hospital and at
Ngowane Clinic last week.
“Our people are deliberately being killed
through this negligence, incompetence and inefficient tinkhundla government.
The concerned citizens at Ngowane and surrounding areas did want to deliver the
petition, that sought to demand that the Ngowane clinic management, the
minister of health, and the government should ensure that there are adequate
quality medical drugs in our clinics, health centres and hospitals. And
ensuring that the rights to free access to health, medical care is protected in
the country.”
He added, “The Ngowane clinic management
and police officers rejected. The police officers influenced the clinic
management not take the petition, because they don't want a repeat of 2021 June
in the country. SUDF want to put it on record that the way the oppressive
government handle such peaceful protest. We call government to allow our people
to exercise their right to freedom of expression, association and assembly,”
said Dlamini.
A respected Swazi exiled opposition leader
Dr Jabulane Matsebula says expressed his disappointment about the issue of
drugs shortage.
Matsebula wrote an article for Eswatini’s
reputable online publication the Swati Newsweek Online dated 14 March, 2023 and
said, In a startling revelation during the 2022/2023 budget speech, the
government of Swaziland said that it is “failing as a government” to manage the
economy, invest in critical infrastructure, deliver public services in health
and education, and reduce poverty and unemployment levels.
In its own admission of failure,
government stated that “sufficient job opportunities have not been provided for
our youth. We have continued to experience a shortage of medicines in our
clinics and hospitals. We are not delivering an education sufficient to prepare
our future generations for the task at hand” (para.5). For the first time in
the history of post-colonial Swaziland, the monarchy government has admitted
failure. Whilst the admission of failure is a significant development, this is
not the first failure but a litany of failures over decades. Swaziland has
regressed to this state of economic decay because of many years of neglect and
poor political lshortage.,"Matsebula observed.
In a 2019 news report published around
November The Eswatini Ministry of Health Principal Secretary Dr. Simone Zwane
was quoted as saying," government’s challenges also affected his ministry.
“The ministry of health is currently experiencing challenges of meeting the
needs of patients especially the availability of medication in hospitals. Which
is caused by suppliers not being paid, It’s a pity we are going through this
economic challenges as a country,” said Zwane.
Five years later the problem cited by Zwane has still not been addressed by the King Mswati regime.
Report a ploy to bluff the public
By
Sibusiso Dlamini, eSwatini Observer, 17 October 2023
Nurses are convinced that the forensic
investigation into the drugs shortage is nothing but a plan to deceive the
public, according to Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) Secretary
General, Mayibongwe Masangane.
Masangane says the controversy surrounding
Funduzi Forensic Services, the company that conducted the forensic
investigation, as well as reports of the procurement process being tainted with
irregularity, are enough proof that the investigation was supposedly a sham.
“It has become clear to all of us that
this so-called forensic investigation was nothing but a ploy to buy time in
order to cover the real shenanigans,” said Masangane.
“The questionable credibility of the
company tasked with conducting the investigation is a slap in the face because
it proves to all and sundry that this whole exercise was not meant to uncover
the truth but to bury it,” he added.
Masangane also complained about the
process dragging for months, and said the previous Cabinet’s posture regarding
the whole probe was also testament of this fact.
"Why were they not concerned about
vacating office without getting to the bottom of the matter that has grounded
all public health facilities?" he wondered.
He also found fault in the fact that
health practitioners were not formally informed about the cause of the drugs
shortage and of the investigation, highlighting that they wrote numerous times
to the then principal secretary (Simon Zwane) and former minister of health
(Lizzie Nkosi) enquiring about the matter, but only got an audience with Zwane,
who also turned out not to be of assistance.
“What the former PS ended up telling us
was that the matter was political and was therefore, beyond his control,”
disclosed Masangane, further emphasising that this was the one time in the country’s
history that the health system was totally on its knees with no sight of a
light at the end of the tunnel anytime soon.
“This indubitably proves that this whole
mess is deliberate because even the lies and contradictory statements by those
in authority have been shocking honestly, and something we have never seen
before,” he stated.
The drugs shortage probe has been faced
with challenges since the principal procurement officer under the ministry of
health, Sincedzile Dlamini-Magwaza and Deputy Director – Pharmaceutical
Services, Fortunate Bhembe, successfully obtained an interdict against the
investigators on extortion allegations by one of Funduzi’s investigators,
Charles Kwezera.
Kwezera was later removed from the
investigation, and in an earlier interview, Funduzi Forensic Services Executive
Director, Zakhele Dlamini, said he was quite disturbed when he saw the WhatsApp
messages wherein Kwezera reportedly initiated the alleged extortion, which was
why the company took immediate action against him.
“We requested that the police not allow
him to return to South Africa, terminated his services after our internal
disciplinary hearing and even reported him to the South African Institute of
Chartered Accountants (SAICA) to show how serious we were,” said Dlamini.
He, however, said he was quite shocked
that the company was now being deemed irregular just because of allegations
against one employer and further questioned why Dlamini-Magwaza did not lay
criminal charges against Kwezera.
“How many times do we hear of a police
officer involved in bribery but never hear of a suggestion to completely
disband the police service?” said Dlamini.
“We even advised her to report the matter to the police as a criminal case, but
she did not,” he added.
Shocker:
eSwatini’s life expectancy to drop to 57
By
Mthunzi Mdluli, Times of eSwatini, 17 October 2023
MBABANE: Shocking statistics reveal that an average liSwati
will not live beyond the age of 57 years.
This is contained in recent
statistics released by Business Insiders Africa. Business Insiders Africa
is a leading Pan-African news provider. Eswatini is ranked seventh among
the top 10 African countries expected to have low life expectancy. According
to Business Insiders Africa, Eswatini’s life expectancy is projected to be
57.71 years in the coming years. This means the life expectancy is
expected to be lower than the current 2023 statistics showing a life expectancy
of 61.05 years. In 2023, the country’s life expectancy increased by 0.57
per cent from 2022, which was 60.70 years, a 0.58 per cent increase from 2021.
The life expectancy for Eswatini in 2021 was 60.35 years, a 0.58 per cent
increase from 2020.
According to Business Insiders
Africa, the 10 African countries’ life expectancy statistics painted a sobering
picture of the difficulties their citizens encountered. The low life
expectancy is attributed to high rates of infectious diseases, limited access
to quality healthcare, and socio-economic disparities that contribute to
shorter lifespans. It has been stated that some nations on the continent
continued to struggle with significant challenges, particularly in the field of
public health. Business Insiders Africa also stated that such countries
still had life expectancy which remained notably low and thus influenced by a
combination of factors, including the accessibility of healthcare, the
stability of their economies, and the effectiveness of public health
initiatives. Tragically, children born in three African countries, Chad,
Nigeria and Lesotho, face the sobering possibility of not reaching their 55th
birthday. In six other African nations, a similar fate awaits individuals
before they reach the age of 60.
Unemployment contributes - economist
Mthunzi
Mdluli, Times of eSwatini, 17 October 2023
MBABANE: Economist Thembinkosi Dube says unemployment contributes
to low life expectancy.
Dube was responding to
questions on how economic instability contributes to people dying before at
least reaching their retirement age. He said if a person failed to get a job or
not succeed in life, stress developed and later led to hypertension or
diabetes, which caused death. Dube also stated that unemployment also increased
crimes such as housebreaking and theft, among others, which might expose the
thieves to danger of being killed. “When these people unlawfully break-into
people’s houses, they expose themselves to the dangers of being shot and killed
by the house owners. These thieves also expose themselves to mob attacks,”
said Dube.
The economist further
highlighted that some women had become sex workers or started engaging in
illicit practices with the intention of making money, despite the fact that
they were exposing themselves to infectious diseases such HIV/AIDS and sexual
transmitted infections (STIs), which lead to death at some point in time.
According to Dube, people living in countries such as Britain and Japan, among
others had a majority of an old age population as compared to African
countries. He said the high number of old people in developed countries
was as a result of a conducive political climate.
Government in developed
countries is taking care of them (old people) and has old age homes where they
are looked after,” said Dube. Meanwhile, Dube said a lot was supposed to
be done by government in as far as corruption was concerned. He, however,
lamented on the current reports of corruption allegations leveled against some
Members of Parliament (MPs), which he said it was, therefore, questionable on
how they would enact laws in Parliament that would take the country
forward. He said due to such allegations, it would be difficult for them
to reprimand each other when something went wrong. He was responding to
questions on what government needed to do to help assist in dealing with such a
low life expectancy prediction expected to be below the retirement age, being
60 years. He said the nation had a long way ahead in dealing with corruption,
which he said it had immensely affected the country. “A high unemployment
rate also results in corruption because some people are not hired based on
qualifications but through nepotism. There is a need to sort out this issue,”
he explained.
The economist further pleaded
with government to start paying civil servants reasonable salaries and its
suppliers faithfully. He said once that started happening, it could lubricate
the economy. “Three months would be enough for the country’s economy to change
for the better if government starts paying its suppliers on time. If government
can be faithful for a year on this, then the country’s economy can be
completely different,” he said. Furthermore, the economist said once the
unemployment rate was minimised, it would result to emaSwati starting to expand
their businesses as a result of economic confidence. According to the
economist, once the business people begin to expand, they would start to
recruit more people to help in producing more and later exporting their
products to other countries. He said such exportation would result to the
growth in gross domestic products (GDP) of the country. He further said if
government and parastatals would be committed to dealing with the
aforementioned issues, then the economy of the country would change for the
better.
“Government’s rise to action
can lubricate all the stresses faced by restaurants and others from shutting
down their businesses. I have also noted that it is no longer busy on weekends
in towns due to the fact that people don’t have money,” he said. Also,
Dube noted with concern that the ease of doing business they had been
advocating for would not be effective if emaSwati did not have money in their
possession. He then lamented by stating that some businesspeople,
soon after doing businesses with government and some parastatals, ended up not
getting paid, leading to them closing down their businesses. “It is so
unfortunate that some small businesses are still being owed by government a sum
of E800 000 for three years. This then frustrates the businesspeople because
they fail to run their businesses properly,” he said. Also, Dube said if
Eswatini would start losing certain skills as result of deaths before the age
of 57 years, government would be greatly affected in terms of getting relevant
skills. “If employees die as result of long illnesses, then government is
expected to pay more. Government has to pay its staff while being admitted in
various hospitals which increases the financial load,” said Dube.
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