Swaziland
Newsletter No. 822 – 12 April 2024
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.
Poverty continues to
linger in eSwatini
By
Queen Magagula, eSwatini Observer, 6 April 2024
Eswatini continues to
experience high and persistent poverty levels despite the progress it has made
over the years.
This was revealed by the
World Bank report released on Monday. The report highlighted that Eswatini was
a small country with an economy that shared borderlines with South Africa and
Mozambique.
Poverty, according to the report, persisted partly because of the lack of quality jobs.
Unemployment in Eswatini was reportedly among the highest in the (SADC) region
for over a decade and a large part of the population lives below the poverty
line, according to the report, although it was noted that there has been a
moderate decline from 63 per cent in 2010 to 58.9 per cent in 2017.
“It is even higher among
young people aged between 15 and 24 years, at 59.1 per cent as of 2021. Quality
problems in education mean that young people lack the right skills to
participate in the labour market. This undermines Eswatini’s potential to benefit
from its large and young population,” reads the report.
On
a positive note, the report highlighted that poverty calculated using the
lower-middle-income country poverty line was projected to decline from 52.1 per
cent in 2024 to 51.4 per cent in 2025.
The
World Bank Report added that while the projected economic recovery should have
a positive impact on households, this improvement would be constrained by the
lower agricultural production and structural challenges facing the poor,
including low job creation and low access to services.
In
addition, the report stated that inequality in consumption per capita and
access to public services remained high and Eswatini was among the most unequal
countries in the world, with a Gini index of 54.6 in 2016. Disparities in
access to basic public services across income groups and geographic locations
persist, although access is being expanded.
Factors
beyond the control of individuals, including early education, parental
education, place of birth and place of residence explained 38.5 per cent of
consumption inequality in 2017,” the report states.
The
report said Eswatini’s economic prospects for 2024 were favourable partly
because of higher Southern African Customs Union (SACU) revenues.
To
read more of this report, click here
http://new.observer.org.sz/details.php?id=22282
Swaziland People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) condemns King Mswati’s soldiers for threatening those who are calling for democracy
By Colani Khulekani Maseko, Swaziland News, 7 April 2024
NOKWANE: Lioness Sibande, the Secretary General (SG) of the
Swaziland People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) has released a statement on
behalf of the political organization, condemning King Mswati’s army for
threatening and/or inciting violence against human rights defenders and
political activists.
The threats were issued during the Army Day Celebration at the
Nokwane Army Headquarters on Friday and the event was graced by among others,
former South African President Jacob Zuma and Ex-Botswana President Lieutenant
General Ian Khama.
"The accompanying narrator emphasized that these drills
were specifically design to address future potential demonstrations.
Unfortunately, this evoked painful memories for many Swazis, reminiscent of a
tragic incident that occurred on October 20, 2022. On that day, teargas was
deployed by armed members inside a bus carrying innocent, unarmed government
employees and Swazi citizens enroute to a peaceful and authorized march
organized by the National Public Service Union ( NAPSAWU). In an unprovoked and
barbaric act, gunshots were fired at the workers as they desperately tried to
escape the suffocating gas fumes within the bus”, reads the statement in part
released by the Secretary General (SG) of Swaziland People’s Liberation
Movement (SPLM).
eSwatini’s
democratic reform process in jeopardy
Peter
Fabricius, Institute for Security Studies, 5 April 2024
Fifteen months after the murder of political activist
Thulani Maseko, the political reform movement he ably led also seems to have
died.
If it were purely a matter of motive, there would be
little doubt who should be held responsible for killing human rights lawyer
Thulani Maseko –
Eswatini’s leading political activist – on 21 January last year.
Maseko was shot dead through a window of his home near
Mbabane in front of his wife, Tanele, and two young sons.
Since then Eswatini’s opposition and the country’s
democratic reform momentum both seem to have collapsed, leaving King Mswati III
high and dry and apparently unassailable – an island of absolute monarchy in a
regional sea of supposed democracies.
At the time of Maseko’s murder
– most call it an assassination – Eswatini was still officially on the agenda
of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The latter had persuaded
the king to embark on a course of democratic reform in response to the surge of
deadly violence that shook the country in June 2021.
Eswatini was still officially
on SADC's agenda for democratic reform
Maseko then chaired the
Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF), which brought together all the main political
and civil society pro-democracy groups under a rare common umbrella,
articulating the demands for a real and inclusive national democratic dialogue.
But it became clear after his
death that he was holding the MSF together largely by the force of his
intellect and personality because, since then, it has essentially
disintegrated. One of the principal divisive forces was Mswati’s decision to
call parliamentary elections on 29 September last year. Though Swazi elections are essentially meaningless as members of
Parliament exercise no real power, some members of the democratic opposition
still opted to support them. Most chose to boycott, believing elections should
be postponed until after a legitimate reform process had been conducted.
The divisions over the
election fractured the opposition to Mswati’s autocratic rule.
To read more of
this report, click here
https://issafrica.org/iss-today/eswatini-s-democratic-reform-process-in-jeopardy
Limkokwing
University Director Princess Tfobile and her Musa Sibandze lawyers failed to
secure court order seeking to ‘kickout’ striking Lecturers
By
Bongiwe Dlamini, Swaziland News, 8 April 2024
MBABANE: Princess Tfobile Gumedze, the
Director of Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT) and her Musa
Sibandze Attorneys failed to secure a court order, seeking to ‘kickout’
striking Lecturers.
The Limkokwing lawyers had ran to court
demanding that, the Lecturers must not be allowed to protest inside the
University premises.
“Interdicting the members of the 1st
Respondent from demonstrating inside the Applicant’s premises and disrupt the
on-going examinations”, reads the Notice of Motion filed by Limkokwing lawyer
Banele Gamedze of Musa Sibandze Attorneys.
But Acting Industrial Court Judge Banele
Ngcamphalala refused to grant the order expelling the Lecturers inside the
University premises, instead she ordered that, both parties must agree on the
time and the legal strike must continue to take place inside the premises of
the University.
“The parties have agreed that the members
of the 1st Respondent will sing between 08:00am and also between 12:15pm to
13:45pm. The parties have further agreed that the members of the 1st Respondent
will assemble in front of House 2 and march towards the gate and march towards
the administration block. The designated area is the emergency point next to
the multi-purpose hall”, reads the court order in part issued on Friday.
The strike continues even this week, the
Lecturers are demanding among others, Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), the end
of employment on short term contracts and victimization of employees who
express themselves against injustice by the Management.
Govt confirms pink eye outbreak
By Phephile Motau, eSwatini Observer, 11 April
2024
Parents have been advised to
keep their children at home and to isolate those who show ‘pink eye’ symptoms
following an outbreak of conjunctivitis.
The advisory was issued by the
ministry of health following reports of outbreaks in the Manzini and Lubombo
regions where affected pupils were sent home.
The pupils were from St
Michael’s High, Mambane Secondary, Siteki Nazarene and Mnyafula Primary.
St Michael’s pupils were sent
back home on Tuesday morning after some cases were identified on Monday. The
pupils were advised to seek medical attention.
Chairperson of the Public
Health Emergency Management Core Team, Dr Masitsela Mhlanga, said anyone could
get pink eye, but family members and close friends of someone with infectious
conjunctivitis were at increased risk.
Dr Mhlanga said it was,
therefore, advisable to isolate patients with pink eye so as not to spread the
infection within the family
“Children with pink eye should
be kept out of school to prevent the disease from spreading to other pupils,”
said Dr Mhlanga, adding that it was best to limit contact with infected persons
until the symptoms go away.
He further advised that
infected persons could return to school or work when the itching, pain, and
tearing stopped.
Pink eye is defined as an
inflammation of the transparent membrane that lines the eyelid and eyeball.
This membrane is called the
conjunctiva.
To read more of
this report, click here
http://new.observer.org.sz/details.php?id=22314
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