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Friday 7 June 2024

Swaziland Newsletter No. 830 – 7 June 2024

 

Swaziland Newsletter No. 830 – 7 June 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.


Persecution of SNAT President, Public Transport Union boss Sticks Nkambule landed eSwatini on International Labour Organization (ILO) Special Agenda

By Bongiwe Dlamini, Swaziland News, 4 June 2024

SOURCE 

MBABANE: Mduduzi Gina, the Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) says, the ongoing persecution of Mbongwa Dlamini, the President of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) and Public Transport Union Secretary General Sticks Nkambule landed eSwatini on the International Labour Organization (ILO)Special Paragraph Agenda.

Eswatini, a tiny Kingdom situated in Southern Africa is violating workers’ rights, trade union leaders are arrested, tortured or dismissed for representing the interests of workers.

Speaking to this Swaziland News Current Affairs program on Tuesday morning, the TUCOSWA Secretary General said, the banning of protests in the country by the Government was also reported to ILO as this, affected the work of unions.

“We have seen Government persecuting Mbongwa Dlamini and Sticks Nkambule for representing workers. The banning of protests by Government through an order directed to Town Councils not to grant permission to those who want to protest, affected the work of unions and these issues will be discussed by ILO this week”, said the TUCOSWA Secretary General.

During the discussions of the complaints filed by the workers with ILO, Government will be represented by Labour Minister Phila Buthelezi, Principal Secretary Makhosini Mndzawe, Labour Commissioner Mthunzi Shabangu while Nathie Dlamini, the Business Eswatini Chief Executive Officer (CEO) will be representing the interests of employers.

Gina said, being on the ILO Special Paragraph places eSwatini at the risk of being avoided by foreign investors or international partners.

“Foreign investors consider such issues before investing in any country because they don’t want to invest in countries that violate workers’ rights because, such countries are at the risk of being sanctioned or isolated by the world. It is for these reasons government takes the issue of being placed on the Special Paragraph seriously”, said the TUCOSWA Secretary General.


Torture for suspected criminals

By Andile Nsibande, Times of eSwatini, 4 June 2024

SOURCE 

LAVUMISA - Imbongolo or mjikeni has become the new language or rather another brutal way to counter rampant crime in Lavumisa and surrounding areas.

Imbongolo or mjikeni is the new form of punishment or torture adopted by Lavumisa folks, which involves tying a suspected criminal to a log suspended between two Y-shaped poles on each end or stripping the suspect naked and making them lie flat over a drum before administering a beating and even torching the suspect in the event they delay confessing to committing a crime.

Imbongolo is a donkey in vernacular, while mjikeni refers to a game of see-saw, and the terms may have been chosen by the residents for the resemblance of the punishment to the acts of riding the domestic animal and playing the game of see-saw.

It is alleged that a number of people have lost their lives through this brutal way of punishing suspects or method of extracting a confession from criminal elements, according to a member of a community policing forum from Mpalane, at Qomintaba.

This is the same area which is currently engulfed by tensions and the threat of more open violence following the recent torching of two young lads after they were suspected of stealing dagga and cash from a certain homestead.

“Yes, people decided it was enough after crime became rampant. Criminal elements were stealing valuables like cellphones from homes, some taking away the little that people had harvested as a way of earning an income. So, it was decided that the best way to curb the scourge was dealing with the criminal elements straight away. We lost one boy who was torched with an accomplice last week, then another one was killed in a neighbouring area, apart from the four who died around Nkonka (also situated around Lavumisa),” narrated a man who spoke under the condition of anonymity.

To read more of this report, click here

http://www.times.co.sz/news/145443-imbongolo-mjikeni-torture-for-suspected-criminals.html

 

EU Bushfire Schools Festival 2024 in eSwatini brings together 600 learners for art expression

European Union, 3 June 2024

SOURCE

Photo copyright EU

 

On 30 May 2024, in the context of Europe month, the European Union in Eswatini, in partnership with Bushfire, organised the 13th edition of the EU Bushfire Schools Festival which brought together more than 600 learners from high schools and out-of-school youth clubs from around Eswatini for a day of self-expression in the many languages of art.

Organised under the theme: “Art Effect: The Transformative Power of Artistic Expression in the Creative Economy”, the festival provided a platform for the young people to experience the magic of art and learning through performances and workshops whilst also discovering career possibilities in the creative art industry in Eswatini.

At the end of the festival, the learners composed and performed a song titled 'United in Diversity' which is the motto of the European Union. The students composed the song as part of their creative activities during the festival.

For the first time this year, teenagers from the refugee reception centre at Malindza, east of Eswatini, also participated in the festival along with students with special needs from institutions such as the school for the deaf in Siteki, also in the east.

The programme featured, amongst other things, drama, gumboot dancing, story-telling, poetry and orchestra performances.

The festival has been organised since 2010 and takes place ahead of the world-acclaimed MTN Bushfire music festival and uses the same infrastructure.

To read more of this report, click here

https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/eswatini/eu-bushfire-schools-festival-2024-eswatini-brings-together-600-learners-art-expression_en

 

Doctors’ 12 demands to medical aid schemes

By Sibusiso Dlamini, eSwatini Observer, 3 June 2024

SOURCE 

Doctors have listed 12 demands to medical aid schemes, threatening to reject medical aid starting on July 1st if their conditions aren’t met.

The doctors, who run practices, issued the ultimatum on Friday when they sent a letter of demand to all medical aid schemes in the country through their association; the Eswatini Private Doctors Association (EPDA) following an extraordinary general meeting held the previous week.

Among the demands was that payments of claims be made within one week, as timely payments are crucial for the survival of their practices, saying they found it unacceptable for service providers to wait a month for claims to be settled given the introduction of electronic claims submissions.  

They also want fair pricing policies, stating that medical aid schemes should not dictate prices for professional services in a free market as this undermined, the autonomy of healthcare providers.

“By 1st July, medical aid schemes must meet these 12 demands, or doctors will begin rejecting medical aid cards, compelling patients to pay cash for consultations and minor procedures,” reads a part of the letter endorsed by the association’s President Dr. Muyabala Muna.

The move by the doctors comes after reports of frustration and financial strain due to delayed payments and alleged opaque practices by the medical aid schemes.

To read more of this report, click here

http://new.observer.org.sz/details.php?id=22521

 

King Mswati to fly to Singapore for medical checkup, no drugs in eSwatini public hospitals

By Zweli Martin Dlamini, Swaziland News, 30 May, 2024

SOURCE 

MBABANE: King Mswati is highly expected to fly to Singapore for medical checkups at the time when the eSwatini public hospitals face shortage of drugs, hundreds have died since the health crisis erupted.

The King who is fresh from a Taiwan visit, indicated that he will travel this week when addressing members of the Shembe Nazareth Church at Ludzidzini Royal Palace last week, however, he did not mention the countries he might visit.

“I was told that your prayer service event was supposed to be held next week.But as I won’t be available, I decided to see you before I go”, said the King.

This journalist then contacted royal sources close to Mswati who confirmed to this Swaziland News that, the King will be traveling to Singapore allegedly,f or medical checkups and then South Korea.

Eswatini authorities receive quality healthcare in other countries amid the collapsed health system in this tiny Kingdom.

 

eSwatini faces maize shortage, spike in food prices

By Mthunzi Mdluli, Times of eSwatini, 30 May 2024

SOURCE 

MBABANE: Seemingly, Eswatini is far from attaining its desired food security status, as it has recorded an acute decline in its maize yield for 2024.   

According to the final post-harvest assessment report issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, the country recorded 75 000 metric tonnes this year, which is a far cry from the 140 000 metric tonnes annual target. The ministry said the maize yield was lower than that of last year, when the country recorded 85 000 metric tonnes. This means that Eswatini is expected to import 65 000 metric tonnes, almost half of the maize needed by the country.

Following such a decline, consumers must brace themselves for a sharp increase in food prices in the upcoming months. Meanwhile, Nelson Mavuso, the Director of Agriculture, said this was an unfortunate situation for the country as the National Maize Corporation (NMC) would have to look for alternative markets outside the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to buy maize, because all the major producing countries are faced with the same predicament. Mavuso said countries like Zambia, Malawi and South Africa indicated that they would not be selling their maize this year to countries like Eswatini, since they also had insufficient produce.

To read more of this report, click here

http://www.times.co.sz/news/145352-eswatini-faces-maize-shortage-spike-in-food-prices.html


Belarus and eSwatini establish diplomatic relations

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, 5 June 2024

SOURCE 

On June 4, 2024 a Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the Republic of Belarus and the Kingdom of Eswatini was signed in Pretoria [South Africa] by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Republic of South Africa, Igor Bely, and the High Commissioner of the Kingdom of Eswatini to the Republic of South Africa, Lindiwe Kunene.

This event paves way to opportunities for the development of the entire range of relations between both nations in political dialogue, promotion of trade and economic cooperation, creating ties in the fields of education, healthcare, science and technologies, cultural exchange.

In certain areas of cooperation work between two countries is already underway. There is a mutual interest in providing a legal framework for the relations between Belarus and Eswatini.

To read more of this report, click here

https://mfa.gov.by/en/press/news_mfa/c5580a3b57e6fbfa.html

 

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