Swaziland Newsletter No. 841 – 23 August 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.
Uphold rights to freedom of association, expression,
and assembly
Human
Rights Watch, 16 August 2024
On August 13,
Eswatini’s Supreme Court overturned a 2016 High Court decision that declared several repressive provisions of
the 1938 Suppression of Terrorism Act (STA) and 2008 Sedition and Subversive
Activities Act (SSA) invalid.
The 2016 High
Court decision had declared that several sections of SSA and STA violated the
rights to freedom of association, expression, and assembly, guaranteed in
Eswatini’s Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights,
to which Eswatini is party.
The 2016
decision combined four separate applications to the High Court brought by six activists.
The
activists, who included the late human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko, Mario Masuku, leader of the banned People's United
Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), and Maxwell Dlamini, leader of PUDEMO’s youth
wing, had been separately charged under the SSA for allegedly making subversive
statements and sedition. They had also been charged under the STA for allegedly
“chanting slogans of a terrorism nature,” “wearing t-shirts which bore
terrorist demands at the back,” and participating in a demonstration calling
for a boycott of elections.
The activists
argued that the STA, which criminalizes support for a proscribed entity and
prevented individuals from challenging that label, infringed on their right to
due process and administrative justice.
Political
parties have been banned in Eswatini since 1973.
The Supreme
Court’s decision to overturn the High Court’s ruling will embolden the
government to ramp up its ongoing crackdown on opposition, human rights, and
pro-democracy activists and weaponize the criminal justice system. This ruling
is the latest in a worrying trend of authorities employing vague and overly
broad provisions of terrorism laws to suppress freedom of association,
expression, and assembly. In July, two former members of parliament,
Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube, were sentenced to prison terms of 25 and 18 years respectively
for participating in and supporting pro-democracy protests in 2021.
This week,
the Southern African Development Community (SADC), of which Eswatini is a
member, will hold its 44th Ordinary Summit of
Heads of State in Harare, Zimbabwe. The SADC should prioritize the
deteriorating human rights crisis in Eswatini and take decisive action. It’s
imperative the Eswatini government repeal these repressive laws and ensure full
respect for fundamental freedoms and human rights.
See also
Eswatini
upholds contentious anti-terrorism, anti-sedition and subversive
activities laws
Partnership brings the fire for human rights and the
Sustainable Development Goals
By Kaylois
Henry, (United Nations) Africa Renewal, 21 August 2024
A festival in Eswatini provided the perfect backdrop
to encourage audiences to learn about and protect their human rights.
Lungile Magagula stands in the Eswatini Legal Aid
Office booth, surrounded by pamphlets and booklets, holding conversations on
how the laws help people access justice and enjoy their human rights.
“We have different people coming through our stall and
we explain to them our mandate, provide legal awareness information, what legal
assistance, including representation, could look like,” said Magagula, who is
the director of the Office.
Participants found the Eswatini Legal Aid Office and
the numerous other booths like hers as they wandered through the “Bring Your
Fire Zone” (BYFZ), in the Bushfire Festival, in Eswatini.
At this year’s festival, the “Bring Your Fire Zone”
was situated in such a way that people could wander through it or near it as
they made their way from the camping sites for the weekend-long festival. Each
person, each conversation is a chance for Magagula and others to remind people
that their rights are important.
The MTN Bushfire Festival is one of the largest music
festivals on the African continent, with more than 20,000 attending this year’s
three-day event. Taking place in late May each year, the festival focuses on
music, activism and culture as a means to promote positive social and
environmental change.
“I bring my fire for access to justice for all, that’s
the most important thing you can do,” Magagula said. “And you can never truly
ensure that there’s access to justice unless people are actually aware of their
legal rights. Unless people are aware of their rights, they can never be able
to claim their rights to access justice.”
For the second year. United Nations Eswatini
(consisting of UN Human rights, UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, WHO, IOM and WFP)
partnered with Bushfire in the “Bring Your Fire” events and zone.
The events and the zone, provide space for
discussions, interactions and exchanges among the public, NGOs, UN and other
organisations on a variety of human rights issues aligned with the Sustainable
Development Goals.
The BYFZ was a great way of reaching a wider variety
of people through various means to promote and advocate human rights, said
Laila Nazarali, UN Human Rights Office Advisor in Eswatini.
To
read more of this report, click here
Universities feel financial pinch amid political
turmoil
Phathizwe Zulu, University World News, 15 August
2024
The higher education sector in
the Southern African kingdom of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) is facing tough
times with two high-profile universities experiencing financing squeezes.
The University of Eswatini (UNESWA), the country’s largest public national
higher education institution, and the Southern Africa Nazarene University
(SANU) – also public – are struggling with debts. This triggered protest
actions in January – for example, from demotivated lecturers whose salaries
have been delayed and part-paid and unhappy students who demanded that their
delayed state scholarship allowances be paid.
UNESWA is the kingdom’s biggest university, with more than 7,000 students and
about 300 staff. It has three campuses, in Kwaluseni, Mbabane and Luyengo.
On the other hand, SANU – a 2010 amalgamation of the Nazarene College of
Nursing, Nazarene Teacher Training and the Nazarene College of Theology – had
about 2,300 students in 2020, dropping to 1,700 after COVID-19, with numbers
continuing to fall to around 1,400 students today.
Their financial malaise continues, with UNESWA in July unable to pay full
salaries to staff, said Acting Registrar Richard Masuku in a memorandum: “We
regret to inform you that the university will not be able to pay staff their
full salaries on payday due to insufficient funds. Each member of staff will
receive a portion (93%) of his or her salary. It is hoped that the balance will
be paid before the end of next week. The university asks for your forbearance
in these difficult times,” it reads.
Unfortunately, the staff received the same memo in June, following other months
when full salaries were not paid.
This has sparked industrial
action. In February (2024), UNESWA examinations for the second semester of the
entry year classes of 2022 and 2023 were postponed by one week at Kwaluseni and
Luyengo campuses after lecturers boycotted invigilation over February salary
part-payments.
To read more of
this report, click here
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20240813123330530
Motion for Govt to provide foodstuff for hungry passed
By Ntombi Mhlongo, eSwatini News, 17 August
2024
LOBAMBA: If a motion passed in
Parliament yesterday is anything to go by, government will soon provide
foodstuff like maize meal, beans, cooking oil and other basic commodities to
needy families countrywide.
The motion was moved by
Lobamba Lomdzala Member of Parliament (MP) Marwick Khumalo, who moved that the
Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Thulisile Dladla, should make it happen that
government provides foodstuff like maize meal, beans, cooking oil and other basic
commodities. Khumalo said the motion is necessitated by the fact that
there are many citizens of the country who are languishing in abject poverty
yet the issue was debated extensively by the House during the Budget Speech
early this year.
Khumalo moved that the DPM was
required to give a report to the House on how government was planning to pursue
or execute the resolution of the House on the matter within seven
days. When moving the motion, MP Khumalo submitted that the poverty situation
was discussed by the House previously, which was a sign that it was a national
issue as it affected almost all the constituencies in the country. Also,
Khumalo said, he had engaged with the DPM and the latter shared what she was
willing to do. Khumalo said the reality in the country was that poverty
was persisting and affecting many families.
In vernacular he said, “Live
lilambile. Sive silambile,” which means, “The country is starving, the citizens
are hungry”. He said if he were to request all MPs to share their
experiences with vulnerable citizens there was a lot that would come out. Also,
he said he was sure that none of the MPs could come out and say that they had
never been faced with a situation whereby they had to take from the little they
had just to assist poverty-stricken families. “I would have to clap hands
with that MP because it would mean that they are lucky. Where I come from, you
witness poverty in the morning when you wake up and at the end of the day. Now,
we can only do so much as parliamentarians but there is a government that is in
place and has to play its part,” he said.
To read more of
this report, click here
http://www.times.co.sz/news/146616-motion-for-govt-to-provide-foodstuff-for-hungry-passed.html
eSwatini turns to nuclear technology to transform
agriculture, health care, energy
By Nokukhanya Musi, Voice of America, 17 August
2024
Manzini: Eswatini has launched
an initiative to achieve sustainable development by harnessing the power of
nuclear technology in such sectors as agriculture, health and energy planning.
The plan was developed with the support of the International Atomic Energy
Agency.
The aim of the Country Program
Framework, or CPF, launched two weeks ago by Eswatini Minister of Natural
Resources and Energy Prince Lonkhokhela, is to leverage nuclear technology for
social and economic development. Its key focus areas are energy security, food
security and human health, aligning with the country’s National Development
Plan and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework.
Bongekile Matsenjwa, a
chemical engineer and engineering manager for the Eswatini National Petroleum
Company, believes the partnership between Eswatini and the International Atomic
Energy Agency, or IAEA, can help the country make well-informed decisions about
its energy future.
“Access to clean, affordable
and safe, reliable energy is an important ingredient for the sustainable
development of the country,” he said. “I believe that this partnership can help
Eswatini to make knowledgeable decisions on energy supply options with the help
of energy planning so the country ... can independently chart our national
energy future.”
Sonia Paiva, a sustainable
agriculture expert and advocate for nuclear technology, who was a panelist at
the COP28 U.N. Climate Change Conference, believes Eswatini’s focus on nuclear
technology is happening at the perfect moment, as the country has already
established policies around the topic and is now moving toward implementation.
“The whole world is looking to
see how we can make our planet a better place to live in,” she said.
In addition to its potential
benefits in agriculture and energy, Dr. Mduduzi Mbuyisa, a medical doctor,
believes this technology has immense potential to improve the health care
system in Eswatini.
“Nuclear medicine has a
potential to ensure our diagnostic capabilities such that it helps us to take
clearer pictures and help us in advanced imaging because we [are] using what we
call PET or SPECT, which help to improve the care and overall health care
system," he said. It will also ... help develop new skills and open up new
career opportunities.”
Eswatini’s venture into
nuclear technology is part of a larger trend of African countries seeking to
harness the benefits of this technology. Against the backdrop of rising energy
demands and climate change concerns, nuclear energy is increasingly seen as a
potential solution.
Tear gas bus incident, truth can’t be denied
Comment by Thobeka Manyathela, Times Sunday, 18
August 2024
The events in Eswatini are
currently quite shocking.
Allegations that tear gas was
thrown into a bus carrying members of the Swaziland National Association of
Teachers (SNAT) to Mbabane in October 2021 have been verified. One of the buses
that transported the teachers from Pigg’s Peak to Mbabane was operated by
Classic Bus Service and was intercepted by the police at Nkoyoyo. The police
then threw tear gas canisters into the bus and shot rubber bullets at the
trapped educators when they tried to flee. Despite the long-standing complaints
from the teachers’ organisation, the police and government have consistently
denied that such an incident ever occurred.
Despite all these bare
denials, the Commission on Human Rights and Public Administration/Integrity,
which was investigating this matter, has finally compiled a report of its
findings and went on to make recommendations. Although it took them a whole two
years to compile a 22-page report, that is a story for another day. In its
report, the commission reveals that it interviewed 18 teachers separately and
all of them were in agreement as to what exactly transpired that fateful day.
Even the driver of the bus corroborated their story.
According to this report, some
buses, including the one in question, had stopped at a certain spot near
Nkoyoyo. Officers from the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) of the
police spotted them and drove at high speed towards where they were, against
oncoming traffic. The police did not issue any order or instruction for the
buses to turn back. Instead, tear gas canisters were discharged as soon as the
police officers were close to the buses. When all the people who were on the
bus tried to escape to avoid suffocation, they were shot with rubber bullets.
Apparently, after such an inhumane act against unarmed professionals, the
police left without assessing if any of them required medical attention. The
teachers were only assisted by Good Samaritans who transported them to
hospitals.
According to the Human Rights
Commission (HRC) report, the Police Commissioner at the time did not deny that
tear gas was used against the teachers. The only aspect he did not agree with
was that tear gas was thrown into the bus. It has now been confirmed that tear
gas was indeed thrown into that bus, in what the Human Rights Commission
describes not only as excessive force but also a violation of workers’ rights.
The incident was described as inhumane, cruel and degrading. This does not
reflect well on the country’s image, especially at a time when the country is
trying to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and aiming to be counted
among developed nations in the near future.
No serious investor would want
to set up a business in a country where unarmed workers are shot at and tear
gas is thrown into a bus while they are inside it! I am aware of the allegation
by the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) that the shot workers were unruly
and pelted the police with bottles of alcohol. The police also argue that
the workers’ union had been warned against organising any gathering at that
time and that the means used to disperse the workers were proportionate to the
circumstances and ‘within the ambit of the law.’ Is throwing tear gas in a
confined space like a bus, where someone with asthma could have choked to
death, really within the ambit of the law? The HRC’s report found that the
police acted in a manner that threatened or violated the rights of workers,
including the right to life and protection from inhumane or degrading
treatment.
Comply
Additionally, the report
stated that this was a violation of the right to freedom of association and
assembly, which workers in all democratic countries are entitled to. The
National Commissioner of Police’s assertion about the ‘ambit of the law’ was
contradicted by the HRC’s finding that the police did not fully comply with the
law, which requires them to give advance notice of prohibition of a gathering,
allowing for review by a magistrate. In conclusion, this was an opportunity for
the government to reflect and strive to do better in upholding workers’ rights.
Unfortunately, Minister of
Labour and Social Security Phila Buthelezi, seems to be ignoring this issue,
much like an ostrich burying its head in the sand. It seems that Buthelezi is
hoping that the issue of gross violation of the teachers’ rights and their
shooting with rubber bullets will be forgotten over time – without any
consequences or compensation. How can we trust a government that ignores such
blatant issues? It’s a joke that government is not being held accountable for
its actions.
This is unfair to the
teachers, some of whom still bear emotional and physical scars from this
incident. Interestingly, when Buthelezi addressed the International Labour
Organisation (ILO) back in June, he vehemently denied that teargas was thrown
into a bus with passengers. His exact words were, “It has been alleged that
some workers were teargased in the past. Nothing of that sort happened. The
government or the police have never thrown teargas at a bus full of workers.”
However, he did not specify if teargas had been thrown in a bus full of
non-workers, and if so, whether that would have been justified. Nonetheless, he
seemed very confident in his statement at the annual conference in Geneva,
Switzerland.
It will be interesting to hear
what Minister Buthelezi will say next June when he and the representatives of
Eswatini workers return to Geneva to attend the same conference.
Will he dispute the findings of the Commission on Human Rights and Public
Administration, a reputable government agency? Will he ultimately admit that
wrongs were committed, take full responsibility and promise accountability on
behalf of the government? Minister Buthelezi, will you take responsibility on
behalf of the government and show remorse towards the teachers who were hurt,
so that the people may at least see you as trustworthy?
We appreciate the
establishment of a task team to work on the recommendations of the
International Labour Organisation (ILO) regarding the concerns raised by
Eswatini workers during the last conference in Geneva. The timing of its
announcement, around the same time the HRC report came out, was interesting.
However, we hope that the task team will not contradict the Human Rights
Commission report, which Minister Buthelezi says he has not seen and,
therefore, cannot talk about. Any contradiction would be scandalous and could
result in citizens losing confidence in government structures.
SWAZI
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