Swaziland Newsletter No. 844 – 13
September 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.
No FPE, some
schools without water, electricity on first day
By Sithembile Hlatshwayo, Times of eSwatini, 11
September 2024
MBABANE: The delay in the
payment of free primary education (FPE) grant has seen some schools go without
water and electricity, among other things.
Other schools say they fear
that the available food will be finished in the coming two weeks and are
crossing their fingers for the Ministry of Education and Training to intervene.
The ministry stated that the
food delivered to schools before they closed for the second term will last them
at least 30 days, hence it is not an issue as deliveries are expected to be
made in two weeks. True to the sentiments shared by Swaziland National
Association of Teachers (SNAT) Secretary General Lot Vilakati, schools were not
ready to reopen yesterday.
In other schools, since they
do not have money to buy petroleum gas, they are unable to cook the limited
food they have.
Fonteyn Primary School Deputy
Head teacher Nomcebo Mamba said the school is in arrears of E5 444.80 for an
outstanding water bill, while their electricity units were exhausted about two
weeks ago. Mamba said they had no idea of what to do as they were hoping that
the Ministry of Education would come to their rescue. “We are expecting
representatives from the ministry today (Tuesday 11, 2024) who will be
introducing our new head teacher,” Mamba said.
The school has been without a
head teacher since July 2024. Mamba said they were in the dark regarding the
financials of the school, hence they were also in the dark on whether they
received the FPE grant or not. According to Mamba, the school is also
struggling with some of the working tools, including charts. She said they
reported the matter to the school committee and pastoral inspector. Mater
Dolorosa (MDS) Primary School Head teacher Thabo Nkambule said they were
looking forward to the ministry supplying them with food in the next two weeks
as the remaining food will is not enough.
To read more of
this report, click here
http://www.times.co.sz/news/147020-no-fpe-some-schools-without-water-electricity-on-first-day.html
See also
SNAT: schools not
ready to reopen
http://www.times.co.sz/news/146986-snat-schools-not-ready-to-reopen.html
Chinese roots
deepen in Africa’s last Taiwan holdout
By Cebelihle Mbuyisa, Semafor, 10 September 2024
MBABANE: China is building up
its business and economic interests in Eswatini in a sign that Taiwan’s last
African ally is gradually pivoting towards Beijing.
The southern African country
was the only one of Africa’s 54 countries that declined to attend last week’s
triennial China-Africa summit in Beijing. The kingdom of Eswatini has long
refused to cut ties with Taiwan — even when Beijing has explicitly threatened to cut all trade with the African country
because of it.
But, despite that official
snub last week, members of the Eswatini’s business community told Semafor
Africa that authorities are quietly warming to China. It is forcing Taipei to
face up to the reality that Chinese enterprises, business people, and even state
players are digging deep roots in the kingdom’s economy.
Taiwan’s ambassador to
Eswatini, Jeremy Liang, told Semafor Africa that “a significant number of
Chinese nationals” were pouring into the small landlocked country of 1.2
million people which would, in time, “undermine” his country’s special
relationship with the kingdom.
In another sign of thawing
relations with Beijing, a delegation led by the head of Eswatini’s mines
authority Guduza Dlamini travelled to China with a high-profile local businessman in late 2023, reportedly to engage Chinese
investors and to chart a way for the establishment of diplomatic relations.
Government spokesman Alpheous
Nxumalo denied that the delegation’s mission had been to begin the process of
establishing diplomatic relations.
And it’s not just private
business people. Eswatini’s government in May 2023 awarded the state-owned PowerChina a $165 million tender
to construct the vital Mpakeni Embankment Dam even while noting in a statement
that Eswatini had “yet to establish diplomatic relations with China” it had
recognized PowerChina for “its brand influence in the southern African region.”
To read more of
this report, click here
https://www.semafor.com/article/09/10/2024/china-ramps-up-ties-in-eswatini-africas-last-taiwan-ally
Taiwan’s President Tsai meets King Mswati III in Eswatini last year;
Wang Yu Ching/Office of the President
See also
China-Africa
Summit Shines a Spotlight on Eswatini, Taiwan’s Lone Partner in Africa. Taiwan’s
last foothold on the continent is built on personalized diplomacy with
Eswatini’s absolute monarch
Eswatini ’quietly warming’
to China: report
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2024/09/12/2003823677
By Zweli Martin Dlamini, Swaziland News, 6
September, 2024
MBABANE: Maphevu Mkhatjwa,the
Acting Commissioner of the Anti Corruption Commission(ACC) has written a letter
to the Managing Director of the Eswatini Financial Intelligence Unit(EFIU)
requesting financial transactions for Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala amid a
power struggle with Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini and the ACC Acting
Commissioner.
It has been disclosed that,
the plot to investigate and subsequently arrest the CJ was orchestrated by the
ACC Acting Commissioner, the Chief Justice who doubles as Chairman of the
Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is alleged to be refusing to endorse the
appointment of Mkhatjwa as ACC Commissioner and as a result, Mkhatjwa is
alleged to have asked the PM to assist him remove the Chief Justice.
“The Anti Corruption
Commission (ACC) is seized with investigation referenced as Enquiry file number
09/2024. The basis of the investigation relates to allegations of corruption
that the above mentioned individual is suspected to be receiving bribes from
members of the public seeking jobs in the judiciary and/or from those who had
applied for judicial appointments. Therefore, in an effort to pursue the
investigation we hereby request for your cooperation by providing us with his
financial profile, assets profile and any information that you deem necessary
to bring to our attention. We will further request your institution to provide
us with analysis on the flow of funds in respect of entities and/or parties
that are and may be connected with this investigation. The processing of this
matter should be treated with confidentiality as outlined in section 18 of the
POCA”, reads the letter in part allegedly signed by the ACC Acting
Commissioner.
The documents further suggest
that, the Chief Justice was investigated by Chief Investigator Sipho Mthethwa
and Assistant Superintendent Clement Sifiso Khumalo who is currently working
for the ACC on secondment.
But a source within the State
Intelligence Unit told this Swaziland News on Thursday that, the power
struggle erupted after the Chief Justice made moves to recommend the
appointment of Deputy Commissioner Lillian Zwane as the new Commissioner of the
ACC yet Maphevu Mkhatjwa, a police officer, is also eyeing the position.
The Prevention of Corruption
Act states clearly that, a person may be appointed as ACC Commissioner if that
person qualifies to be a Judge of the High Court.
It has been disclosed that,
the ACC was investigating Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini on allegations
of corruption and/or looting of public funds within the Disaster Management
Agency (NDMA), he was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) when over R200million
public and donated funds allegedly disappeared within the State entity.
But shortly after being
appointed as the Prime Minister, Russell Mmiso Dlamini allegedly summoned and
captured the ACC, he subsequently announced the establishment of a Task Team
that will report to him.
To read more of
this report, click here
https://swazilandnews.co.za/fundza.php?nguyiphi=7291
About 110 suicide
cases reported since January
By Mthunzi Mdluli, Times of eSwatini, 12
September 2024
MBABANE: About 110 suicide
cases have been reported from January until August, this year.
According to the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), the statistics show an
increase in the number of people taking their own lives compared to the same
period in 2023.
During the same period in
2023, there were 97 recorded suicide cases. This is an increase of 13.4 per
cent. The police indicated that a majority of those who committed suicide
in the past eight months were men. Chief Police Information Communications
Officer, Senior Superintendent Phindile Vilakati, said men commit suicide
because of infidelity, child maintenance, debt, fear of arrest after committing
certain offences and lacking somethings.
Vilakati said police are
concerned about the increasing number of people who take their own lives, whose
number increases annually. According to Vilakati, people aged 25 years and
above are the ones who take their own lives.
To read more of
this report, click here
http://www.times.co.sz/news/147036-about-110-suicide-cases-reported-since-january.html
SADC’S betrayal of
the people of Swaziland
SSN statement, 7 September 2024
The Swaziland Solidarity
Network (SSN) is deeply disheartened and outraged by the Southern African
Development Community’s (SADC) decision to remove the Swaziland political
crisis from its agenda. This is a betrayal of the citizens of Swaziland and the
entire region, shutting down any hope that the regional body might take
meaningful steps toward promoting democracy, human rights, and lasting peace in
Swaziland.
Swaziland rightly entered
SADC’s focus through the Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security Cooperation
following the brutal suppression of a peaceful nationwide campaign for
political reform in June 2021. Since then, the government’s repression has only
escalated. Over 100 Swazis have been killed, countless others disabled, and
entire communities have been terrorized by state-sponsored violence.
These crimes carried out under
the watchful eyes of SADC, have been perpetrated with the aid of mercenaries
from South Africa and Russia. Despite this well-documented brutality, SADC has
chosen to turn its back on the people of Swaziland, prioritizing other issues
over the lives and rights of Swazi citizens.
SADC’s inaction is a direct
betrayal of its own values and stated mission. The body claims to promote
democracy, good governance, and respect for human rights as foundational
principles for regional integration. Yet it has repeatedly failed to address the
autocratic rule of Mswati whose government operates under a perpetual state of
emergency that has been in place since April 12, 1973.
The contradiction between
SADC’s lofty ambitions and its passivity in Swaziland is impossible to ignore.
The regional body’s unwillingness to act undermines its credibility and casts
doubt on its ability to achieve the political and economic integration it
aspires to. It is clear that a region governed by democratically elected
leaders cannot fully integrate a country ruled by an absolute monarch without
compromising those democratic principles.
SADC’s mission to maintain
peace and security has similarly failed, as the body waits for conflicts to
explode before taking action, rather than addressing the root causes of unrest.
The ongoing crisis in Swaziland is a testament to this failure.
What is most shocking,
however, is the fact that nearly every country in SADC is a functioning
democracy. This means that unlike Mswati, the other regional leaders owe their
power to their citizens, to whom they are accountable. Yet by ignoring the
cries of the Swazi people, they are betraying not only the citizens of
Swaziland but their own citizens as well.
The actions of these leaders
reflect either a deep betrayal or a profound misunderstanding of the
aspirations of their own people. Across the region, opposition parties, civic
organizations, and ordinary citizens have expressed their solidarity with the people
of Swaziland and condemned the royal tyranny. Even a few incumbent SADC leaders
have recognized the urgent need for change.
The people of Swaziland are
not asking for charity or intervention without reason. They are determined to
free themselves from the yoke of a regime that has consistently violated their
human rights and subjected them to violence and terror. What they need is the
moral support of the region, and for SADC to uphold its own principles by
acknowledging these abuses. At the very least, SADC must suspend Swaziland’s
participation in the body until it meets the basic criteria for governance and
human dignity.
We, therefore, call upon all
grassroots organizations across the region to unite and form a coalition that
will lobby for SADC to suspend Swaziland and urge other global institutions to
impose targeted sanctions against the regime. The time for passive condemnation
has passed. The region must stand with the people of Swaziland in their pursuit
of freedom and justice, and send a clear message to Mswati’s regime that its
crimes will no longer be tolerated.
Issued by the
Swaziland Solidarity Network.
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