Swaziland Newsletter No. 827 – 17 May
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.
890
000 leaked state documents: soldier, man demand E230k bribe from Archbishop
Lukhele, arrested
Sibusiso Shange, Times of eSwatini, 15 May 2024
MBABANE: Police have arrested two men for reportedly
attempting to extort a sum of E230 000 from Archbishop Bheki Lukhele of All
Nations Church in Zion.
This is the first spin-off
from the widely publicised Swazi Secrets, an investigative project coordinated
by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). It was
said the project is based on 890 000 leaked documents from Eswatini’s Financial
Intelligence Unit (EFIU), which ICIJ says it shared with a team of 38
journalists across 11 countries. The reports documented Archbishop Lukhele
as having allegedly played a role in the transfer of certain monies from the
African National Congress’s election account.
There is no record of
Archbishop Lukhele responding to the allegations. Police are said to be
investigating allegations that the two emaSwati men took advantage of the
allegations made in the reports to solicit a bribe from the church
leader. One of the two men, who posed as officers from the Eswatini
Financial Intelligence Unit (EFIU), was arrested yesterday.
In the attempt to extort Lukhele, they are said to have informed him that they
could assist to protect him from being arrested, as he was aware of the
information contained in the recently published leaked documents. It has
been gathered that one of the suspects is a soldier. The duo aged 38 and
34 allegedly misrepresented to Lukhele that they were investigating the matter
and that he would be arrested unless he paid the bribe.
However, sources said Lukhele,
who insisted on his innocence, hastened to report the matter to the police,
whose investigations led to the arrest of the duo. The duo was subsequently
arrested and is currently assisting the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS)
with information. They were due to appear in court yesterday afternoon,
however, they were produced and taken back to the police station, without
appearing before any judicial officer, after spending about an hour in a police
van, at the Mbabane Magistrates Court.
To read more of this
report, click here
eSwatini, burdened doubly with HIV and cervical
cancer, targets safety for the next generation
By Nonduduzo Kunene, Vaccines
Work, 13 May 2024
Eswatini
suffers a double burden, with uncommonly high rates of both HIV and cervical
cancer.
The
country’s HIV prevalence of 25.9% among adults is one of the highest in the
world. Its age-standardised cervical cancer incidence – 84.5 per 100,000
– is the world’s highest, bar none.
Those two
disease rates are not independent of each other. Women living with HIV and
the cancer-causing
human papillomavirus (HPV) are more likely to contract cervical cancer than their
HIV-negative counterparts with HPV. A 2017 research paper from Eswatini found that
women with HIV had a much higher rate of cervical lesions (22.9%) than
HIV-negative women (5.7%).
Encouragingly,
another study, also from Eswatini, and published just last month in the
journal PLOS Global Public
Health, points to the impact a robust public health response can have. Not
only did the new research show lower-than-expected cervical cancer positivity
rates overall – about 2.6% across both of the regions under study – it also
showed that women living with HIV who had been on anti-retroviral therapy for
longer periods of time were less likely to screen positive for cervical cancer
than women whose HIV had been medically managed for less than five years. Women
whose HIV load had been suppressed by treatment to undetectable levels, were
also less likely to screen positive for the cancer than women with unsuppressed
HIV burdens.
If those
findings are encouraging, so are health policy initiatives being enacted on the
ground. On 25 March 2024, Eswatini’s Ministry of Health mobilised a US$ 1.6
million grant for the introduction of HPV through Gavi’s Middle-Income
Countries approach. This is part of a focused move to drastically reduce
cervical cancer by 2030.
To read more of this report, click here
SNAT, SWATCAWU and SNUS support Limkokwing staff on
their prolonged strike for improved working conditions
Swaziland Democratic News, 14 May 2024
The Swaziland National
Association of Teachers (SNAT), the Swaziland Transport and Allied Workers
Union (SWATCAWU) and the Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) have come
out to support the Limkokwing lectures on their strike for better working
conditions.
“SNAT is in full solidarity
with the Limkokwing Lecturers who are on strike for improved working
conditions. The gallant Lecturers resolved to down tools in demand of better
working conditions.”
“SWATCAWU fully support the
resolute NAWUSHI LUCT branch which is in the 7th week of their No Work No Pay
industrial action, aimed to push for better pay and working conditions at the
Limkokwing University of Creative Technology in Swaziland. “
Limkokwing lectures are
organized under union NAWUSHI and are pleading to other workers and members of
society to assist them whilst on strike to feed their families.
The struggle of the working
class resonates across all sectors of society. Attached are details on how one
can donate any amount to help the fellow workers at the University.
By Bongiwe Dlamini, Swaziland News, 13 May
2024
GEGE: King Mswati’s Government
has maintained silence as Taiwan nationals invade the rural areas, forcefully
seizing land from the poor and powerless citizens.
The land grabbing by Taiwan
investors that started at Gege-Mbondzela in the South-western parts of eSwatini
last week, is highly expected to spread to other areas as the Chinese province
advance its economic interests while violating human rights in the tiny
Kingdom.
Taiwan is a diplomatic ally to
eSwatini despite the United Nations (UN) Resolution 2758 of 1972 that
recognizes the One China Principle, the Chinese province previously donated
helicopters to the army were used to launch air-strikes, shoot and kill
innocent civilians during the unrest.
The Taiwan helicopters donated
to the army are highly expected to start patrolling Mbondzela-Gege to monitor
the residents and intimidate them to refrain from protesting, some of the
residents are sleeping in the forests after the demolition of their homes.
Government Spokesperson
Alpheous Nxumalo had not responded at the time of compiling this report.
Mciniseli Nhleko, a senior
citizen of Gege was subsequently arrested for raising a voice against the
Taiwan nationals who demolished his home last week,the Taiwanese are using
businessmen Tito Dlamini and Sandile Simelane.
John Fan, the Managing Director
of Nhlangano FTM Garments has been identified as one of the Taiwan investors
who, with the backing of those in power, is grabbing land from the poor and
powerless citizens.
Both businessmen, the Taiwan
investor including Ambassador Jeremy Liang declined to comment regarding the
ongoing human rights violations.
On another note, eSwatini
pro-democracy and civil society groups strongly condemned the ongoing human
rights violations perpetrated by Taiwan, a province of the People’s Republic of
China.
Mlungisi Makhanya, the
President of the People’s United Democratic Movement(PUDEMO) told this
Swaziland News that, the diplomatic relations between eSwatini and Taiwan
represents nothing but, a misery for the ordinary citizens.
“What this represents for the
ordinary people of Swaziland is misery as you would see that, the people of
Gege are today without homesteads because a Taiwanese engineered economic
interest has led to them being evicted. We want to remind our people that, it
must never be lost to them that, when the Royal Science Technology Park was to
be constructed,emaSwati were violently and forcefully evicted there in a very
cruel manner and that project, Swazis would remember, is being bankrolled by
Taiwan”, said the PUDEMO President.
 |
| One of the demolished homes at Gege |
See also
Taiwan is an enemy
of emaSwati and after Gege, more citizens will be evicted from their land
https://swazilandnews.co.za/fundza.php?nguyiphi=6525
Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo:
Government fully supports evictions, no amount of noise will stop Gege
demolition of homes
https://swazilandnews.co.za/fundza.php?nguyiphi=6544
Public
Accounts Committee blasts Health Ministry
By
Phephile Motau, eSwatini Observer, 16 May 2024
The shortage of drugs and other medical
supplies in the country is not the only challenge facing the ministry of
health, as it seems that they also have an administrative crisis.
This was evident yesterday when the
ministry failed to submit four of five responses to the Public Accounts
Committee (PAC) which held its first sitting yesterday.
It was attended by the officials from the
ministry and other PAC partners including the Auditor General’s (AG) officials,
police, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Civil Service Commission
(CSC).
The ministry, led by the Principal
Secretary (PS) Khanya Mabuza was the first to appear before the PAC and only
submitted one report, which was riddled with mistakes.
The PAC had to send away the ministry,
without even discussing the one report which was submitted, as it was also
submitted to the committee yesterday. The ministry has been given seven working
days to submit the reports.
The responses were from audit queries made
in five reports since 2021. These were the PAC Recommendations for 2021, the
PAC Recommendations 2022, Auditor General’s Compliance Report for the Financial
year Ended March 31, 2021, Financial Audited Report on the Consolidated
Government Accounts of the kingdom of Eswatini for the year Ended March 31,
2022, Audit of Acquisition and Distribution of Medicine to Health Facilities
2023 and the Financial Audited Report on the Consolidated Government Accounts
of the Kingdom of Eswatini for the year Ended March 31, 2022.
To read more of this report, click
here
http://new.observer.org.sz/details.php?id=22470
Street
monitoring cameras for Mbabane
Sithembile Hlatshwayo, Times of eSwatini, 15 May 2024
MBABANE: The capital city will soon have internet protocol
(IP) cameras, which will assist in monitoring and giving information on every
movement within the central business district (CBD).
The cameras will be able to
monitor traffic, among other things. It was revealed that 50 cameras will be
installed in strategic areas. This has raised serious concerns of invasion of
privacy by some stakeholders who wanted clarity on how the project would work.
This was raised during the launch of the 5G government network and smart city
(Mbabane) at Hilton Garden Inn yesterday.
Eswatini Communication
Commission (ESCCOM) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mvilawempi Dlamini raised the
issue of privacy with cameras installed everywhere. He said there was a need to
strike a balance between the State’s security interests as well as peoples’
privacy. Dlamini said there was a need for agreements in some of the aspects,
as the project was a good initiative. Dlamini said there needed to be
discussions around the sharing of infrastructure to avoid having multiple
poles, adding that there was a need to come up with standards for same.
Another concern which was raised by the stakeholders was fear of the project
becoming a white elephant. They wanted clear information in terms of who would
support the project financially once it has been implemented. The stakeholders
made an example of the cameras along Malagwane Hill, which ended up failing.
To read more of this
report, click here
http://www.times.co.sz/news/145090-street-monitoring-cameras-for-mbabane.html
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