A loud mouthed Swaziland senator has been told to put up or shut up over her allegations that Swazi journalists have leaked ‘sensitive’ information to South African newspapers.
The row started when Dlamini called on the Swazi Government to ‘deal’ with any local reporter found to be leaking ‘sensitive news’.
She called for a sense of ‘patriotism’ from journalists.
‘They must learn to respect the country and know that what they are doing is wrong,’ she told senators.
Senators were angry that although news in Swaziland is censored, overseas’ publications and the Internet can carry the truth about the kingdom. This was especially the case recently when news of the Swazi Royal Family sex scandal was reported across the globe, but not in Swaziland.
Now, SNAJ has told Dlamini to name and shame the journalists involved in such practice instead of tainting all journalists in the country. ‘If the senator has information substantiating her accusations she should rightly expose the individual than to taint local journalists as being the ones behind such acts.
‘For all we know, the source of such could have been from within the House itself considering the available resources,’ SNAJ said in a statement.
SNAJ said the Senator should substantiate her claims by providing evidence of those journalists leaking sensitive stories to the South African media. Failing which the Senator should withdraw her statements unconditionally.
Swaziland senators are so worried that the truth about the Swazi Royal Family is getting out to the wider world they want to censor the Internet.
And top of their list of victims is Facebook, the social networking site.
Swaziland’s Minister of Information, Communication and Technology, Nelisiwe Shongwe told the senate that the kingdom, ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, is looking at laws to control cyberspace.
Shongwe was reacting to complaints that Swazi reporters were leaking information to the South Africa media that was censored in Swaziland.
Although they didn’t say so out loud, they were referring to the recent sex scandal involving the 12th wife of King Mswati, 22-year-old Nothando Dube, (also known as Inkhosikati LaDube) and Ndumiso Mamba, the (now former) Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister.
Media in Swaziland have been banned from reporting this, but South African newspapers and Internet sites all over the world have published news and comment on their alleged adultery.
One senator, Ndileka Dlamini, rather sinisterly called on the Swazi Government to ‘deal’ with any local reporter found to be leaking ‘sensitive news’.
She called for a sense of ‘patriotism’ from journalists.
‘They must learn to respect the country and know that what they are doing is wrong. They must know that action will be taken against them for doing such,’ theTimes of Swaziland quoted Dlamini saying during a senate debate.
Senator Khephu Cindzi shared similar sentiments and asked the minister if social networking sites could be regulated to protect the country’s image.
There must be control on things like Facebook because it is being abused. They discuss sensitive issues anyhow, he said.
In response Shongwe said the senators’ concerns were justified. ‘It is true that sometimes the content is not good to be publicised and, besides, children use these sites. As part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) we are looking at cyber laws to protect ourselves from such things,’ she said.
I flatter myself that I am one of the culprits complained of. So in the spirit of freedom of the media I invite any Swaziland senator to defend their position on the Swazi Media Commentary Facebook site. Senators just click here.
True to form Swaziland senators want to censor the media following news that one of its own has been found guilty of bringing the house of parliament into disrepute.
But, the senate doesn’t want ordinary Swazis to know about this.
The senate had tried to intimidate the media after they originally reported the fight in March 2009.A select committee was set up to look into ways of restricting how the media reports on parliament.
In the latest development the senators told the media to stop reporting on the case until the whole senate had a chance to discuss the committee’s recommendation.
Again, not for the first time senators say the media are irresponsible because they get their facts wrong.
Senator Khephu Cindzi, introducing a motion told the Senate, ‘There are words in the media reports that are not in the Senate probe report and I therefore kindly ask that the media should stop writing about the report until the time is right.’
Cindzi then went on to say, quite inaccurately, ‘This report, Madam President, is similar to a court case where you cannot write about an issue until it is heard before court.’
The Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, reported Senate supported the motion and its President Zwane told the media to stop publishing the report’s contents.
The Swazi senator who wanted to muzzle the media because they reported she had a public fight with the Senate President has been censored by a select committee.
Ndileka Dlamini had a fight with Senate President Gelane Zwane at a hotel in Pigg’s Peak in March this year.
When the media reported that the two women had to be dragged apart to stop violence taking place, Dlamini accused the media of having embarrassed her.
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) reported at the time that a senate select committee was set up to investigate the media with a view to punishing journalists. The senate warned the media against publishing further reports on the matter.
Now it is revealed that a Senate Select Committee has in fact found that Dlamini was at fault and is guilty of insulting the Senate President. The Committee said Dlamini displayed ‘gross insubordination, unprofessional conduct, and disrespect’. The committee recommended that Dlamini be suspended from the Senate for three months.
The committee also said Dlamini should apologise to Zwane and to the Swazi public at large. If this happens, according to theTimes of Swaziland(the kingdom’s only independent daily) this will be the ‘first time in the history of the Swazi Parliament’.
Senate previously passed a motion that banned the two from talking to the media about the matter. This motion has not been lifted.
Not for the first time Swaziland senators are threatening journalists with contempt of parliament because they are writing reports that they don’t like.
The latest attempt to curtail the freedom of the press comes after Swazi media reported about a verbal fight between the Senate President Gelane Zwane and Senator Ndileka Dlamini that took place in a hotel.
The spate between the two women was over allegations made by Dlamini that Zwane had undermined her in Parliament.
News reports said that the two women had to be dragged apart to stop violence taking place.
After reports appeared, the Senate President raised the issue in Parliament and accused the media of having embarrassed her.
Of course, the fight was public and she was indeed involved in it, so if there was any embarrassment caused it was caused by Dlamini and Zwane. I wasn’t there so I can’t say who tried to throw the first punch, so let’s say they were both equally to blame and both showed themselves up (and senators generally, because we don’t expect parliamentarians to behave like this).
But Swazi politicians being the arrogant lot they are, these two childish senators couldn’t see they were at fault: instead they want to blame the media, yet no one denies the fight took place.
Now, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) reports that a senate select committee has been set up to investigate the media with a view to punishing journalists. The senate has warned the media against publishing further reports on the matter.
It is a typical tactic in Swaziland. Senators would do well to remember that the Swazi Constitution allows for freedom of speech and freedom of the media.
The last time senators tried to bully the media by launching a senate select committee was when the Times Sunday editor Mbongeni Mbingo was accused of bringing parliament into disrepute by publishing critical articles. In a groundbreaking decision the committee found Mbingo not guilty and confirmed his constitutional right to free speech.
But then in a contradictory move, the committee said it wanted to accredit all journalists who reported on parliament (in effect choosing who could and who could not be a parliamentary reporter). If such a move went ahead journalists who cover Parliament would be intimidated against reporting critical stories for fear of losing accreditation and maybe their jobs as a result.
Presently in Swaziland there are many attempts to muzzle the media. Among them is the continuing saga of Swazi dissident Mfomfo Nkhambule, a weekly columnist with the Times of Swaziland,who has received threats for criticising King Mswati III.
In February 2009, the government threatened to charge with sedition anyone who criticized the state of the nation address delivered by the king. This followed a number of statements by media commentators that the king’s speech was stale and lacked substance.
MISA reported last month (March 2009) that it had issued a record number of alerts about media freedom violations in Swaziland, mainly around harassment of journalists, censorship, intimidation and assault of media persons.
