Swaziland
Newsletter No. 754 – 25 November 2022
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.
People
go to war when diplomacy fails - SADC chairperson
By
Thokozani Mazibuko, eSwatini News, 19 November 2022
LOBAMBA: The new South African Development
Community (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation (Troika),
chairperson has said people go to war when diplomacy fails.
He made this statement during his courtesy
visit to His Majesty King Mswati III yesterday at Mandvulo Hall. Namibian
President Hage G Geingob advised the King and the people of Eswatini that the
solution to the political turbulence in the country and the rest of the
Southern African region can be sought only through dialogue. President
Geingob first shared the 22 years of suffering his country endured and
revealed that it was only through dialogue and the support of other countries
that peace was restored.
The president noted that it was not Eswatini
alone which was faced with a political crisis, but also the Democratic Republic
of Congo, Republic of Mozambique and Lesotho.“I am not here to discuss
political matters, but I am here on a courtesy visit to the King as you all
know that I am new in the office of Chairperson of the SADC Troika Organ.
“I am still going to visit other member
States and then soon the date of the Troika meeting will be set, where we will
discuss all the afflictions of our member States including Eswatini. After
those discussions we will then invite all parties concerned to be also engaged,
as we look forward in solving our differences soon,” said the
president. He went on to emphasise that SADC countries do not need war but
to solve their problems amicably through dialogue as it was time to end the
suffering among the people. His Majesty King Mswati III and SADC Troika
Chairperson and Namibia President Geingob both reiterated the need for the
promotion of peace and stability in the SADC region.
The King informed the media present that
he had briefed the SADC chairperson on the situation in Eswatini. “I have
briefed the president about the disturbances with regards to security that we
have been experiencing in Eswatini. It is also important to strengthen
relations between both States (Namibia and Eswatini) as we are experiencing
numerous challenges.
“It is of importance to ensure that there
is an inter exchange of tourists, which will provide job opportunities as we
still have a lot to do in improving conditions of the lifestyle of the people
as we are still advocating and committed in achieving the First World
status for both States,” said the King.
Their discussions also focused and touched
on the restoration of peace and resolution of conflicts through peaceful
dialogue. It was a one-day working visit for the SADC president to the
Kingdom of Eswatini.
Worth noting is that the working visit is
informed by the commitment of President Geingob to implement decisions of the
SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation. The SADC Organ
Summit that was held on August 16, 2022 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, at
which President Geingob assumed the role of Chairperson of the Organ,
reinforced the need for the SADC Organ to work for a peaceful and stable SADC
region.
Ever since the political unrest last
year between June/July, political formations have been pressurising
government and the King to have a national dialogue to solve the political
crisis in the country. It all began when pro-democratic groups called for
an elected prime minister (PM) after the passing away of the late Prime
Minister Mandvulo Dlamini. Political formations resolved to deliver
petitions to voice out their discontent at the Tinkhundla System of Government.
The then acting PM, Themba Masuku banned the
delivery of petitions which he recently told senators that government took that
decision after there were elements of violence and that children as young as
seven were made to carry placards. Masuku said because of that, government
had a responsibility to see to it that the rights of children were protected.
By Mhlonishwa Motsa, Times
Sunday (eSwatini), 20 November 2022
LOZITHA:
Prime Minister (PM) Cleopas Sipho Dlamini has said the position of His Majesty
King Mswati III was not up for a vote.
The
PM said by virtue of being a leader of the country under a monarchy, the King
was exonerated from any vote of approval by anyone. He echoed Reverend
Madudu Mabuza’s sermon, where he mentioned that the King was respected by
God. “Rev Mabuza, your majesty mentioned that the position of a King is
not a voted position but one that was there before anything else. The monarchy
is not made by the constitution, but the Constitution recognises the position
of Ingwenyama as the King.
Relies on Constitution
“This
is not similar to our positions with the DPM which relies on the Constitution.
The position of a King is the fabric of the nation and in the event the people
want to change the constitution, they go back to the King for an endorsement of
the repeal. In other words, we cannot vote out the king or suspend his
position,” said Dlamini. The PM further stated that emaSwati were a
peculiar nation and were different from any other nation in the world. He said
the prayer service was one of the things that made the nation. He added that
the service was an example of how the nation feared God and respected culture
and tradition as it precedes the resumption of the traditional calendar.
King
MisuZulu sucked into eSwatini’s domestic turmoil
By
Sandile Motha, Sunday World (South Africa), 20 November 2022
A few days after AmaZulu king MisuZulu
kaZwelithini jetted off to the Fifa World Cup in Qatar, the king finds himself
dragged into political turmoil plaguing the landlocked country of Eswatini, his
mother’s ancestral land.
A long-standing feud is raging in Eswatini,
with pro-democracy forces fighting King Mswati lll’s autocratic regime and
insisting the AmaZulu king should be stripped of the benefits he enjoys in
Eswatini.
It has since emerged the citizens of
Eswatini are footing the bill for MisuZulu’s security detail.
The People’s United Democratic Movement
(Pudemo) – a key political grouping advocating for the fall of king Mswati’s
monarchy – accuse the king of plundering the country’s coffers and resources,
while 60% of the population is living in abject poverty.
“Our problems have been compounded by the
coronation of the Zulu King MisuZulu as the rightful heir to the throne.
“King MisuZulu is King Mswati’s nephew and
the Eswatini king has developed a more direct interest in the affairs of the
Zulu royal family,” said Spuku Phakathi, the Pudemo chairperson in
KwaZulu-Natal.
“We are aware that some of the security
detail of the Zulu king is now sponsored by king Mswati, and this is worrisome
because we know it is done using our taxpayers’ money while our people are poor.
“The Eswatini royal family business is
used to milk and loot poor citizens of their hard-earned money through taxes
and levies to fund the opulent lifestyle of the king and the royal family.”
Phakathi said their struggle should not be
misconstrued as a war against the AmaZulu nation and their king, saying the
AmaZulu king had merely been caught up in the firing line of their struggle
against Mswati’s regime.
King Mswati III is Africa’s last absolute
monarch, having been in power since 1986.
He is the brother of King MisuZulu’s late
mother, Queen Mantfombi Dlamini-Zulu, who was the late AmaZulu king Zwelithini
kaBhekuZulu’s third wife.
The Swaziland Solidarity Network, an
organisation at the forefront of opposing the Eswatini governing system, known
as tinkhundla, based on traditional administration headed by Mswati, also
questioned the granting of state security to MisuZulu’s estranged wife, Queen
Nozizwe Molela, in Eswatini.
“The people of Eswatini are concerned that
even king MisuZulu’s second wife is being granted state security. This is at
the expense of the people of Eswatini,” said organisation’s spokesperson Lucky
Lukhele.
The issue of King MisuZulu’s security
while seeking refuge in Eswatini broke last year when he was named heir to the
throne, succeeding his father, the late King Zwelithini.
This led to other factions of the AmaZulu
royal house challenging his legitimacy with the KwaZulu-Natal provincial
government deciding not to release benefits to him until the kingship question
was resolved.
Mswati subsequently came on board to
supply his nephew with security amid safety concerns, but the KwaZulu-Natal
government then made a U-turn and footed the bill for the king’ and his
consorts’ upkeep.
For the 2022/23 financial year, the
AmaZulu royal household has been allocated a budget of R67-million by the
provincial KZN government.
Prince Thulani Zulu, King MisuZulu’s
spokesperson, said when the king was in Eswatini as a dignitary, he was
afforded state security. “Like anyone who falls in the category of the king,
state security is granted to them when visiting foreign countries.
“But as far as I know the king’s security
is taken care of by the South African state. It would be against normal
protocol if security forces from another country were assigned to the king in a
foreign land,” he said.
This week, pro-democracy forces in
Eswatini embarked on rolling mass action calling for regime change and the
release of all political prisoners.
In response to a wave of sporadic protests
and to clamp down on political activism, King Mswati introduced a 60-day
detention without trial proclamation.
The protests have left scores of people
dead while other political activists have fled the country to seek refuge in
neighbouring countries.
Hailstorms
shatter homesteads
By
Relief Web, 22 November 2022
Eswatini Meteorology department's weather
forecast for the 5th November was isolated thundershowers and rain showers
being warm to hot in the Lowveld. A hailstorm with strong winds and hail stones
as big as a child's fist was experienced on Saturday 5 November 2022 night,
affecting mostly Nsingizini and Nsubane communities under Hosea and Somntongo
in the Shiselweni region. The affected communities are in the Lowveld of the
country.
An estimated 1,058 people (213 households)
were affected by the storm with some families losing their roofs which were blown
away or roofing sheets riddled by the hailstones. Window glasses were also
shattered and household furniture, food, and other documents soaked in water.
School uniforms and books for school pupils were not spared. The affected
people were exposed to more danger as they had to sleep in that day in the
yet-to-be-fixed structures as no support had been rendered yet.
Baphalali Eswatini Red Cross Society
(BERCS) mobilized and deployed four volunteers and two officers who conducted
the rapid household assessment through interpersonal interviews with the
household heads on the 6th November 2022. The standard rapid assessment tool
was used. The National Society also provided psychological support to the
distraught communities. On 7th November, a joint assessment was further done
with National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), where available response
material was 16 tarpaulins and 30 food parcels were disbursed on the subsequent
days.
Scope
and Scale
From the joint assessment conducted with
NDMA, the community reiterated the need for support on shelter, food, and
school materials destroyed. The communities are subsistent farmers who thrive
on agricultural activities such as crops and poultry. Their economic status
categorizes them as the most vulnerable, which means they may struggle to
recover from the impact of the storm.
Assessments further revealed that food
items were destroyed by the water as roofs have now become porous following
impact of the hailstones. According to the IPC Eswatini Acute Food Insecurity analysis,
populations in Shiselweni are in IPC 3 (crisis). Households which already food
insecure would have their situation exacerbated thus a need to support them to
meet food needs. Moreover, other household items such as furniture, school
books, and uniforms were not spared. High vulnerability entails that the
household's important documents were also not spared.
The affected communities have some
vulnerabilities including child-headed households, the elderly, children under
five years and people suffering from chronic diseases that pull the limited
resources. Communities affected by hailstorms in the past received support on
shelter but not all the losses are compensated. Some who lost their livelihoods
could not be assisted due to limited available resources. For example,
commercial vegetable farmers need more investment to support them and also
field crop support has been less supported in the past.
eSwatini
records E55m loss to fraud
By
Slindzelwe Nxumalo, eSwatini Observer, 23 November 2022
National Commissioner of Police William
Dlamini has disclosed that Eswatini has lost E55 million through fraud.
Dlamini, who was represented by Deputy National
Commissioner Mumcy Dlamini said available statistics showed that over E55
million was lost through fraud in the period spanning from October, 2021 to
September which indicated a 0.5 per cent increase when compared to the previous
year.
Dlamini said this during the launch of the
International Fraud Awareness Week Launch themed ‘Think before you Click’, held
at the Eswatini Bank head offices in Mbabane yesterday. He said without doubt,
fraud was a scourge that was constantly affecting the financial stability of
individuals and businesses in the country.
‘The rerun theme "Think Before You
Click" encourages thoughtfulness, soberness and consciousness, and when
transacting online,” he said.
The national commissioner stated that the
belief was that as more people moved to digital platforms for day-to-day
transactions such as the payment of utility bills, chances of users lowering
their guard and clicking right away increases, opening a doorway for cyber
fraudsters to their cash and savings.
“Therefore, people should always be
mindful and alert that one click can result in serious money losses and because
of the strong existing link between fraud and cybercrime nowadays, a huge chunk
of fraud crimes committed locally have evolved to cyber frauds which can be tracked
regionally,” he said.
He added that the Eswatini Bankers
Association (EBA) and all stakeholders should be lauded for their resolve and
commitment in conducting anti-fraud awareness and education to help reduce the
impact of the phenomenon in the country.
“Practical strategies and interventions
that have been employed through co-operation and collaboration are evidence
that you have consistently championed this campaign,’ he said.
He further added that cyber related fraud
scams that were most predominant in the country included ATM Fraud where the
victims PIN and debit or credit card numbers were stolen and used to withdraw
money from ATMs without authorisation.
“More than E400 000 was lost from 45 cases
reported under this scam and over 141 cases of this scam have reported between
the period of October, 2021 and September, 2022 on internet fraud,” she said.
King
Mswati’s forces in Swaziland attack public transport workers during strike
action
by Pavan
Kulkarni, Peoples Dispatch, 21 November 2022
Several public transport workers were
shot, abducted, and tortured by the army and the police during a strike action
on November 15 and 16 in the Kingdom of Swaziland. The strike followed another
two-day strike on November 10 and 11.
Condemning “the brutal attacks by the
armed forces opening fire on bus drivers,” International Transport Workers’
Federation (ITF) general secretary Stephen Cotton said on November 17, “Murders
of transport workers have increased over the past year.”
He said that the ITF will hold the
authorities of this southern African country, which is the continent’s last
absolute monarchy, “accountable to its actions at all international levels
including the International Labour Organization (ILO).”
Despite the police violence, ITF’s
national affiliate, the Swaziland Transport Communication and Allied Workers
Union (SWATCAWU), successfully brought most cities and towns in the kingdom to
halt with their strike action. The union represents over 3,000 of the
around 5,000 public transport workers in the small land-locked country, with a
little over a million people.
“Even the sugar-mills owned by the King,
which is the largest employer in Swaziland after the government, had to be shut
down because of our strike. The mills are a key source of the monarch’s income.
We know we have delivered a blow to the regime when we shut these mills,”
Sticks Nkambule, general secretary of SWATCAWU, told Peoples
Dispatch.
Times of Swaziland reported
that buses remained parked and most businesses remained shuttered due to the
strike on November 15 and 16.
The usually busy streets of capital Mbabane, commercial hub Manzini, and other
cities and towns wore a deserted look – except for instances where security
forces attacked the striking workers.
Many of the larger businesses that were
brought to a halt by the strike are owned by King Mswati III and his cronies,
who control most of Swaziland’s economy and run it for the benefit of the royal
family, Sticks points out.
The monarch’s indulgences, including
palaces, private jets, a fleet of Rolls Royce cars and extravagant celebrations
and parties, have become an eye-sore in the country where up to 70% of the
population survives on less than two dollars a day. Wages of public transport
workers, who are government employees, start at R2,400, which barely adds up to
USD 4.5 per day.
Along with demanding an increase in wages
and better regulation of the sector, the public transport workers are also
insisting on the release of incarcerated pro-democracy members of parliament
(MPs) Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube.
The MPs were arrested last year after they
came out in support of the demand for a multi-party democracy as put forth in
the mass-demonstrations and rallies that for the first time spread across rural
areas, largely thought to be loyal to the King.
When these peaceful rallies that had
unprecedentedly spread across Swaziland faced a violent crackdown by the army
and police, an insurrection erupted in the industrial areas around the cities,
which have long been a hotbed of anti-monarchist sentiment.
Mass attacks on properties and businesses
owned by the King and his cronies began by the end of June last year, whereupon
the king briefly fled the country, returning only in mid-July when the
insurrection had been put down by the army which killed over 70 and injured
hundreds.
In the several protests and strikes
witnessed since – be it by students demanding scholarships to access education
or public workers and civil servants demanding living wages and decent working
conditions – “Mswati must fall!” became a common slogan across Swaziland.
King Mswati III appoints the prime
minister and other ministers of the cabinet, as well as the top jurists, 2/3rds
of the upper house of the parliament, and 12% of the lower house. No political
parties, all of which are banned, are allowed to participate in the “elections”
for the remaining seats in the lower house. Only individuals approved by the King’s
local chiefs can contest these seats.
Mabuza and Dube were two MPs within this
undemocratic setup who however rose to popularity after taking the side of the
masses against the monarch by calling for democratization of Swaziland.
The demand for multi-party democracy and
the release of political prisoners including the incarcerated MPs has
consistently been raised alongside the different economic demands put forward
in the demonstrations and industrial actions by different
groups.
These political demands are not incidental
but central, Sticks reiterates. “If the MPs are not released during their next
hearing in court in December, we will paralyze the state with another strike,”
he said.
The first day of the transport workers’
latest strike was intentionally scheduled to coincide with the court hearing of
the MPs on November 15. Deputy chairperson of SWATACAWU in Manzini, Mbhekeni
Dlamini, along with other union members, were headed to the court in Mbabane to
express solidarity with the MPs on trial.
Just before reaching Mbabane, they were
confronted by a group of armed security personnel who threatened to shoot if
they did not return home. “We were not even marching or shouting slogans. We
were only walking in our union T-shirts. The government had said only a day ago
confidently that November 15 will be a normal day. And yet, the security forces
were behaving as if there was a curfew,” Mbhekeni told Peoples Dispatch.
“When we were walking back home, we were suddenly attacked by heavily armed policemen.”
The policemen allegedly fired shots and
chased those who fled, while Mbhekeni, who was held at gunpoint, was forced
down into the leg-space of the backseat of a private SUV with a South African
number plate. Held under boots with his face covered, he was kicked all the way
as the vehicle was driven to a jungle on the outskirts of Manzini, where he was
lashed repeatedly with a leather whip.
“They were seven. They took turns one
after another. One kept beating and lashing me till he got tired and handed
over to another. It lasted for two hours. Then they dumped me in the bush and
drove away,” Mbhekeni recalled.
“I was dizzy, in too much pain – did not
know where I was. A passerby found me and asked what happened. I told I was
kidnapped and tortured by the police. He helped me out. We made a phone call to
my comrades who came to pick me up in a car.”
At the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital in
Manzini, where he was admitted for treatment, he found that his comrades who
had tried to flee the abduction attempt by the policemen were also later
admitted in a wounded state.
“There are policemen in civil clothes
roaming the corridors outside. They are keeping a constant eye on who comes to
visit us,” he said on November 16, speaking on phone from the hospital ward
where he was admitted. Nevertheless, he added, “I have been receiving many
visits from my comrades,” reiterating that the transport workers are not
intimidated.
But the regime imposes a high cost on
those who dare. “I am a bus driver. They have dislocated my elbow. I cannot
drive for at least one month now,” Mbhekeni said, adding that he doesn’t know
how he will make ends meet. “I only know that I will keep on fighting until all
my comrades are freed from prison, until all Swazi people are freed from the
monarchy.”
The workers calling for the overthrow of
the monarchy are not necessarily motivated by a political ideology, explains
Sticks. “It is because they understand that the monarchy is an economic
liability to them. They understand that so long as the monarchy exists, they
will never secure decent wages and labor rights. That is why they are willing
to fight for democracy and make all sacrifices necessary.”
At least two protesters were reportedly shot
that day. The Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku, however, said on November
15, “We note that today was generally peaceful, despite a few skirmishes as a
result of provocation from those few individuals who decided not to heed the
Government’s pronouncement about the illegal protest march and that no one
should engage in it.”
“His Majesty’s Government would
particularly like to acknowledge the role played by State security officers in
maintaining peace, the rule of law and order across the country, despite
several attempts by small groups of people to disrupt operations,” he added.
Many more transport workers had been shot
during the earlier strike on November 10. Sticks explained that while the
November 15 strike had been planned in advance, the strike action on November
10 was not.
After “nothing substantial came out of the
commissions set up in October by the government,” which was forced to the
negotiating table when the strike by public transport workers had gone on for
two weeks last month, the union had decided to strike again on November 15.
“To disrupt our planned strike on the
15th, the police arrested five of our key activists on November 9,” he said.
These activists had earlier complained to the police that registered transport
workers were being undercut by private vehicles illegally ferrying customers.
“But the police did not act. So the union had intervened to stop this
practice,” he added.
The police painted this intervention as an
offense, and the five activists were in and out of court for some time when
suddenly, “less than a week before the planned strike, the court handed them
into police custody. We knew the purpose was to disrupt the oncoming strike. So
we struck the very next day on November 10, demanding their release. And we
succeeded in securing their release on November 11.”
This success came at a cost. Several
workers were shot and injured by the army and the police during the agitation
on November 10, which continued into the next day.
The Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO)
said in a statement on November 11, “We celebrate the bravery of this important
sector of society, who despite being the most downtrodden and marginalized, are
always able to defend their own.”
“[W]hen one of their own is unjustly
incarcerated, SWATCAWU is their first and last line of defense. This is
something we must aspire to make a culture in the Mass Democratic Movement,” it
added. “SWATCAWU membership braved and held fort even when the military was
deployed into the streets. They stood firm on their demands even when the
state’s security forces used live ammunition.”
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