Swaziland Newsletter No. 790 – 18
August 2023
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.
Corruption within the judiciary escalating at a very
alarming rate, Judges taking bribes
Opinion by Zweli
Martin Dlamini, Swaziland News, 12 August 2023
This week I was chatting to a very senior court official and by
co-incidence, he/she(to protect identity) spoke about a Judge who received four
hundred thousand Rands(R400,000.00) as a bribe, the intention was to influence
a judgement.
The court official said she/he won’t give me the name for now but
confirmed that some Judges are taking bribes these days due to financial
challenges.
But with this information, I will conduct my own investigations and will
definitely uncover the identity of the alleged corrupt Judge.
It is becoming extremely difficult to access justice in eSwatini, the
corruption starts from the office of the Attorney General (AG) Sifiso Khumalo
and networked to the Judges.
I asked the court official what happened if the aggrieved party in the
matter appeals to the Supreme Court against the bias judgement and the court
official said;
“The person who bribed the Judge of the High Court will also bribe the
Supreme Court Judges to confirm the judgement otherwise, the judgement will be
overturned. Some cases involve millions so it’s not difficult for those who
want judgements to be delivered in their favour to bribe Judges”.
Worth-noting, lawyers spend time researching and preparing for cases
only for justice to be sold.
The late lawyer Mandla Mkhwanazi who assisted me to win an unfair
dismissal case at the Industrial Court, once highlighted that justice was for
sale within the judiciary, Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala challenged him to
provide evidence.
Well, as the head of judiciary, the Chief Justice was supposed to
establish a Commission to investigate the allegations, these allegations came
from Mkhwanazi, the then Secretary General (SG) from the Law Society of
Swaziland(LSS) and therefore, it was a concern from the organization and/or the
entire legal fraternity.
One of the reasons why the Chief Justice demonstrated reluctance to
investigate the allegations was the fact that, he is corrupt to the core.
The concerns with regards to the ongoing corruption within the judiciary
must addressed as a matter of urgency and the removal of the Chief Justice
should be taken into consideration.
Even the calls for democracy are meaningless if we disregard what is
happening within the courts, the judiciary is the cornerstone of democracy, it
administers the rule of law.
Indeed, in a democratic dispensation, the law rules and this means, we
have an obligation to work collectively to restore the rule of law and/or
mitigate corruption within the justice system.
It should be noted that if we continue to disregard, ignore and/or allow
such critical arm of the State to be paralyzed by corruption, disorder will
erupt and subsequently manifest into anarchy.
The judiciary is a very important and critical arm of the State, any
breakdown in the administration of justice does not only undermine public order
but, threatens social and economic development including investor confidence.
Even the highly anticipated political dialogue must be conducted within
the confines of the law and in this regard, the independence of the judiciary is
of paramount importance.
We are being
bullied into sex work
By Thokozani Mazibuko, eSwatini News, 12 August
2023
MATSAPHA: Some
women working in Matsapha and surrounding areas, have alleged that they are
being forced into sex work.
Matsapha is
the hub of activity in Eswatini, where most textile firms and industries are
geographically located. With the demand of cheaper and affordable
accommodation, some people have invested in property business to meet that
demand; however, some women have alleged that it was no longer safe for them to
rent the so called cheaper accommodation in some locations around
Matsapa. Eswatini News spoke to some textile workers, who preferred
to remain anonymous. They disclosed that they were no longer staying in
Matsapha after they were allegedly threatened with assault by a group of women.
“I was on my
way back from work one evening when I was approached by a group of women who told
me to join them when they go out at night for sex work. I told them that I was
not interested but one of them threatened to deal with me because I thought I
was better than them. I immediately looked for alternative accommodation at
Ngwane Park just to escape from them as I realised that they meant what they
said,” narrated one of the textile workers.
Meanwhile,
another textile worker revealed that many girls and women had been
involuntarily forced to join the group of sex workers in Matsapha.
“Many of my
colleagues are already sex workers as they have been bullied by these women
into joining them. If they refused to join them, some of them had their houses
mysteriously broken into,” she further alleged. Another sex worker, who agreed
to speak to Eswatini News on condition of anonymity, said that it was true that
some of them were bullied into joining the team of sex workers.
“I was new in
Matsapha and fresh from school when I arrived to seek employment at one of the
textile companies. Immediately when I found a job, I was approached by a group
of women who issued a lot of threats in the event I refused to join them after
hours. Today I am a sex worker by night and a textile worker by day,”
revealed the woman. It has been reliably gathered that some alleged sex
workers are already advertising their services in other locations in
Matsapha. Eswatini News happened to come across some papers with contacts
and the list of service which, however, cannot be repeated, along the streets
of Matsapha.
Accepting imali
yekuta, disappearing is criminal - police
By Mbono Mdluli, eSwatini Observer, 15 August
2023
Police have warned women that
it is a criminal offence to accept transport money from a man and end up not
seeing him.
According to the police, the
woman’s freedom may as a result of this be at the mercy of that man.
This was shared by Sindi
Ndlovu, a Crime Prevention Officer within the Royal Eswatini Police Service
(REPS) on Saturday during a crime prevention event organised by the Big-Bend
police, in conjunction with Stefanutti Stocks.
Ndlovu said such culprits needed
to be brought to book.
“There are these ladies who
convince men to provide them with money for transport so that they can be able
to see them and end up not honouring that promise.
That is a criminal offence and
I encourage men to approach the nearest police station so that these women can
be brought to book,” she said.
Her message was met with amusement from the over 200 men and women who had
attended the event.
The subject generated
interest, especially from the men. Some were heard saying they had many women
to report to the police station for such an offence.
Some admitted that they did not know that such an act was criminal.
They were further educated by
the police that such an act was theft by false pretences.
Ndlovu further encouraged men who were victims of abuse from their wives to
report them to the nearest police stations.
She said she was aware that
some wives had a tendency of beating their husbands because they knew that men
would feel embarrassed to report such matters to the police.
The crime prevention officer
also stated that many women were abused by their husbands and such incidents
had to be reported to alleviate crime in the country.
Ndlovu pleaded with men to
know that a rod was not supposed to be used on their wives because that would
not ensure the welfare of the residents of their homesteads.
She spoke of a special rod that was supposed to be used to beat women.
To read more of
this report, click here
http://new.observer.org.sz/details.php?id=20958
No leave of
absence for elections for civil servants
By Joseph Zulu, Times of eSwatini, 12 August
2023
MBABANE: Caught between a rock
and a hard place.
Civil servants have to decide
between completely resigning from employment or continue working while pursuing
their political dreams. In the past, as soon as nominees were chosen,
civil servants would be allowed to take leave of absence after being
nominated. This allowed them to have time to campaign for their political
positions such as bucopho, indvuna yenkhundla or even Member of Parliament
(MP).
This was the case in the
previous general elections, including in 2018. This year, the country is
to hold the much-anticipated national exercise again and in about two weeks,
nominees will take part in the first phase of elections, known as primary
elections. This will then be followed by secondary elections. Eswatini’s
elections are different from how those of many countries, where individual
candidates are selected based on parties they represent. However,
constitutionally, Eswatini does not allow political parties during elections
and candidates are elected based on individual merit, first at their chiefdom
level. Unlike in the past, this time around, all civil servants have been
ordered to be at work and are not allowed to take leave of absence. Under leave
of absence, civil servants are not paid salaries but this time, the government
has not stopped the salaries and instead ordered the civil servants to continue
working.
This is contained in a memo
dated July 28, 2023, issued by the Ministry of Public Service. Some civil
servants have been left furious with these developments, while others are said
not to be aware that they are not suppose to be away from work while
campaigning for the political positions.
The Principal Secretary (PS)
in the ministry, Sipho Tsabedze, confirmed the memo, pointing out that it
applied to all civil servants. This was after he was contacted following
concerns from civil servants, who expressed displeasure that they were not
allowed to take leave of absence by the relevant authorities in the various
work stations. Tsabedze said all the civil servants who had been nominated
were affected by this memo. He said this was because they were still getting
paid and for that reason needed to be at work.
The PS stated that civil
servants who were nominated to stand in the 2023 General Elections were
expected to be at work until they won the elections.
He said constitutionally, only
politicians who were civil servants were allowed to take absence of leave.
Tsabedze said for now, the nominees were not politicians and that if they were
civil servants, they did not qualify for leave of absence until the time they
won the elections and also made their oaths to serve. He said winning the
elections was not just enough but that they should also make the required oath
to serve.
“For now, they are like a
woman who has not been smeared with red okra. Even if lobola is paid for one,
she is not a wife until the red okra is smeared,” said Tsabedze. He also added
that for now, the nominees were still ‘gambling’ as they could win, or may not
do so. Tsabedze also revealed that even the outgoing politicians such as
MPs, tindvuna tetinkhundla and bucopho were still getting paid. He said it
would be unfair to say that civil servants, who wanted to stand for elections,
should go on leave of absence and not get paid when the other outgoing
politicians were still getting paid.
He revealed that the only time
their salaries would be stopped was if they had won the elections and reached
the stages where they made oath to serve the country. “For now, they are not
politicians,” said Tsabedze adding that they were still ordinary civil
servants. Some civil servants are of the view that this would work to
their advantage. They said this was because some of them were able to apply for
leave and still be able to earn their salaries.
“In the past, it meant that
you had to lose your salary while campaigning,” one said. He also said it
would give an equal advantage for others who did not have enough money for
campaigning and relied purely on their salaries. Also, some of the police
officers said they did not mind being at work because they knew that their duty
called for them to work 24 hours a day. “We can be called at any time just
like it was during the unrest,” said a police officer. It was also
gathered that even the warders were called yesterday to be informed of the
situation. This is according to some warders who were nominated for elections.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) for His Majesty’s Correctional Services
(HMCS) could not be reached for comment.
See also
It’s now up to the
voter (new polling laws passed)
http://www.times.co.sz/feature/141440-it%E2%80%99s-now-up-to-the-voter.html
Elections: some chiefs want
self-exiled emaswati barred
http://www.times.co.sz/news/141477-elections-some-chiefs-want-self-exiled-emaswati-barred.html
Times journalists must guard against
‘insulting’ emaSwati who are experiencing pain in exile, Alec Lushaba landed in
trouble
http://swazilandnews.co.za/fundza.php?nguyiphi=4960
LUCT lecturers challenge
Christian faith, prayers
Kwanele
Dlamini, Times of eSwatini, 14 August 2023
MBABANE: Unionised lecturers and support staff of Limkokwing
University of Creative Technology (LUCT) have run to court to stop Christian
prayers during their meetings.
They want the management of
the institution not to impose the Christian faith on them. Through their
union, the National Workers Union of Swaziland Higher Institutions (NAWUSHI),
the unionised lecturers want the High Court to interdict the management of
LUCT, or anyone acting on its behest, from directing them to pray during their
weekly stand-up meetings. It was further their plea to the court that it
should declare the conduct of the respondent (LUCT) of imposing the Christian
religion and practices on them to be unlawful. In motivating their
application, the applicants (union) argued that such practice was in violation
of their constitutional right to freedom of religion.
They wondered why the management
of the university allegedly imposed its prayers on people who were
unequivocally opposed to it. They argued further that they made it clear
that the prayers were unsolicited and unappreciated due to differences in
religion. “One finds no other conclusion than to conclude that this is a
blatant abuse of power and sheer disrespect to the workers’ constitutional
right to freedom of religion and conscience,” submitted the union on behalf of
the support staff and lecturers. Section 23 of the Constitution of the
Kingdom of Swaziland (Eswatini), under the protection of freedom of conscience
or religion, provides that: ‘‘Except with the free consent of that person, a
person shall not be hindered in the enjoyment of the freedom of conscience, and
for the purposes of this section freedom of conscience includes freedom of
thought and of religion, freedom to change religion or belief, and freedom of
worship either alone or in community with others’’. Respondents in the
matter are LUCT and its Head of Academics, Stella Hlezephi.
To read more of this
report, click here.
http://www.times.co.sz/news/141458-luct-lecturers-challenge-christian-faith-prayers.html
Life in
exile drains you in subtle, terrible ways not properly understood, even by
its victims
By Pius Vilakati, Daily Maverick (South
Africa). 14 August 2023
Pius
Vilakati is a Central Committee Member of the Communist Party of Swaziland and
is its Head of Research and Policy Development. He has been exiled in South
Africa since 2010. He writes in his personal capacity.
One evening
last July, I returned from the annual winter school of the Communist Party of
Swaziland (CPS), sneaked into my room, dropped to the floor and, leaning
against the door, let loose a flood of tears.
This went on
for quite a while, longer than all the previous times I had broken down.
Any specific
reason for this final meltdown? I don’t even know! That’s the petrifying part.
But, having
spent 13 years exiled in South Africa, since 16 May 2010, I’ve learnt through
personal experiences that when it comes to exile life, every day something will
remind you that you’re living in a foreign country — and living horribly. Since
then, I haven’t been able to go home as Swaziland remains hell for the majority
of the people, and worse for democracy activists.
Since at least the 1980s, the
Swazi regime has intensified its attacks on pro-democracy activists, forcing
many into exile, arresting and torturing many, while killing others and
destroying lives in its wake.
Political
parties have been banned in Swaziland since 12 April 1973, when the monarch
seized all executive, legislative and judicial powers to rule by decree. The
sham 2005 constitution further entrenched the powers of the absolute monarchy,
the last such institution in Africa.
This year has
been particularly bad for the CPS, whose activists have been targeted by the
regime due to the party’s campaign for a mass boycott of Mswati’s sham
elections. In its campaign for the unbanning of all political parties and the
holding of truly free and fair elections, the CPS has become Mswati’s prime
target.
Like others
before me, my student activism was viciously attacked by the regime. In 2010 I
was president of the Student Representative Council at the University of
Swaziland and a member of the Swaziland National Union of Students when we
united all tertiary institutions in an unprecedented national march for free
education.
Mswati’s
police made their intentions clear when, in February 2010, they detained me
together with about 20 other student activists and leaders for a whole day,
tortured us and further threatened us with violence if we protested again.
But I wasn’t
going to let Mswati and his police tell me to stop fighting for justice. To
this day, it still shocks many, including me, that I had to escape the police’s
clutches by jumping into a hearse as part of my escape journey to exile. The
hearse was carrying the lifeless body of Sipho Jele, a member of the People’s United
Democratic Movement (Pudemo), who had been allegedly murdered after being
detained by the police for wearing a Pudemo T-shirt on Workers’ Day. I was one
of the speakers at his memorial service and night vigil in Manzini.
I only found
out later that the police had disrupted and stopped Sipho Jele’s funeral that
Sunday morning. By then I was “safely” in South Africa. A few weeks later, four
other activists joined me in exile.
But I clearly
wasn’t ready for the tough life in exile that I’ve lived through for the past
13 years.
Exile isn’t a
choice, it’s but one of the many heinous crimes committed by the oppressive
regime. The vicissitudes of exile life always throw everything at you, at any
time, without expectation. You might be very careful and anticipate things, but
something, I dare say anything, from an unexpected angle will remind you and
drag your soul into the darkest night.
Exile isn’t a
holiday or a mere excursion. It’s traumatic. Refugee status does not guarantee
you security.
To
read more of this article, click here.
SWAZI
MEDIA COMMENTARY
Find us:
Blog: www.swazimedia.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/142383985790674
X (formerly Twitter): @Swazimedia
