Swazi Media Commentary: Magagula Isaac

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Thursday, 1 November 2018

Four in ten sex workers in Swaziland ‘raped by uniformed police officers’

Four in ten sex workers in Swaziland / Eswatini say they have been raped by uniformed police officers.

They were also raped by soldiers and security officers, the Sex Workers National Indaba was told on Tuesday (30 October 2018).

National Key Populations and Vulnerable Groups Officer Khanyisile Lukhele from the Swaziland National AIDS Programme (SNAP) revealed the statistics. Lukhele also said 44 per cent of those who were raped were afraid to report the attack for fear of being stigmatised.

The Swazi Observer reported she said half the sex workers who took part in a survey said they were refused police protection and some had been blackmailed and physically harassed.

Sex workers from across Swaziland gave testimony at the workshop. The Observer reported, ‘The sex workers said they do not get any police protection and every time they are attacked and call the police they are simply told to go to sleep.

‘They said the sad part was that some of the attacks are done by the same police officers who should be protecting them.’

Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Phindile Vilakati disputed the sex workers’ accounts. The Observer reported, ‘She said [police] view such accusations as a way to tarnish their name.’

This was not the first time police in Swaziland had been said to rape sex workers. In August 2017 Swaziland’s police chief Isaac Magagula denied his officers used sex workers without paying. His comment came when he said prostitutes were an ‘infestation of our cities’.

Police had been clamping down against female sex workers across the kingdom. In a statement published in Swazi media National Commissioner of Police Magagula said it was wrong to say that sex workers, ‘are targeted because of sour grapes that police officers are failing to pay for services rendered’.

He did not state that police officers did not use the services of prostitutes. Prostitution is illegal in Swaziland.

There is a lot of evidence that policeman in Swaziland use prostitutes. A survey published by the Swaziland Government in 2007 on female sex workers listed police officers among their ‘commonest clients.’

Separately, in 2010, Alec Lushaba, then editor of the Weekend Observer newspaper in Swaziland, wrote, ‘In a country known for its skyrocketing HIV and AIDS rates, conservatism, Christianity and traditional mores, it may come as a surprise that the abuse and rape of sex workers in Swaziland at the hands of police is a growing and widespread problem.

‘Sex work, known as one of the oldest trades, is still illegal in the country, yet sex workers have reported targeted campaigns of rape and violence at the hands of Swazi police.’

In an article published by Gender Links, Lushaba wrote, ‘A recent report by Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAAGA), in partnership with other local organisations, noted: “It is not just that they are arrested, to a greater or lesser degree they are forced by police to comply with demands for free sex or sex in exchange for not being arrested.”’

Friday, 1 June 2018

MURDER ON THE RISE, SAYS POLICE CHIEF

Murders in Swaziland are on the rise and cases of armed robberies and sexual violence are being reported ‘with a disturbing level of frequency and regularity’, the kingdom’s police commissioner said on Wednesday (30 May 2018).

On average 61 women were reported raped each month and there were 180 aggravated murders since January 2017 (an average of 10 per month), Isaac Magagula told a crime prevention awareness campaign at Nkhaba.

Magagula also said 227 armed robberies were reported in the same period.

His comments came on the same day that separately the United States in its annual report on crime and safety in Swaziland labelled Mbabane, the capital city, a ‘critical-threat location’.

Magagula said, ‘At this Campaign, we must state that murder cases are on the rise with cases of aggravated murders, armed robberies and sexual violence being reported with a disturbing level of frequency and regularity.’

He added that the majority of murders occurred in drinking spots and bars.

The Swazi Observer reported (31 May 2018), ‘He said the police service will be robust in conducting raids and ensuring that illegal drinking spots are closed and that bars operate within the parameters of their licenses.’

The Police Commissioner spoke about the number of ritual killings that had taken place in Swaziland in the run-up to this year’s national election. People reportedly have been killed so their body parts can be used in ‘muti’ to bring good luck.

The Observer reported, ‘He said since 2017 to-date five cases that can be associated with this belief have been recorded with the most shocking incident being the one that unravelled at Mafutseni over the weekend, where a 16-year-old boy had his throat slit in a suspected ritual murder attempt.’

The Times of Swaziland reported on Thursday (31 May 2018) Magagula stated that there were 1,046 rape cases reported in the past 17 months.

It added, ‘The national commissioner stated that the most harrowing, are the cases where young children and elderly women are subjected to the horror of rape. “Also mindboggling are cases where biological fathers rape their own daughters, which is incomprehensible to say the least,” Magagula said.’

The crime prevention campaign took place on the same day the United States released its annual report on crime and safety in Swaziland. As in past years it labelled Mbabane as a ‘critical-threat location’. The report is aimed at US diplomats visiting the kingdom.

The Bureau of Diplomatic Security reported, ‘The general crime rate [in Swaziland] is above the U.S. national average. Although criminals consider Mbabane and Manzini prime grounds for operation due to the number of people, businesses, and affluent areas, the rate of crime reported in small towns and rural areas continues to increase. Urban areas are particularly dangerous at night, and the presence of pedestrians should not be interpreted as an indication of a secure/safe environment.

‘Residential burglary and petty theft are the most commonly reported crimes. They occur at all locations regardless of time. Criminals are generally interested in cell phones and cash. Most break-ins occur at homes without security guards and/or centrally monitored home alarm systems.’

It added, ‘Criminals usually brandish edged weapons (knives or machetes), but the use of firearms has steadily increased in the past few years. While criminals generally rely on the threat of force to commit crimes, they will resort to physical, to include deadly, force if victims resist.’

The report added, ‘Police response time to incidents is slow when compared to the U.S., unless the police are in the general area where the incident occurred. Police consider a 30-minute response time adequate, even in urban areas. Police are generally willing to assist but often lack transportation and resources to properly respond to, or investigate, crimes.’

Tuesday, 4 July 2017

SWAZI POLICE PRAISE AFRICAN DESPOT

Swaziland Police have applauded King Mswati III, the kingdom’s absolute monarch, for a deal he has done with Equatorial Guinea, a country with one of the worst human rights and corruption records in the world.

The Police also praised the Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo for a joint training arrangement of police recruits between the two countries.

Royal Swaziland Police, which has its own poor human rights record will train 30 cadets from the country. This is the renewal of a deal that dates back to 2012.

This is even though police in Equatorial Guinea use ‘excessive force and torture’, according to a United States report on human rights in the country.

The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, reported (23 June 2017) Swaziland National Commissioner of Police Isaac Magagula saying, ‘We thank His Majesty King Mswati III and His Excellency President Nguema Mbasogo for their wisdom in facilitating the sharing of centres and best practice in police for the global growth and development, as no country can possibly be self-sufficient.’

The newspaper added, ‘He said the arrangement is characteristic of the wisdom and foresight of the two heads of state.’

Equatorial Guinea is nominally a multiparty constitutional republic but since a military coup in 1979, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has dominated all branches of government in collaboration with his clan and political party, the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE), which he founded in 1991, according to a human rights report for 2016 published by the US State Department.

He received a claimed 93.7 percent of the vote in an election in 2016 that was considered neither free nor fair, the report stated.

It added, ‘The most significant human rights problems in the country were disregard for rule of law, including police use of excessive force and torture, denial of freedom of speech, and widespread official corruption.’

Reviewing security force activities in 2016, the report said, ‘Police, gendarmes, and military personnel were ineffective and corrupt, and impunity was a problem. Security force members, who often were inebriated on the job, extorted money from citizens and foreigners at police checkpoints and during routine traffic stops. The government did not maintain effective internal or external mechanisms to investigate security force abuses.’

It added, ‘Police raids continued on immigrant communities, who make up 15 percent of the population. Reliable sources reported that police abused, extorted, or detained many legal as well as irregular immigrants during such raids. Police occasionally used excessive force to detain and deport immigrants.’

King Mswati has a long-standing relationship with Equatorial Guinea. In 2012 it was announced he had done a deal with the President of Equatorial Guinea to import crude oil into his kingdom. The oil would be refined into consumer products such as petrol, kerosene, asphalt and chemical reagents.

However, Swaziland had no oil refineries, and still does not.

The Times of Swaziland reported at the time Thembinkosi Mamba, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy, saying the Swazi Government had plans to build its own refinery so that, in future, the crude oil would be brought directly to Swaziland for refinement and separation, thereby, cutting down on costs.

The King entertained the President of Equatorial Guinea to try to impress upon him that his kingdom was a place worth investing in.

In September 2011 the president’s son Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue visited Swaziland. While he stayed at five-star Royal Villas Resort he had his bag stolen – containing US$2.5 million in bank notes.

Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue is now (June 2017) on trial in Paris, France, on charges of embezzlement of public funds and money laundering. CNN reported, (23 June 2017) ‘Prosecutors say he’s amassed a fortune, including an opulent mansion near the Champs-Elysees, along with Bugattis, Ferraris and an Aston Martin. He also allegedly spent millions of dollars on pricey European art and jewelry.

‘He also owns a yacht named Ice, which reportedly costs about US$800,000 a month to maintain, according to an article in the French newspaper Le Monde.

‘Obiang, 47, serves as his father’s vice president and earns about US$100,000 a year in that role, according to his lawyer, Emmanuel Marsigny.’

His lawyer told CNN, ‘He is accused of money laundering for investing or spending funds in France that would come from offenses committed in Equatorial Guinea.’

CNN also reported ‘In 2014, the United States agreed to a settlement following allegations that Obiang used money plundered from his country to amass assets such as a Malibu mansion, a private jet and Michael Jackson memorabilia.

‘Under the settlement, the Justice Department allowed Obiang to keep a Gulfstream jet and most of his Michael Jackson collection, including the white glove from Jackson’s “Bad” world tour. Those assets were not in the United States, the Justice Department said, but they could be subject to seizure if they ever come to the country.

‘At the time, Obiang disputed the US allegations and said the assets, including a US$30 million Malibu mansion, were purchased with proceeds from his businesses. He admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement.

‘As part of the settlement, Obiang had to sell the Malibu mansion, a Ferrari and pay US$20 million to a charity that benefits the people of Equatorial Guinea. Under the settlement, the US government kept about US$10 million.’

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