Swazi Media Commentary: Norway

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Saturday, 20 February 2021

Swaziland King admits kingdom fails to be a First World nation

King Mswati III, the absolute monarch of Swaziland (eSwatini), has admitted his poverty-stricken kingdom will not attain ‘First World’ status by 2022. He had been claiming this was possible for many years.

The King in a speech opening the Swazi Parliament on Friday (19 February 2021) blamed the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic for the failure.

He said, ‘We are now in 2021 and there are no clear signs, as yet, that we are going to make much progress without eliminating COVID-19. There are, however, positive signs that it is being brought under control.

‘Since we earmarked the year 2022 as the year to attain first world status, it is clear that we are not going to reach this target. We hope it will not take us too long to get back on track and attain it.’

In fact, Swaziland was never “on track” to achieve First World status.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Swaziland issued a report in 2014 that received no publicity in the kingdom at the time, that said if Swaziland were to achieve First World status it would have to be ‘among high human development countries like Norway, Australia, United States, Netherlands and Germany to name a few’.

UNDP went on to give these statistics comparing Swaziland with Norway, the United States and Germany.

Life expectancy: Swaziland (48.9 years); Norway (81.3); United States (78.7); Germany (80.6).

Mean average years of schooling: Swaziland (7.1); Norway (12.6); United States (13.3); Germany (12.2).

Percentage of population with at least secondary school education: Swaziland (48); Norway (95.2); United States (94.5); Germany (96.6).

The UNDP was not alone in this. In 2012 a report published by 24/7 Wall St in the United States, and based on data from the World Bank, identified Swaziland as the fifth poorest country in the entire world.

It said 69 percent of King Mswati’s 1.3 million subjects lived in poverty.

Its report stated, ‘[T]he country’s workforce is largely concentrated in subsistence agriculture, even though the country faces serious concerns about overgrazing and soil depletion. While these factors harm the nation’s economy, health concerns are likely one of the major factors preventing Swaziland’s population from escaping poverty.’

In 2017, the global charity Oxfam named Swaziland as the most unequal country in the world in a report called Starting With People, a human economy approach to inclusive growth in Africa that detailed the differences in countries between the top most earners and those at the bottom. The Oxfam report stated the government, which is handpicked by King Mswati, ‘failed to put measures in place to tackle inequality, with poor scores for social spending and progressive taxation, and a poor record on labour rights’.

Richard Rooney

Friday, 11 October 2019

Norwegians protest against Swaziland police shooting

Kenworthy News Media

SOURCE

Protestors in Swaziland during the strike. Pictured from Facebook

Norwegian union confederation protests police brutality against striking workers in Swaziland, writes Kenworthy News Media.

In a letter sent to Swazi Prime Minister, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, on Tuesday, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions, LO Norway, protests against police firing rubber bullets and teargas at public sector workers on strike last week. Several of the strikers, who were demanding cost of living adjustments and a 7,85 per cent salary increase, were injured.

– LO Norway is shocked to learn that the General Secretary of the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) was shot with live ammunition, requiring his urgent transfer to Raleigh Fitkin Hospital. LO Norway condemns in the strongest terms this brutal attack, part of the letter reads.

– In addition, your government directed the National Industrial Relations Court to have the strike declared illegal, under reasons of being a “threat to national interest”. We recall that the use of violence, even for purported reasons of internal security, constitutes a serious violation of human and trade union rights, the letter continued.

Union condemnation

Others, including the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Public Services International (PSI) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), have also condemned the conduct of the Swazi police.

– Respect for workers’ rights, good faith dialogue and a government that responds to people’s needs and concerns – just like any other country, this is what Eswatini needs, not state violence against the people. Eswatini’s King Mswati pledged to us earlier this year to build these bridges, yet now we are seeing the government pulling all stops to undermine them, said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.

– PSI condemns in the strongest terms the barbaric behavior of the Kingdom of eSwatini police who fired rubber bullets and threw teargas into crowds of striking workers who were only demanding a Cost of Living Adjustment they have not received for 3 years now. Workers attacked included Dumisani Nkuna, Secretary General of the Manzini Branch of our affiliates the National Public Services & Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), who was shot in the back, PSI said in a statement.

Public sector workers were last awarded salary adjustments in the 2015/2016 financial year and all negotiations with employers have not yielded any positive results, PSI added.

– Employers have remained adamant on their position of a 0% salary increment. This put in the context of annual inflation rates estimated as follows: in 2017 it was 6.22%, in 2018 it was 4.83% and in 2019 it is estimated to be 5.63%., the statement concluded.

COSATU, in neighbouring South Africa, also issued a strongly worded statement.

– We strongly denounce and rebuke the manner in which Swaziland police have dealt with the strike action. The peaceful workers’ protest turned into a battlefield when King Mswati once again set his gladiatorial “trigger happy” police force on unarmed civilians in the city of Manzini. Live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas were opened on 8000 workers who were demonstrating, as part of the public servants’ strike for an increase in cost-of-living salary payments, COSATU said in a statement.

In its annual Freedom in the World-report, independent watchdog organisation Freedom House concludes that “political dissent and civic and labor activism are subject to harsh punishment under sedition and other laws. Any criticism of Swazi culture and traditions or defacement of national symbols—including the king’s image—can draw fines and up to two years in prison”.

Human Rights Watch concluded in their 2017 report that “Swaziland continued to repress political dissent and disregard human rights and rule of law in 2017”.

Monday, 9 September 2019

Swaziland democracy activist finally able to vote

Kenworthy News Media, 9 September 9 2019

SOURCE

Bheki Dlamini had to flee his native Swaziland because he fought for democracy. Monday he voted for the first time – in Norway, where he lives in exile, writes Kenworthy News Media.

– Casting my vote got me thinking. This is my first ever vote and it is happening in a foreign land. In my homeland, Swaziland, I’ve never voted – simply because we don’t have multiparty elections. The elections in Norway serve as a source of strength in pursuit of freedom and democracy at home, says Swazi political activist, Bheki Dlaimini.

Political parties have been banned in Swaziland since 1973, and Dlamini had to flee the country after having been tortured and imprisoned by the regime for his role as a leading activist in Swaziland’s democratic movement.

– I have engaged myself in the fight for a free and democratic political space in Swaziland. A struggle that has been marked by permanent scars in my body, inflicted by Swaziland’s security forces, hence my vote here in Norway, Bheki Dlamini says.

Dlamini is humbled by the opportunity to influence the politics of the municipality in Bergen, where he has spent the last four years, he adds.

The election laws of Norway allow foreigners who have lived in the country for three years to vote in local elections, even though they have not attained Norwegian citizenship.

The largest political party in the Norwegian parliament, the Norwegian Labour Party, Arbeiderpartiet, criticised the absolute monarchy of Swaziland in a resolution presented at its national congress in April.

– Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) is one of the world’s last absolute monarchies. King Mswati has almost absolute power. While the population of Eswatini suffers from partial extreme poverty, the king lives an extravagant life of luxury. Swaziland has the highest rate of HIV-Aids-infection per capita. But treating those who are infected or preventing further spread of the disease is not a priority, a statement from the congress read.

Royal selections

Swaziland held national elections in September of last year. Voters in Swaziland elected 59 of Swaziland’s 69 members of the country’s House of Assembly at national elections. Absolute monarch King Mswati III picks the remaining ten, as well as most of the Senate, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. Political parties were barred from participating in the elections.

In its annual Freedom in the World-report, independent watchdog organisation Freedom House gives Swaziland its lowest score of seven in regard to political rights. The report concludes that “Political dissent and civic and labor activism are subject to harsh punishment under sedition and other laws. any criticism of Swazi culture and traditions or defacement of national symbols—including the king’s image—can draw fines and up to two years in prison”.

In a poll conducted in 2015 by pan-African independent research institute Afrobarometer, only a third of the population saw Swaziland’s political system as democratic and only 28 percent were fairly or very satisfied with how democracy works in Swaziland (down from 36 percent in 2013).

Human Rights Watch concluded in their 2017 report that “Swaziland continued to repress political dissent and disregard human rights and rule of law in 2017”.

Bheki Dlamini has a degree in Public Administration at the University of Bergen. He is a former President of the Swaziland Youth Congress and former Vice President of the International Union of Socialist Youth. The Swazi police’s torture of him by way of “severe beatings and suffocation torture” was mentioned in Amnesty International’s 2011 Annual Report.

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