Swaziland Newsletter No. 843 – 6 September 2024
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.
Daughter of South Africa’s ex-president Zuma to be eSwatini
king’s 16th wife
By Rachel Savage and agencies, The
Guardian (UK), 3 September 2024
Engagement of Nomcebo Zuma, 21, to King Mswati, 56, confirmed at annual Umhlanga reed dance
A daughter of the former South
African president Jacob Zuma and the king of Eswatini, formerly Swaziland,
have become engaged during a traditional ceremony in which Nomcebo Zuma was
among hundreds of women and girls dancing for the monarch.
Zuma, 21, appeared on Monday
night at the annual reed dance as the liphovela – the royal
fiancee or concubine – and will become King Mswati III’s 16th wife.
The 56-year-old king has led
Africa’s last absolute monarchy since taking power in 1986, days after his 18th
birthday, and has been criticised for his lavish lifestyle while most of the
population lives in poverty.
The days-long reed dance is a
traditional rite of womanhood, with young women singing and dancing
bare-chested, wearing traditional clothing that includes anklets and thick
colourful tassles, some carrying mock swords and shields.
Also known as the Umhlanga,
it was regarded as an example of Eswatini’s “graceful” culture, said Bianca
Dlamini-Holman, a Swazi influencer, in a 2023 YouTube vlog about that year’s dance. About 5,000 people
attended this year’s celebrations at the Ludzidzini royal village in Lobamba.
It is not the first time King
Mswati, who has dozens of children, has announced a much younger bride at
the Umhlanga. In September 2005, 17-year-old Phindile Nkambule was
presented as his 13th fiancee at a reed dance, with the BBC reporting at the time that she had caught his eye at the main dance
the previous month.
Just days before, the king had
rescinded a ban on sex for and with girls under 18, which he had implemented in
an effort to fight HIV/Aids. Two months after imposing the ban in 2001, Mswati
fined himself a cow for breaking his own rule by taking a 17-year-old as his
ninth wife, according to the BBC.
The king rules the country of
1.2 million people by decree, with political parties banned and elected
officials only existing in an advisory capacity.
In 2003, Mswati’s 10th wife,
Zena Mahlangu, was abducted, aged 18, while preparing for her A-level exams,
her mother, Lindiwe Dlamini, who fought an unsuccessful legal battle to have
her daughter returned, alleged.
The king’s latest bride also
comes from a large polygamous family. Jacob Zuma, 82, has been married six times and currently has
four wives and more than 20 children.
He was South Africa’s
president from 2009-18, when he was forced to resign by his African National
Congress party after a series of corruption allegations. The shrewd political
operator upended the country’s elections
earlier this year, when his
new uMkhonto we Sizwe party came third, with 14.6% of the vote.
 |
Nomcebo Zuma (3rd L) and one of the king’s daughters, Princess Sakhizwe (2nd L), sing and dance with other young women during the Umhlanga reed dance. Photograph: Emmanuel Croset/AFP/Getty Images
See also
Eswatini-Zuma
Marriage: political, economic, and social implications for
Eswatini and South Africa
Political power
play or family ties? Views vary on Eswatini-Zuma marriage
Ex-SA president
Zuma’s daughter adorned with emagwalagwala
Inkhosikati LaGija
spends over ten years without seeing King Mswati, under punishment for
previously escaping from the Palace amid allegations of physical abuse by
husband.
https://swazilandnews.co.za/fundza.php?nguyiphi=7265
eSwatini Government foreign
registered rented cars used to hunt and kill human rights defenders
By Musa Mdluli, Swaziland News, 3 September,
2024
MBABANE: In a country where
the law including traffic laws are applied to the ordinary citizens, police
officers who are sometimes converted to be ‘hitmen’ for the King Mswati cruel
and oppressive regime, are allowed to drive around with foreign registered cars
pasted with a police number plate on top.
An alleged foreign registered
Toyota Hilux GD6 with a police number plate GSD 520 PO pasted on top, was seen
at the SwaziPlaza Mbabane Police Post on Tuesday morning, these cars are
allegedly used either to hunt human rights defenders or kidnap children or
ordinary citizens to be murdered for alleged ritual purposes.
Government would then issue a
statement blaming foreigners traveling in foreign registered cars when in fact,
these are alleged State agents on ‘State duties’.
Senior Superintendent Phindile
Vilakati,the Police Spokesperson declined to comment.
Reached for comments by this
Swaziland News on Tuesday, Sibongile Mazibuko, the President of the Ngwane
National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) first thanked this publication for exposing
the suspicious cars, she then urged the public to take pictures and sent to the
editor wherever they see these vehicles.
“These vehicles are also
allegedly used to kill citizens particularly during Incwala ritual ceremony, so
we thank the Swaziland News for monitoring this. We urge citizens to take
pictures of these vehicles including their drivers so that, when a child or a
citizen disappears, we can ask those people. You will recall that, the vehicle
that abducted a child at Nyanyali during Incwala was also foreign registered
and the police later came-in to assault and intimidate the mother for demanding
her child. There’s absolutely no reason to paste a number plate on top just to
cover the original one, it’s illegal and if I can do this, the police could
arrest me. Why cover a number plate if the vehicle is clean and used for
genuine assignments?”, said the NNLC President.
Tinyanga to
hospitals: refer some patients to us
By Thokozani Mamba, Times of eSwatini, 5
September 2024
SITEKI: Traditional healers
(tinyanga) want hospitals to be empowered to refer some patients to them for
treatment in healing huts known as tindumba.
Such referral prescriptions
have to be authorised by the Ministry of Health. Yesterday, close to 100
tinyanga from across the country converged at the Siteki Town Council Hall, to
commemorate the World Traditional Medicine Celebration Day. Chairman of
the Traditional Witchdoctors Association (TWDA), Makhanya Makhanya, thanked the
World Health Organisation (WHO), Ministry of Health and Georgetown University
(GU) for the working partnership with tinyanga.
Makhanya said as traditional
healers, they are impressed with the attention and recognition extended by the
health organisations. The chairman then requested the ministry to foster a
long-term working relationship with them, by ensuring the ministry formulates
referral prescriptions to documented tinyanga, so they can be treated at their
tindumba. He mentioned that the association will also issue referral
prescriptions to health facilities if their patients need the attention of
medical practitioners.
To read more of
this report, click here
http://www.times.co.sz/news/146937-tinyanga-to-hospitals-refer-some-patients-to-us.html
Supreme Court
decision upholding repressive security laws is a blow to human rights
International Commission of Jurists, 30 August 2024
The Supreme Court Judgment
paves the way for ongoing repression of freedom of expression in the Kingdom.
The International Commission of Jurists
(ICJ) is concerned that an ill-considered judgment issued on 13 August 2024 by Eswatini’s
Supreme Court will allow for the continued overexpansive use of national
security and counterterrorism laws to violate human rights and fundamental
freedoms.
The Court’s decision in Prime
Minister of Eswatini and Another v. Thulani Maseko and Six Others overrules
a 2016 decision of the High Court, which had declared draconian provisions
of the Sedition and Subversive
Activities Act of 1938 and
the Suppression of Terrorism Act No. 11 of 2008 to be unlawful.
The ICJ now calls on Eswatini
to repeal the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act and the Suppression of
Terrorism Act or to amend them to comply with Eswatini’s international legal
obligations and ensure full compliance with international law.
“Over a long period of time,
the Eswatini government has abused these already problematic laws to criminalize
freedom of expression, target human rights defenders, and harass, intimidate,
and ultimately silence those who exercise their right to public and
political participation, including the political opposition in the country,” said
Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, ICJ’s Africa Director.
The ICJ considers that these
laws are vague and overbroad, in contravention of the principle of legality,
and non-compliant with Eswatini’s international legal obligations to protect
freedom of expression, association, assembly, and political participation.
The overbreadth of these laws
and their abuse by the Eswatini authorities was in stark evidence by the conviction and sentencing of Members of Parliament Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza
to 85 years and Mthandeni Dube to 58 years in July 2024. The charges, which
arose in the context of widespread protest for democratic reform in Eswatini in
June 2021, have been characterized by the African Commission on Human
and People’s Rights as
“politically motivated”. The accused had neither committed nor encouraged the
commission of any acts of violence but merely had exercised their right to
freedom of expression in advocating that members of Eswatini society should
exercise human rights and advocate for democratic reform.
“The newly rendered Supreme
Court ruling, along with the prosecution and conviction of Mduduzi Bacede
Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube for the exercise of their rights, represents a
continuation of the weaponization of the law in Eswatini to suppress political opponents
and human rights defenders,” added Ramjathan-Keogh.
To read more of
this report, click here
Sex workers hold
indaba, fear monkeypox
By Sabelo Ndzinisa, eSwatini News, 31 August 2024
MBABANE: As the kingdom
prepares for what promises to be a hectic weekend of events, there are health
concerns related to sex workers and the monkeypox threat.
The country will be hosting a
triple-header of high-profile events, including the Reed Dance Ceremony,
Eswatini International Trade Fair and the bike event to be hosted at the
Rider’s Ranch at Sidvokodvo. It is anticipated that a number of visitors from
different countries will attend some of these events. There was an indaba
for sex workers in the country yesterday, at SibaneSami Hotel, in Ezulwini,
where they raised a number of concerns. They complained of being excluded from
important health discussions, alleging that they are not educated about how
they can protect themselves from diseases like HIV/AIDS and Mpox formerly known
as monkeypox. Important to note is that the Ministry of Health was
represented during this indaba, along with the Human Rights Commission and
Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
It has also been gathered that
police were invited to be part of the meeting, but allegedly did not show up,
according to Lungile Khumalo, who handles sex workers’ issues in the country.
Khumalo admitted to Eswatini
News that sex workers are vulnerable to diseases because they are not
educated or capacitated on how to protect themselves. She said due to
financial vulnerability, some sex workers are allegedly raped and abused by
clients, exposing them to infections like HIV/AIDS. “Socially, sex workers
are treated badly, which explains why they are not included in educational
health programmes. We have noted a sharp rise in HIV/AIDS infections among
them, because they are not educated on health preventative measures,” she said.
Khumalo said it was time for government to change the mindset towards sex
workers and embrace them as part of society. She stated that during
the indaba, the sex workers admitted that they feel left out, not just on
health education, but job opportunities as well.
To read more of
this report, click here
http://www.times.co.sz/news/146866-sex-workers-hold-indaba-fear-monkeypox.html
SWAZI
MEDIA COMMENTARY
Find us:
Blog: https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/142383985790674
X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com @Swazimedia
