The Swaziland (eSwatini) Minister of Justice Pholile
Shakantu misled the world when she claimed that the kingdom enjoyed media
freedom, enshrined by the constitution.
She was responding to an article
by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) about newspaper
editor Zweli Martin Dlamini who
fled Swaziland after police raided his home. He said he
was being sought because of articles he had written that were considered
seditious.
The New York-based CPJ had
previously called on Swaziland to ‘stop intimidating and harassing local
journalists for reporting critically about King Mswati III’. It added they
should be allowed to write freely without the threat of treason charges.
In a statement published on the eSwatini
Government social media platforms Shakantu claimed it was
a ‘misconception’ that ‘we are a nation that persecutes journalists who
criticise the government’. She added that the 2005 Swaziland
Constitution guaranteed ‘freedom of expression
including freedom of the media’.
Shakantu is correct that journalists often criticise
government action, but the bigger point is that they are not allowed to
criticise the absolute monarch King Mswati III.
As recently as 1 May 2020 Ncamiso Ngcamphalala, President of the Swaziland Economic Freedom
Fighters (EFF), was arrested and charged under the Sedition
and Subversive Activities Act 1938 for comments
he made in an a
article published by Swati
Newsweek, a news website.
His ‘crime’ was not writing
an article, it was simply for expressing an opinion to a journalist. This is what
he was quoted as saying, ‘We want government to change people’s lives, the
Swazi Monarchy must know its place. We respect the King, but respect is earned
and when pushed into a corner; we will be forced to retaliate. We
unapologetically stand for multi-party democracy.’
In April, Eugene
Dube, the Swati Newsweek editor, was
arrested, tortured by police and threatened with a charge of
treason for publishing the report. He
fled to South Africa.
King Mswati rules Swaziland
as an absolute monarch. He chooses the Prime Minister and
government ministers as well as top judges and civil servants. Political
parties cannot take part in elections and groups campaigning for democratic
reforms are banned under the Suppression
of Terrorism Act.
King Mswati’s lavish lifestyle has come
under scrutiny in media outside of the kingdom. He rules
over a population of 1.3 million people in a kingdom about the size of the US
state of New Jersey. He has 13 palaces, two private aircraft and a fleet
of Rolls-Royce cars and other expensive cars.
He wore a watch
worth US$1.6 million and a suit
beaded with diamonds weighing 6 kg, at his 50th
birthday party in April 2018. He received E15 million
(US$1.2 million) in cheques, a
gold dining room suite and a gold
lounge suite among his birthday gifts. At the time the
World
Food Program said it could not raise the US$1.1 million it
needed to feed starving children in the kingdom.
Meanwhile, seven in ten of the people in Swaziland
have incomes less than the equivalent of US$2 per day.
The media in Swaziland never criticise the King.
Nearly all television and radio is controlled
by the state and the government
directs the news agenda at Swazi TV. The King in effect owns
the eSwatini Observer, one of the only two newspaper groups in
Swaziland.
In recent years a number of independent internet sites
have begun reporting about Swaziland. Most are based outside of the kingdom.
There is ample evidence to show that media freedom is
lacking in Swaziland. In April 2020 in its annual World Press Freedom Index Reporters
Without Borders recorded there was ‘no media freedom’ in
Swaziland. It reported, ‘The King’s speechwriter is the
editor in chief of the country’s oldest and most popular newspaper.’
In March 2020 Swaziland journalist and former
government cabinet minister Mfomfo Nkambule said he
had been tortured by police after he wrote articles for the
online newspaper Swaziland News that were critical of the King.
Nkambule, a
long-standing critic of the Swazi political system, said
police also took electronic gadgets and threatened to charge him with ‘high
treason’ and ‘sedition’.
In January 2020 National Commissioner of Police
William Dlamini announced in a written statement published in media across
Swaziland that his officers would hunt down and arrest people who
criticised the King on social media.
Dlamini said there were ‘highly insolent and morality devoid characters disseminating seditious, slanderous and very insultive statements about the country’s authorities via social media’. He added, ‘The intent and motive of these statements is seemingly to vilify and pour scorn on the country’s authorities, which we find completely unacceptable and an insult to the entire nation.’
Dlamini said there were ‘highly insolent and morality devoid characters disseminating seditious, slanderous and very insultive statements about the country’s authorities via social media’. He added, ‘The intent and motive of these statements is seemingly to vilify and pour scorn on the country’s authorities, which we find completely unacceptable and an insult to the entire nation.’
This was not the first time the Swazi state has
threatened social media users. In March 2018, Swaziland’s then Prime
Minister Barnabas Dlamini hinted his government
might try to restrict access to social media, but he told senators there was
nothing police could do ‘at the moment’ about the posts.
The Swazi
Observer reported at the time, ‘The premier said it was unfortunate that
social media was a very complex phenomenon, which no single person or
organisation could control.’
In March 2012, Swaziland’s Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Chief Mgwagwa Gamedze said he would use the law against people who criticised Swaziland on the internet. He told the Swazi Senate that he would use what he called ‘international laws’ to bring the internet critics to task. He was reacting to concerns from Senators that the internet sites showed ‘disrespect’ to the King.
In March 2012, Swaziland’s Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Chief Mgwagwa Gamedze said he would use the law against people who criticised Swaziland on the internet. He told the Swazi Senate that he would use what he called ‘international laws’ to bring the internet critics to task. He was reacting to concerns from Senators that the internet sites showed ‘disrespect’ to the King.
In 2010 Prince Mahlaba, a senior member of the Swazi
Royal Family, publicly called for journalists who opposed the King Mswati to be
killed. His threat became an international scandal. The CPJ
rallied behind the Swazi media and condemned Mahlaba.
Internet sites from every continent carried news criticising the prince and by
extension the whole undemocratic regime in Swaziland.
Another case to receive international
condemnation was the jailing in 2014 of magazine
editor Bheki Makhubu and writer and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko who were
sentenced to two years in jail after writing
and publishing articles in the Nation, a monthly
magazine, that were critical of the Swazi judiciary. They were released
by the Swazi Supreme Court in June 2015 after they had served
15 months of their sentences.
Richard Rooney
See also
Swaziland
journalist critical of absolute monarch, beaten, arrested, faces treason charge
Swaziland
journalist ‘tortured by police after criticising absolute monarch in newspaper
articles’
‘Attempt
made to poison journalist critic of Swaziland’s absolute monarch,’ editor says
Swaziland
police chief threatens social media users with wrath of the law if they
criticise King
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/01/swaziland-police-chief-threatens-social.html
