Swaziland democracy leader and former MP Jan Sithole dies

Jan Sithole, the former Manzini North Member of Parliament and President of the Swaziland Democratic Party (SWADEPA), has died. He was taken ill at home and later died in hospital. He was 67 years old.

 

He was one of the best-known campaigners for democratic reform in Swaziland (eSwatini) which is ruled by King Mswati III, as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

 

In 2013, Sithole was elected to the Swaziland House of Assembly. Political parties are banned from taking part in elections and King Mswati appoints the Prime Minister and government ministers. 

 

Sithole had campaigned for many years for multi-party democracy and came in for much criticism at the time from prodemocracy campaigners for standing for parliament and giving the poll legitimacy.

 

In an interview at the time with writer / journalist Shaun Raviv, Sithole said his change in strategy was a continuation of his past actions and beliefs. 

 

Jan Sithole who has died

 

‘I still subscribe to social justice, human dignity, democracy, rule of law, separation of powers. I believe in seeing a Swaziland that is economically vibrant, with jobs for all. And a Swaziland that provides equality for men and women and respects the international covenants that it has ratified. That’s me in the past, that’s me now. What has changed is the forum that I want to use to achieve the same principles.’

 

Sithole came to international attention in when he was leader of the former Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) which led a series of national strikes in the kingdom during 1995-1997 which had ‘27 demands’, for economic and social changes.

 

His campaign for democracy continued for years and he was arrested many times. The most recent was in December 2019 when he and other prodemocracy leaders had their homes raided by police and were arrested. They had recently formed the Political Parties Assembly (PPA) to advocate for change. 

 

See also

 

Democracy leaders detained by Swaziland police as illegal march halted

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/12/democracy-leaders-detained-by-swaziland.html

 

Swaziland political parties unite in bid to end absolute king’s power

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/11/swaziland-political-parties-unite-in.html  

 

Interview with new MP Jan Sithole

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/09/interview-with-new-mp-jan-sithole.html

Swaziland democracy activists tell High Court police raids on their homes illegal

Four democracy campaigners in Swaziland (eSwatini) whose homes were raided by police and had phones and other gadgets confiscated appeared in the High Court to argue that the raids were illegal.

They said the search warrants used were not valid.

The four were Sibongile Mazibuko, Musa Nkambule, Jan Sithole and Wandile Dludlu. They are leaders of various political groups in Swaziland where King Mswati III rules as absolute monarch. They all belong to the recently-formed Political Parties Assembly (PPA). Political parties are banned from taking part in elections and groups that campaign for democracy are outlawed under the Suppression of Terrorism Act.

Police raided homes of political activists across Swaziland after warrants were issued on 25 November and 19 December 2019. 

The four said that the search warrants were illegal because they did not specify what the police were looking for. They also said the warrants were issued by magistrates who did not have authority to do so.

The case was heard on Wednesday (8 January 2020). A ruling is expected on 24 January 2020.

The Swaziland United Democratic Front, one of the groups targeted in the police raids, in a statement circulated on social media at the time, said, ‘This comes weeks after the all progressive formations in the country resolved to unite under the banner of the Political Party Assembly to fight against the Tinkhundla regime. This led to the start of a campaign that was dubbed #MSWATI MUST FALL and has since been gaining momentum and meeting equal resistance from the autocratic regime.’

The Southern Africa Litigation Centre in a statement said, ‘We are concerned by the actions of the police, which appear to be targeted at those activists who have been prominently involved in protests relating to workers’ rights and who have been promoting multi-party democracy and government accountability in the country.’

See also

Swaziland police in mass raids on homes of democracy activists, some detained

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/12/swaziland-police-in-mass-raids-on-homes.html 

Swaziland police say they raided democracy activists’ homes for ‘state security’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/12/swaziland-police-say-they-raided.html

 

Police question Swaziland political leader amid fears of treason charge

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/12/swaziland-political-leader-questioned.html

 

Swaziland ex-Govt minister in hiding after calling on absolute monarch to hand over power

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/11/swaziland-ex-govt-minister-in-hiding.html

Swaziland democracy leaders call on absolute monarch to arrange talks for political change

Prodemocracy leaders in Swaziland (eSwatini) who had their homes raided by police are calling on the absolute monarch King Mswati III to allow people to talk openly about the political future of the kingdom.

Political parties are banned from taking part in elections and groups that advocate for democracy are outlawed by the Suppression of Terrorism Act. 

Six political groups have formed the Political Parties Assembly (PPA) to advocate for change. Leaders of these groups had their homes raided by police on Friday (20 December 2019). They were interrogated by police and had laptops, phones, tablets and other gadgets taken.

At a media conference on Saturday the PPA called on King Mswati to allow talks. The Times Sunday, a newspaper in Swaziland, reported Mlungisi Makhanya, President of the outlawed People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), said, ‘The King should convene a session where the people will dialogue. He has to mandate a team to engage with us. We don’t mean we should engage with him personally because that would lower his status as King but he can delegate a team mandated to discuss the governing of the country alongside the reigning monarch.’

The Times reported the PPA said if the King did want to be personally involved in talks they would need to adopt international standards, appoint a facilitator, have clear ground rules and a neutral venue.

There is open hostility in Swaziland between the supporters of the PPA and state forces, especially the police. 

Jan Sithole, President of the Swaziland Democratic Party (SWADEPA), told the media conference the police service had been politicised and were taking actions on behalf of the government.

Separately, Ngomyayona Gamedze, the former Deputy President in the Swaziland Senate and now acting Chairman of Sive Siyinqaba, one of the groups in the PPA, warned government and the police against the continuous detention of political activists who were calling for democratic reforms.

He told the Swaziland News, an online newspaper, ‘Harassing political activists, breaking into their houses and seizing their cellphones amounts to the violation of human rights. A cellphone is a personal gadget with personal information that should not be accessed even by the police without the consent of the owner and what they doing now is wrong. I am not talking about hearsay here because I was there as a Presiding Officer when Parliament ratified these UN Conventions that ensured the protection of human rights. It’s now surprising that even the Human Rights Commission is silent on this.’

He added, ‘Is it a crime to openly express my political view that I don’t want the current government? Are these political activists expected to embrace the current government by force? Why are we allowing the police to violate human rights in this manner? Any detention of a person even if its five minutes amounts to human rights violation because you have taken that person out of his or her comfort zone, it’s worse when you have seized his cellphone because by so doing you have disconnected that individual from communicating with the world and gained access to personal information.’

Further police action is expected. The Times reported Sithole telling the media conference, ‘We are committed to the spirit of no retreat, no surrender, forward forever.’

He added, ‘Even if it meant being arrested, even if it meant being eliminated; we are prepared to lay our lives on the block for the liberation of the people that have given us that mandate.’

The PPA consists of six groups: People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO); Swaziland Democratic Party (SWADEPA); Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS); Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC); Swaziland People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and Sive Siyinqaba (Sibahje Sinje).

See also

Swaziland police say they raided democracy activists’ homes for ‘state security’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/12/swaziland-police-say-they-raided.html

 

Swaziland police in mass raids on homes of democracy activists, some detained

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/12/swaziland-police-in-mass-raids-on-homes.html

Police question Swaziland political leader amid fears of treason charge

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/12/swaziland-political-leader-questioned.html
 

Swaziland ex-Govt minister in hiding after calling on absolute monarch to hand over power

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/11/swaziland-ex-govt-minister-in-hiding.html

Democracy leaders detained by Swaziland police as illegal march halted

Three democracy leaders in Swaziland (eSwatini) were detained by police when protesters tried to march through the industrial town of Matsapha.

The march was halted after it had been banned by the courts hours earlier.

It was the latest activity from the recently-organised Political Party Assembly (PPA). Political parties are banned in Swaziland where King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. 

It happened on Thursday (12 December 2019) when the PPA wanted to march from factory to factory in the town to drum up support.

Those detained were Swaziland Democratic Party (SWADEPA) President Jan Sithole; Ngwane National Liberation Congress (NNLC) President Sibongile Mazibuko; and Zodwa Mkhonta, Deputy President of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO).

The leaders were arrested on the streets of Matsapha, taken to the local police station and later released. 

The Times of eSwatini said there were also unconfirmed reports that police from the Serious Crime Unit (Lukhozi) rounded up ordinary members of the PPA at the assembly point for the march.

Protest marches are routinely banned in Swaziland where freedom of assembly is severely curtailed. 

In July 2019 Human Rights Watch reported restrictions on freedom of association and assembly continued in Swaziland although the kingdom had signed the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance in January 2018, the government has not taken steps to ratify and implement the charter.

Amnesty International in a review of Swaziland for 2017 / 2018 stated, ‘The Public Order Act and the Suppression of Terrorism Act severely limited the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.’ 

It added, The Public Order Act, ‘curtailed the rights to freedom of assembly and association, imposing far-reaching restrictions on organizers of public gatherings. The Act also failed to provide mechanisms to hold law enforcement officials accountable for using excessive force against protesters or public gatherings.’

Freedom House scored Swaziland 16 out of a possible 100 points in its Freedom in the World 2019 report. It concluded that Swaziland was ‘not free’.

See also

Swaziland political parties unite in bid to end absolute king’s power

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/11/swaziland-political-parties-unite-in.html 

COURT BID TO ALLOW PARTIES IN ELECTION

The Swaziland Democratic Party  (SWADEPA) is going to the High Court to try to force absolute monarch King Mswati III to allow political parties to contest the forthcoming election.

Parties have been banned from running since a royal decree in 1973 established the absolute monarchy.

SWADEPA wants its party members to openly contest the election due later this year. Under the present system of ‘Monarchical Democracy’ people are only allowed to stand as individuals. At the last election in 2013 Jan Sithole the SWADEPA President was elected in this way to the House of Assembly in Manzini North.

The application is expected to be heard on 20 July 2018.

Elections are held every five years in Swaziland but international observers do not consider them to be ‘free and fair’ because political parties cannot take part. At past elections people only got to select 55 of 65 members of the House of Assembly. The King chose the other 10. At the forthcoming election there will be an additional four seats for people to vote for. It has not been announced how many members the King will choose but the Swaziland Constitution allows him to pick up to ten.

As in previous years, none of the 30 members of the Swazi Senate will be elected by the people; the King will choose 20 and the other 10 will be chosen by members of the House of Assembly. The King picks the Prime Minister and Government.

In its report on conduct of the 2013 election, the African Union (AU) mission called for fundamental changes to ensure people had freedom of speech and of assembly. The AU said the Swaziland Constitution guaranteed ‘fundamental rights and freedoms including the rights to freedom of association’, but in practice ‘rights with regard to political assembly and association are not fully enjoyed’. The AU said this was because political parties were not allowed to contest elections.

The AU urged Swaziland to review the constitution, especially in the areas of ‘freedoms of conscience, expression, peaceful assembly, association and movement as well as international principles for free and fair elections and participation in electoral process’.

In its report on the 2013 elections, Commonwealth observers recommended that measures be put in place to ensure separation of powers between the government, parliament and the courts so that Swaziland was in line with its international commitments.

It also called on the Swaziland Constitution to be ‘revisited’ and recommended that a law be passed to allow for political parties to take part in elections, ‘so as to give full effect to the letter and spirit of Section 25 of the Constitution, and in accordance with Swaziland’s commitment to its regional and international commitments’.

The European Union Election Experts Mission (EEM) made much of how the kingdom’s absolute monarchy undermined democracy. In its report it stated, ‘The King has absolute power and is considered to be above the law, including the Constitution, enjoying the power to assent laws and immunity from criminal proceedings. A bill shall not become law unless the King has assented to it, meaning that the parliament is unable to pass any law which the King is in disagreement with. 

‘The King will refer back the provisions he is not in agreement with, which makes the parliament and its elected chamber, the House of Assembly, ineffective, unable to achieve the objective a parliament is created for: to be the legislative branch of the state and maintain the government under scrutiny.’

The EEM went on to say the ‘main principles for a democratic state are not in place’ in Swaziland.

See also

U.S. AMBASSADOR ENCOURAGES PARTIES

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/us-ambassador-encourages-parties.html

 PARTIES STILL BANNED FROM ELECTION

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/parties-still-banned-from-election.html

ONE IN THREE WANT POLITICAL PARTIES

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/10/one-in-three-want-political-parties.html

SWAZIS WANT DEMOCRACY - SURVEY

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/12/swazis-want-democracy-survey.html

EU TELLS KING: ‘FREE PARTIES’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/03/eu-tells-king-free-parties.html
 

UK CALLS FOR PARTIES TO BE UN-BANNED

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2012/10/uk-calls-for-parties-to-be-un-banned.html

MILLIONS ‘WASTED’ ON LUXURY VEHICLES

The Swaziland Government spent E29 million (US$2.4 million) buying a fleet of top-of-the-range BMW cars and motorbikes for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in 2016 that have been left unused ever since. 

Member of Parliament Jan Sithole told the House of Assembly on Thursday (8 March 2018) this demonstrated how the Government wasted money.

A total of 14 BMW cars and 80 motorbikes were bought for the summit held in Swaziland when King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, was chair of SADC.

The Swazi Observer newspaper reported Sithole saying, ‘We warned the minister against buying the cars because that would not make sense. It was much better to rent the cars because the event was to last for only a month.’ He added, ‘Now the cars are parked and no one has shown interest in buying them.’

The Times Sunday, a newspaper in Swaziland, in September 2017 identified the vehicles as 14 BMW 740i sedans and 80 Honda NC 750X motorbikes. They were being kept at Matsapha Police College.

The cars were used to transport foreign dignitaries and the motorbikes were used by police to provide security. 

See also

KINGDOM FAILS SADC DELEGATES

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/kingdom-fails-sadc-delegates.html

KING TO PARTY WHILE SWAZIS GO HUNGRY

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/king-to-party-while-swazis-go-hungry.html

MPS PRAISE KING ON THEIR KNEES

Swaziland’s new members of parliament got down on their knees before King Mswati III to pledge their allegiance to him and one by one made a speech praising him.

This is the ritual at the start of the new parliament in Swaziland, where the king rules as an absolute monarch.

Each MP is required to make a speech lasting no longer than three minutes in which he or she is expected to tell the king how much they love and respect him.

The two daily newspapers in Swaziland had extensive coverage of the ritual on Friday (1 November 2013). Both the Swazi Observer, which is in effect owed by the king, and the Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, gave extensive coverage to the speech of newly-elected MP Jan Sithole.

Sithole is the leader of a relatively new political party in Swaziland called the Swaziland Democratic Party (SWADEPA). All political parties were banned from taking part in Swaziland’s national election on 20 September 2013, but Sithole stood as an individual, even though his political affiliations were well-known.

SWADEPA wants political reform in Swaziland, including an un-banning of political parties and greater freedom of speech and of assembly.

The Times of Swaziland reported Sithole ‘pledged support’ to the king in a five-minute speech in the ceremony at Lozitha Palace. The newspaper reported Sithole said his party respected the king and praised him for introducing a new constitution into Swaziland in 2005.

The Swazi Observer reported Sithole said he was not going to dump his party now that he was MP.

The Observer also reported that many of the new MPs and senators praised the king for reappointing Barnabas Dlamini, as Prime Minister. Dlamini has a controversial record as a serial human rights violator in Swaziland.

See also

‘PM INCOMPETENT, UNTRUSTWORTHY, VAIN’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/10/pm-incompetent-untrustworthy-vain.html

INTERVIEW WITH NEW MP JAN SITHOLE

Jan Sithole the MP

By Shaun Raviv

Swazis voted for members of Parliament last Friday, and though international media have presented little hope for change in the kingdom based on the outcome—calling the election a “selection” and the King the “only winner”—at least two results show that voters are yearning for new leadership. Whether new faces in the House of Assembly will be able to institute any serious change in a country where political parties are effectively banned and Mswati III appoints two-thirds of the more-powerful Senate remains to be seen, writes Shaun Raviv.

At the very least, Swazis showed their dislike of sitting Parliamentarians, electing more than 40 new faces out of 55 electable seats. Gone is the shameful Hlobsile “Hlobi” Ndlovu, whose wisdom over the past five years has given Swazi women a bad name. Voters also said good riddance to at least one MP who is sitting in jail, plus royal apologist Lutfo Dlamini.

One man who has spent the past two and a half decades boycotting elections, Swaziland Democratic Party head and pro-democracy activist Jan Sithole, has been elected as an MP representing Manzini North. I spoke to Sithole a few hours before the election results were in, and asked the famed Swazi union leader why he has gone from boycotting to campaigning. Some have expressed disappointment that Sithole is supporting a system that is not promoting true voice-of-the-people democracy. But Sithole says his change in strategy is just a continuation of his past actions and beliefs. 

“I still subscribe to social justice, human dignity, democracy, rule of law, separation of powers,” Sithole told me on Friday while standing in the shade at a polling station. “I believe in seeing a Swaziland that is economically vibrant, with jobs for all. And a Swaziland that provides equality for men and women and respects the international covenants that it has ratified. That’s me in the past, that’s me now. What has changed is the forum that I want to use to achieve the same principles.”

Famous for his “27 demands”, a list of economic and social changes that he promoted as head of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU), Sithole now hopes to make demands from within Parliament. “Part of the demands that we made then was calling for a human rights–driven constitution with a bill of rights. We have a constitution with a bill of rights. But it’s not being operationalized by Parliament,” said Sithole. 

“We can begin to tilt the governance of this country towards a democratic space using the constitution, calling upon Parliament to make laws that are in sync with the dictates of the constitution, including political parties. But you have to have a law that regulates that. Parliament should make those laws.”

The 27 Demands garnered Sithole death threats, police intimidation, and even potential deportation in the mid-90s, but he says he will continue to fight against corrupt politicians even as he joins their ranks as an MP. “Those that go into Parliament are not concerned about the social development of the people, but about what they get from being in government,” said Sithole. “When things are difficult they cut old age grants and they stop the OVC school fees, but still make a big cake for themselves. It’s a self-centered approach that does not take into account the concerns of the majority poor.” 

“The IMF says Swaziland is not poor. The problem in Swaziland is unfair distribution of the wealth created. It’s skewed distribution. A lot of funds goes to few people and into white elephant projects. The actual core commodities such as healthcare get less. Education gets less, agriculture gets less, and people get poor. Yet the country is rich.”

One of Sithole’s goals has been to see a true right of assembly in Swaziland, rather than one that exists on paper only. “Swaziland had political parties before independence,” Sithole told me. “And had political parties after independence until 1973. We had political parties and no one died. The sun never fell. There was no corruption; there was debate, there was vibrancy.” 

“Now we have freedom of assembly, but the police use the Public Order Act of 1963 to disburse gatherings. The problem is with Parliament. There’s a discord in the law and to make this right you need to go where those decisions are made, where you can begin to actualize the spirit of the constitution so the citizens will benefit.”

Sithole says that Swaziland is not a true democracy because it does not apply its own constitution in practice. “Democracy is not what is in the book. It’s what you practice, it’s what you live,” he said. “For me democracy is a full package of freedoms.”

With Sithole switching his strategy to make change from the inside, it will be interesting to see if he falls prey to the temptations of being an MP, and if the alteration proves more successful. “Boycott is a strategy for those that believe in it. The difference for me is that the strategy should be a means of meeting your principled objectives, and if the strategy doesn’t work you must change it. You have continuous assessment. Even if boycott is a strategy then it has not been evaluated in the last 25 years.”

Shaun Raviv is a freelance writer who has written about open borders and adult male circumcision in Swaziland for The Atlantic.

‘OWNERS OF COUNTRY’ BAN PARTIES

The chairman of Swaziland’s Elections and Boundaries Commission, Chief Gija Dlamini has spoken out strongly against political parties contesting this year’s national election.

Chief Gina is reported by local media saying ‘the owners of the country’ had clearly stated that parties could not contest the election.

He was reacting to news that former Secretary General of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions Jan Sithole, who is now a leading figure in Swaziland Democratic Party (SWADEPA) had come to an understanding with Sive Siyinqaba, a conservative political party, not to contest the same parliamentary seat.

In Swaziland, since King Sobhuza II’s Royal Proclamation of 12 April 1973, political parties have been excluded from standing at elections. Instead, people are only permitted to stand as individuals and they do this through local area councils known as tinkhundla.

Chief Gija told the Times of Swaziland both Sive Siyinqaba and SWADEPA were not allowed to strategize for the election. 

‘The owners of the country have clearly stated that people will stand for elections in their individual capacities and not through political parties,’ the newspaper reported him saying.

Chief Gija dismissed the relevance of Sive Siyinqaba.  ‘I can just call them clubs formed by people who are like minded. I do not foresee them having any influence, whatsoever, in the outcome of the elections,’ he said.

A number of organisations inside and outside of Swaziland have called for a boycott of the election because parties are banned. The parliament that will be elected will have no real powers, as the kingdom is ruled by King Mswati III who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

See also

EU TELLS KING, ‘FREE PARTIES’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/03/eu-tells-king-free-parties.html

CALL TO BOYCOTT ELECTION GROWS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/03/call-to-boycott-election-grows.html

PAY CUT COULD CAUSE ‘SWAZI UPRISING’

Jan Sithole, the former Secretary General of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions, says there could be an uprising if public service salaries are cut.

Swaziland is broke and the Swazi Government wants to cut salaries by 10 percent, even though the trade unions are against this.

Sithole, speaking at a conference organised by the Centre for Human Rights, said there could be an uprising and civil strife.

‘An uprising is not planned by people but the situation presents itself. If civil servants including the police and the army are not paid, then there could be an uprising,’ the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, reported him saying.

Meanwhile, the same newspaper reports Fanisile Mabila, Acting Accountant General, saying public service salaries will be paid as usual this month (July 2011).

School principals and the Swaziland National Association of Teachers have already stated they will close schools immediately the government announces pay cuts.

See also

PAY CUT: PRINCIPALS TO SHUT SCHOOLS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/07/pay-cut-principals-to-shut-schools.html

SWAZI TEACHERS TO STRIKE IF PAY CUT

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/07/swazi-teachers-to-strike-if-pay-cut.html