The Southern Africa Social Forum meeting went ahead in Swaziland last week after the government’s ban on it was overturned by the Swazi High Court
Only about 200 people turned up to the three day event and this low attendance was put down in part to a fear among Swazis of being seen to support something that their political masters had disallowed.
The forum of NGOs dedicated to social change meets annually in different countries in southern Africa.
The news agency IRIN on Monday (20 October 2008) ran a report on the proceedings which you can see by clicking here.
The Swaziland Government has been forced into a humiliating climb-down after the High Court ruled that the Southern African Social Forum could go ahead.
Acting Prime Minister Bheki Dlamini had publicly stated that the forum was a threat to national security and should not go ahead.
The government offered no evidence to support this assertion when challenged by democrats and had no case when confronted with the Swaziland Constitution which allows for freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of assembly.
To save the face of the government, forum organisers said they would not hold a march at the end of the three-day conference which starts today (16 October 2008).
According to the Swazi Observer today Dlamini had said the forum should be banned because it intended to ‘strengthen regional people's initiatives and in solidarity with the struggling people of Swaziland and to raise the international profile of the Swazi struggle’.
Government’s attorney Sanele Khuluse said they feared that the forum was a threat to national security since it had been ‘hijacked’ by trade unions.
News of the ban spread around the globe and further alerted people to the fact that Swaziland is not a democracy and the Swazi government relies on bullying and coercion to keep its subjects in order.
Swaziland’s international reputation was in tatters last month (September 2008) after national elections in which political parties were banned.Lavish celebrations, costing an estimated 10 million dollars (E70 million), for the 40th birthday of King Mswati III and the anniversary of Swaziland’s independence from Britainin the same month also cast grave doubts on the governance of the kingdom.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has today (15 October 2008) announced protest action against Swaziland.
Cosatu’s international department spokesperson Bongani Masuku said the action was to protest against the lack of democracy in Swaziland, which was still ruled by a ‘kleptocratic absolute monarch’.
It would entail a one week boycott, a go-slow and the non-handling of goods to Swaziland.
‘The protest is also against specific grievances including the outrageous banning of the Southern African Social Forum by the royal-puppet appointee Swazi government this week’.
Masuku said the protest week would commence on October 27 and would continue until November 1.
Swaziland’s independent civil right groups are filing a court case today (15 October 2008), challenging the decision of King Mswati III, the kingdom’s absolute monarch, to ban the Southern Africa Social Forum meeting scheduled for tomorrow.
Voice of America (VoA) radio reports today that the Swaziland Government contends that tomorrow’s scheduled meeting will not only harm the country’s interest, it would compromise peace, security and stability. But local groups dismiss the government’s remarks, saying forum participants from across the southern Africa sub-region had been expected to discuss calls on King Mswati III to accept political parties and other democratic reforms.
Thembinkosi Dlamini is a major proponent of the civil rights groups. From the Swaziland capital Mbabane, he told VoA reporter Peter Clottey that the social forum is an open space for reflective thinking, democratic debates of ideas, and the free exchange of experiences.
For more on this, including a radio interview with Thembinkosi Dlamini, click here.
Meanwhile, VoA reports King Mswati III is expected to appoint a new prime minister following the parliamentary elections held last month that VoA says ‘were denounced as a burlesque of democracy’.
Political observers say despite occasional unrest and a growing democracy movement, Swaziland is overwhelmingly peaceful. But police have reportedly prevented demonstrations by the king's critics. A significant number of members of parliaments from across Africa who observed last September vote said it did not meet both regional and international standards for democratic elections.
This news report from the Associated Press news agency is presently being circulated by media organisations across the world. Once again the Swaziland ruling elite is being seen in the international community as autocratic and non-democratic. I see from the report that the ban is to be challenged in the Swazi High Court – don’t hold your breath for a successful outcome.
Swazi monarchy bans civil rights meeting
By THULANI MTWETHWA
MBABANE, Swaziland (AP) — Swaziland's government banned independent civil rights groups from meeting later this week, saying Tuesday that the gathering could be destabilizing for Africa's last absolute monarchy.
The Southern Africa Social Forum was scheduled to take place Thursday, the same day King Mswati III was expected to appoint a new prime minister following parliamentary elections held last month that were denounced as a parody of democracy.
Forum participants from across the region had been expected to discuss calls on Mswati to accept political parties and other democratic reforms.
"From the information available it is of the view of the Swaziland government that the hosting of the meeting in the country will not be in national interest, and will compromise peace, security and stability of the kingdom of Swaziland," Bhekie Dlamini, an official in the king's office, said in a statement.
If the groups disobey the order, "the government will be compelled to apply the law to its fullest extent," he said.
One of the organizers, Thembinkosi Dlamini, said the groups would challenge the ban in court.
"The social forum is an open space for reflective thinking, democratic debates of ideas, free exchange of experiences," Thembinkosi Dlamini said.
Jan Sithole, who is a trade union leader and government critic, said the ban "demonstrates government's unwillingness to conform to democratic principles."
Swaziland held elections Sept. 19 for a 55-seat National Assembly that is subservient to the king. Political parties have been outlawed in Swaziland since 1973, when Mswati's late father, King Sobhuza II, declared a state of emergency.
