Exiled editor Zweli Martin Dlamini to return to Swaziland

1 November 2018, Kenworthy News Media  

SOURCE 

Editor Zweli Martin Dlamini is set to return to the tiny absolute monarchy of Swaziland. He had fled to neighbouring South Africa in January [2018] after he had received death threats from a local businessman and his newspaper was shut down by the government, writes Kenworthy News Media.

“My decision to return to Swaziland has been influenced by minor changes in the political landscape and the fact that two of the powerful people who wanted to kill me are now dead – businessman Victor Gamedze [who was murdered at a petrol station in Mbabane in January] and late Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini”, says Zweli Martin Dlamini, who is the editor of Swaziland News.

I will not be going to Swaziland alone, but with an “influential member of the African National Congress”, who has promised to accompany me to ensure my safety, Dlamini adds.

Fled in fear of his life                                                              
In June 2017, Zweli Martin Dlamini had written and published a story about Swazi Mobile, a new telecommunications company that is owned by Swaziland’s absolute monarch King Mswati III and was run by Victor Gamedze, for the paper he edited at the time, Swaziland Shopping.

According to Dlamini’s story, Mswati and Gamedze had forced Swaziland’s government to side-line rival government parastatal company SPTC from competing with Swazi Mobile – a company that the Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini owned shares in.

“Shortly after publishing the story, I received a threatening call from Gamedze that lasted for twenty minutes where he vowed to ‘deal with me’. Later, Communications Minister Dumsani Ndlangamandla summoned me to a meeting and told me that the King was not happy with the story and had ordered that the newspaper should be closed”, Zweli Martin Dlamini told me in January.

After Swaziland Shopping was closed, Dlamini heard that the police had a warrant for his arrest and that he would be poisoned in prison because he had revealed secrets about Swazi Mobile. He fled to South Africa in fear of his life.

Hopes he’s not next Khashoggi
Zweli Martin Dlamini received support and help with security measures from the Committee to Protect Journalists whilst in exile, he says.

And although he believes that the situation is “not yet conductive for the media to operate freely”, he does believe that the threats to his life have been reduced enough for him to be able to return to Swaziland. He cites the appointment of a new Prime Minister, whom he believes will respect media reform, as one reason for his decision.

“But I am also going back to Swaziland while the world is shocked by the murder of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi. I hope this will not happen to me”, Dlamini says.

He will be contacting the government of neighbouring South Africa and international media organisations to ensure that this will not be the case, he adds.

Swaziland is ranked 152th of the 180 ranked nations in Reporters Without Borders’ 2018 World Press Freedom Index, which mentions the ordeal of Zweli Martin Dlamini.

“Swaziland is an absolute monarchy that prevents journalists from working freely and obstructs access to information”, and there is therefore “no media freedom”, the NGO concludes.

See also 

‘Editor flees after death threat’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/editor-flees-after-death-threat.html
 

Swazi Government forces newspaper to close

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/swazi-govt-forces-newspaper-to-close.html
 

Journalists ‘scared to do their jobs’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/journalists-scared-to-do-their-jobs.html

Swaziland Police Beat-Up Journalist Photographing Them Attacking, Shooting At Textile Workers

Police in Swaziland beat up a journalist and demanded he delete photographs he took of them attacking and shooting at striking textile workers.

It was one of many cases of police and state forces attacking and harassing journalists in the kingdom ruled by King Mswati III as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Broadcasting is severely censored and one of only two national newspaper groups in the kingdom is in effect owned by the King.

It happened on Thursday (30 August 2018) at Nhlangano where workers, mostly women, were protesting about poor pay.

Andile Nsibande of the Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom (recently renamed Eswatini by King Mswati), was viciously attacked by police officers and prison warders who had been sent to assist them, the Times’ companion newspaper the Times Sunday reported.

 

‘The officers kicked and punched the defenceless newsman until he fell to the ground,’ it said. ‘They further hurled expletives at him.’

Nsibande was treated in hospital.

More than 200 paramilitary police and correctional facility warders with riot shields, helmets and batons were in Nhlangano on Thursday. Police fired several gunshots. It was the third police attack on workers in a week and one of many in recent times.

Police and security forces in Swaziland routinely physically attack or harass journalists.

In July 2018, the Health Minister Sibongile Ndlela-Simelane called on police to arrest a Swazi Observer journalist who was photographing government ministers’ cars outside the Deputy Prime Minister’s office. She demanded that the photographs be deleted which the journalist did. The newspaper had previously published a report about government ministers’ BMW cars being in a bad state of repair. It was checking a government claim that the vehicles had been repaired and were back on the road.

In February 2018 prison warders attacked a journalist in a public street near Kwaluseni when he took photographs of them travelling in the backs of overcrowded vehicles.

In December 2017 editor of Swaziland Shopping Zweli Martin Dlamini fled to neighbouring South Africa after he received death threats. He had written a story about the King’s dealings in the telecommunications industry.

In January 2017 the editor of the Times Sunday Innocent Maphalala and senior reporter on the paper Mfanukhona Nkambule received threats of grievous bodily harm, ‘possibly even leading to death’, according to the Times of Swaziland newspaper. It said, ‘The threats emanate from a story the publication is pursuing regarding one of the country’s security forces which has engaged in an action that has compromised this country internationally.’

Thulani Maseko and Bheki Makhubu gained international attention when in 2014 they were sentenced to two years in jail after writing and publishing articles in the Nation magazine that were critical of the Swazi judiciary. They were released by the Swazi Supreme Court on 30 June 2015 after they had served 15 months of their sentences.

There is no media freedom in Swaziland, according to the latest annual report from Reporters Without Borders which ranked the kingdom at number 152 out of 180 countries in the world ranking. It stated the kingdom, ‘prevents journalists from working freely and obstructs access to information. No court is allowed to prosecute or try members of the government, but any criticism of the regime is liable to be the subject of a prosecution. For fear of reprisals, journalists censor themselves almost systematically.’

The US State Department in a review of human rights in Swaziland for 2017 stated, ‘Officials impeded press freedom. Although no law bans criticism of the monarchy, the prime minister and other officials cautioned journalists against publishing such criticism with veiled threats of newspaper closure or job loss.’

The report stated, ‘Broadcast media remained firmly under state control. Most persons obtained their news from radio broadcasts.’

In 2015, Lawyers for Human Rights (Swaziland) and CIVICUS, an international human rights group, in a submission to the United Nations listed a number of media freedom violations in Swaziland. It said the Swazi Government, which is not elected but appointed by the King, ‘strictly controls freedom of expression and the media’. 

They added, ‘Reporting on royal and political matters is severely restricted. Further, regular threats emanating from senior government officials and the royal family to journalists also lead to government censorship and self-censorship by the media further curtailing democratic freedoms’.

The joint report added, ‘On 15 January 2014, the government-controlled Swazi Observer newspaper suspended its editor Thulani Thwala and weekend editor Alec Lushaba after they were accused of failing to adhere to the mandate of the newspaper by publishing negative news stories about the King.

‘The journalists were accused of failing to heed several warnings not to publish damaging reports about the King. Prior to the suspension, they published reports indicating that the Swazi government had solicited a financial bailout from South Africa. Eight months after their suspension, the Board of Directors of the Swazi Observer Newspaper Group reinstated them. 

‘The Swazi Observer newspaper is controlled by the Tibiyo Taka Ngwane conglomerate, which is owned by the King. News items published are highly censored.’

See also

‘EDITOR FLEES AFTER DEATH THREAT’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/editor-flees-after-death-threat.html
 

SWAZI GOVERNMENT FORCES NEWSPAPER TO CLOSE

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/swazi-govt-forces-newspaper-to-close.html
 

JOURNALISTS ‘SCARED TO DO THEIR JOBS’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/journalists-scared-to-do-their-jobs.html

‘NO MEDIA FREEDOM IN SWAZILAND’

There is no media freedom in Swaziland, according to the latest annual report from Reporters Without Borders.

The kingdom, ruled by King Mswati III as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, stands at number 152 out of 180 in the world ranking. 

In a report just published RWB stated the kingdom, ‘prevents journalists from working freely and obstructs access to information. No court is allowed to prosecute or try members of the government, but any criticism of the regime is liable to be the subject of a prosecution. 

‘For fear of reprisals, journalists censor themselves almost systematically. In January 2018, an investigative journalist had to flee to South Africa after being threatened in connection with an article revealing the King’s involvement in an alleged corruption case. His newspaper was closed on the King’s orders.’

The report was referring to the case of Swaziland Shopping and its editor Zweli Martin Dlamini. It concluded there was ‘no media freedom’.

Also just published is the US State Department review of human rights in Swaziland for 2017. It states that the Swazi Constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, ‘but the King may deny these rights at his discretion, and the government severely restricted these rights in prior years’. 

It added, ‘Officials impeded press freedom. Although no law bans criticism of the monarchy, the prime minister and other officials cautioned journalists against publishing such criticism with veiled threats of newspaper closure or job loss.’

The report stated, ‘The law empowers the government to ban publications if it deems them “prejudicial or potentially prejudicial to the interests of defence, public safety, public order, public morality, or public health.” Most journalists practiced self-censorship. Journalists expressed fear of judicial reprisals for their reporting on some High Court cases and matters involving the monarchy.’

The report stated, ‘Broadcast media remained firmly under state control. Most persons obtained their news from radio broadcasts. A controversial ministerial decree prohibiting MPs from speaking on the radio was apparently lifted. The government noted the decree had never been enforced. There was no instance, however, in which an MP had violated it. Despite invitations issued by the media regulatory authority for parties to apply for licenses, no licenses were awarded. Stations practiced self-censorship and refused to broadcast anything perceived as critical of the government or the monarchy.’

See also

‘EDITOR FLEES AFTER DEATH THREAT’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/editor-flees-after-death-threat.html

 

SWAZI GOVERNMENT FORCES NEWSPAPER TO CLOSE

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/swazi-govt-forces-newspaper-to-close.html

 

JOURNALISTS ‘SCARED TO DO THEIR JOBS’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/journalists-scared-to-do-their-jobs.html

EDITOR WANTS MEDIA FREEDOM INQUIRY

Zweli Martin Dlamini, the editor who had his newspaper closed down by the Swaziland Government before he fled to neighbouring South Africa, has called for an international commission of inquiry into how the state has captured the media in the kingdom.

The media, even those not directly owned and controlled by the government, have become a ‘propaganda machine for the state,’ he said.

Swaziland is ruled by King Mswati III as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Political parties are barred from taking part in elections and pro-democracy groups have been banned under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. Freedom of expression and assembly are severely curtailed. 

There are only two daily newspapers in Swaziland and one – the Swazi Observer – is in effect owned by the King. The state controls nearly all broadcasting.

Dlamini wrote in The Swaziland, an online newspaper he has launched from South Africa, that government has banned members of political parties from being interviewed by the media in Swaziland. 

He wrote, ‘This does not only undermine the right to information but [is] a gross violation of journalistic norms and ethical standards. It is not our duty as the media to promote or discredit the current system of governance but we need to give a voice even to political parties as part of our mandate to inform the public.’

‘The fundamental principles and values of journalism suggests that the media should independently disseminate accurate information to enable citizens to make informed decisions regarding issues that impact their welfare either politically, economically, socially or otherwise. It is therefore unjust for the Swazi government to turn the media into its propaganda machine that seek to mislead the public that the current system of Governance is democratic when the situation on the ground suggests that citizens of the country are oppressed.’

Dlamini said journalists were being intimidated.  ‘Traditional leaders are quick to analyse articles and describe them as unSwazi or in conflict with the unwritten Swazi Law and Custom thus forcing editors to be fined cattle as an apology to the King. This tendency of using the name of the King to intimidate the media has promoted corruption with impunity in the public administration and it is slowly turning Swaziland into [a] lawless State.’

He added, ‘The continuous attack of the media by the government of Swaziland by arresting journalists and closing newspapers that publish critical articles about those in power demonstrates the need for the international community to start questioning the way our country is governed.

‘It would be commendable for international human rights organisations to call for the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry whose terms of reference should include investigating the media capture.’

Dlamini owned and edited Swaziland Shopping, a newspaper aimed at businesses, that was forced to close in December 2017 because its registration under the Books and Newspapers Act 1963 had been declined by the Swazi Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology (MICT). This happened even though the newspaper had been publishing since 2014.

Dlamini fled to South Africa after a tip-off that he was to be arrested because he had upset the powers in the kingdom with articles in the newspaper critical of people close to King Mswati.

See also

‘EDITOR FLEES AFTER DEATH THREAT’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/editor-flees-after-death-threat.html

 

SWAZI GOVERNMENT FORCES NEWSPAPER TO CLOSE

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/swazi-govt-forces-newspaper-to-close.html

 

JOURNALISTS ‘SCARED TO DO THEIR JOBS’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/journalists-scared-to-do-their-jobs.html

GAMEDZE ‘BOUGHT NEWSPAPER EDITORS’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/gamedze-bought-newspaper-editors.html

PM ADMITS FORCING NEWSPAPER CLOSURE

Swaziland’s Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini has said a newspaper in the kingdom was closed down because it published reports critical of his government.

He told a Cabinet retreat at the Pigg’s peak Hotel, ‘As the government we have seen people who are desperate to criticise us as their public servants at every opportunity. In the past we saw a certain news editor write only on government’s faults.’

The Swazi Observer reported his comments on Tuesday (13 February 2018). It said, ‘Dlamini said the editor in question would write volatile articles published in a certain newspaper every Monday resulting in the newspaper in question eventually being shut down for a period of time.’

The newspaper said, ‘The PM said by writing such scathing articles, the editor caused his newspaper to be shut down and this was unfortunate because a lot of innocent people suffered for one man’s mistakes.’

It added, ‘Although he did not mention names the only newspaper that was closed and later opened was the Swazi Observer. It was closed in 2000 during a time where Dr Dlamini was the PM.’

The PM’s comments come less than two months after the Swaziland Shopping newspaper was forced to close by government. It said it had not registered with Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology. This happened even though the newspaper had been publishing since 2014. It happened after the newspaper published a story about King Mswati III, the absolute monarch in Swaziland, and his business dealings. Editor Zweli Martin Dlamini fled to neighbouring South Africa after he received death threats

The story of the Observer’s closure in 2000 is an example of how media censorship in Swaziland works. The Observer was (and still is) owned by a conglomerate called Tibiyo Taka Ngwane headed by King Mswati but this did not stop it being closed.

It was closed after it published a series of stories critical of Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini the then Prime Minister and Edgar Hillary the Police Commissioner.

Mandla Magagula, wrote in the Nation magazine, an independent comment magazine in Swaziland, in April 2000, ‘The events which led to the sudden closure of the Swazi Observer tell a tale of high drama which could easily have come from a movie script. As the newspaper tried to live up to the principles of good journalism, political figures came down on the editorial team like the wrath of God and when they reached a deadlock closed it down.’

According to Magagula, the main characters in the drama were the Prime Minister, the Commissioner of Police, the managing director of Tibiyo Taka Ngwane A. T. Dlamini; and the Attorney General, Phesheya Dlamini.

The problem for the Observer started when the newspaper’s managing editor and his reporters refused to divulge the sources for stories the Observer had published.

The first was when the newspaper carried a story about the bombings of the Deputy Prime Minister’s office and the Mahlanya Inkhundla, saying that police were poised for a breakthrough arrest. When the story appeared the police commissioner claimed the Observer had interfered with a police investigation.

The second was a report based on a letter written by Edgar Hillary who was seeking the assistance of the South African Special Police Squad in the investigation of a millionaire from Manzini, who was on the run in South Africa.

The International Press Institute (IPI) at the time reported, ‘On the day the article appeared, [the managing editor] was summoned to Hillary’s offices where the journalist was once again reprimanded for the article and asked again to reveal his source.

‘The following day, [the managing editor] was summoned yet again to Hillary’s office for a meeting with Hillary and two other policemen. Speaking to MISA-Swaziland, [the managing editor] said that the second meeting amounted to a mini court session. He was called names such as a “bullying” and “irresponsible” journalist and was warned not to write any “rubbish” that could be published at a later date. He was also asked for the letter and for him to reveal his source, which he declined to do. At the end of the meeting he was warned that he could face criminal charges or face a High Court order because of his actions and his refusal to disclose his source.

‘[The managing editor] along with his news editor were summoned to the offices of the Attorney General, where they were once again pressured to give in to the demands of the police commissioner. The two were again asked to hand over the letter in question.’

The third story was when the Observer called the Prime Minister ‘a liar’ after he said he had left the Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister out of a delegation to open the new embassy of the Republic of China because government had no money. The Observer discovered that China had funded the trip.

The fourth was a story about cow dung that involved the Speaker of the House of Assembly.

The fifth was a story that an influential millionaire had plotted to have the prime Minister sacked.

The Swazi High Court turned down an urgent appeal from the Attorney General to force the newspaper to divulge its sources. Magagula reported that the ‘Attorney General personally went to Observer House [the offices of the Observer] and delivered the documents relating to the application with the dire warning that the newspaper would either divulge its sources or [the managing editor] and his two reporters would be locked up.’

A source told Magagula, ‘The Attorney General was all pomp and majesty until [the managing editor] brought him back to earth with the warning that this brazen harassment could attract unpleasant international repercussions. The AG stormed out of the newspaper offices without another word.’

After the police commissioner, Edgar Hillary had failed to get the newspaper to disclose his sources, A. T. Dlamini, the managing director of Tibiyo intervened on behalf of Hillary.

According to Magagula, the role of A. T. Dlamini ‘is particularly reprehensible because he showed himself to be a double-talker’. He had previously encouraged staff at the Observer to report ‘without fear or favour because he believed in editorial independence. But here he was harassing his top editorial executive.’

When the journalists refused to divulge their sources, King Mswati III was consulted and, according to Magagula, he was ‘seemingly persuaded that the only way out of the quagmire was to close the newspaper’.

The IPI reported at the time, ‘The board of directors of the entire Swazi Observer group of papers announced on 17 February that the paper was being shut down. Chairman of the Board Timothy Nhleko called in the entire staff and in a one-minute address announced that the paper was being closed immediately and that everyone should vacate the premises.

‘In a written statement, the management said the closure was due to restructuring and financial reorganisation. However, MISA sources said that at a strategic planning meeting sponsored by the board and shareholders in the previous week, a five-year plan had been drawn up for the paper. According to the source, there was no indication of financial difficulties at the paper. Reliable sources in Swaziland claim that the order to close the newspaper came verbally from the King.’


See also

‘EDITOR FLEES AFTER DEATH THREAT’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/editor-flees-after-death-threat.html
 

SWAZI GOVERNMENT FORCES NEWSPAPER TO CLOSE

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/swazi-govt-forces-newspaper-to-close.html

 

JOURNALISTS ‘SCARED TO DO THEIR JOBS’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/journalists-scared-to-do-their-jobs.html

SWAZILAND POLICE RAID MAGAZINE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2007/11/swaziland-police-raid-magazine.html

CLOSURE THREAT TO TIMES

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2007/11/closure-threat-to-times.html

GAMEDZE ‘BOUGHT NEWSPAPER EDITORS’

Newspaper editors in Swaziland were on the payroll of murdered businessman Victor Gamedze, Zweli Martin Dlamini the exiled editor of Swaziland Shopping has said.

Dlamini fled to South Africa after a tip-off that he was to be arrested because he had upset the powers in the kingdom where King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

His newspaper has been closed down by the Swazi Government. The reporting style of the Swaziland Shopper had also been criticised by the Swaziland Editors’ Forum.

In an interview with South Africa’s Mail & Guardian newspaper published on Friday (26 January 2018), Dlamini said, ‘The editors’ forum was captured by Victor Gamedze. Almost all the editors were on his payroll. You know the Guptas in South Africa? It was like that. The reason they were saying they are unhappy is that I was writing about somebody they regarded as untouchable. So when I exposed the guy, he would go back to them to complain.’

The Mail & Guardian reported, ‘The Swaziland Shopping published its last edition in December. Dlamini never got to publish his last major scoop: a sensational story detailing how Gamedze was plotting to assassinate Mswati, which was distributed instead on social media. The story was long on speculation but short on evidence and, just days after it was made public, Dlamini was warned to get out of dodge.

‘A month after Dlamini fled the country, Gamedze was shot dead in broad daylight, at a petrol station, where he had stopped to grab a cup of coffee. 

‘The murder rocked Swaziland’s political elite to its core. Gamedze was no ordinary businessperson. His connections went all the way to the top, to the king, and he used these to build himself a business empire. He ran the controversial Swazi Mobile and presided over Mbabane Swallows, Swaziland’s biggest football club. His wealth and his social status should have made him untouchable, but also made him plenty of powerful enemies.’

The Mail & Guardian reported that Gamedze was ‘especially controversial’. It quoted one anonymous ‘senior editor’ saying, ‘Victor had captured the media. He had a very low opinion of the media, believed it was too powerful, and he wanted everyone to write what he said. He had the ability to call and stop stories from being published.’

The Mail & Guardian reported, ‘One example: in 2014, Gamedze assaulted Baphelele Kunene, a journalist with the Swazi Observer, in front of the paper’s managing editor. Although Kunene reported the assault to the police, they took no action. Another newspaper, which reported on the assault, had its distribution of that edition disrupted.’

See also

‘EDITOR FLEES AFTER DEATH THREAT’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/editor-flees-after-death-threat.html

 

SWAZI GOVERNMENT FORCES NEWSPAPER TO CLOSE

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/swazi-govt-forces-newspaper-to-close.html

 

JOURNALISTS ‘SCARED TO DO THEIR JOBS’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/journalists-scared-to-do-their-jobs.html

KING’S ‘BUSINESS PARTNER’ ASSASSINATED

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/kings-business-partner-assassinated.html

KING’S ‘BUSINESS PARTNER’ ASSASSINATED

A controversial businessman with links to Swaziland’s autocratic King Mswati III was assassinated at a petrol station in the kingdom.

Victor Gamedze was shot twice in the head at the Galp filling station in Ezulwini on Sunday (14 January 2018).

Gamedze was the chairman of Swazi Mobile, a new telecoms company in Swaziland. It was surrounded by allegations of corruption and money laundering. King Mswati, who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, was accused of being in collusion with Gamedze and the Zambian President Edgar Lungu in a deal to establish a mobile phone company in Zambia using Swazi Mobile as a cover.

Swaziland is a secretive state where media are censored and it is difficult to uncover the true nature of Swazi Mobile. It is known that the company was awarded a licence to provide mobile phone services that started in July 2017. It beat other companies for the contract although it had no experience in the mobile phone business. Unusually in Swaziland, the company was swiftly launched only five months after the licence was given.

Within three months of the launch Gamedze told media in Swaziland the company had a stock value of E1.2 billion (US$98 million).

In June 2017 a report appeared in the newspaper Swaziland Shopping stating that King Mswati and Gamedze had forced Swaziland’s government to side-line rival parastatal Swaziland Post and Telecommunications Corporation (SPTC) from competing with Swazi Mobile. It said King Mswati and Gamedze had shares in Swazi Mobile.

The African News Agency reported the editor of Swaziland Shopping Zweli Martin Dlamini received a death threat. It reported Dlamini saying, ‘Shortly after publishing the story, I received a threatening call from Gamedze that lasted for 20 minutes where he vowed to “deal with me”. Later Communications Minister Dumsani Ndlangamandla summoned me to a meeting and told me that the King was not happy with the story and had ordered that the newspaper should be closed.’

Swaziland Shopping was closed by the Swazi authorities who claimed that it had not been properly registered even though the newspaper had been published since 2014 with no problem.

Dlamini fled to South Africa fearing for his life.

Meanwhile, media in Zambia have been reporting on meetings between King Mswati and President Lungu to set up a fourth mobile phone company in Zambia to be owned by the pair using proxies.

Gamedze was murdered in full view at a petrol station on Sunday at about 7pm. A witness told the Swazi Observer, ‘He started walking towards his car and then a man, wearing a white cap, followed him towards the car. When Gamedze was about to open his car door, the man withdrew his gun and placed it on the side of Gamedze’s head and shot twice. The man didn’t say a word. He just shot him. Gamedze went down while the man started walking towards a red VW Golf car which had been parked by the waiting room on the left side of the road heading to Mbabane.’

The Times of Swaziland reported two men were involved. ‘One of the gunmen, at close range, aimed the gun to Gamedze’s head and pulled the trigger. As soon as Gamedze hit the ground, the same gunman again aimed the gun at another side of his head and fired the second shot,’ it said.

The Observer said, ‘At the scene of the incident, senior Police officer Mxolisi Dlamini told journalists that the shooting looked like one that was planned well in advance.’

Police later said suspects linked to the shooting had been arrested while trying to cross into South Africa through the Lundzi Border post.

See also

SWAZI GOVT FORCES NEWSPAPER TO CLOSE

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/swazi-govt-forces-newspaper-to-close.html

 

EDITOR FLEES AFTER DEATH THREAT

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/editor-flees-after-death-threat.html

‘EDITOR FLEES AFTER DEATH THREAT’

Swazi King’s henchmen threaten to kill editor

Kenworthy News Media, 6 January 2018

SOURCE

Swazi editor Zweli Martin Dlamini has fled to neighbouring South Africa after he received death threats. He had written a story about absolute monarch King Mswati III’s shady dealings in the telecommunications industry, writes Kenworthy News Media.

Last June, editor of independent business newspaper Swaziland Shopping Zweli Martin Dlamini wrote and published a story about new telecommunications company Swazi Mobile, owned by King Mswati III and run by local businessman Victor Gamedze.

The punchline of the story was that the pair had forced Swaziland’s government to side-line rival government parastatal company SPTC from competing with Swazi Mobile – a new company that they and other high ranking officials, including the Prime Minister, owns shares in.

In 2012, SPTC had been ordered to switch of its fixed phones (landlines) and data components to make way for South African phone company MTC, which Mswati and the Prime Minister also had shares in.

Death threats
“Shortly after publishing the story, I received a threatening call from Gamedze that lasted for twenty minutes where he vowed to ‘deal with me’. Later Communications Minister Dumsani Ndlangamandla summoned me to a meeting and told me that the King was not happy with the story and had ordered that the newspaper should be closed,” Dlamini says.

After Swaziland Shopping was closed, Dlamini says he learnt that the police had a warrant for his arrest and that he would be poisoned in prison. A close ally of Victor Gamedze also told Dlamini that the businessman wanted him dead because he had revealed secrets about Swazi Mobile.

Dlamini says he subsequently fled to South Africa because he feared for his life.

And Swaziland’s police forces certainly do have a record of torturing – and occasionally murdering – those who challenge the King’s rule, as documented by Amnesty International and other human rights organisations.

No media freedom
The Swazi government have claimed that Swaziland Shopping was closed because it was not properly registered under the colonial-era Books and Newspapers Act of 1963, even though the newspaper has been published since 2014. The police also refuted that Dlamini was on the police “wanted list.”

Swaziland is however renowned for its government fabricating stories and its lack of media freedom, especially in regard to stories about King Mswati and his family and friends.

Swaziland is ranked 152th in Reporters Without Borders’ 2017 World Press Freedom Index. There is “no media freedom,” the NGO says. According to a 2014 report by African Media Barometer, journalists in Swaziland “face routine intimidation by the state.”

In 2007, King Mswati ordered the Times Sunday to print an apology and sack those responsible for a critical story about him, or he would close down the paper. In 2009, the editor of the Swazi Observer, owned by the king, nearly lost his job for writing about the King’s luxury cars.  And in 2014 the Times on Sunday editor was summoned by the King and told that stories relating to his property did not belong in the newspaper.

Victor Gamedze has also been known to threaten journalists who publish critical stories about his business dealings. In 2016, he allegedly assaulted a journalist from the Swazi Observer and ordered another fired because they wrote unfavourable stories about him and his football team.

International community must act
“In Swaziland, the media is being held hostage and been turned into spies for the state,” Zweli Martin Dlamini says. “For the calls for democracy to intensify, the media must be liberated so that the international community can know what is happening in Swaziland.”

Secretary General of the Media Workers Union of Swaziland, Sicelo Vilane, insists that the charges against Dlamini are fabricated and should be dropped, and that the international community must act against the lack of freedom of speech in Swaziland.

“No-one is allowed to report freely and Swaziland is one of the major violators of media workers’ rights, freedom of speech and -expression. Why are they not questioning the action of Mswati’s government?,” Vilane says.

See also

SWAZI GOVERNMENT FORCES NEWSPAPER TO CLOSE

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/swazi-govt-forces-newspaper-to-close.html

JOURNALISTS ‘SCARED TO DO THEIR JOBS’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/journalists-scared-to-do-their-jobs.html