PRESIDENT ‘BANNED’ FROM SWAZI SENATE

Swaziland’s Senate President Gelane Zwane has been ‘banned’ from attending parliament for up to two years because she is a widow in mourning. Minister of Labour and Social Security Winnie Magagula has met a similar fate.

Magagula was stopped from attending the opening of parliament on Friday (16 February 2018).

The two senior politicians have been caught up in Swazi tradition which dictates that a woman should mourn her husband for two years and in that time must stay away from public office and not be close to the King and his mother. King Mswati III rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

Zwane confirmed to the Times of Swaziland newspaper that she would be staying away from parliament where she is leader of the Senate. It is also speculated that she will not be eligible to stand in the national election due later in 2018, nor can she be appointed to any official position until two years have elapsed. Her husband Michael was cremated last week.

Meanwhile, Magagula was stopped from attending the official opening of parliament where King Mswati made his annual speech from the throne. Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Paul Dlamini told her not to attend. She separated from her husband Enock Mfanyana Magagula in 1994 and he died last year.

The Sunday Observer newspaper in Swaziland reported (18 February 2018), ‘Magagula revealed that the DPM also informed her not to come close to any royal residence, Parliament and anywhere where Their Majesties were present. The minister said when she queried Dlamini on the suspension she was told it was according to Swazi culture.’

The newspaper added, ‘She stated that she would follow the directive by the DPM seeing as he was her elder and she was socialised into obedience.’

The DPM said Magagula could continue her duties as a minister.

The issue of Swazi culture and mourning contradicts Section 28 of the Swaziland Constitution which guarantees that women have the right to equal treatment with men, including equal opportunities in political, economic and social activities.

Women in Law in Southern  Africa Swaziland Chapter Director Colani Hlatshwayo told the Sunday Observer mourning culture put women at a disadvantage. She said Swaziland had signed United Nations’ treaties that encouraged women to participate in politics.

Simangele Mtetwa, who is responsible for gender issues in the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), told the Swazi Observer (19 February 2018) the action against Magagula was, ‘Totally unacceptable, and I condemn it in the strongest terms it deserves. This paints a gloomy future for all women in the country.’

She added if the  authorities were serious about the development of the kingdom such practices needed to stop because they were discriminatory in their nature. 

There was a major row at the election in 2013 when Dumisani Dlamini a chief’s headman in Ludzibini, an area ruled by Chief Magudvulela a former Swazi Senator, threatened people would be banished from their homes if they nominated Jennifer du Pont, a widow, for the upcoming election. 

The Times Sunday reported at the time, ‘[Dlamini] warned that those who would nominate her should be prepared to relocate to areas as distant as five chiefdoms away. Her sin was that she attended the nominations only a few months after her husband died.’

The newspaper reported, ‘He said she should still be mourning her husband.’

The Times reported Du Pont did not wear standard black mourning gowns and was dressed in a blue wrap-around dress known as sidvwashi.

Enough people in the chiefdom defied Dlamini and Ms du Pont was duly nominated.

In April 2017, Elections and Boundaries Commission commissioner Ncumbi Maziya told a voter education meeting at Bulandzeni Chiefdom that women in mourning had a constitutional right to stand for election. 

However, the Swazi Observer (3 April 2017) reported, ‘He said a person wearing a mourning gown was not allowed to be near His Majesty the King. If a certain constituency elected a person in such a situation, it was highly possible that the woman could not attend the Parliament opening event, where the King would also be in attendance. Maziya said that was when a woman would have to exercise conscience by at least standing by the gate of Parliament, to avoid being near the King.’

See also

‘VOTE FOR WIDOW, GET EVICTED’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/vote-for-widow-get-evicted.html

SWAZI KING STRENGTHENS PM’S POWER

Swaziland’s absolute monarch King Mswati III has granted his Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini unlimited power to intervene in the business of any government department.

The move comes after the President of the Swazi Senate Gelane Zwane, questioned the power of the Prime Minister.

Neither Dlamini nor Zwane were elected to office; both were directly appointed by the King.

In Swaziland political parties are banned from taking part in elections. Elections which take place every five years (the last was in 2013) are only for 55 of the 65-member House of Assembly. The other ten members are appointed by King Mswati III. No members of the 30-strong Swaziland Senate are elected; 20 are appointed by the King and 10 are selected by the House of Assembly. 

The King appoints all government ministers and the kingdom’s top judges.

News of the change was tabled in the Swazi Parliament on Monday (22 February 2016) although the legal notice had been signed by the King in November 2015.

The Times of Swaziland reported that the King had revoked the Assignment of Responsibilities to Ministers Notice 2009 which had been in force since the current ministries were set up. 

The new legal notice N0.189 of 2015 was signed by the King on 10 November 2015 at Lozitha Palace. It confirms S70 of the Swaziland Constitution which states, ‘The King may, after consultation with the Prime Minister, assign to the Prime Minister or any other Minister responsibility for the conduct of any business of the Government including the administration of any department of Government.’

The Times reported on Wednesday (24 February 2016), ‘When asked by this reporter why he had waited so long to table the Legal Notice or working instrument, the PM said it had always been his intention to table it in Parliament and that is why his office had even bounded it to make it presentable to the legislators. 

 ‘“However, with the sudden turn of events when my responsibilities have been questioned by the Senate President, Gelane Zwane, I also felt it was proper to inform the legislators as early as possible,” said Dlamini.’

This was a reference to an on-going dispute between the Prime Minister and the Senate President about the powers of the PM. In a speech at the opening of the Swazi Parliament on 12 February 2016 Zwane warned the PM about taking powers that were not his and said he was only ‘chairman of cabinet and leader of government business in parliament’.

A PICTURE OF POWER IN SWAZILAND

This is the picture that demonstrates the true power of King Mswati III, the absolute monarch of Swaziland.

It shows the President of the Swazi Senate Gelane Zwane on her knees before the King. According to the caption of the picture which first appeared in the Times of Swaziland newspaper, King Mswati ‘gives instructions’ to her ahead of the opening of Parliament in 2013.

In Swaziland political parties are banned from taking part in elections. Elections which take place every five years (the last was in 2013) are only for 55 of the 65-member House of Assembly. The other ten members are appointed by King Mswati III. No members of the 30-strong Swaziland Senate are elected; 20 are appointed by the King and 10 are selected by the House of Assembly. 

The people do not elect a government.  The Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers are appointed by the King. Only a man with the surname Dlamini can, by tradition, be appointed as Prime Minister. The king is a Dlamini.  

PAPER MUST PAY RECORD LIBEL DAMAGES

Media freedom advocates have criticised Swaziland’s Supreme Court for awarding record libel damages against the kingdom’s only privately-owned daily newspaper in favour of the Senate President Gelane Simelane-Zwane.

Africa Echo Ltd, which runs the Times of Swaziland group, was ordered to pay Simelane-Zwane, who is better known in the kingdom as Gelane Zwane, E550,000 (US$50,000) after it published stories stating that she had lied about her birth name.

The Swazi News newspaper had reported in 2009 that Zwane was not born a Simelane and this would make her ineligible for her then office as acting chief of KoNtshingila. At the time she was engaged in a battle to retain the chieftaincy which depended on her being a Simelane.

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Swaziland chapter said in a statement, ‘This recent ruling has sent further chills through Swaziland's already heavily censored and fearful media.’

It added, ‘The three judges who handed down the ruling - Nigerian-born Esta Ota; American Bar Association member Stanley Moore; and Lesotho-born chief justice Michael Ramodibedi - emphasised the high-status of Simelane-Zwane in Swazi politics and society, suggesting the more powerful one is the more they deserve from a defamation case.’

MISA added, ‘In silencing the media the judiciary is ultimately harming the prospects of the nation. Without open and unfettered debate, progress will only benefit the fortunate few at the top.

‘In suppressing sincerely held opinions or inconvenient truths in the name of respect, the judiciary is displaying remarkable disrespect for the principles of natural justice and tolerance. If freedom of speech is continually trampled on, the image of Swaziland in the eyes of the world will continue to decline. It is not the so-called “disrespectful” or “offensive” speech that causes the problems; it is the criminalizing and silencing of that speech, of that open debate, which causes the problems.

‘In handing out disproportionate rulings in defamation cases in the name of protecting the powerful, the judiciary is harming Swaziland’s constitution, which should be protecting free speech and media freedom.’

Reporters Without Borders called the award of damages ‘exorbitant’ and added it was ‘tantamount to a death sentence’ for the Times of Swaziland.

Cléa Kahn-Sriber, head of the Reporters Without Borders Africa desk, said in a statement,  ‘This damages award, the largest ever made against a Swazi publication in a libel case, is out of all proportion to the harm the newspaper is alleged to have caused the plaintiff, said. In the light of the financial situation of Swaziland’s media, one can only regard this exorbitant award as a government attempt to throttle the country’s only independent daily. We call for this ruling to be overturned as its sole aim is to gag the media.’

The three Supreme Court judges giving their judgement said the newspaper had been reckless in not checking its facts before publishing the stories.

See also

POLICE THREAT TO ANTI-CHIEF PROTEST

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/10/police-threat-to-anti-chief-protest.html

 

SENATE PRESIDENT CENSORSHIP THREAT

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/01/senate-president-censorship-threat.html

DIVORCE ‘BAN’ FOR SWAZI MPs

Swazi parliamentarians have been instructed not to get divorced during the next five years as this would embarrass King Mswati III.

Gelane Zwane, the president of the Swazi Senate, also told them not to have sexual affairs with Parliament staff.

Zwane gave her instructions during a two-day workshop to orientate members of parliament and senators on their role. This follows the recent national election.

Zwane told the members of parliament and senators on Monday (25 November 2013) to forget about divorce now that they were in parliament as it was embarrassing not only to themselves but to the King as well, the Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati reported.

Zwane directed most of her comments to women parliamentarians, the newspaper reported.

The Observer reported, ‘Speaking during the orientation workshop of the parliamentarians yesterday, Zwane said if they had problems with their spouses, they should find alternative ways of avoiding embarrassing situations such as divorce. 

‘She said if anyone of them was already in the middle of a divorce process, they should just stall and wait until their term of office was over.’

She added it was bad to associate the King with people who are seen to be leaving their spouses once they get into leadership positions such as those in parliament.

She added, ‘Such things are embarrassing to come from parliamentarians. Do it for the King at least for the next five years, then sort your personal issues after the end of your term.’

King Mswati himself has at least 14 wives (the exact number is a state secret). One had a very public affair with a serving cabinet minister before being expelled from the Royal Household. Another two of his wives reportedly fled the King and are now in exile. 

Zwane also warned MPs not to have ‘intimate relationships’ with parliamentary staff.

The Observer reported her saying, ‘You are going to find very beautiful ladies in parliament offices. Don’t you dare get intimate with them, no matter how tempting.

‘We would have to discipline these people because once they get intimate with honourables, they feel important and it becomes very difficult to work with them. We would have to discipline them, or even fire them, and this could cause problems for parliament.’

See also

KING’S WIFE THROWN OUT OF PALACE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/11/kings-wife-thrown-out-of-palace.html

NO TOP PARLIAMENTARIANS WERE ELECTED

None of the major office holders in King Mswati III’s new parliament in Swaziland was elected by the people.

The latest is Gelane Zwane who has become President of the Swaziland Senate.

Zwane, who last week was appointed to the Senate by the king, was elected Senate president unopposed. This will be the third term that Zwane has served as Senate President.

Ngomuyayona Gamedze was also elected unopposed as Deputy President. Gamedze too was appointed to Senate by the king. It will also be Gamedze’s third term in the position.

All senior positions in the Swaziland Parliament have now been filled following the national election in September 2013. None of them were elected by the people.

The Prime Minister, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, the President and Deputy President of Senate were all appointed to Parliament by the king, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

In addition this week King Mswati appointed six members of his own family to the Senate and earlier this month he appointed a further six to the House of Assembly.

All political parties were banned from contesting the election in September. The people were only allowed to contest 55 of the 65 seats in the House of Assembly. King Mswati appointed the other 10. The king appointed 20 of the 30-strong Senate House. The other 10 were elected by members of the House of Assembly. None were elected by the people.

Following the election on 20 September two independent international organisations that monitored the poll separately called for the Swaziland Constitution to be rewritten.

The African Union mission reported 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 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.’

Separately, the Commonwealth Observer Mission said the constitution needed to be rewritten so that King Mswati’s powers were reduced. It also said political parties should be allowed.  

See also

AU WANTS REVIEW OF SWAZI CONSTITUTION

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/10/au-wants-review-of-swazi-constitution.html

KING APPOINTS SIX OF HIS FAMILY TO SENATE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/10/king-appoints-6-of-his-family-to-senate.html

POLICE THREAT TO ANTI-CHIEF PROTEST

Swaziland’s Police National Commissioner Isaac Magagula has warned residents they will not be allowed to stage a protest march to one of King Mswati’s many palaces.

Residents of KoNtshingila in the Shiselweni region have a long-running grievance against the king and traditional authorities because they have not had a substantive chief in their area for 27 years.

Chief Gelane Zwane, who was Senate President until parliament was dissolved in September, has been acting chief for that time, according to local media.

Protests against Zwane have been ongoing for many weeks and police have attacked protesters with teargas and gunshots to stop them from venting their dissatisfaction.

Residents want Zwane to step down and a substantive chief appointed in her place.

Last month (September 2013), Zwane obtained a High Court order to stop residents ‘harassing’ her.

Eight of the residents have been charged with sedition for engaging in unlawful protests and demonstrations.

Residents of KoNtshingila met on Saturday (12 October 2013) and decided to march to Ludzidzini Royal Residence to stage a sit-in, should their grievances not be resolved.

At a media conference, Police Chief Magagula called the residents ‘a mob’ and said police would not allow the march to go ahead. He said ‘traditional protocols’ had not been followed.

In Swaziland, King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. He appoints chiefs to act on his behalf within their own chiefdoms. Residents often referred to as ‘subjects’ are expected to obey without question the instructions of the chiefs.

SENATE PRESIDENT CENSORSHIP THREAT

Senate president insults journalists, threatens censorship

Media Institute for Southern Africa Swaziland

Statement

Sunday, 20 January 2013

Swaziland Senate president Gelane Zwane has insulted and threatened journalists for turning up to a meeting to which they were invited, according to reports in the Times of Swaziland, the country’s oldest privately-owned newspaper. 

Zwane, who was in attendance at the meeting, held Thursday, 17 January 2013, to prepare for the opening of parliament, allegedly uttered rude words in the direction of journalists. The alleged insult was uttered in the local language, SiSwati. 

“F****** ngalabantufu betindzaba,” she said, much to the shock of all, including the Speaker of Parliament, Prince Guduza, who was seated next to her, reported the newspaper.

Loosely translated, the insult reads as: “F*** off news people”. 

The Times of Swaziland article also reported:

“Zwane further went on to say if anything that had been discussed yesterday [Thursday] was published in the media then she would ensure that those journalists were banned from covering the 2013 State Opening of Parliament slated for next month.”

Zwane’s outburst apparently came after the clerk of parliament, Ndvuna Dlamini, who had convened the meeting, said he wanted to say something but couldn’t because the media were present. 

“It was at this point that Zwane interjected and said she was glad Dlamini has mentioned this. ‘Last year the media came here and published all that was discussed at this meeting, said Zwane’.”

The Times of Swaziland article, written by Sibongile Sukati, went on to say that “the media was invited by the office of the Clerk of Parliament and no instructions were given that the event should not be covered”. 

The Swaziland chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Swaziland) has repeatedly spoken out against this kind of treatment of the country’s journalists. 

MISA-Swaziland National Director, Vuyisile Hlatshwayo, has appealed to Zwane to use the Editors Forum, Swaziland National Association of Journalists (SNAJ), or MISA to address whatever grievances she may have against the media.

“No matter what might have happened you don’t address other professionals like that. Journalists are responsible for information dissemination in the country. Swazis in positions of power need to learn that no one is more Swazi or patriotic than other Swazis,” said Hlatshwayo.