LGBTI PRIDE GETS GLOBAL ATTENTION

International media extensively reported Swaziland’s first ever LGBTI Pride on Saturday. The tone of coverage about the pride parade and its organiser Rock of Hope was overwhelmingly positive, but King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, and the traditionalists who support him came under criticism.

CNN reported, ‘In Swaziland, same-sex relationships are illegal and the country maintains a colonial-era law against sodomy. The US State Department’s report on global human rights practices in 2017 stated that Swazi people open about their sexual orientation “faced censure and exclusion from the chiefdom-based patronage system.”

‘The pride celebration was not endorsed by King Mswati III.’

It added, ‘The small southern African country, recently renamed the Kingdom of eSwatini by its king, is Africa's last absolute monarchy and has a bleak record on LGBT rights. The country of 1.4 million also has the world’s highest HIV/AIDS rates and suffers from severe poverty.’

The BBC reported, ‘King Mswati III is widely reported to have called homosexuality “satanic”, while the country’s chief police communications officer, Khulani Mamba, who doubles up as a preacher, told his congregation last weekend that “this country will not tolerate the LGBTI community”, according to the Swazi Times.’

The Huffington Post reported, ‘Sodomy is illegal in eSwatini, which is also Africa’s last absolute monarchy. King Mswati III, who has ruled the country since 1986, has reportedly described homosexuality as being “satanic.”

It quoted Pride organiser Melusi Simelane who said threats and discrimination were a constant for Swaziland’s LGBTI community. 

It said, ‘There is persecution each and every day,” he told BBC last week. “We are harassed, we are violently abused, we are emotionally abused.”’

The Huffington Post added, ‘Matt Beard, All Out’s executive director, praised activists like Simelane for their courage and their ambition to hold the pride parade despite the risks and threats they’ve faced.

‘“The community and their allies painted the streets of this country rainbow, with a beautiful, colorful parade that was literally exploding with joy,” Beard wrote of the historic event in a Medium blog post. “At certain moments... the infectious joy of this community was so intense, it was difficult to hold back the tears. We were loud, proud and dignified. Nobody came to hurl hate, abuse (or worse) at us, as had been feared. Instead, this was a moment of community and personal empowerment.”’

By contrast, in the run up to the event on Saturday (30 June 2018), the Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, ran three articles calling LGBTI people ‘a curse’ and ‘evil’ and likening them to child sex molesters and people who have sex with animals. 

The international news agency AFP quoted Swaziland Government spokesperson Percy Simelane denying the kingdom had an anti-homosexual stance and said ‘it would be unfair to view the state as homophobic.’

Buzzfeed reported, ‘As far as Pride parades go, eSwatini’s [Swaziland’s] is less about flashy floats and flag-waving, and more about showing the public that LGBT people value family and community just as much as anyone else.’

See also

KINGDOM’S FIRST LGBTI PRIDE TAKES PLACE

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/07/kingdoms-first-lgbti-pride-takes-place.html

OBSERVER STEPS UP LGBTI HATE CAMPAIGN

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/06/observer-steps-up-lgbti-hate-campaign.html

LESBIAN AND GAY MURDERS IN SWAZILAND

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/03/lesbian-and-gay-murders-in-swaziland.html 

‘KING ROYALLY SCREWING SWAZILAND’

Huff Post, UK

Stephen Brown, Director of NGO Positive Women

8 September 2011

SOURCE

King Mswati III is royally screwing Swaziland

In August [2011] the South African government bailed out the small Kingdom of Swaziland to the alarming tune of R2.4b after the landlocked country lost a third of its revenue from a regional customs union. Most South Africans were bemused at propping up the undemocratic kingdom ruled by a man with more interest in what his wife is wearing than the schooling of thousands of orphans.

The plugging of Swaziland's budget deficit was already seen as somewhat peculiar given that according to Forbes magazine, the absolute ruler's estimated personal fortune is in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

And this was all before the most distasteful part of the story even emerged, because King Mswati III is audaciously demanding commission on a loan he supposedly negotiated with the Government of South Africa, despite being the one accused of fiscal mismanagement.

Yes, Mswati argues that because he spearheaded the deal he should receive around R200m in commission. You can't help but wonder if he's been watching too much Blackadder or has been inspired by the dealings of one Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter.

Mswatti is the Cowboy King of Swaziland. While he lounges around his many palaces pleasuring the 14 young wives he's married, his country has collapsed. Let me break it down for you; Swaziland has the highest HIV prevalence in the world with over a quarter of people aged between 15 and 49 living with the disease.

The impact of Swaziland's HIV/AIDS epidemic has been so severe that life expectancy is the lowest in the world2. The catastrophic effect of HIV and AIDS on Swaziland's mortality rates has created a society in which approximately 15%3 of the total population are orphans and vulnerable children, many of whom live in child-headed households. In short, Swaziland is a weak, starving nation with a greedy, gluttonous leader.

It's the type of situation that begs the question -why isn't Swaziland getting more international monetary support? But there lies the greatest of ironies. Whilst the Del Boy King of Swaziland bemoans his lack of commission on an emergency loan from South Africa, the reason Swaziland can't get more international support is because he's too wealthy. Yes, his wealth is so high that Swaziland is classified by the World Bank as a "middle-income country" meaning that the government can't work with other international institutions (insert optional 'FFS' here).

Mswati is literally royally screwing his country. He is presiding over a government of his choosing and under his influence spending international and government funding where he likes. The situation has become so ludicrous that even the usually sympathetic Global Fund is withholding money from the country, plunging thousands of organisations, like mine and the people we work with, into chaos and closure. These are the very people fighting to stop the loss of an entire generation to AIDS.

This is a Commonwealth country - an undemocratic member of the Commonwealth that bans all political parties, so you'd think our government would have something to say on it (assuming they could find it on the map). But a simple Google search shows you that we haven't heard a peep from either the Development Minister or the Foreign Affairs Minister about Swaziland since they came to office, which is odd given that countries such as Fiji have been threatened with expulsion from the Commonwealth for not holding free and fair elections.

But the people of Swaziland who for so long have remained silent, are beginning to stamp their feet. Just last May, whilst Mswati was toasting the future King William and his new bride at Buckingham Palace, thousands of ordinary Swazis took to the streets, despite the fiercest of police brutality, to argue for democracy.

And this week they're at it again, workers, trade unionists, ministers, civil society, teachers - all coming together to argue for a constitutional monarchy and democratic powers. And this is absolutely crucial because the people of Swaziland recognise that money isn't going to solve their problems on its own, it is politics. And they think the removal of the Cowboy King would be a good start.

Follow Stephen Brown on Twitter: www.twitter.com/LordBrownof