KING’S AIRPORT FAILS TO ATTRACT AIRLINES

Swaziland’s King Mswati III airport dubbed a vanity project for the King and a white elephant has failed to attract any new airlines in the four years since it opened, the kingdom’s civil aviation authority has admitted.
 

This was despite continued claims that airlines from across the world wanted to use the airport at Sikhuphe built at an estimated cost of US$250 million in the wilderness in southeastern Swaziland about 70 km from a major city.

Sabelo Dlamini, Swaziland Civil Aviation Authority (SWACAA) Marketing and Communications Director, told the Observer on Saturday newspaper (14 July 2018) a number of presentations had been made to airline services, but so far none had agreed to fly into the airport.

The Swazi Government also failed to launch its own airline called Swazi Airways. It was claimed it would fly to 10 countries once it had become fully operational.  The destinations were the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia, Rwanda, South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda and Botswana. The airline closed for business in April 2017 when it became clear the tiny kingdom could not afford a single aircraft. Even so, E20 million (US$2 million) had been spent on leasing a 29-year-old Boeing 737-300 that never once flew commercially. In addition, an estimated E750,000 a month was paid to 23 airline staff who had no work to do.

There has been constant misinformation about the prospect of airlines choosing to use the airport. In October 2009, King Mswati claimed Etihad Airways from the Gulf State of Abu Dhabi was showing ‘deep interest’ in using the airport. 

In May 2011, the Swazi Observer reported Sabelo Dlamini saying, ‘We have established possible routes which we want to market to the operators. Some of the proposed routes from Sikhuphe are Durban, Cape Town, Lanseria Airport in Sandton, Harare and Mozambique.’ 

In June 2012 he told Swazi media that at least three airlines from different countries had ‘shown interest’ in using the airport, but he declined to name them. He remained optimistic about the prospects for the future and said SWACAA was talking to airlines in other countries as well. 

Then in February 2013 SWACAA Director General Solomon Dube told media in Swaziland, ‘We are talking to some including Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airline and various Gulf airlines.’ 

In March 2013 SWACAA claimed five airlines had signed deals to use the airport when it eventually opened, but an investigation by Swazi Media Commentary revealed that two of the airlines named did not exist. It also said Botswana Airways would use the airport, but it did not.

In October 2013 SWACAA claimed it had targeted small and medium business travellers to use the airport. It said low-cost airlines were interested in using it for business travellers who might want to fly to nearby countries ‘on a daily basis’.

In March 2016 Minister of Public Works and Transport Lindiwe Dlamini said Air Mauritius would fly from the airport.

In January 2016 the Swazi Observer reported Swazi Air was ready to fly to Dubai, Cape Town, India and Durban.

KMIII Airport was built on the whim of King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as one of the world’s last absolute monarchs. No research was undertaken to determine the need for the airport.

Critics argued for years that there was no potential for the airport. Major airports already existed less than an hour’s flying time away in South Africa with connecting routes to Swaziland and there was no reason to suspect passengers would want to use KMIII airport as an alternative.

During the 11 years it took to build the airport was called Sikhuphe, but the name was changed in honour of the King when it officially opened in March 2014.

The airport cost an estimated E2.5 billion (US$250 million) to build.

In October 2013 a report from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said the airport was widely perceived as a ‘vanity project’ because of its scale and opulence compared with the size and nature of the market it sought to serve.

Since it opened only one commercial passenger airline, Swaziland Airlink, which is part-owned by the Swazi Government, has used the airport. The airline was forced to move from the Matsapha Airport, even though an independent business analysis predicted the airline would go out of business as a result. 

See also

AIRPORT MOVE WILL ‘BANKRUPT AIRLINK’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/03/airport-move-will-bankrupt-airlink.html  

PROOF: KING’S AIRPORT POINTLESS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/02/proof-kings-airport-pointless.html

KING EATS OFF GOLD, CHILDREN STARVING

In the week that King Mswati III the absolute monarch of Swaziland / Eswatini received dining room and lounge furniture made of gold as birthday gifts it is reported that children collapsed with hunger in their school because the government had not paid for food for them.

The kingdom had previously been warned to expect children to starve because the Swazi Government had not paid its suppliers for the food that is distributed free of charge at schools. The shortage is reported to be widespread across the kingdom.

The Times of Swaziland, reported on Thursday (7 June 2018) that at least eight children had collapsed through hunger at of KaKholwane Primary School.

It reported the school’s headteacher Smangele Mtsefwa, saying it was because of a lack of food at the school.

The Times reported, ‘Yesterday morning, she said a Grade II pupil soiled herself after she experienced severe stomach cramps due to hunger, while others bled through their nostrils.’

The newspaper added, ‘In most cases, she said pupils complained of hunger, adding that they had gone without a meal for two days.’

The Times reported, ‘Mtsefwa said those in lower grades were more prone to falling ill, while pupils in the senior classes slept on their desks.’

‘She said the school kitchen had been locked since the beginning of the term and they were not preparing any meals for the pupils.’

On Monday King Mswati received gifts of furniture made of gold and at lest E15 million (US$1.2 million) in cheques to mark his 50^th birthday that fell on 19 April 2018. On that day he wore a watch worth US$1.6 million and a suit weighing 6 kg studded with diamonds. Days earlier he had taken delivery of his second private jet. This one, an Airbus A340, cost US$13.2 to purchase but with VIP upgrades was estimated to have cost US$30 million.

Meanwhile, seven in ten of the 1.1 million population live in abject poverty with incomes less than the equivalent of US$2 per day. The global charity Oxfam named Swaziland as the most unequal country in the world in a report that detailed the differences in countries between the top most earners and those at the bottom.

In February 2018, children in Swaziland were warned to prepare themselves for starvation as the government once again failed to deliver free food to schools. The Swazi Observer reported at the time that schools relying on government aid – known as the zondle programme – ‘must brace themselves for starvation as the Ministry of Education and Training has failed to deliver food to schools on time’.

It said food had been promised by the Minister of Education and Training Dr Phineas Magagula last year but it had still not arrived in many schools.

It reported school principals said some pupils were sick and on medication and depended on the food which was provided at school. 

It quoted one principal who wanted to remain anonymous, ‘The pupils should brace themselves for starvation because there is no available food in the school, and they have exhausted the food that was left last year.’

Principals in schools around the Shiselweni region told the newspaper that some pupils went to school without having eaten anything and relied on the feeding  programme. ‘They cannot stand the long hours on empty stomachs,’ one said.

Acting Principal at the Ministry of Education and Training Dr Sibongile Mtshali told the Observer food would be delivered to various schools soon, but did not specify the exact date of delivery. 

The schools hunger crisis has been going on for at least a year. In August 2017, members of parliament in Swaziland accused the Ministry of Education and Training of lying in a report on severe hunger in the kingdom’s schools.

They were told that the crisis was over and that school committees were stealing food intended for children.

A progress reported tabled to the Swazi House of Assembly by Minister of Education and Training Phineas Magagula was rejected. The shortage escalated after the government did not pay its bills to suppliers. The food includes rice, mealie-meal, cooking oil, beans, and peanut butter. 

In a report in May 2017, the World Food Program estimated 350,000 people (a third of the population) in Swaziland were in need of food assistance. WFP helped 65,473 of them. It said it was regularly feeding 52,000 orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) aged under eight years at neighbourhood care points. About 45 percent of all children in thought to be OVCs.

It reported chronic malnutrition affected 26 percent of all children in Swaziland aged under five.

See also

SWAZI CABINET’S GIFT OF GOLD

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/06/swazi-cabinet-gift-of-gold-to-king.html

  

‘CHILDREN COULD SOON DIE OF HUNGER’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/06/children-could-soon-die-of-hunger.html

BAD FOOD POISONS 200 PUPILS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/06/bad-food-poisons-200-swazi-pupils.html

NO FOOD SO SCHOOLKIDS SENT HOME

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/06/no-food-so-schoolkids-sent-home.html
 

HUNGER FORCES SCHOOLS TO CLOSE EARLY

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/02/hunger-forces-schools-to-close-early.html

ELECTION BOARD AWAITS KING’S COMMAND

Swaziland’s Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) Chair Chief Gija Dlamini says he is waiting for King Mswati III’s command before opening the polls.

King Mswati rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Although elections are held every five years international polling observers say they are bogus.

Political parties are not allowed to take part in the election and the King choses the Prime Minister and cabinet members. Only a man with the surname Dlamini can by tradition be appointed as Prime Minister. The King is a Dlamini.  

The King is in control of Swaziland ahead of the 2018 election and he will be in control after it, regardless of which individuals the people vote into the House of Assembly.

Political debate is severely curtailed in the kingdom and advocates for multiparty democracy are regularly arrested and charged under the Suppression of Terrorism Act or the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act.

Chief Gija Dlamini, himself a member of the Swazi Royal Family, told the Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the King, that preparations were ready for the election. All he needed was the King’s command.

The Observer reported on Wednesday (18 April 2018), ‘He said once the King had given the required command, they would announce the beginning of registration for elections to the nation.’

It quoted him saying, ‘All systems are ready for the commencement of the national duty, and we cannot just announce before we get the King’s command, which will give us the go ahead to announce dates for registration.’

The election process is surrounded by misinformation. In February 2017 the Observer reported Dlamini speaking on behalf of the King. It quoted him saying, ‘If any Swazi fails to register to vote for the upcoming 2018 national elections then they are abandoning their basic right of choosing their own leader, thus hurting the whole kingdom in the process because they would be silencing their own voice because voting unites the kingdom and gives all people a voice and a chance to be counted, but most fundamentally of all, Swazis through voting, have the right to choose who they feel will lead them to the future.’

Dlamini made the comments at a consultative meeting on civic education for traditional leaders at Pigg’s Peak on 2 February 2017.

However, he misled his audience and those who read his statement in the newspaper. The Swazi people have no say in who their leaders are. They are only allowed to select 55 of the 65 members of the House of Assembly, the other 10 are appointed by the King. None of the 30 members of the Swaziland Senate are elected by the people; the King appoints 20 members and the other 10 are appointed by the House of Assembly.

He also choses senior civil servants and top judges. The elections have no real purpose other than to give King Mswati a fig leaf of democracy. The Swazi Parliament has no powers. King Mswati can, and does, overrule decisions he does not like. This was the case in October 2012 when the King refused to accept a vote of no confidence passed by the House of Assembly on his government, even though he was obliged by the constitution to do so. 

After the last election in 2013 a number of groups that had been official observers of the process reported the election was not free and fair. 

The official report of the Commonwealth Observer Mission called for a review of the kingdom’s constitution. It said members of parliament ‘continue to have severely limited powers’ and political parties are banned. 

The Commonwealth observers said there was ‘considerable room for improving the democratic system’.

They called for King Mswati’s powers to be reduced. ‘The presence of the monarch in everyday political life inevitably associates the institution of monarchy with politics, a situation that runs counter to the development that the re-establishment of the Parliament and the devolution of executive authority into the hands of elected officials,’ it said.

The report said the constitution needed to be revisited with an open debate on what changes were necessary.

It added, ‘This should ideally be carried out through a fully inclusive, consultative process with all Swazi political organisations and civil society (if needed) with the help of constitutional experts.’

The African Union (AU) also 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.’ 

The AU called on Swaziland to implement the African Commission’s Resolution

on Swaziland in 2012 that called on the Government, ‘to respect, protect and fulfil the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of assembly’.

Richard Rooney

See also

EARLY ELECTION CAMPAIGNING ILLEGAL

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/early-election-campaigning-illegal.html

 

FALSE CLAIM OVER SWAZI DEMOCRACY

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/02/false-claim-over-swazi-democracy.html

 

THE CASE FOR POLITICAL PARTIES

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-case-for-political-parties.html

 

SWAZI ELECTION ‘WILL BE A FRAUD’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/02/swazi-election-will-be-fraud.html

CONFUSED STATUS OF SWAZI WIDOWS

The Swaziland King has ordered widows to immediately remove their mourning gowns so that they can take part in his 50^th birthday celebrations.

But at the same time it has been confirmed that widows cannot contest the forthcoming national election.

 

In Swaziland tradition has it that a widow must wear a mourning gown for two years after the death of her husband and then go through a cleansing ceremony.

Now, acting Ludzidzini governor Lusendvo Fakudze, who is known as the voice of the King, has ordered all widows to remove their mourning gowns with immediate effect. The King, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, celebrates his 50^th birthday on Thursday (19 April 2018.) So-called 50/50 Celebrations are planned on that day to mark his birthday and also the 50^th anniversary of Swaziland’s Independence from Great Britain that falls on 6 September 2018.

The Ludzidzini governor is also know as the traditional prime minister and has more status in the kingdom than Barnabas Dlamini the man King Mswati appointed Prime Minister to lead the cabinet the King also hand-picked.

The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the King, reported on Wednesday (11 April 2018) the order came from the King and was communicated by Fakudze through state radio.

It reported him saying, ‘Women are expected to down their mourning gowns with immediate effect. This is done in preparation for the 50/50 celebrations.’

He also said that women who lost their husbands before the 50/50 celebrations were not expected to wear mourning gowns even after the celebrations.

The order contradicts a separate directive given by Fakudze that widows would not be allowed to stand in the national election that is due at a date later in 2018 yet to be set by the King. Fakudze told the Swazi Observer (12 April 2018) they would not be allowed to contest the election until they had been in mourning for two years and gone through a cleansing ceremony.  

The newspaper reported, ‘Elections and Boundaries Commission Chairperson Chief Gija Dlamini also confirmed that women who lost their husbands could register for elections only after the two-year mourning period and cleansing ceremony.’

Coordinating Assembly for Non-Governmental Organisations (CANGO) Communications Officer Nkosing’phile Myeni said the directive was unconstitutional. Section 28 of the Swaziland Constitution stated, ‘Women have the right to equal treatment with men and that right shall include equal opportunities in political, economic and social activities.’ 

The Swazi Observer reported on Friday (13 April 2018) he also said Section 28 (3) made provisions for women not to be compelled to observe cultural norms that they did not agree with. The section states, ‘A woman shall not be compelled to undergo or uphold any custom to which she is in conscience opposed.’

See also

WIDOWS STILL CAN’T STAND IN ELECTION

http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/widows-still-cant-stand-in-election.html

 

PRESIDENT ‘BANNED’ FROM SWAZI SENATE

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/president-banned-from-swazi-senate.html

‘VOTE FOR WIDOW, GET EVICTED’

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

WIDOWS STILL CAN’T STAND IN ELECTION

Widows in mourning in Swaziland will not be allowed to contest this year’s national election, the kingdom’s top traditionalist has ruled.

He contradicts a message sent by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) last year.

Lusendvo Fakudze, the acting Ludzidzini Governor, is considered to be the voice of King Mswati III on traditional matters. The Ludzidzini Governor is sometimes called ‘the traditional prime minister’ and has more authority than Barnabas Dlamini, the man the King appointed Prime Minister in the House of Assembly.

King Mswati rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Political parties are banned from taking part in the election and the King chooses the Prime Minister and top government ministers.

Fakudze told the Swazi Observer (12 April 2018), a newspaper in effect owned by the King, that widows would not be allowed to contest the election until they had been in mourning for two years and gone through a cleansing ceremony.  

The newspaper reported, ‘EBC Chairperson Chief Gija Dlamini also confirmed that women who lost their husbands could register for elections only after the two-year mourning period and cleansing ceremony.’

The announcement contradicts what the EBC said in April 2017. EBC commissioner Ncumbi Maziya told a voter education meeting at Bulandzeni Chiefdom that women in mourning had a constitutional right to stand for election, but he added that there might be problems for a widow if she were elected.

The Swazi Observer reported at the time,  ‘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.’

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 du Pont was duly nominated.

Elsewhere, during the primary elections nomination held in August 2013, an 18-year-old woman was denied the chance to be nominated to stand for parliament because she attended the nomination centre dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. 

In another case a woman was not allowed to nominate a candidate because she was wearing cargo pants.

In February 2018 it was reported Swaziland’s Senate President Gelane Zwane had 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 met a similar fate.

See also

PRESIDENT ‘BANNED’ FROM SWAZI SENATE

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/president-banned-from-swazi-senate.html

‘VOTE FOR WIDOW, GET EVICTED’

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

KING WANTS LAND BACK FROM S. AFRICA

One of the newspapers of autocratic Swaziland King Mswati III is pressing for action for the kingdom to claim large parts of South Africa, including the capital Pretoria, for the Swazi people.

The Sunday Observer said (4 March 2018) ‘some Swazis’ believed now was the right time to reclaim land ‘lost’ to South Africa during the Colonial era.

The newspaper reported the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in South Africa, ‘successfully moved a motion of land expropriation without compensation, which has since sparked wide spread debate over Swaziland’s pursuit of reclaiming its lost land from South Africa. 

‘Some Swazis believe that this is the right time for South Africa to consider giving back some parts of the country taken during colonial era.’

Swaziland has already formed a Border Determination Special Committee (BDSC) which the King wants to negotiate with South Africa over returning land occupied by people of Swazi descent.

The Observer reported, ‘According to the BDSC, the old map of Swaziland showed that South Africa’s administrative capital of Pretoria and larger portions of the Gauteng, Limpompo and KwaZuluNatal Provinces belong to the Swazi nation.’

The newspaper said it was unable to contact BDSC chairman Prince Guduza for comment.

In March 2017 the BDSC met with newspaper editors in Swaziland to press its case. The Observer on Saturday, another newspaper in effect owned by the King, who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, reported at the time that the committee, ‘revealed that its mandate as directed by the King is to recover all the Swazi land lost during the colonial era, both on the east, west, south and north which goes as far as Pretoria and the Limpopo province.’

The newspaper reported the BDSC told the meeting that the presently landlocked kingdom should stretch to the Indian Ocean and include parts of modern-day Mozambique.

The BDSC was promoting what it called ‘Pan-Swazism’, the newspaper reported. This was ‘to instil a sense of belonging to all Swazis even outside the current borders of Swaziland’.

It added, ‘The Pan-Swazism is of the assertion that it is globally accepted that Swazis have King Mswati III as their king and that this is true even to Swazis that are living in the Republic of South Africa.’

Lutfo Dlamini, a member of the committee, reportedly said the Swazi King was rightly accepted as the leader of all Swazis.

Thabiso Masina, the committee’s ex-officio member from the Attorney General’s office, said land was lost to the Swazis as a result of concessions to the white settlers around the 1840s. He said no Swazi king had in fact signed the land away.

The Observer reported him saying the Swazis were never defeated in war to warrant for the nation to relinquish any of its land. 

The BDSC said there was already a draft agreement between Swaziland and South Africa that they would solve the land dispute amicably.

 See also

‘HELP END SWAZI ABSOLUTE MONARCHY’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/help-end-absolute-monarchy.html

MORE CRIME FEARS IN SWAZILAND

Residents in Swaziland are being attacked in their own homes, a local newspaper reported.

The Swazi Observer said on Wednesday (7 February 2018) that criminals were ‘brazenly attacking residents in their own houses in suburbs’.

It reported on two break-ins in Coates Valley, Manzini where thieves attacked a family with bush-knives. A local security company has issued a warning urging residents to stay alert. 

The Observer reported, ‘Some members of the public even suggested that there is a need to engage in neighbourhood patrols in the affected areas just like it is done in South Africa. Some members of the public went to the extent of suspecting that it might be “Amabenjamin Gang” members who have since moved from Ezulwini area to terrorise Manzini residents.’

This type of crime in Swaziland is not unusual. A report published in May 2017 by the United States State Department Bureau of Diplomatic Security called Swaziland’s capital city Mbabane a ‘critical-threat location’ for crime.

Reviewing 2016, it stated street robberies were prevalent and they happened at all times of the day. Criminals usually brandished knives or machetes. Swaziland experienced violent deaths on a frequent basis. ‘Some of the murders have been particularly gruesome,’ the Swaziland 2017 Crime & Safety Report stated. Rapes occurred ‘frequently’.

On crime threats, the report stated, ‘The general crime rate is above the U.S. national average. Although criminals considered Mbabane and Manzini prime grounds for operation due to the number of people, businesses, and affluent areas, the rate of crime reported in small towns and rural areas increased in 2016. There are some local crime gangs but no organized crime.

‘Congested urban areas are particularly dangerous at night; and occasional daytime larceny has been reported. The presence of pedestrians should not be taken as an indication of a secure/safe environment. Suspects have found themselves pursued and beaten by by-standers.

‘Residential burglary and petty theft are the most commonly reported crimes, with street robberies being the most prevalent. They occur at all locations regardless of the time. Criminals are generally interested in cell phones and cash.’

The report added, ‘Criminals usually brandish edged weapons (knife, machete) and occasionally firearms and will resort to deadly force if victims resist. The general modus operandi of robbers is to target residences or businesses that have little/no security measures in place. They will use force if necessary but rely on the threat of force to commit the act.

‘While the number of murders per capita remains lower than some African countries, Swaziland experiences violent deaths on a frequent basis. Some of the murders have been particularly gruesome. Victims have been found decapitated, and body parts were mutilated or removed. Some are a result of disputes among criminal groups.

‘Rapes occur frequently and tend to be perpetuated on isolated/desolate urban and rural areas or roads.’

The response time of Swazi police to incidents is described as, ‘slow, if at all, unless the police are in the general area where the incident occurred. Police consider a 30-minute response time adequate, even in urban areas. Police are generally willing to assist but often lack transportation and resources to properly respond to, or investigate, crimes.’

There was a 6.1 percent increase in serious crime in the kingdom in 2016 when compared to 2015, the 2016 Royal Swaziland Police Service annual report stated. The increase included murder, culpable homicide, armed robbery, car theft, house breaking and theft, robbery, illegal possessions of firearms, drugs and terrorism. 

In March 2017, the Times of Swaziland reported there was a great deal of concern in neighbouring South Africa about crime in Swaziland. 

The newspaper reported that Swaziland’s main commercial city Manzini was considered, ‘a haven for International crime kingpins who have become so sophisticated that they are supplying shops with fake cosmetics and counterfeit drugs’.

It added, ‘Human trafficking is also a crime regarded as a serious problem in the country, which led to a Parliament probe being launched following a high number of nationals from Asian countries being found in the country without legal documentation while others suspected of obtaining citizenship illegally.’

The growing of dagga [marijuana] was another crime that refused to go away, the Times reported.

It added, ‘These incidents suggest that there is a whole lot more criminal activity taking place than what meets the eye. As a country with one of the highest expenditure on national security, Swaziland should be a country no criminal should dare to set foot.’

See also 

SWAZILAND A WORLD HOTSPOT FOR CRIME

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/swaziland-world-hotspot-for-crime.html

CHILDREN TOLD ‘PREPARE FOR STARVATION’

Children in Swaziland should prepare themselves for starvation as the government once again fails to deliver free food to schools, a school principal has warned.

At the start of the new year a continuing food crisis is hitting schools across the kingdom, despite government promises that it had solved the problem.

At the heart of the crisis is the Swazi Government’s inability to pay food suppliers.

In the latest twist in the saga the Swazi Observer reported on Thursday (1 February 2018) that schools relying on government aid – known as the zondle programme – ‘must brace themselves for starvation as the Ministry of Education and Training has failed to deliver food to schools on time’.

It said food had been promised by the Minister of Education and Training Dr Phineas Magagula last year but it had still not arrived in many schools.

It reported school principals said some pupils were sick and on medication and depended on the food which was provided at school. 

It quoted one principal who wanted to remain anonymous, ‘The pupils should brace themselves for starvation because there is no available food in the school, and they have exhausted the food that was left last year.’

Principals in schools around the Shiselweni region told the newspaper that some pupils went to school without having eaten anything and relied on the feeding  programme. ‘They cannot stand the long hours on empty stomachs,’ one said.

Acting Principal at the Ministry of Education and Training Dr Sibongile Mtshali told the Observer food would be delivered to various schools soon, but did not specify the exact date of delivery. 

The schools hunger crisis has been going on for at least a year. In August 2017, members of parliament in Swaziland accused the Ministry of Education and Training of lying in a report on severe hunger in the kingdom’s schools.

They were told that the crisis was over and that school committees were stealing food intended for children.

A progress reported tabled to the Swazi House of Assembly by Minister of Education and Training Phineas Magagula was rejected. The shortage escalated after the government did not pay its bills to suppliers. The food includes rice, mealie-meal, cooking oil, beans, and peanut butter. 

In a report in May 2017, the World Food Program estimated 350,000 people of Swaziland’s 1.3 million population were in need of food assistance. WFP helped 65,473 of them. It said it was regularly feeding 52,000 orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) aged under eight years at neighbourhood care points. About 45 percent of all children in thought to be OVCs.

It reported chronic malnutrition affected 26 percent of all children in Swaziland aged under five. 

See also

‘CHILDREN COULD SOON DIE OF HUNGER’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/06/children-could-soon-die-of-hunger.html

BAD FOOD POISONS 200 PUPILS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/06/bad-food-poisons-200-swazi-pupils.html

NO FOOD SO SCHOOLKIDS SENT HOME

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/06/no-food-so-schoolkids-sent-home.html

 

HUNGER FORCES SCHOOLS TO CLOSE EARLY

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/02/hunger-forces-schools-to-close-early.html

GAME RANGERS SHOOT-TO-KILL AGAIN

Game rangers in Swaziland shot dead a man hunting food for his family and wounded another in the latest example of the kingdom’s ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy against poachers.

The Swazi Observer newspaper reported on Wednesday (15 November 2017) the men begged for their lives but the rangers shot them anyway.

It happened near Somntongo in Lavumisa. The dead man was named as Caiphas Mpisi Zwane. The newspaper said he was in a hunting expedition with a friend Mxolisi Tebe Mbhamali on 10 November 2017. 

The newspaper said, ‘It is said they were seen trespassing by rangers who then followed them as they were leaving with game that they had already killed. 

‘Zwane was gunned down by the rangers while his friend also got shot but he managed to flee with the bullets lodged in one of his legs.’

The Observer said that following the recent drought that killed livestock people have been hunting game to survive and have been trespassing onto private land.

The newspaper said the two were spotted by rangers but it was too late for them to flee.

It added, ‘Having managed to apprehend the two poachers, it’s unclear what actually then led to the rangers decided to shoot them. 

‘The two tried to reason with the rangers where they asked for forgiveness, but the rangers opened fire, hitting the target.’ 

It said, ‘Reports are that as the rangers opened fire which thundered all over the area, their bullets hit Zwane on the thigh and also riddled him near the stomach, killing him instantly.’ 

Other bullets hit Mbhamali on one of the legs but he managed to escape.

Police are reported to be investigating the incident.

In May 2017 it was reported that game rangers shot dead a ‘mentally challenged’ man they suspected of poaching at Inyoni Yami Swaziland Irrigation Scheme (IYSIS), Sihhoye. The Swazi Observer reported at the time rangers shot the man who had lived all his life on the roadside and was known to the rangers who assaulted him and ‘finished him off as he ran for dear life’.

The newspaper called it ‘cold blooded murder’.

It came at a time when a United Nations’ group was questioning Swaziland about a law that gives game rangers immunity from prosecution for killing any person suspected of having poached and just after Survival International reported Swaziland ‘appears’ to have a shoot-on-sight policy that allows game rangers to kill suspected poachers.

The United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) questioned the Swazi Government about the Game Act (No. 51/1953) as amended in 1991, which gives conservation police personnel (game rangers) immunity from prosecution for killing any person suspected of having poached, in line with the Covenant, and to train game rangers in human rights.

In April 2017, Survival International wrote to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, saying Swaziland ‘appears’ to have a shoot-on-sight policy that allows game rangers to kill suspected poachers.

In its letter it said, ‘We say “appears” because usually the policy is not defined by any law, or even written down.  As a consequence, nobody knows when wildlife officers are permitted to use lethal force against them, and it is impossible for dependents to hold to account officers whom they believe to have killed without good reason.’

Stephen Corry, Survival International Director, said the shoot-on-sight policy directly affected people who lived close to game parks and guards often failed to distinguish people hunting for food from commercial poachers.   

There has been concern in Swaziland for many years that game rangers have immunity from prosecution and can legally ‘shoot-to-kill’.

In 2016, the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations (SCCCO) reported to a United Nations review on human rights in Swaziland, ‘There are numerous cases where citizens are shot and killed by game rangers for alleged poaching as raised by community members in several communities such as Lubulini, Nkambeni, Nkhube, Malanti, Sigcaweni, and Siphocosini.’

In January 2014, Swaziland’s Police Commissioner Isaac Magagula said rangers were allowed to shoot people who were hunting for food to feed their hungry families.

Magagula publicly stated, ‘Animals are now protected by law and hunting is no longer a free-for-all, where anybody can just wake up to hunt game whenever they crave meat.’ 

He told a meeting of traditional leaders in Swaziland, ‘Of course, it becomes very sad whenever one wakes up to reports that rangers have shot someone. These people are protected by law and it allows them to shoot, hence it would be very wise of one to shun away from trouble.’

See also

 

RANGERS ‘CAN SHOOT TO KILL’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/07/rangers-can-shoot-to-kill.html

TRUE FACE OF INJUSTICE IN SWAZILAND

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/01/true-face-of-injustice-in-swaziland.html

KING LETS GAME RANGERS SHOOT-TO-KILL

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/01/king-lets-game-rangers-shoot-to-kill.html