INTERNET RADIO LEGAL IN SWAZILAND

The Swaziland Government’s spokesperson has admitted that it is powerless to stop people in the kingdom setting up their own Internet radio stations.

Swaziland, ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, has strict controls over the media. Nearly all broadcasting is state-controlled with news and speech programmes heavily censored. The one independent TV station and one independent radio station in Swaziland self-censor so that no criticism of King Mswati and his supporters are allowed on the airwaves.

Swazi Governments have for many years refused to allow new radio stations – especially community stations – to operate so it can control what Swazi people are allowed to hear and say on air.

But a new station called Radio Sikuphe has challenged this. It broadcasts on the Internet and also on a low-powered transmitter inside Swaziland.

Earlier this month, Government Spokesperson Percy Simelane said Radio Sikuphe was broadcasting illegally on land and on the Internet, but now he has been forced to backtrack.

In a statement to local newspapers Simelane said it was not illegal to broadcast over the Internet. ‘If they are using internet and nowhere at any point do they use the country’s frequency then they are off the hook,’ he is reported saying.

He added it would still be illegal for Radio Sikhuphe to broadcast over the air in Swaziland, even if it was only doing so for short distances.

STUDENT LEADER ESCAPES ARREST

Classes across Swaziland were abandoned and some colleges and universities closed altogether yesterday (26 March 2012) as students took to the streets to peacefully protest against government scholarship cuts.

Police attempted to arrest Maxwell Dlamini, President of the Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS), when he tried to take the lead in the protest march in the kingdom’s capital, Mbabane. He had also hoped to address the students.

Students formed a human chain around Maxwell to allow him to escape. He then went into hiding for the duration of the protest.

Swazi media reported that between 600 and 1,000 students were on the march and the SNUS said 3,000 took part. Riot police sealed off roads to stop the students reaching the city centre.

Students were protesting about cuts in the number and value of scholarships awarded this year.

Police had tried to arrest Dlamini because they say he breached bail conditions by attending the protest. He is awaiting trial on charges of illegal possession of explosive charges.

SWAZI TEXTILE PAY STRIKE ILLEGAL

A court in Swaziland has declared a strike by workers demanding leave pay in the notorious ‘sweat shop’ textile industry illegal.

Although 2,500 workers had an agreement with Zheng Yong dating from 2008 that they would get paid leave, the company failed to pay this year, claiming it could not afford to do so.

The Industrial Court in Swaziland sided with the company when it said the agreement had been made in 2008 when the company’s performance had been good. But, it said last year business had been less good so it decided not to pay for leave.

The textile workers went on strike demanding payment for the 17 days annual leave.

Acting Judge Thulani Dlamini said the strike was illegal after the company claimed workers would become violent and put lives and property at risk.

The Swaziland textile industry is notorious for its bad pay and working conditions. In 2008 local media in Swaziland reported that textile workers were so poorly paid they were near ‘starvation’.

The Swazi Observer reported, ‘The workers themselves admit that they had developed strategies to confront starvation because what they earn can hardly see them through the week.’

Textile workers in Swaziland can earn as little as E400 (about US$60) per fortnight.

A plate of food on sale at factory gates in the industrial town of Matsapha costs between E5 and E8, depending on the quantity. At times two girls share the smaller plate of E5 and that sustains them until the end of the eight-hour working day, the Observer reported.

The US State Department, in its 2009 Country Report [on Swaziland] on Human Rights said, ‘These minimum wages did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Migrant workers were not covered under minimum wage laws. Wage arrears, particularly in the garment industry, were a problem.’

See also

SWAZILAND TEXTILE WORKERS NEAR STARVING

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2008/03/swaziland-textile-workers-near-starving.html

SWAZI WORKERS OPEN TO ABUSE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/01/swazi-workers-open-to-abuse.html

GOVT THREATENS FACEBOOK CRITICS

Swaziland’s Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs is threatening a clampdown on Facebook and Twitter users who say bad things about the kingdom.

Chief Mgwagwa Gamedze said he would use the law against people who criticise Swaziland on the Internet.

Most mainstream media in Swaziland, ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, are state controlled. Censorship on state TV and radio is common and one of Swaziland’s two daily newspapers is in effect owned by King Mswati. There is only one independent newspaper group in the kingdom and this censors itself when reporting about the Swazi royal family.

A number of blogs, Twitter accounts and Facebook sites have been created in recent years, many with the express purpose of furthering the campaign for democracy in Swaziland.

Many of them originate in the kingdom and others are based outside. They are the only freely-available source of news and comment critical of the king that is available inside Swaziland.

Chief Gamedze told the Swazi Senate that he would use what he called ‘international laws’ to bring the Internet critics to task. He was reacting to concerns from Senators that the Internet sites showed ‘disrespect’ to the king.

Chief Gamedze did not specify which laws he would use.

This is not the first time the Swazi Government has claimed it will attack Internet users. In May 2011 Nathaniel Mahluza, Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Information Communication and Technology, said the police had specially-trained officers to track down people who used Facebook to criticise the Swazi Government.

In March 2011, Barnabas Dlamini, the Swaziland Prime Minister, told Senators that his government would track down, arrest and prosecute Gangadza Masilela, a prominent Facebook activist.

Despite these threats, no arrests have been made.

See also

SWAZI POLICE TRACK FACEBOOK USERS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/05/swazi-police-track-facebook-users.html

SWAZI FACEBOOK CENSORSHIP THREAT

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/03/swazi-facebook-censorship-threat.html

STUDENTS TO MARCH AGAINST GOVT

Students in Swaziland are to march against the government on 26 March (2012) to protest against cuts in scholarships.

The Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) issued a statement confirming the action was still on after the Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, reported the march was off after an intervention by the kingdom’s Minister of Labour and Social Security, Lutfo Dlamini.

Maxwell Dlamini, President of SNUS, in a statement, said 10,000 students would take part in the action to try to force the government to reverse 60 percent cuts in the value of allowances made to first year university students this year; to give scholarships to 700 students admitted last year who did not receive scholarships at all and to increase personal allowances for all students.

He added SNUS was also demanding that government recognise it as a legitimate negotiator for students. Earlier in the week Lutfo Dlamini said he would not talk to the SNUS because it was not registered with the government.

See also

SWAZI STUDENTS DEMAND JUSTICE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2012/03/swazi-students-demand-justice.html

SWAZI UNIONS CALL TWO-DAY STRIKE

Public service unions in Swaziland will strike for two days starting April 11(2012) in a continuing protest over pay.

Four unions representing about 30,000 teachers, nurses and civil servants want a 4.5 percent pay increase, but the Swazi government, struggling to find enough money to pay its bills as the economy goes into meltdown, has refused.

Public servants say they will take to the streets in various parts of the kingdom, ruled by King Mswati III, who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, to draw attention to their claim.

They will hold various meetings in the coming week to finalise their plans, President of the kingdom’s teaching union Sibongile Mazibuko told local media.

She said mass demonstrations would take place all over Swaziland, in towns and in rural areas.

The protests coincide with the first anniversary of the failed ‘April 12 uprising’ in which a group of pro-democracy activists used Facebook to agitate for mass protests in Swaziland. Protests took place, but police and security forces quickly quelled them.

The unions involved are the National Association of Public Servants and Allied Workers Union, the Swaziland National Association of Teachers, the Swaziland Nurses Association and the Swaziland National Association of Government Accounts Professionals.