Swazi Media Commentary

Tuesday, 10 January 2017

STRIKE AT SWAZI KING’S SADC UNIVERSITY

Workers at the university in Swaziland that King Mswati III has chosen to spearhead his University of Transformation started a strike on Monday (9 January 2016) protesting about short-term contracts.

About 100 workers at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology took to the streets and blocked the university’s main gate.

The strike was led by the Swaziland Union of Non-Academic Staff for Higher Institutions (SUNASHI).

The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, reported SUNASHI Secretary General Fundizwi Sikhondze saying, ‘The staff is concerned that the university offers them short employment contracts. The staff is offered as little as a year’s contract while some get two years.’

Limkokwing has been chosen by King Mswati, who is both sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch and the Chair of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), to house a University of Transformation to take students from across the SADC region by August 2017.

The Observer reported Sikhondze saying, ‘We believe the university is not a fly-by-night institution and will be in the country for years to come. The government of Swaziland is constantly investing large amounts to the institution and that gives us hope that it is not going anywhere. Why can’t the university invest in its staff and employ them on a permanent basis?’

Sikhondze said the strike came after the university’s management and staff failed to reach a consensus on their grievances.

Limkokwing Vice Chancellor Professor Cedric Bell reportedly said the strike was set to coincide with examinations at the university and cause maximum disruption.

A statement from Limkokwing management published in the Observer read in part, ‘The university has served notice of a lock out on the union and those staff who choose to exercise their lawful right to strike will not be paid during the period of labour withdrawal and are not to come onto the campus.’

Limkokwing was the centre of controversy in 2016. In December, a Swaziland parliamentary committee ordered an investigation into the standard of qualifications held by academic staff at the university. Students had petitioned the Swazi Government saying many lecturers only held Bachelor degrees and had just themselves qualified from the university.

Limkokwing has been at the centre of continuing protests from students about standards of teaching and equipment since the university opened in 2011. According to its website, Limkokwing in Swaziland only offers ‘associate degrees’ which are at a level below Bachelor degrees and in many institutions are known as diplomas.

Thursday, 5 January 2017

PUBLIC SERVANTS READY TO STRIKE

Public servants in Swaziland say they want a minimum 70 percent pay increase and they are prepared to take to the streets to achieve it.

Public servants have been at loggerheads with the Swazi Government for years over pay and conditions. Many international groups such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) say Swaziland already devotes too much of its overall public spending to public servant salaries.

In 2016, the Voice of America reported public sector workers in Swaziland had called for increased pay for the past 10 years. The government had often said the global economic downturn had made it difficult to meet these demands.

In 2016, public servants received a 17 percent increase. Members of Parliament got a 32 percent increase in salaries.

The Times of Swaziland, Swaziland’s only independent daily newspaper, reported on Tuesday (3 January 2017) that Aubrey Sibiya, President of the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), said the demand would be achieved by hook or crook.

The Times reported, ‘Sibiya noted that unionists were ready and prepared to leave their workstations and fill up the streets in demand of what they believe is theirs. He further said civil servants’ remuneration in the country was pathetic as compared to other countries in the region.’

Sibiya reportedly said if civil servants did not get better pay, ‘the poor will live miserably while the rich do the opposite’.

In September 2016, the Times reported that the Swazi Government had been exposed making ‘empty promises’ to the IMF that it would control public spending. The Government, which is hand-picked by King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, had promised only to increase public sector salaries in line with the cost of living. Instead salaries rose 17 percent adding an estimated E300 million (US$22.14 million) to government spending.

Wednesday, 4 January 2017

KING DEMANDS RESPECT FROM SUBJECTS

Swaziland’s absolute monarch King Mswati III has told his subjects they must demonstrate respect to authorities of the kingdom at all times.

The King, who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, said this in a speech to mark the end of the Incwala ceremony. Incwala is a controversial ceremony that takes place between November and January each year. Traditionalists say Incwala is a ‘national prayer’, but Christian groups have criticised it for being ‘un-Godly’ and ‘pagan’. The ceremony is shrouded in secrecy and participants are barred from talking about what happens.

In Swaziland, political parties are not allowed to contest elections and groups that advocate for democracy are banned under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. Trade unions are harassed and in January 2015 Swaziland lost preferential trading rights with the United States because of its refusal to allow human rights in the kingdom.

The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, reported on Tuesday (3 January 2017) the King encouraged the nation, ‘to continue with the good spirit of respect they always display among one another and towards royal commands and duties’.

The newspaper added, ‘The King said a person who has no respect for elders and authority of the land does not last long on earth.’

The newspaper reported, ‘He said once a royal command had been issued, a person has to abandon all they are doing and respond to the command. “There is nothing as significant as respect in whatever you do. I urge the nation to stick to respect because a person who is without respect is no human and they perish from earth at a tender age just because they lack respect. You must also instil respect to the young ones so that they grow to be responsible members of the society,” he said.’

Swaziland has been under the international spotlight for a number of years because of the lack of human rights in the kingdom. A survey published in December 2016 reported the kingdom had the worst record among 36 countries in Africa when answering the question, ‘In this country how free are you to join any political organisation you want?’ only 7 percent responded, ‘completely free.’

Tuesday, 3 January 2017

SWAZILAND LAST ON POLITICAL FREEDOM

Swaziland came a long way last in a survey of 36 African countries looking at political freedom.

Of those asked, ‘In this country how free are you to join any political organisation you want?’ only 7 percent responded, ‘completely free.’

Swaziland, which is ruled by King Mswati III who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, came last in the survey of 36 African countries. Egypt and Sudan came second bottom with scores of 27 percent.

The survey was conducted by Afrobarometer in April 2015 and results released just before Christmas 2016.

In addition, only 18 percent of those surveyed said they had complete freedom of speech and 56 percent said they had complete freedom to vote.

Political parties are not allowed to take part in elections and most of the political groupings in Swaziland that advocate for democracy have been banned under the King’s Suppression of Terrorism Act.

The Swazi people 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.

Afrobarometer reported that 56 percent of those surveyed agreed ’Government should have the right to ban any organisation that goes against its policies.’

Afrobarometer reported that the survey on human rights coincided with the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). With the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), it formalizes the right to peaceful assembly (Article 21) and freedom of association (Article 22), among other fundamental human rights.

The report quoted the UN Special Rapporteur saying, ‘freedoms of assembly and association “are a vehicle for the exercise of many other civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, allowing people to express their political opinions, engage in artistic pursuits, engage in religious observances, join trade unions, elect leaders, and hold them accountable.” As such, they play “a decisive role” in building and consolidating democracy.

‘All African countries except South Sudan are signatories or state parties to the ICCPR, committing them to “take positive measures to establish and maintain an enabling environment” for associations – which can be anything from a prayer group to an online discussion group, a demonstration, a labor union, a political party or – yes, as long as it’s peaceful – a birthday party. No participant in an association should have to fear harassment, a travel ban, or a smear campaign, much less violence or detention.’

Afrobarometer reported, ‘Freedom of association clearly goes hand in hand with other freedoms and democracy: In places where citizens feel free to associate, they also tend to feel free to speak and vote their minds, and they perceive their countries as functioning democracies.’

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