Media standards in Swaziland poor, need for wide-ranging reforms, report states

The media in Swaziland (eSwatini) need wide-ranging reforms but these will be difficult because of the kingdom’s ‘repressive political environment’, a new report found.

The standard of journalism in the kingdom where King Mswati III rules as an absolute monarch need to improve, the African Media Barometer (AMB) said.

It said there were ‘challenges  with regards to accuracy and fairness’.

It said there had been some improvements in recent years but, ‘issues such as unbalanced stories, misquotes, exaggerated headlines as well as spelling and grammatical errors mar reporting standards’.

The AMB report was written by a panel of 12 people all working in Swaziland. There were five from the media and seven from civil society. They met over three days in October 2018.

In its report AMB said, ‘Another challenge is the skewed reporting of eSwatini society. The media do not always fairly represent all voices in society, including minorities. For instance, women’s voices in the media continue to be marginalised to a great extent while content continues to be male-dominated. Similarly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) issues are not often covered by the media and when they are, they are reported in a negative way. Persons with disabilities are also marginalised both in news content and in the newsrooms.’

AMB also found, ‘Self-censorship and corruption, which are common in newsrooms, also affect media professionalism and the integrity of the news. Panellists pointed to the extremely low salaries combined with the poor working conditions of journalists as a cause of corruption. 

‘Corruption is not only prevalent amongst the lowest paid journalists, but also occurs with editors and managers. The close relationship between the media and political or business elites contributes to corrupt behaviour in the higher echelons of the media.’

The wide-ranging 65-page report added, ‘Lack of ‘access to information’ legislation ensures that accessing public information is difficult. The Official Secrets Act and other cultural practices restrict the media in their efforts to obtain information and report freely on the activities of government. Accessing information for ordinary citizens, particularly those in rural communities, is not easy. In 2007, the government released a draft Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Bill, however, 11 years later, the Bill has not been passed.’

AMB concluded, ‘There is no doubt that eSwatini needs wide ranging media reforms. This could be achieved through a concerted advocacy effort by civil society organisations. However, over the years, the effectiveness of civil society has declined due to the repressive political environment and dwindling donor funding. The Swaziland National Association of Journalists (SNAJ) needs resuscitation to ensure its effectiveness. The Media Workers Union of Swaziland (MWUS) needs to be inclusive of media organisations including the Times of Swaziland, the only independent newspaper in the country. The recently formed Swaziland Media Consortium (SMC) made up of eight media bodies is a step in the right direction. The SMC operates under the Coordinating Assembly of Non-Governmental Organisations.’

See also

Journalists in Swaziland endure year of harassment as they try to do their jobs

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/05/journalists-in-swaziland-endure-year-of.html

Increase in support for free press

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2016/05/increase-in-support-for-free-press.html

Making media freedom in Swaziland is more than a dream

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/08/making-media-freedom-in-swaziland-is.html 

Swaziland Govt minister is far from truth when she praises media freedom in kingdom

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/11/swaziland-govt-minister-is-far-from.html

Censorship total at Swazi state media

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/05/censorship-total-at-swazi-state-media.html

Swaziland nurses refuse to treat patients until they get protective equipment

Nurses in Swaziland (eSwatini) will refuse to treat patients until the government supplies them with protective clothing. They fear they might catch the coronavirus. 

Members of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union marched on the Swazi Ministry of Health to deliver a petition.

They say there is no suitable equipment available and want gloves, masks, soap, sanitizers and gowns. They added some hospitals did not even have running water.

The march on Tuesday (17 March 2020) came on the same day the kingdom’s absolute monarch King Mswati III declared a state of emergency. Schools, colleges and universities will close indefinitely and gatherings of 50 people or more are banned. There are also travel restrictions.

Separately, nurses at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital (RFM) reportedly refused to treat patients on Monday.

The Swaziland News, an online newspaper, reported they were demanding protective clothing. It said some patients had to return home without being treated.

According to a report in 2019 from the World Health Organisation there were not enough doctors, nurses and support staff in Swaziland. It stated the kingdom had an inadequate health workforce in both numbers and skills. 

See also

Swaziland King declares state of emergency over coronavirus. Schools closed, foreign travel suspended

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/03/swaziland-king-declares-state-of.html

Swaziland teachers and Govt argue over whether schools should close during coronavirus outbreak

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/03/swaziland-teachers-and-govt-argue-over.html

 

Swaziland nurses plan protest march over lack of coronavirus equipment

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/03/swaziland-nurses-plan-protest-march.html
 

Calls for ban on public gatherings and border closure as Swaziland hit by coronavirus

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/03/calls-for-ban-on-public-gatherings-and.html

Swaziland King declares state of emergency over coronavirus. Schools closed, foreign travel suspended

King Mswati III the absolute monarch of Swaziland (eSwatini) has declared a national emergency in response to the coronavirus crisis.

Schools, colleges and universities will close immediately and indefinitely. All public and private gatherings of 50 or more people including conferences, funerals, weddings, entertainment and sporting activities are suspended until further notice.

Foreign nationals from high-risk coronavirus countries will be restricted from entering the kingdom.  Swazi residents returning from high-risk countries will be subjected to screening and are required to self-isolate for 14 days. Non-essential travel to all other countries is suspended for all Swaziland subjects.

The measures were announced by Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini on Tuesday (17 March 2020). Good Friday and Easter services are suspended as are celebrations of the King’s birthday in April and Army Day.

Also visitations to hospitals will be restricted and visits to correctional facilities suspended altogether. The state of emergency will be in place for at least two months.

As of 17 March 2020 only one person in Swaziland has been diagnosed with the virus.

 

 See also

Swaziland teachers and Govt argue over whether schools should close during coronavirus outbreak

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/03/swaziland-teachers-and-govt-argue-over.html

 

Swaziland nurses plan protest march over lack of coronavirus equipment

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/03/swaziland-nurses-plan-protest-march.html
 

Calls for ban on public gatherings and border closure as Swaziland hit by coronavirus

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/03/calls-for-ban-on-public-gatherings-and.html

Swaziland teachers and Govt argue over whether schools should close during coronavirus outbreak

Teachers and the government in Swaziland (eSwatini) are arguing about closing schools during the coronavirus crisis.

The Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) told its members not to teach but the Minister of Education later said SNAT had no authority to close schools.

At a press conference on Monday (16 March 2020) SNAT President Mbongwa Dlamini said the Occupational Safety and Health allowed staff to remove themselves from danger when they had a justifiable reason to believe they were in imminent and serious risk within the workplace.

He added the Swazi Government was not doing enough to combat coronavirus.

Later, Lady Howard Mabuza, the Minister of Education and Training, told the Swaziland News, an online newspaper, that SNAT had no authority to order school closures. She said, ‘The law they are using does not allow them to just leave the workplace and shut down schools, they have a legal obligation to engage the employer first. For now, we appeal for claim, Prime Minister will issue a statement soon on the next step.’

Responding, Mbongwa Dlamini said its members would not report for duty. ‘The way government is handling this issue suggests that she doesn’t care with lives of our members and we have a duty to protect them,’ he said.

Separately, Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini was criticised in the House of Assembly for ‘its deafening silence’ over the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Times of eSwatini reported members wanted to know if the birthday celebrations of absolute monarch King Mswati III would still take place in April and whether Easter services were going to be held.

The eSwatini Observer reported the Prime Minister was expected to make a statement on Tuesday (17 March 2020).

Meanwhile, neighbouring South Africa has declared a state of emergency and closed many border posts, including six of the 11 it has with Swaziland. Swaziland is a landlocked kingdom surrounded by South Africa and Mozambique.

As of 16 March 2020 there had been only one reported confirmed case of coronavirus in Swaziland.

See also

Swaziland nurses plan protest march over lack of coronavirus equipment

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/03/swaziland-nurses-plan-protest-march.html

 

Calls for ban on public gatherings and border closure as Swaziland hit by coronavirus

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/03/calls-for-ban-on-public-gatherings-and.html

Swaziland nurses plan protest march over lack of coronavirus equipment

Nurses in Swaziland (eSwatini) plan to march on the Ministry of Health to protest at the lack of protective clothing and other equipment to tackle the coronavirus crisis.

Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union President Bheki Mamba said the kingdom had minimal items in health facilities. He said even the little protective clothing available was old and was left over from the novel influenza A (H1N1) virus outbreak in 2009.

Mamba accused the Swazi Government of not telling the truth about the level of supplies available. 

Nurses intend to march on Tuesday (17 March 2020). 

Swaziland has only one confirmed case of coronavirus as of 16 March 2020. Two centres are being prepared to be used to quarantine patients as the virus spreads. The known case is at Lubombo Referral Hospital.

Mamba said protective clothing was not available for all staff at the hospital.

Even before coronavirus struck Swaziland’s public health service was in meltdown. The government which is not elected but handpicked by absolute monarch King Mswati III had run the economy into the ground. Medicine and equipment was in short supply because bills to suppliers had been left unpaid.

Following a visit to Swaziland in early 2019 the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported there were not enough doctors, nurses and support staff. Its report stated, ‘The country has inadequate health workforce in both numbers and skills. The distribution of health workforce is also skewed in favour of urban areas with some rural health facilities having staffing gaps. Other health workforce challenges include; retention of skilled staff due to frequent rotation of workers especially nurses; and government absorption of donor funded positions.’

WHO added, ‘The distribution of health facilities and access to essential health services create inequities between rural and urban populations.’

Prior to the WHO visit there were reports of deaths caused by lack of medicines. At least three patients using the Nhlangano Health Centre were said to have died because they could not get drugs to control their blood pressure.

There have been reports across Swaziland that hospitals cannot afford to feed patients and vital medicines have run out. 

In December 2018 the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Mbabane Government Hospital was reported to be close to shut-down because equipment was not being maintained. People were dying because of this, it was reported.

In September 2018 it was reported at least six children in Swaziland had died from diarrhoea and many more were sick because the government was broke and could not pay for vaccines. It would cost US$6 for the vaccine to immunise a child.

In June 2018 it was revealed there were only 12 working public ambulances in the whole of Swaziland because the government failed to maintain them. It had bought no new ambulances since 2013.

See also

Swaziland health crisis getting worse as budgets cut. Rural areas most affected

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/02/swaziland-health-crisis-getting-worse.html

More deaths in Swaziland as government fails to pay medicine suppliers

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/05/more-deaths-in-swaziland-as-government.html

 

Report: patients die as Swaziland government hospital runs out of cash

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/01/report-patients-die-as-swaziland.html
 

Medicine shortage: five die

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/06/medicine-shortage-five-die.html

Calls for ban on public gatherings and border closure as Swaziland hit by coronavirus

Calls are growing in Swaziland (eSwatini) for the borders to be shut, mass gatherings banned and schools to be closed as the coronavirus spreads in the kingdom.

Swaziland had one confirmed case as of Sunday (15 March 2020).

Submissions made by the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) stakeholders said people travelled into neighbouring South Africa daily and this might encourage the spread of the virus.

Sicelile Zwane, of the National Emergency Response Council on HIV and AIDS (NERCHA), said the Ministry of Health should to issue a statement on public gatherings. 

The Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) a vocal critic of the government stepped up its calls for action. It had previously called for a temporary closure of all schools, colleges and universities and now wants to see all public gatherings such as community meetings, nightclubs, gyms, church services such as the national Easter services, and celebrations such as the upcoming King’s birthday, stopped indefinitely. 

In a statement widely circulated on social media it also called for all borders and points of entry such as the King Mswati III Airport closed down.

It added, ‘The Government must engage in a vigorous activity of distributing masks, sanitisers and other protective gear to Swazi citizens, particularly in public places such as towns, cities, malls and churches. This will enhance both adaptation and mitigation strategies.

‘All our health centres should be capacitated to a level at which they would be able to admit and deal with coronavirus cases.’

It added, ‘Our health practitioners must be adequately capacitated as well to handle such novel cases.’

Meanwhile the Swazi Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini at a press conference urged people not to hold large gatherings but he did not issue a ban on them. Sports events and the Bushfire Festival in Swaziland have already been postponed.

He announced an external travel ban for politicians and government officials for ‘the next couple of weeks’.

Swaziland registered its first coronavirus case on Friday (13 March 2020.) It was a 33-year old woman who was said to have returned from the United States at the end of February and then went to Lesotho. She returned to Swaziland on 7 March.

She was admitted to Lubombo Referral Hospital where she was said to be in a stable condition. 

Lubombo is one of only two facilities in Swaziland that have been identified to quarantine patients. Health workers at the hospital protested that they had not been equipped to deal with coronavirus patients.

Bheki Mamba, president of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU), said the hospital itself was not ready to receive the patient and the room that was identified as the place where patients would be quarantined did not even have a bed. Nurses had no protective clothing. 

He told the Times Sunday newspaper in Swaziland, ‘Everything is now being done hurriedly. The room is just not proper to accommodate someone who is being quarantined because it doesn’t have its own toilet yet the patient should do everything in isolation to avoid him getting into contact with other people.’

The Times reported,  ‘Mamba stated that it would be difficult for health care workers to respond to this case because of the lack of equipment and medical supplies.’

Mamba said, ‘We’ve spoken many times about the issue of equipment and staff shortage but government is failing to cooperate with us to address the challenges of staff, equipment and staff.’ He added his union met with government for the first on Friday.

See also

Swaziland teachers’ union calls for all schools, colleges and universities to close in wake of coronavirus

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/03/swaziland-teachers-union-calls-for-all.html

Swaziland journalist ‘tortured by police after criticising absolute monarch in newspaper articles’

Swaziland journalist and former government cabinet minister Mfomfo Nkambule said he was tortured by police after he wrote articles critical of absolute monarch King Mswati III.

Nkambule writes for the online newspaper Swaziland News.

In an interview he told the newspaper that on Thursday (12 March 2020) police raided his home and seized electronic gadgets. He said he was taken to Manzini police regional headquarters where he was harassed and tortured.

He told the Swaziland News, ‘They tortured me saying I risk being charged with high treason and under the terrorism law.’ He said police complained about articles he wrote critical of the political system.

In Swaziland political parties are barred from contesting elections. Groups that advocate for democracy are banned under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. King Mswati appoints the prime minister and the cabinet. He also chooses top judges and civil servants.

Swazi police spokesman Superintendent Phindile Valakati, told the newspaper, ‘We summoned Nkambule seeking clarity on his published articles. However, we didn’t torture him.’

Mfomfo Nkambule

Earlier this week the editor of Swaziland News Zweli Martin Dlamini told the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s Media Monitor programme that police raided his home after he published articles in his newspaper. He said police tied him up and suffocated him with a plastic bag. He was speaking from South Africa and said he feared returning to Swaziland (eSwatini).

In December 2019, Dlamini called for an investigation after Nkambule reported he had been the victim of an attempt by a government minister and members of an elite group linked to the Swazi Royal Family to poison him at a braai. 

This followed an article in Swaziland News in which Nkambule wrote, ‘He [the King] has given us the status of servants in this country. As servants, we do not have any right whatsoever. We have no right to vote, no right to form political parties, no right to form a government of our choice, no power to legislate and to appropriate resources. We need a referendum on the King!’

Nkambule has been a critic of the political system in Swaziland and the role of the monarch for many years.

He attracted international attention in 2008 and 2009 for outspoken articles he wrote each week in the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper.

Nkambule specialised in criticising Swazi Royalty and the traditionalists who supported the King.

Nkambule, who had formerly been Health and Social Welfare Minister appointed by the King, was hauled in by Swaziland’s state police and threatened with torture if he continued to criticise the King. 

He was later dropped from his traditional regiment, threatened with banishment from his homeland, and his family was threatened because he refused to be silenced.

See also

Newspaper editor flees Swaziland for second time after arrest and police torture

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/03/newspaper-editor-flees-swaziland-for.html

 

‘Attempt made to poison journalist critic of Swaziland’s absolute monarch,’ editor says

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/12/attempt-made-to-poison-journalist.html

Swaziland teachers’ union calls for all schools, colleges and universities to close in wake of coronavirus

The Swaziland National Association of Teachers has urged the Swazi government to temporarily close all schools, colleges and universities while a strategy is found to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement widely circulated on social media on Thursday (12 March 2020) the trade union said it was worried ‘at the lack of preparedness on the part of the Government to fight against the virus’. 

It predicted many deaths unless the government took action.

It said, ‘The SNAT is worried about the fact that no measures have been put to fight back this spectre, particularly in public places such as towns, cities and schools. Precautionary measures have not been adequately put in place and that is a serious cause for concern.’

As of 13 March 2020 no confirmed cases of coronavirus had been reported in Swaziland (eSwatini) but at least two people were being tested. The number of confirmed cases in neighbouring South Africa is growing.

The SNAT statement added, ‘Our weak health systems surely lack the prerequisite capacity to deal with such, should the deadly virus make a landfall within our borders. The government, until now, has not identified even a single fully-capacitated hospital that is ready to address such cases, should they be confirmed.’

It called on the government to declare a national disaster. ‘Certain strategies must be put in place: such as temporary closure of schools, colleges and universities whilst adaptation and mitigation strategies are being considered.’

Separately, on Thursday Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi told the Swaziland Senate that everyone was at ‘high risk’.

She said the government was investigating what to do with big events where a large number of people will be present. 

She said, ‘We also have to decide what we are going to do with schools, are we going to close them or not.’ The Swazi cabinet was due to meet on Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, the Times of eSwatini reported on Friday there were calls for government to consider banning foreign nationals from entering the kingdom and to shut down the ports of entry to minimise the risk of spreading coronavirus.

These were submissions made by the National Disaster Management Agency stakeholders who included the health, water and sanitation, education and agriculture food security sectors. 

See also

Swaziland closes informal border crossings as coronavirus strikes South Africa

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/03/swaziland-closes-informal-border.html

Swaziland pupils boycott classes in protest against teacher shortage

Pupils at a school in Swaziland (eSwatini) boycotted classes in protest at a shortage of teachers.

Education is in crisis across the kingdom because the government is broke. Many schools are short of teachers and support staff and without basic supplies because the government has not paid suppliers.

The protest took place at KaMkhweli High School on Wednesday (11 March 2020). Pupils had also protested last month.

In the latest protest police were called after senior pupils led a class boycott and chanted slogans and waved tree branches at the school gates.

The Times of eSwatini reported, ‘According to a source, since the beginning of the year, Form V pupils have not been learning science subjects, geography and history because there are no teachers specialising in the aforementioned subjects.’

It added some pupils allegedly made threats against teachers.

They returned to classes after Siphofaneni Member of Parliament Mduduzi Simelane mediated between pupils and school authorities.

Police said no damage was done to property during the protest.

Public services across Swaziland, where King Mswati III rules as an absolute monarch, are in meltdown because the government he handpicked is broke.

In January 2020 it was reported six in ten school support staff had not been paid for the previous three months. 

Phumelele Zulu of the Swaziland Union in Learning and Allied Institutions (SULAI) said 60 percent of its 860 members were owed salaries amounting to E5 million.

In July 2019 Minister of Education and Training Lady Howard-Mabuza met school principals as schools in the kingdom crumbled through lack of funding.

The Swazi Government had not paid schools fees and support staff were sacked as a result. Teaching supplies ran out and in some schools pupils had been without a teacher for more than a year.

The Minister said that plans for building new schools had been put on hold and hiring of teaching staff was frozen.

More than six in ten schools in Swaziland did not have enough teachers because of government financial cutbacks, the eSwatini Principals Association (EPA) President Welcome Mhlanga had previously said.

Howard-Mabuza said the government was broke and could not afford to finance education.

The problem is not new as the government has run the economy into the ground over many years. Public services across the kingdom, including health, education and policing are crumbling. It is unclear how much the government owes and it has itself reported the figure as E4.2 billion (US$260 million) and E2.2 billion.

See also

Swaziland schools run out supplies, exams threatened, as govt financial meltdown bites

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/07/swaziland-schools-run-out-supplies.html

Swaziland Government blocks funds to primary schools in row over pupil numbers

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/01/swaziland-government-blocks-funds-to.html

 

Swaziland breaks promise to pay off its suppliers to halt public services meltdown

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/10/swaziland-breaks-promise-to-pay-off-its.html

Swaziland MPs back auditor general and freeze budgets of public enterprises

A number of public enterprises in Swaziland (eSwatini) are to have their budgets from government frozen because they have not submitted financial returns.

Members of the Swazi House of Assembly adopted a recommendation from Auditor General Timothy Matsebula.

They said the budget subventions for the parastatals should be withheld until financial statements were forthcoming. Up to E890 million in funding could be frozen.

Matsebula had drawn attention to the shortcoming in his annual report for 2019 published in February 2020. They are obliged by law to make the returns. Some are believed to have since delivered. 

The public enterprises that were not audited during the period under review included eSwatini National Trust Commission, eSwatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise, University of eSwatini , eSwatini Medical Christian University, Southern Africa Nazarene University, eSwatini Television Broadcasting Corporation, Royal Science and Technology Park Authority, Royal Swazi Airline, Youth Affairs for Youth Development Fund, National Youth Council and eSwatini Sports Council.

In his report the Auditor General also highlighted that it was now ‘a norm for ministries, departments and agencies to spend beyond the appropriated budget and/or on activities that have no budget provision by Parliament, and to incur expenditure without seeking approval from the relevant authorities’.

He found there was an over expenditure of E1.1 billion in the recurrent expenditure released budget of E15.2 billion. 

He said, ‘It is disquieting to observe such significant over expenditures, unauthorised expenditure, and unaudited public funds to public enterprises, while the country is faced with fiscal challenges.’

Swaziland is broke and is unable to pay suppliers. Hospitals have run out of drugs and schools are without teaching tools. Children at school have gone hungry because the government has not paid suppliers for their meals.

See also

Reporting of Swaziland Govt finances fails to meet international standards, auditor general states

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/02/reporting-of-swaziland-govt-finances.html

 

IMF reports Swaziland public debt rising, foreign reserves fallen ‘below adequate levels’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/02/imf-reports-swaziland-public-debt.html

Swaziland closes informal border crossings as coronavirus strikes South Africa

The Prime Minister of Swaziland (eSwatini) has announced all informal border crossings with South Africa will be closed in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The crossings are used every day by people who live in Swaziland and go to South Africa for schooling, work, trading or to shop.

PM Ambrose Dlamini made the announcement after the first case of coronavirus was reported in South Africa. As of Tuesday 10 March 2020 no cases had been reported in Swaziland itself.

The Times of eSwatini reported the closure of the borders would affect thousands of people who regularly crossed. It said many people who lived in the area did not know that Swaziland and South Africa were two separate countries.

Swaziland, which is ruled by King Mswati III as an absolute monarch, was left out of the list of countries the World Health Organisation to benefit from personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves being distributed to poor countries.

The Swazi Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi told media the exclusion was because eSwatini was not considered to be a poor country.

In Swaziland nearly seven in ten of the estimated 1.3 million people live in abject poverty. 

Meanwhile, the King and the royal family live in luxury. The King has 13 palaces and two private jet aircraft. In November 2019 he purchased between 13 and 15 Rolls Royce cars for himself and members of his family at an estimated cost of US$4 million.

Swaziland also bought him 126 BMW cars and motorbikes to escort the Royal family around the kingdom.

These purchases prompted Lisa Peterson, the United States Ambassador to Swaziland to speculate that in future the US might not be keen to give Swaziland development aid.

On Monday (9 March 2020) the Swazi House of Assembly approved a budget of E48 million towards the cost of tackling the coronavirus. The Ministry of Finance had asked for E100 million. Swaziland is broke and cannot pay its suppliers. Recently a number of government offices had electricity disconnected because bills were unpaid.

The government also owes millions of emalangeni to medical suppliers and medicines of all types have run out or are in short supply in public hospitals.  

The President of the Swaziland Nurses Association Bheki Mamba has advised health workers not to deal with patients who have the coronavirus. The Saturday Observer newspaper in Swaziland reported Mamba said government had not identified quarantine centres and had no strategy in place to deal with the virus. He added that health workers had not been trained to deal with the virus.

He added this posed a great danger to the lives of health workers.

See also

Swaziland King buys himself fleet of 15 Rolls-Royce cars but there’s no money for public ambulances

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/11/swaziland-king-buys-himself-fleet-of-15.html
 

Swaziland cancer patients refused treatment because Govt. has not paid hospital bills

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/07/swaziland-cancer-patients-refused.html
 

More deaths in Swaziland as govt fails to pay medicine suppliers

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/05/more-deaths-in-swaziland-as-government.html 

Swazi Royals spend, spend, spend

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/05/swazi-royals-spend-spend-spend.html

Newspaper editor flees Swaziland for second time after arrest and police torture

Zweli Martin Dlamini, the editor of the Swaziland News, has fled Swaziland (eSwatini) for the second time after being arrested and tortured by police who accused him of sedition.

Dlamini told South Africa Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) Media Monitor programme on Sunday (8 March 2020) police raided his home after he published articles in the online newspaper that were critical of King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as an absolute monarch.

Dlamini said police raided his home at about 5.30 am with a search warrant and took away his laptop and electronic gadgets. He said they took a photograph of his four-year-old son and asked which preschool he attended.

Dlamini was then taken to Mbabane police station where 20 officers were waiting for him. They questioned him about an article he wrote in the newspaper headlined ‘King Mswati’s speech is actually a lie from the throne’ which criticised the King’s speech at the opening of parliament on 31 January 2020. They also questioned him over an article: ‘Buganu: Who gave the King power to call our wives for a sex ceremony.’

Dlamini said in his interview, ‘They [police] said now that I am before them I must forget about my rights.’

Zweli Martin Dlamini 

He added, ‘They then suffocated me with a plastic bag. They tied me up.’

He was released after about eight hours. He told SABC he left Swaziland to get a medical check-up following the police assault. He said he did not feel safe to return to the kingdom.

He said he thought King Mswati had a hand in his arrest and the King had pressurised police to deal with him over his articles.

On 7 February 2020, The Swaziland News reported Dlamini was being harassed and receiving death threats from King Mswati’s first born daughter Princess Sikhanyiso, who is the  Minister of Information Communication and Technology.

Dlamini had previously fled to South Africa in fear of his life in 2018. He had received death threats from a local businessman and his newspaper Swaziland Shopping was shut down by the Swazi government.

See also

Exiled editor Zweli Martin Dlamini to return to Swaziland

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/11/exiled-editor-zweli-martin-dlamini-to.html

 

‘Editor flees after death threat’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/editor-flees-after-death-threat.html
 

Swazi Government forces newspaper to close

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/swazi-govt-forces-newspaper-to-close.html