Swaziland Newsletter No. 781 – 16
June 2023
News from and about Swaziland, compiled by
Global Aktion, Denmark (www.globalaktion.dk)
in collaboration with Swazi Media Commentary (www.swazimedia.blogspot.com),
and sent to all with an interest in Swaziland - free of charge.
NGO
Bill threatens free, independent civil society
By
Nkosingiphile Myeni, eSwatini Observer, 11 June 2023
Non-governmental organisations have
rejected the draft NGO Bill and have called on the ministry of home affairs to
return to the drawing board.
The organisations said current draft Bill
does not reflect the aspirations of the NGO sector and it was drafted entirely
without their input and that it posed a risk that could threaten the autonomy
and self-regulation of the NGO sector in the country.
They also stated that there were several
contentious clauses that provide for over regulation of the NGO sector and
disempowered existing structures in the sector.
The clauses, according to the
organisations were contradictory to Section 61 of the Constitution.
“The Bill in its current form threatens
the autonomy of the NGOs and is contrary to the letter and spirit of the
Constitution,” they stated.
The NGOs said consultations should have
begun at drafting.
Following consultations with the ministry
and organisations, 31 directors of different NGOs registered with the
Coordinating Assembly of Non-Governmental Organisations (CANGO), took a
resolution to retain the status quo, advising government to go back to the
drawing board.
The ministry of home affairs met with the
NGOs where it shared the draft NGO Bill of 2023, which if it comes on effect
would see government establish a Council of NGOs, which would consist of 12
members who are representatives of NGOs.
The council shall assist NGOs to
strengthen their operations, develop, adopt and administer a code of conduct
for NGOs, facilitate and coordinate the work of non-governmental organisations,
and perform any other functions relevant for purposes of this Bill as the apex
body may determine.
If passed into law, CANGO could be phased
out.
The NGOs have raised at least five grounds
on which they are opposed to the proposition of the Bill.
“The consultations on the Bill should
begin at drafting.
The current draft Bill does not reflect
the aspirations of the NGO sector and it was drafted entirely without their
input,” the directors’ first resolution said.
They said that CANGO would take time to
consider engaging legal experts to assist them in understanding and unpacking
the Bill before it is presented to the NGOs and ultimately to the ministry of
home affairs.
The resolutions culminate from an
extraordinary meeting, which was held by CANGO members on June 7. The meeting
took place at the Mountain View Hotel.
The NGOs raised a third point that CANGO was tasked with re-engaging the
ministry and the consultant engaged to undertake the drafting of the Bill ‘on a
clear and contextual definition of an NGO.’
Fourthly, the directors resolved to task
CANGO again with reaching out to fellow apex bodies in the region in order to
get their understanding on how NGOs are regulated in other countries.
“Lastly, CANGO was tasked with engaging
the ministry on the Bill to request clarity on the issue of tax with the tax
master, the Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS),” according to the report prepared
by the CANGO secretariat. The secretariat stated that this was in respect
of the classification of NGO in the context of the new Bill, which they say
would be totally different from the current situation.
To read more of this report, click
here
http://new.observer.org.sz/details.php?id=20537
By
Zweli Martin Dlamini, Swaziland News, 12 June, 2023
MBABANE: King Mswati has purchased about
twenty (20) Mercedes Benz cars worth close to R50million for his wives, each
car costs around R2.5million.
This disclosure comes amid a health
crisis, patients in various hospitals across the country are dying in numbers,
due to the non-availability of drugs.
The cars allegedly arrived on or around
the 23rd May 2023 and upon arrival, security was provided to ensure that
no one takes pictures, since then, this Swaziland News has been trying
to obtain the evidence.
The cars also include four (4) Mercedes
Vianos, they were allegedly purchased with public funds.
One of the cars registered M109 was
followed on Monday morning, it took the road towards the Palace to fill-up fuel
at Nkhanini Royal Offices.
Reached for comments, King’s Spokesperson
Percy Simelane said he was not aware of the purchase adding that, he wouldn’t
know unless, the purchase in question involved public funds.
"We don't have any information to
that effect. It looks private enough for, is to be on the leeward side of
Information. Unless Government and public funds were involved in the alleged
purchase we would not know,” said the King’s Spokesperson.
Speaking to this Swaziland News on Monday,
Sikelela Dlamini, the Secretary General (SG) of the Multi Stakeholder Forum
(MSF) said it was surprising to note that the King continues with his
extravagant lifestyle, while sectors like the health and education struggle due
to non-availability of resources.
“It’s shocking that the King continues
with his lavish lifestyle despite the challenges faced by the country that
include a health and education crisis. This means, it would be hard for this
country to develop under the King’s leadership,” said the MSF Secretary
General.
Thabo, Nkomonye in
need of medical attention - lawyer
By Mbongiseni
Ndzimandze, Times of eSwatini, 13 June 2023
MBABANE: Self-proclaimed ‘commander’ of the solidarity forces Thabo
Kunene and his co-accused Sibusiso Nkomonye, are reportedly in dire need of
medical attention after they were allegedly interrogated by the police.
This was disclosed by their attorney, Professor Dlamini, during their
second remand hearing at the High Court yesterday. Professor informed the court
that the accused persons were experiencing excruciating pain all over their
bodies due to the alleged interrogation they were subjected to by the police . Thabo,
according to his lawyers, was experiencing severe pain in his back and he
suspects that some of his ribs were fractured during the alleged
interrogation. According to the lawyer, so serious is the situation that
Thabo sometimes experiences hematuria, a medical name for the presence of blood
cells in urine. Coming to Nkomonye, he stated that he sometimes bleeds from his
nose and he was complaining of severe pain all over his body.
“They seriously need to go to hospital as the situation might get out of
hand and they constantly require painkillers to subdue the pain in their
bodies,” the lawyer said. The duo’s health issues was brought to the
attention of Judge Mazwi Mavuso by their legal team, which also consists of Leo
Dlamini. It was immediately after Principal Crown Counsel Macebo Nxumalo
had addressed the court that Professor stood up to apply that the accused
persons should be allowed to go to hospital, as they were experiencing pain all
over their bodies after they were allegedly interrogated by the police during
investigations. He said his clients were also refused visitation rights. According
to Professor, even their relatives were not allowed to see them at the
Correctional Services facility, where they were currently detained.
It was while Professor was on the floor addressing the court that
Principal Crown Counsel Nxumalo, shot up from his seat to interject. “My Lord,
I object because my learned friend is adducing evidence from the bar, which is
not accepted,” argued Nxumalo. It was after Nxumalo’s submissions that
Judge Mavuso informed Professor that he should he file a proper application,
instead of taking the prosecution by surprise. “You should have brought a
formal application earlier. You can even bring the application after the
accused persons have been committed to the High Court,” said Judge Mavuso.
Professor then informed the court that he would move a full-blown application
to have the accused persons taken to hospital to receive medical
attention. He also disclosed that in the same application, he would seek
an order directing the authorities at His Majesty’s Correctional Services to
allow relatives of his clients to have access to them.
Meanwhile, it was also recently reported that when the duo was arrested
at the Inyanga’s home in the Republic of South Africa, they were assaulted with
an assortment of weapons. This allegation was also confirmed by Kunene’s other
attorney, Leo, yesterday who stated that the accused disclosed this when he had
gone to check on him at the Correctional Services facility where he is
currently detained. “He disclosed that he was also assaulted in the
Republic of South Africa when they were at the inyanga’s homestead. There is a
need for them to see a doctor as that is within their rights,” said Leo. According
to Leo, they would do all within their powers to ensure that the duo was
eventually taken to hospital.
Campaign launched for release of political prisoners
Peoples Dispatch/Globetrotter News
Service, 13 June 2023
The Communist Party of
Swaziland (CPS) is set to launch a “Break the Chains” campaign to demand the
release of political prisoners, including its Central Committee member
Mvuselelo Mkhabela, whose bail hearing is scheduled for June 22.
Police broke into his house at
4am, on February 7, and abducted him along with another CPS member Bongi Mamba.
They had organised a successful demonstration and roadblock the previous day
demanding the release of political prisoners and agitating for the boycott of
the “undemocratic” elections scheduled in August.
The campaign will include
protests and roadblocks in rural communities, starting with Mvuselelo’s small
town of Hluti in the Hosea constituency in Shiselweni, the poorest
region in rural Swaziland, where he had
organised communities against the monarchy. In the course of this work,
Mvuselelo has been detained and tortured thrice by the police in the last three
months and shot once.
With all political parties
banned in the country, only individuals approved by the King’s local chiefs can
contest these elections to parliament. The legislative body has no authority to
hold the executive accountable; the latter is directly appointed by King Mswati
III, Africa’s last absolute monarch. The CPS describes the elections as a
farce, meant only to legitimise the monarchy.
As part of the CPS campaign to
“Boycott, Disrupt, and Stop” these elections, Mvuselo had been carrying out
regular agitation to convince community members not to participate in this
election and instead to actively disrupt it.
Lawyers live in
fear as Swazi state intensifies crackdown on activists
The identity of the writer is not
disclosed for their own safety, Daily Maverick (South Africa), 13 June
2023
As the
“security experts”, who are largely seen as mercenaries, rove at night in
search for those perceived by the state to be terrorists, pro-democracy
activists are fleeing in droves to neighbouring South Africa while those who
remain pull back from protest lines.
The Multi-Stakeholder
Forum (MSF), an organisation comprising civil society and religious and political
groups, which Maseko chaired, estimates that “close to 200” activists have fled
to South Africa in recent months.
Some
activists who have remained have been charged with terrorism, among other
charges. They are reported to be struggling to find defence counsel, since
lawyers fear representing those perceived to be enemies of the state.
In
February this year, for example, The Times of
Eswatini reported that members of the Swazis
First Democratic Front, Sibusiso Nxumalo and Muzi Mnisi, who are both facing 38
charges under the Suppression of Terrorism Act, were struggling to get lawyers
to defend them.
The
callous murder of Maseko in January, which is largely believed to have been an
assassination, has left even the most courageous and unflinching lawyer shaking
in their boots.
Some
lawyers believe Maseko’s killing could have been part of what increasingly
seems like a concerted crackdown by the state on lawyers, specifically those
defending political activists.
Though
Maseko had also become a vocal protagonist in the pro-democracy movement, some
in the legal fraternity doubt the narrative that his murder was a political
assassination.
Instead,
they believe the renowned lawyer was “eliminated” to ensure that nobody
challenges the legality of the partnership between the so-called security
experts and the government, and to further ensure that activists charged with
terrorism and treason have no legal representation.
Months
before Maseko’s life was snuffed out a series of events occurred in Eswatini
which highlighted a hefty crackdown on human rights lawyers by the state.
On 30
August 2022, Sicelo Mngomezulu, a South African-based Swazi lawyer who was
representing two incarcerated members of parliament, was banned from entering
Eswatini. In a Government Gazette signed by Minister of Home
Affairs Princess Lindiwe, a close relative of King Mswati, Mngomezulu was
declared an “undesirable and prohibited immigrant”. This is despite the fact
that Mngomezulu was born in Eswatini and obtained his law degree from the
University of Eswatini.
Amnesty
International condemned the prohibition of Mngomezulu, urging Eswatini
authorities to lift the ban immediately.
“The
declaration of a prohibited migrant notice against Sicelo Mngomezulu, one of
the legal representatives of the incarcerated members of parliament, Mduduzi Bacede
Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube, is deeply troubling. It is designed to rob Mduduzi
Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube of legal representation of their choice,
intimidate him and others from speaking their minds, challenging the
authorities, and defending human rights and the rule of law,” it said.
This
month both MPs were found
guilty on charges of terrorism, sedition and murder – a ruling that
has been widely condemned.
In
September 2022, the Southern Africa
Litigation Centre, an NGO that uses law to defend human rights across southern Africa,
warned that the Eswatini government had “demonstrated commitment to silencing
dissent through force over the years”, adding: “In what increasingly seems like
a state-sanctioned assault on human rights, justice and the rule of law, the
situation in Eswatini has deteriorated recently.”
After the
prohibition of Mngomezulu, another human rights lawyer survived what many
believed was an assassination attempt. Maxwell Nkambule, who was very close to
Maseko, was shot at by
unknown gunmen in broad daylight on 7 December 2022. He had been consulting a
client at Big Bend Correctional Centre and was driving towards the Siteki
Magistrates’ Court.
“[As I
was driving] on that very hot day, I suddenly took notice of a white sedan with
the park lights on following me… I then stopped on the [side of] the road
unsuspecting of any danger. They stopped next to me [and] the lone occupant on
the back seat had a gun and he aimed at my face. He shot, and I accelerated.
Then a chase ensued till they gave up,” Nkambule told Daily Maverick from
his hideout.
At the
time, Nkambule was representing Ncamiso Mabuyakhulu and Philani Sihlongonyane,
activists facing 29 counts of alleged terrorism and murder of security
forces.
Nkambule
reported the incident to the police. He also took officers to the scene and
gave investigators descriptions of the gunmen and the vehicle they were in.
However, police are yet to arrest anyone.
Nkambule
is believed to be in hiding in South Africa.
Since
then the activists he was representing have struggled to find another lawyer
since most lawyers fear for their lives. “Some lawyers have declined to assist
[my clients]. There is a general fear among lawyers,” Nkambule said.
Following
the prohibition of Mngomezulu, the attempt on Nkambule’s life and the murder of
Thulani Maseko, some activists believe the state is out to silence human rights
lawyers, who have unflinchingly defended political activists facing sedition
and terrorism charges.
Recently, the Times
of Eswatini reported that the case of two activists facing terrorism
charges for allegedly killing security forces and being members of the
underground Swaziland International Solidarity Forces, had been postponed
because they were struggling to find a defence counsel.
Human
rights lawyer Sipho Gumedze is not surprised by the sudden fear that has
gripped Eswatini lawyers following Maseko’s murder.
“It is
true that lawyers are no longer keen in taking matters involving political
activists. It is a new development. Previously political activists would be
arrested and would not struggle to obtain legal representation. No sane person
would want to die and leave behind young children who have no capacity to fend
for themselves. Lawyers are human beings first; therefore, they are afraid of
getting killed,” he says.
To read more of this report, click here
I have been
arrested 35 times – Mphandlana
By Thokozani Mazibuko, eSwatini News, 10 June
2023
MBABANE: Political activist Peter Mphandlana Shongwe has revealed the
number of times he has been arrested by the police.
Shongwe, a senior member of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), is popularly known as victim. He said he had already been incarcerated 35 times for political crimes. Speaking during the Commemoration of Human Rights Defenders in Eswatini, he said he had never been found guilty in all the charges. The event, organised by the Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC), was held at Hilton Hotel yesterday.
During the event, the SALC honoured deceased political activists like Mario Masuku,
Mandla Mkhwanazi, Thulani Rudolph Maseko, Advocate Rudolph Jenson and Leo Gama.
The SALC is a non-profit organisation based in Johannesburg, South
Africa, which supports human rights lawyers in Southern African countries with
expert legal advice, technical support and funding. SALC was founded by Nicole
Fritz and she served as director for 10 years. Shongwe took the
participants down memory lane where he recalled how he was arrested by the
Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) in more than 35 instances.
He applauded the late attorney, Leo Gama, for representing in courts with
aplomb and professionalism, showing vigour and determination in ensuring and
upholding of his fundamental human rights.
“I would like to applaud one of the greatest lawyers, Leo Gama. I never
paid a cent to him. This time allows me to remember Leo Gama’s good deeds
towards the struggle. I have been in and out of prison for more than 35 times
and as we are speaking now, I am currently out on bail,” lamented the political
activist. Shongwe revealed that he had been reporting every last Friday of
the month. He challenged lawyers to represent clients charged with crimes
smacking of political connotations.
He made an example of the late Gama, who frequently visited his
incarcerated clients. “I am challenging lawyers to take up some of these cases
in this country as we are released partially and actually we are still in
jail,” Shongwe said. He added: “I understand how the lawyers are feeling
towards the case of the ‘commander’ (referring to self-styled commander of the
underground forces, Thabo Kunene). I must say I know it is very challenging and
difficult to represent the members of the mass democratic movement (MDM) in
these trying times.”
Further, Shongwe said that he didn’t remember a single day when he had
to pay a fee to the late Gama, despite the fact that he represented him in
almost all the charges preferred against him. “I am not saying that we
shouldn’t pay lawyers; they also need money,” he said. Shongwe applauded
organisations like SALC that had always been there for the struggle for
liberation. He advised practising lawyers to join the call for political
transformation in the country. He pitied the situation in which a person
charged with a political crime would not be represented because lawyers were
afraid.
SWAZI
MEDIA COMMENTARY
Find us:
Blog: www.swazimedia.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/142383985790674
Twitter: @Swazimedia
