‘REFUGEE CRISIS’ AS ECONOMY SINKS

A refugee crisis could hit South Africa as Swaziland’s economy sinks and its people flock to leave the kingdom.

And South Africa, their probable intended destination, would be unable to cope with them.

As a result, countless Swazis would be displaced without jobs or health care in South Africa which has its own problems of poverty and unemployment.

The Associated Press (AP) news agency reports that the economic crisis in the kingdom ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, could lead to a mass exodus of people across the border.

AP reports that trade and human traffic from Swaziland to South Africa has always been controlled and manageable. But what will happen when the occasional individual jumping a border fence multiplies by the thousands? The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommends a reduction of Swaziland’s government workforce by a third, by about 10 000 people.

In Swaziland it is reckoned that the wages and salaries of each employed person supports on average 10 people. Even Barnabas Dlamini, Swaziland’s illegally-appointed Prime Minister, has said that such a cut in jobs would bring civil unrest.

An economist attached to the Mbabane branch of a South African bank told AP, ‘It’s not a cash flow problem, like government says. It’s a structural problem. The public payroll is bloated way beyond what this country needs, as the IMF has been saying for years.

‘The banking sector is still inaccessible to a majority of Swazis who can’t avail themselves of financial services, and spending on non-essential big-ticket projects is still prioritised.’

The eventual end of the global recession will not remedy Swaziland’s economic crisis and the concomitant scenario of Swazis seeking jobs and humanitarian relief in South Africa. The IMF has noted that Swaziland’s economic decline pre-dates the current global slump by years, while other SADC (Southern African Development Community) countries were seeing robust gross domestic product (GDP) and foreign direct investment growth rates.

To read the full AP report, click here.

SWAZI PM STILL DENIES AWARD IS CON

And still Barnabas Dlamini, the illegally-appointed Prime Minister of Swaziland, refuses to accept he received a medal for his ‘humanitarian’ work from a con man at the head of a sham international organisation.

Dlamini went to the Bahamas earlier this month (October 2010) to get a medal from Rudy King, even though King had been exposed worldwide as a con artist.

Dlamini yesterday (21 October 2010) tried to defend accepting the award by saying King was respected in Swaziland and had been ‘in and out of the country since the century began’.

He told a news conference that the media ‘had sung his praises’ when he wanted to open an office in Swaziland.

Dlamini also said King had previously awarded his medal to other Swazi luminaries. ‘In 2005 he gave an award to a prince (David), gave a medal to Prince Guduza in 2007 and to the prime minister in 2008, so what is the difference now in 2010? His history in Swaziland is rich. This is the fourth medal he has presented to Swazis but now the focus is on 2010.’

I’ll tell Dlamini what the difference is in 2010: somebody took the trouble to make inquiries about Rudy King. I was one of those people (among many others) and I’ll tell Dlamini how we did it.

At the centre of the scandal was an organisation called World Citizen Awards (WCA) headed by King. The Swazi Government had put out a press release saying WCA was to honour Dlamini for the work he was doing for human rights. We knew something was fishy because Dlamini is an enemy of human rights and doesn’t deserve an award.

We went to the Internet and found the website for WCA. On there was a list of trustees who were said to be the backbone of the organisation. Each person listed had a reputation as advocates for human rights and it seemed odd that they would vote to give Dlamini a medal.

We emailed each of the trustees and within hours received a reply from one of them that said he was the victim of a hoax. It turned out that none of the trustees had ever heard of WCA and certainly were not supporters.

The Associated Press (AP) news agency took up the story and realised that the WCA was a sham organisation consisting only of a website and an accommodation address.

Once the AP story hit the Internet, journalists in the Bahamas who knew Rudy King of old ran reports about his background as a con artist.

Dlamini cannot dispute any of these facts. The truth is that Rudy King is a con artist and Dlamini has been taken in. Dlamini was embarrassed by King, but he has humiliated himself by continuing to insist that King and his medal are genuine.

So, in case Dlamini hasn’t quite understood: the reason why 2010 is different. It is because some journalists did their job, which Swazi reporters in previous years did not.

SWAZI PM MEDAL BOGUS - OFFICIAL

Barnabas Dlamini, the illegally-appointed Prime Minister of Swaziland, has been the victim of a con-trick over the medal he has been awarded for his work in ‘human rights’.

The Associated Press (AP) reports today (1 December 2010) the organisation ‘bestowing the honor appears to be little more than a Florida phone number and website’.

The organisation calling itself the World Citizen Awards is hosting a lavish dinner in the Bahamas tomorrow to present its medals. Dlamini flew out of Swaziland this week to collect his gong.

AP reports, ‘The World Citizen Award website also included a listed of trustees that a respected peace group said was used without its permission.

‘Richard C. Allen, a lawyer for the World Peace Foundation, said in an e-mail to the AP that the trustees list on the World Citizen Award site was “lifted without authorization from the web site of my client, the World Peace Foundation, a well-respected NGO in the U.S. Neither the World Peace Foundation nor its Board members are connected with the ‘World Citizen Award.’”

‘The site also claims the World Citizen Award medal was designed in 2007 by Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland, assisted by the Swedish engraver Erik Lindberg. Vigeland, who designed the Nobel Peace medal, died in 1943. Lindberg, who designed the Nobel physics, chemistry, medicine and literature medals, died in 1966.

‘The Internet domain name for the World Citizen Award website is registered to a man named Rudolph Laroda. A man identifying himself as Laroda's spokesman declined to answer questions and a few hours later the list of trustees had disappeared from the website.

‘News reports in the Caribbean say questions have been raised for some time about the activities of a man using the names Rudolph King, Rudy King-Laroda and Kermit Rudolph Casito Laroda.

‘A report of a 2006 press conference he apparently held at a Bermuda hotel quoted him as announcing that retired South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Hollywood stars Halle Berry and Will Smith would be among luminaries coming to Bermuda for a “Global Vision Awards of Excellence” event.

‘Tourism officials and spokesmen for the celebrities involved denied any involvement, and the event was never held.’

AP also reports, ‘Chief [Swaziland] government spokeswoman Macanjana Motsa, who went along on the trip, did not respond to phone calls from The Associated Press or an e-mail asking whether the kingdom had taken any steps to determine the award's legitimacy or had been asked to pay any costs associated with the award.’

SWAZI MARCH TO GO AHEAD

Swazi democracy activists say march to proceed despite police intimidation

By The Associated Press (CP)

MANZINI, Swaziland — Democracy activists in Swaziland say they will go ahead with protests despite what they call police intimidation.

On the eve of Tuesday’s march, (7 September 2010) police deported South African trade union leaders who had come to help Swazis plan the protest. Police spokeswoman Wendy Hleta says 'we felt that they had no right to interfere' in the affairs of sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarchy.

Minutes before the march was to begin, Mduzi Gina, head of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions, said police raided federation headquarters, taking away South Africans who had been camping there and confiscating signs and pamphlets that had been prepared for the protest.

Gina says police are confirming the march is legal, ‘but they are suppressing it.’