FEAR KEEPS SWAZILAND ‘STABLE’

I’m not the only one who thinks King Mswati III of Swaziland is talking nonsense when he says that his kingdom is at peace.

King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, told a gathering last week to celebrate his birthday that Swaziland had been at peace since its independence from Britain in 1968.

Vusi Sibisi, a columnist for the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, reckons he knows why there is no unrest in Swaziland – people are too scared to speak out.

Writing in the Times, Sibisi reminds us of a recent ‘assessment of the current level of human rights understanding’ in Swaziland that was commissioned by the Council of Swaziland Churches and supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

It found that it was fear, more than anything else, that was responsible for the peace and stability that King Mswati keeps talking about.

Sibisi says the study ‘found out that the majority of the people are afraid of their government hence they dared not challenge it for fear of reprisals’.

The study says peace and stability are not the products of respect for a functional and popular system of governance but a product of fear of the political establishment to the extent that some believe the government has the right to punish its critics.

The study found that 74.4 per cent of the respondents who participated believe that ‘people who speak against the government must expect the government to punish them in any way it sees fit’.

In short the people would, most probably out of fear, subordinate their human rights and freedoms to government rather than cause any discomfiture by demanding the leadership to respect their fundamental human rights and freedoms.

To read Sibisi’s article in full, click here.

SWAZILAND’S FIRST PEOPLE’S DIALOGUE

The following is a media release detailing the ‘People’s Dialogue’ that takes place this Saturday (18 July 2009) in Manzini, Swaziland.

OPERATION SIDLA INHLOKO – THE PEOPLE’S DIALOGUE

SWAZIS CONGREGATE

TO CELEBRATE MADIBA’S BIRTHDAY & SHAPE THEIR DESTIY

Manzini, July 15, 2009-

On July 18^th – the Birthday of Nelson Mandela, Swaziland Civil Society will hold its first People’s Dialogue at John Bosco Hall in Manzini starting at 8:30am. The Churches, the Unions and the Swaziland Coalition are going to get the people talking. More importantly it will also get the people listening.

The day will start with a message sent to former South African President Nelson Mandela, affectionately known to millions around the world as Comrade Madiba on the occasion of his 91^st birthday.

The July 18^th event has been dubbed Sidla Inhloko in recognition of the widespread Swazi custom of eating cow-heads in the process of discussing important issues in the community. Traditionally this is reserved for the older men, but on the 18^th women, young people and everyone else are going to be welcomed at the feast as equals.

The main organizers of the event, the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organizations, Organised Labour, The Council of Swaziland Churches and others have made it clear that this is NOT an anti-government protest, but a way to help the leadership of civil society to stay in touch with the needs and opinions of its membership at the grass roots. Its purpose is to collect and collate.

Jan Sithole, the spokesperson for the Sidla Inhloko gathering stresses this point:

“We want Swazis from all walks of life to come together and talk about issues that affect the vast majority of the people in this country. Everyone wants to live a healthy life. All parents want to educate their children. All the youth want access to more secure futures with good jobs earning decent pay. Women and men of goodwill want to stop the carnage of violence and acts of rape against women and girl children. Corruption is a scourge that affects all of us. These are cross cutting issues that should concern all of us, irrespective of our political beliefs and affiliations. That is why we urge EVERYONE to show up. We want everyone to be part of history, we want everybody to help shape their destiny.”

ANTI-SWAZI KING PROTEST IN LONDON

A protest against the extravagant lifestyle of King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, took place in London, UK, today (16 April 2009).

A street party was held outside the Swazi High Commission to bring attention to the lavish celebrations planned for the king’s 41^st birthday on Sunday.

Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) held the party to show solidarity with the thousands of people who took to the streets in Manzini, Swaziland, today to demand that the Swazi Government honour its constitutional obligations and introduce free primary schooling immediately.

The protest also comes as news was breaking that King Mswati intends to buy up to 20 armour-plated Mercedes Benz S600 Pullman Guard cars, some of which will be used by his wives at a cost of about E50 million (5 million US dollars).

The Swaziland protest led by the Council of Swaziland Churches and including many civil society organisations and trade unions called on the Swazi Government to stop wasting a fortune on celebrations for the king’s birthday and to provide free primary school education.

Protesters, who had travelled from all four regions of the kingdom, assembled at Freedom Square before marching through Manzini. Early reports said police tried to stop the marchers, claiming they did not have permission to demonstrate.

Meanwhile, in London ACTSA supporters held a mock birthday party outside the Swazi High Commission and presented a birthday card echoing the demands of Swazi civil society.

Tony Dykes, Director of ACTSA, said, ‘ACTSA joins thousands of people in Swaziland in calling on King Mswati and his Government to put an end to the extravagant spending on these lavish celebrations and spend the country’s resources on education and development. Free primary school education is a right enshrined in Swazi law, yet it is still denied by the Government.

‘Through today’s action and our campaign for democracy, rights and development for Swaziland we aim to open the world’s eyes to the plight of the people of Swaziland, who continue to endure the longest running state of emergency in the world.’

SWAZI POLICE TRY TO HALT MARCH

The following is a statement from the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) on the march that took place today (16 April 2009) in Manzini, Swaziland, to demand that the Swazi Government honours its constitutional obligation and implements free primary schooling.

Between 1000 and 2000 people responded to the call to go to the streets in the city of Manzini to force the government of Swaziland to implement the court ruling that beginning this year, free primary education must be offered in public schools. This is an action that as PUDEMO we came out clearly to say we are in support of!

The leadership of the church under the Council of Swaziland Churches has been in the forefront of the campaign together with labour unions including the Swaziland Federation of Labour, Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions, Swaziland National Association of Teachers; political organizations including the Peoples United Democratic Front and the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress; and basically all the membership of the Swaziland United Democratic Front.

At the core of the mass action and other battles constantly waged by the people of Swaziland against the regime are the following demands which leaders of organizations present clearly and eloquently expressed:

• The return to multi-party democracy in the country that was overthrown through a quo in 1973 by the minority ruling elite headed by the royal family.
• Getting in place a process to craft the route towards fundamental transformation of Swaziland governance with the free participation of all stakeholders. PUDEMO in its document The Wayforward: Towards a Constituent Assembly has clearly and eloquently been forwarding this process since 1992, but the regime has conveniently rejected.
• The release of PUDEMO President Mario Masuku who is detained under the Suppression of Terrorism Act of 2008.
• The scrapping of the Suppression of Terrorism Act of 2008 that makes everyone in the country a potential “terrorist.”
• The return of all exiles.

The mass action has been a great success for the ordinary, suppressed and poverty stricken people of Swaziland who are really desperate for liberation from the oppressive Swazi regime that co-incidentally heads the SADC TROIKA on Politics, Peace and Defence. As expected from the undemocratic and hostile regime, the mass action could not be allowed to go on without its security agents and other establishments attempting to sabotage the activity.

In the morning before the march started, three members of PUDEMO Youth League were detained by the state’s security agents preventing them from addressing some students from a nearby school on the free primary education campaign.

There was a confrontation between the organizers of the mass action and the Manzini police who wanted the march to be called off because the Manzini City Council Management (Municipality) did not issue the necessary permit. This is a common strategy that has been used in the past to prevent PUDEMO rallies in the city. This goes to show the extent of the rot within the structures of the Tinkhundla establishment which work in cohesion to suppress the freedom of the people. However, the march went on despite this challenge.



During the march, the state police who have been obviously hostile to the marchers, without provocation pounced, beat-up and detained about five marchers who incidentally are members of PUDEMO. There might be more casualties. This clearly shows the hostile, intolerable and undemocratic conditions that the ordinary people of Swaziland are experiencing everyday while SADC and the world standby and watch!

Clearly more pressure on this undemocratic regime must be applied and as PUDEMO we shall always stand with our people in the fight to liberate ourselves in Swaziland for such a regime has no place in the democratic modern world.

MARCH DEFENDS SWAZI CONSTITUTION

The following is a message placed on the Swaziland Solidarity Network forum today (16 April 2009) reporting on the march that took place in Manzini to demand that the Swazi Government meet its obligations under the kingdom’s constitution to make available free primary school education.

The protest action organized and led by the Council of Swaziland Churches has taken place in the city of Manzini today to protest against government's failure to implement free primary education as ordered by the High Court of Swaziland.

Protesters assembled at Freedom Square as early as 8 am coming from all four regions of the country. The march within the city eventually started at about 1030 am with protesters expressing their anger and other fundamental demands in addition to that of free primary education.

These were expressed in messages on placards, pamphlets, t-shirts, revolutionary songs, speeches, etc aimed at the oppressive regime in Swaziland. Such included the release of [People’s United Democratic Movement] PUDEMO President Mario Masuku; scrapping of the Suppression of Terrorism Act of 2008; the return to constitutional multiparty democracy.

The march continued until 1300hours. As expected, confrontations with the hostile security agents took place. The general assessment is that the protest action was a great success judging on the number of protesters who braved the hostility of the state’s security agents.