SWAZI LESBIANS AND HUMAN RIGHTS

It is a pity that my prediction that there would be more fireworks over the news that two lesbian Swazi women are to marry each other has come true.

The Times Sunday originally broke the news after it said a reporter and photographer had hidden in a restaurant where the two woman made the announcement of their wedding to friends.

Now, the Times Sunday has further invaded the privacy and human rights of the couple by publishing an ugly personal attack on one of them - even by the standards of the Swazi media which delights in making personal attacks on people and on revealing matters about them that are no business of readers and viewers.

The Times Sunday revealed the personal family circumstances of one of the lesbian women and unsurprisingly allowed people to attack the lesbian couple for their supposed sickness and ungodliness.

The Times Sunday did not offer the lesbian couple an opportunity to respond thereby fanning the flames of homophobia in what is already a very delicate situation. The paper also revealed where one of the couple works and the place where she lives – an open invitation for readers to go sort her out.

Martin Dlamini, the Times of Swaziland Managing Editor has also entered the argument, but he was more sympathetic. Writing in his own newspaper yesterday (11 September 2009) he reminded readers that there were probably many gays and lesbians in Swaziland.

‘We can bury our heads in the sand and pretend it is not a social issue that needs to be debated but the truth is, many of us could soon emerge from the closet and the reality will hit us like a tsunami, so we had better be prepared for it.’

I think Dlamini was probably trying to be fair minded over the issue of homosexuality and he questioned whether there is really anything in the Bible ‘that bans gays and lesbians’.

He cited an article he had read on the subject that was sympathetic to gays which read in part, ‘There is nothing in the Bible, in the original languages and context, against being gay, but many people do not want to accept this fact.’

I’m not sure if this is the article he was referring to but for a ‘gay friendly’ reading of the Bible click here.

Although I think Dlamini is probably sympathetic to gays and lesbians, he misses a vital point in his editorial: Christians can discuss what the Bible means as much as they like but unless you are a Christian it doesn’t matter what the Good Book says (about homosexuality or anything else for that matter).

Christians are perfectly entitled to their views but what they believe should not count for more than any other person’s view. No nation should make public policy based only on what one section of the population believes.

Whether gays and lesbians should have equality under the law and be allowed to marry is a human rights issue. The South Africans recognised this when they wrote their post-Apartheid constitution.

They saw that you could not have a society that gave rights to people regardless of the colour of their skin, or the religion they practiced, or their wealth etc. and then say ‘no rights for gays and lesbians’. To discriminate in this way is illogical. In a decent society we all have rights or none of us do.

That’s why the South Africans deliberately introduced rights for people regardless of their ‘sexual orientation’ into the constitution’s Bill of Rights.

Swaziland is a very long way behind its neighbour on this issue. Even as the Swazi media was drooling over the lesbians, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa announced that gays and lesbians will be allowed to become leaders in the church, the first time homosexual clergy have been publicly recognized by an Anglican province in the African continent.

If some of the comments that were left on the Times’ website attacking Dlamini’s editorial are anything to go by he (and we) haven’t heard the last of the lesbians..

If you want to learn more about gays, lesbians and human rights click here to go to the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission website.

‘SWAZI KING WANTS EDITORS’ HEADS’

What follows is something that journalist like to call ‘unconfirmed reports’ and ordinary folk call ‘rumours’. If any reader has more information, please let me know.

Swaziland’s King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, has demanded that Martin Dlamini, managing editor of the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper the Times of Swaziland, and Mbongeni Mbingo, editor of the Times Sunday, both be sacked for publishing reports that the king had bought up to 20 top-of-the-range Mercedes cars at a cost of about 2.5 million US dollars (E25 million).

The king has also demanded that Vusi Sibisi and Mfomfo Nkhambule both be dropped as columnists by the Times.

We know that Nkhambule has been dropped because he has said so publicly. Martin Dlamini said at the time he was not forced to drop Nkhambule, he did so because the Times was undergoing routine changes with regards to content.

I hear that Times publisher Paul Loffler was hauled before the king and told to produce invoices to back up his story about the cars and then he was forced to apologise when he couldn’t. These apologies appeared in both the Times and the Times Sunday.

What we do know as fact is that King Mswati has intimidated the Times group before. In 2007 it was forced to make an apology or face immediate closure after it repeated a news agency report that was critical of the king.

Nkhambule gained international attention for his articles that appeared each Monday in the Times and were largely critical of Swaziland’s ruling elite, including the king. He 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.

Mbongeni Mbingo, made headlines himself in 2007 when a Swaziland Senate select committee cleared him of contempt of parliament for an article he had written critical of parliamentarians. The committee said he had a right to free speech protected by the constitution.

If any reader has more information email me swazimedia@yahoo.com

‘TIMES’ DROPS SWAZILAND DISSIDENT

Swazi dissident Mfomfo Nkhambule has had his controversial column dropped by the Times of Swaziland newspaper.

Nkhambule, who wrote each Monday for Swaziland’s only independent daily newspaper, has been in much trouble for his outspoken views on Swaziland’s ruling elites and in particular King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

Nkhambule received international attention when he 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.

Now, the Times has dropped the column without notice. The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) reports that Nkhambule, a former Cabinet Minister in the Swaziland Government and present chair of the Inhalva Forum political formation, confirmed that the ban came into effect last week and his columns will not appear again. MISA reports that he believes the newspaper was pressured to stop his articles.

Times’ Managing Editor, Martin Dlamini denies any pressure, saying Nkhambule’s column has simply been affected by the routine changes the newspaper was making with regards to content.

Nkhambule told MISA that he personally took his article to the Times last week for publication but was told of the ban without reasons being given.

‘I then received information from other quarters that authorities have ordered the Times to stop publishing my articles. Whatever threat they received might have been very serious as they simply told me that my articles will no longer be published with no reasons being given,’ he said.

The ban on Nkhambule came in the same week that the Times was forced to make an abject apology to King Mswati after publishing an essentially correct report that he had purchased up to 20 armoured cars for the use of himself and his wives.

This is not the first time the Times has folded to pressure from King Mswati. In 2007 it was forced to make an apology or face immediate closure after it repeated a news agency report that was critical of the king.

The banning of Nkhambule will hit the reputation of the Times hard. Nkhambule had received international attention for his courage in standing up against King Mswati and Barnabas Dlamini, his illegally-appointed prime minister, especially after the Swazi Government introduced its Suppression of Terrorism Act last year which has been used to curtail freedom of speech and association in Swaziland.

Some people had seen the Times as a true supporter of democratic change in Swaziland: the banning of Nkhambule will put an end to that.

EMPTY PROMISES OF SWAZI RULERS

The only independent newspaper in the kingdom, the Times of Swaziland, has launched a fierce attack on the Minister of Finance Majozi Sithole on the day he is set to announce the national budget.

The newspaper accuses the minister of making ‘empty promises’ in the past. ‘Sithole has been making poverty alleviation promises for a decade now but the poverty levels are far from declining’.

Times managing editor, Martin Dlamini writes today (27 February 2009) that even though 69 percent of the one million people in Swaziland live in abject poverty, international observers say that Swaziland is not a poor country. This is because of the way the kingdom’s wealth is distributed.

On specific issues, Dlamini notes

HIV AIDS

HIV/AIDS has once again gained strength over the Swazi people. Infection rate has jumped back to 42 percent. This is not entirely government’s fault but it can certainly take a large share of the blame for failing strategies.

HEALTH

Last year Sithole said government was committed allocating 15 percent of the national budget towards the health sector. He disappointed us with a 10.6 percent allocation.

CIVIL SERVICE

Last year he observed that the civil service wage bill stood at 53.6 percent of the government expenditure which he described as significantly compared to the internationally recommended 35 percent.

He said government had decided to take steps to reduce the size of the civil service with E153 million set aside for a voluntary retirement scheme. We have seen no voluntary retirements. Instead, government has increased the size of the civil service with an additional ministry.

UNEMPLOYMENT

Sithole estimated last year that of the over 10 000 school leavers that join the labour market every year, only 2 000 are absorbed into the formal market. For the 8 000 others, he promised that the Ministry of Enterprise and Employment would shortly be presenting the Employment Bill, which would help set up an unemployment insurance fund.

He said government would also give more support to the Swazi entrepreneurs through strategic interventions in creating business opportunities by giving first preference to Swazis and hoped that the passing of the Competition Bill 2007 would create an environment which would raise the standards and quality of locally produced goods and materials to compete at international level.

Where are we with all these? The unemployment in this country was last reported to be at 28 percent when in actual fact it seems more at 45 percent now?

EDUCATION

Government remains guilty of failing to provide free education as per the requirements of the constitution. Last year Sithole threatened to introduce an education levy to fund this exercise. Brace yourselves. He may announce this new levy today.

Dlamini concludes, ‘Listen with great concentration to the budget speech today on these very important issues and don’t allow yourself to be fooled by a repetition of old promises.’

To read the full article, click here.

SWAZI SUPPORT FOR US AMBASSADOR

Swaziland’s only independent daily newspaper has come out firmly in favour of the US Ambassador’s pledge to support pressure groups working for democracy in the kingdom.

Maurice Parker, talking after the inauguration of President Barak Obama this week, said the US embassy would work with pressure groups in Swaziland to ensure that the fledgling democracy is fulfilled in the country. He said many pressure groups had trouble organising meetings, ensuring freedom of speech, or pursuing the right to assembly freely. He promised he would work with government and all pressure groups to ensure that the bottlenecks to free expression, freedom of association and full political determination are realised in the country.

This resulted in a furious denunciation from Swaziland’s Foreign Minister Lufto Dlamini.

The Times of Swaziland today (23 January 2009) said Dlamini ‘freaked out and went berserk’ upon hearing President Obama’s mandate to his envoys throughout the world.

The new president made it clear that the US would offer assistance only to democratically-constituted governments. Although the president didn’t mention Swaziland by name, it is clear that under the present political setup the kingdom would not be considered a democracy.

Ambassador Parker also announced that President Obama has made it clear that there is need for change of tactics in the fight against terrorism, which means getting rid of Swazi laws such as the Suppression of Terrorism Act.

Martin Dlamini, the Times editor, writing in his own newspaper, said, ‘Dlamini simply couldn’t believe what he was hearing and was hysterical. He ran to the radio to denounce the statement before he could even verify it.

‘The minister’s reaction should surprise nobody. He knows what this means to Swaziland and dreads the fact that he is part of a Cabinet that has to deal with what appears to be a no-nonsense Obama administration.

‘The reality that change has come to America has proved to be a nightmare for all those who have resisted change.’

According to the Times, Swaziland could lose thousands of jobs in the textile industry, which benefit from America’s African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade agreement, if the US refuses to renew or extend privileges under the Act until a multi-party election is held in the kingdom.

In a stinging attack on Lufto Dlamini, the Times says, ‘He is well aware that the entire world is looking and willing to listen to Obama, which means more friends for America and less sympathy for Swaziland.

‘Dlamini wants diplomacy from diplomats, but has failed to show them how, choosing to label some of them terrorist supporters.

‘He criticises the US ambassador for speaking through the press but does the same. He fails to dispute the lack of democracy in Swaziland but accuses the ambassador of inciting the people against government, even though the call for democracy in Swaziland has almost become a national anthem, especially amongst the progressive forces.’

The Times tells Lutfo Dlamini to study the inauguration speech of President Obama, who pledged to work with poor nations to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds.

‘And to those nations like ours [the United States] that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed and we must change with it,’ the president said.

The Times concludes, ‘It all has to do with whether Swaziland is willing to change with the world. This is the message Parker had for Swaziland that Lutfo refuses to believe.’

To read the full article click here.