As I predicted in December 2010, the Observer newspapers, in effect owned and edited by King Mswati III, are continuing their calls for Dlamini to resign.
The latest call comes today (22 January 2011) from Alec Lushaba, editor of the Weekend Observer. And he seems to be writing with the full support of the King.
Lushaba writes in his own newspaper, ‘My view is that the prime minister and his collective failed His Majesty the King in 2010. Their actions have put the name of king and country into disrepute and for that and that alone, they have to go.’
He goes on to say that the King’s ‘image’ internationally has been damaged.
You will notice that Lushaba says Dlamini has failed the King and not the people. The King’s ‘good name’ is really all the newspaper cares about.
Lushaba also accuses Dlamini of making the King look like a liar over support for the Royal Jozini Big Six, the tourist development that was closed down by the King in November 2010.
Lushaba previously told us that his newspaper would never publish anything about King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, without the King’s permission.
So we must assume that the King himself supports the Observer’s call for Dlamini’s resignation.
Lushaba writes, ‘... it is unSwazi and foreign in our culture to use His Majesty the King and iNgwenyama as your shield when under attack. If anything, it is expected that iNgwenyama uses or sacrifices his lieutenants when under-siege.’
He goes on, ‘Now that iNgwenyama is officially out of seclusion, what do we expect him to do?’
I cannot believe Lushaba would dare write such words unless he had the permission of the King.
Dlamini should start collecting cardboard boxes now in readiness for the office clearout he will surely have to make shortly.
The only question that remains is does he resign or is he sacked?
King Mswati III’s newspapers in Swaziland are once again trying to fool us that they are independent chroniclers of events in the kingdom.
The latest to try is Alec Lushaba, editor of the Weekend Observer. Writing today (8 January 2011) in his own newspaper, he says the Observer is not directly linked to the Swazi Government. That is true. But he admits the paper is owned by King Mswati.
And, let’s face it, that fact alone tells us that the newspaper cannot be trusted to tell the truth about Swaziland.
Lushaba has the gall to write this, ‘We are just a newspaper that Serves the Nation.’
He goes on, ‘We are called upon by our shareholder to publish without fear or favour all news of public interest in the following areas, politics, business, social, economic and sporting activities. We further make a commitment to inform and educate the public on matters of their social well being.’
Nonsense. I make this challenge to Lushaba. If your newspaper serves the nation then tell your readers about the Royal Family sex scandal that was reported around the world in August 2010, but not in Swaziland.
Report what the world knows: that Forbes revealed in 2009 that King Mswati has a personal fortune estimated at US$ 200 million. Then tell the readers where he got the money from.
And lastly: tell your readers about the present scandal involving a senior cabinet minister. Tell your readers who he is (half of Swaziland is already gossiping about the name) and tell them how the Swazi Royal Family is involved in the scandal.
Once you do these things, you can claim to be a newspaper that publishes without ‘fear or favour’.
And if my readers think I’m being a bit harsh on Lushaba, the following are his words, from his article:
‘We commit ourselves into respecting and observing the institution of the Monarchy by ensuring that all publications with regard to Their Majesties are factually, culturally and traditionally correct. The sensitivity of the institutions demands that all facts be checked or verified with the traditional structures and/or have been in direct consultation with Their Majesties.’
The abuse and rape of sex workers in Swaziland at the hands of police is a growing and widespread problem.
Prostitution is still illegal in the kindom, yet sex workers have reported targeted campaigns of rape and violence at the hands of Swazi police.
One well known investigator is notorious to sex workers in the capital, Mbabane.
‘He attacks us at our hotspot,’ said one 20-year-old sex worker. ‘He threatens us with a gun so that we do not run away. He then rapes us, after he is done, he lets his boys rape us while he watches, and we cannot report this to the police.’
The following article is distributed by Gender Links (Johannesburg), South Africa.
Mbabane, Swaziland — In a country known for its skyrocketing HIV and AIDS rates, conservatism, Christianity and traditional mores, it may come as a surprise that the abuse and rape of sex workers in Swaziland at the hands of police is a growing and widespread problem.
Sex work, known as one of the oldest trades, is still illegal in the country, yet sex workers have reported targeted campaigns of rape and violence at the hands of Swazi police.
One well known investigator is notorious to sex workers in the capital, Mbabane.
"He attacks us at our hotspot," said Phumzile Mamba*, a 20-year-old sex worker. "He threatens us with a gun so that we do not run away. He then rapes us, after he is done, he lets his boys rape us while he watches, and we cannot report this to the police."
Sex work in Swaziland is not confined to urban areas, but also common in rural areas, where patterns of abuse are often less evident.
A recent report by Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAAGA), in partnership with other local organisations, noted: "It is not just that they are arrested, to a greater or lesser degree they are forced by police to comply with demands for free sex or sex in exchange for not being arrested.
27% of the sex workers have at some point been arrested by state police for loitering. 60% of those arrested end up being sexually and physically abused by the police."
The study involved 150 sex workers, both female and male, from urban and rural communities.
In an attempt to intensify the fight against HIV and AIDS, several local organisations, including SWAAGA, have called for the decriminalisation of sex work in the country. They argue that the decriminalisation of sex work would enable their organisations and other partners to reach those involved in the illegal trade.
The National Strategic Framework for HIV and AIDS (NFS) identifies commercial sex as one of the key drivers of HIV and AIDS in Swaziland.
"Sex work is often characterised by high rates of partner change, low rates of condom use, unsafe sex and high rates of sexually transmitted infections.
Consequently, HIV infection is often high and the virus can quickly spread through sexual networks encompassing sex workers, clients, regular partners and associated lovers," states one NFS report.
Over the past several years, Swaziland has recorded one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world. Data from the country's 11th National Sero-Surveillance Report indicates that HIV prevalence increased from 39 to 42% between 2006 and 2008.
The Swaziland Demographic and Health Survey estimated the prevalence among the population between 15-49 years to be at 26%. This means that for every four Swazis in the reproductive age, one is HIV positive.
In such a climate, sex workers have become a vital link in HIV prevention in the country.
Another recent study, the 2010 United Nations Assembly Special Session on HIV and AIDS (UNGASS) found that Swaziland's sex workers are being pressured by clients not to use condoms. These clients often pay more money, something sex workers may find hard to turn down.
Sex workers are put at greater risk of contracting HIV, and the client then likely goes home to a wife, who is also put at risk.
Many times that "client" is a police officer.
Because sex work is criminalised, law enforcers often overlook that sex workers can be victims of crime, and street-based workers in particular experience high levels of assault and rape.
Yet Police Public Relations Officer Superintendent Wendy Hleta said the police have no knowledge of sex workers in the country because their trade is illegal.
However, she said in cases where they have been abused or violated by police or individuals, such cases should be reported.
"We have competent officers, both female and male, who can listen to their concerns even when it means being heard in private. We encourage them to come forward and report such violations," she said.
However, because their trade is illegal, sex workers rarely avail themselves of such services.
Zanale Dlamini*, a sex worker from Ezulwini said: "Even if I have a simple cold I don't go to Lobamba Clinic, everybody knows that I am a sex worker.
Although the nurses don't voice it directly at you, they act funny and make silly comments about you."
Poverty and unemployment remain the major forces pushing young Swazis into sex work.
Xoliswa Sithole*, a 24-year-old sex worker from Gundvwini said: "I looked for a job at the textile factories for five months and I got tired of "facing" (waiting outside the factory gates before being employed) there. My friends suggested that we try selling sex at Matsapha. At first I was afraid but I have now learnt the trade. I have a room at Matsapha and go home on weekends. At least I can afford food and pay for my children's school fees.
My family thinks I am working at the textile factories."
Until sex work is recognised and decriminalised in the country, desperate Swazi mothers like Sithole will continue to be raped and abused at the hands of police and other violent men. And as long as this happens the HIV prevalence rate for the entire country will only continue to rise.
Alec Lushaba is the editor of the Swazi Observer. This article is part of a special series on the 16 Days of Activism for the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service that offers fresh views on everyday news. For more information on the 16 Days Campaign go to www.genderlinks.org.za
They are angry at an article he wrote last week (14 August 2010) in which he criticised them for being too soft on government ministers.
The senators claim the article was in contempt of the senate and have set up a committee to investigate it.
Swazi senators have form in this. They reckon no one is allowed to criticise their activities and if local journalists dare to do so they get harassed. If it goes to plan the committee will call witnesses to debate the merits of the article and Lushaba will have it all hanging over his head.
The idea, of course, is to stop journalists criticising the senators. If reporters know they will have to jump through hoops to establish their innocence, they might be reluctant to make the criticism in the first place.
But the senators won’t get it all their own way.
In 2007 when a committee was set up to investigate a claim of contempt against Mbingo Mbongeni, the then editor of the Times Sunday and now editor-in-chief of the Times of Swaziland,it declared he had a constitutional right to freedom of expression and it dismissed the charge.
Lushaba has done nothing wrong. We all have a constitutional right to free speech. The senate should cancel the committee of inquiry and set about answering the criticisms made and stop trying to dodge them.
King Mswati IIIof Swaziland has ruled out any form of political dialogue with progressives in the kingdom who want democratic change.
The king, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, said the question of reviewing the political structures in Swaziland was a closed book that would not be opened.
King Mswati was speaking at the Smart Partnershipthis week in a tense meeting with journalists.
According to a report in the printed version of the Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, today (23 July 2010), the question sparked an angry intervention from Prince Mahlaba, a member of Liqoqo, the shady group that advises the king.
Prince Mahlaba denounced Lushaba as ‘not Swazi enough’ to know what he was talking about. Prince Mahlaba claimed that the Swazi people were all behind the present system of government and did not want change.
When Prince Mahlaba allowed the king to answer the question, King Mswati said prospects of reviewing the kingdom’s political system were closed.
The Times reports that Lushaba told the king that political dissenters were also Swazi people and should be called so they could tell the king what their problems were.
King Mswati, who has banned political parties in Swaziland and branded groups who are in opposition to him terrorists, said dissenters would not be entertained.
