‘TIMES’ WHITEWASHES PM DLAMINI

I can’t be the only person left dumbfounded by the interview the Times of Swaziland published today (10 December 2010) with Barnabas Dlamini, the kingdom’s illegally-appointed Prime Minister.

In the interview he is allowed to say he is not a ‘vindictive’ person and he is not intolerant to criticism. ‘If anything,’ Dlamini says, ‘I believe I have become more tolerant.’ He vows he will not be deterred in the fight against corruption and also says he has a ‘long memory’.

But you don’t need a long memory to know that Dlamini is talking nonsense – and the Times, the kingdom's only independent daily newspaper, lets him get away with it.

This is the same Dlamini, whose government vindictively locked up Mario Masuku, President of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), for nearly a year on trumped up terrorism charges. When Masuku eventually appeared in court in September 2009, he was released within hours.

This is the same Dlamini who in September 2010 said he wanted to torture by whipping their feet, foreigners who criticised his government. That’s not very tolerant.

It is Dlamini’s government which has labelled perfectly respectable opposition groups as ‘terrorists’ and vowed to hunt them down. That’s not very tolerant.

This is the same Dlamini whose sense of self worth is so out of kilter with what the rest of the planet thinks of him that he humiliated the whole of Swaziland in October 2010 when he accepted a world humanitarian award from a known con-man.

I think you should judge people by what they actually do and not by what they say they will do. So let’s look at Dlamini’s record.

It is ironic that the interview in the Times was published on World Human Rights Day, because Dlamini is a vowed enemy of human rights.

In 2004, after Dlamini was last Prime Minister in Swaziland, Amnesty International wrote a report about the human rights abuses perpetrated on his watch that ran for more than fifty-thousand words.

Amnesty reported that while Dlamini ‘was violating the rule of law, the judiciary in Swaziland were trying to uphold it.’

Every judge in the Swaziland Appeals Court resigned after Dlamini refused to accept their ruling. There was no Appeals Court for two years and it only returned after Dlamini was replaced as Prime Minister.

Dlamini repeatedly ignored court rulings, interfered in court proceedings, intimidate judicial officers, manipulated terms and conditions of employment to undermine the independence of the judiciary and effectively replaced the Judicial Services Commission with an unaccountable and secretive body.

Dlamini tells the Times that he is fighting corruption, but he is even today embroiled in a land-scam case where he personally stands to benefit to the tune of hundreds of thousands of emalengeni.

As I said earlier: judge him by what he does, not by what he says.

For more examples of Barnabas Dlamini’s excesses click the links below.

PM ‘STOLE FROM POOR’ IN LAND SCAM

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2010/12/pm-stole-from-poor-in-land-scam.html

PM TO LOCK UP ENEMIES WITHOUT BAIL

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2010/06/pm-to-lock-up-enemies-without-bail.html

WHO ARE THE SWAZILAND TERRORISTS?

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2010/06/who-are-swaziland-terrorists.html

ILLEGAL SWAZILAND PM CRACKS DOWN

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2010/06/illegal-swaziland-pm-cracks-down.html

SWAZI P.M. EXPOSED ON TERROR ACT

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2009/01/swazi-pm-exposed-on-terror-act.html

URGENT OPERATION FOR MASUKU

Mario Masuku, the President of PUDEMO, the group considered to be Swaziland’s main opposition, has been taken to hospital for urgent medical attention.

The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily in the kingdom, reported that Masuku was driven to South Africa last Wednesday (10 November 2010) and will be there for about a month.

The Times reported that he was advised by his doctor at the Mbabane Government Hospital, Swaziland, to go for an urgent operation in South Africa.

Family members requested that the nature of Masuku’s illness not be disclosed.

Source: Page 3, Times of Swaziland, Monday November 15, 2010.

SWAZI PM 'TO CENSOR FOREIGN PRESS'

Barnabas Dlamini, Swaziland’s illegally-appointed Prime Minister, who humiliated himself and the kingdom earlier this month by accepting a ‘humanitarian’ medal from a conman, is set to embarrass himself again on the international stage.

This time Dlamini thinks he is so powerful that he can censor a South African newspaper. He is annoyed because City Press from Johannesburg published an article in its edition on Sunday (17 October 2010) criticising the Swazi Government and its running of the economy.

The City Press reported that Dlamini and the Minister of Finance Majozi Sithole had travelled to Washington ‘cap in hand’ to request financial assistance from the World Bank. Dlamini was also annoyed that the newspaper published a comment from Mario Masuku, President of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), an organisation banned in Swaziland.

Questioned in the Swaziland parliament yesterday, Dlamini said, ‘We will deal with this. We have prepared a statement and we will see to it that the newspaper will publish our response.’

I assume that when he says the newspaper ‘will publish our response’ he means the statement will appear as a paid advertisement; because that’s the only way he can ensure its publication (always assuming that the City Press decides to accept it).

There is no other way Dlamini can force the City Press to publish his statement. He must remember that it is only in Swaziland where he has control over the majority of the news media. He is editor-in-chief of the state-run radio, SBIS, and state-run TV, Swazi TV. The Swazi Observer and its companion the Weekend Observer are both in effect owned by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, so are under Dlamini’s cosh.

But outside of the kingdom it’s a different matter. He has no power over the South African media and I look forward to the City Press telling him to take a running jump.

But the fact that Dlamini actually believes that he can control the foreign press demonstrates how out of touch with reality he is.

I look forward to hearing him explain to MPs why it was the City Press wouldn’t publish his statement.

SWAZI STATE TERROR CONDEMNED

The following is a media statement from the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) about the mass protest march that took place in Manzini, Swaziland, on Wednesday (8 September 2010).

PUDEMO CONDEMNS STATE ARROGANCE AND TERROR ON INNOCENT PROTESTORS

8 September 2010

The protest action that was in Mbabane did not accomplish its intended objective of presenting petitions to the government. Once again the oppressive and repressive nature of the state was witnessed by the protestors.

In the first instance, the Minister of Labour did not come out to receive the petition, a trend that has been going in the country for many years when petitions had to be presented to government. The government wanted to send a junior office to receive the petition. This shows the disgusting attitude the government of the country has towards its people.

The second factor causing the protestors not to present the petition was the arrogant, provocative and repressive behaviour of the state police. The police wanted to forcefully remove Wandile Dludlu from the protestors because he was deemed not to be part of those who should protest against the state. And police were acting on an instruction by the state which has given itself the right to dictate who should protest against it! In the process, the police assaulted and manhandled several protestors in the skirmish that ensured resulting to two workers getting forcefully and brutally thrown and held inside a police caspir that was on standby.

Earlier in the day the President of PUDEMO Mario Masuku was visited by state police acting on government instruction to take and keep him at the Police Headquarters in Mbabane on the pretext that he was not supposed to attend the protest action. Later on he was escorted home where he was placed under house arrest for the duration of the protest action.

This is the hallmark of the Tinkhundla regime. It sustains it power over the people through force, intimidation, harassment, fear and repression while it tells the world the direct opposite of existing concrete conditions.

This dictatorial and arrogant behaviour and tendencies of the state in Swaziland deserves the strongest and unreserved condemnation by the civilized and democratic world. PUDEMO condemns this undemocratic and disrespectful behaviour by the state. We have always expressed clearly over the years the arrogance of the state and all we got for telling the truth was to be labelled unSwazi, disrespectful and most of all terrorists.

However, this arrogance and terror orchestrated by the state will not deter us and the struggling masses of our country until the constitutional multiparty democracy is achieved.

SWAZILAND REPRESSION INTENSIFIES

For readers who haven’t been paying attention this week as the pro-democracy campaign took to the streets of Swaziland and was repressed by Swazi state forces, here is a report today (9 September) from the Business Day newspaper in South Africa giving a summary of events so far.

POLITICAL repression has intensified in Swaziland with the suppression this week of a pro-democracy march and the arrest of a prominent leader of a political movement.

The heavy-handedness of the security forces against the marchers has fuelled anger among human rights movements in Swaziland and the region.

About 60 people have so far been arrested and released since preparation for the protest march was started, Zakhele Mabuza, the march organiser, told Business Day yesterday.

Swaziland is the last absolute monarchy in sub-Saharan Africa and political parties are banned. A 1973 king’s proclamation still prevents Swazi citizens from being part of any political movement, allowing the monarchy to rule by decree.

Mario Masuku, president of the People’s United Democratic Movement, was on Tuesday prevented from participating in the march in Swaziland’s second-largest city, Manzini. “The police at Manzini grabbed me and no explanation was given,” Mr Masuku said.

“They forcefully led me to the regional police headquarters (in Manzini), where I was interrogated.”

Mr Masuku said a police barricade erected 2km from his house made it difficult for him to move freely in his neighbourhood. He was supposed to have taken part in a week-long pro-democracy march to demand the reinstatement of multiparty democracy in the kingdom.

He said he “feared for his life” as “plainclothes policemen” were monitoring his every move.

He also said that the security establishment prevented the marchers from presenting three petitions to the justice ministry. The petitions listed grievances that the marching crowd was demanding be addressed by the monarchy.

“The security forces disrupted everything and we were forced to abandon the march.”

The petition included the demand for multiparty democracy, removal of repressive laws, eradication of a mandatory monthly electricity surcharge of R55, and the elimination of taxation for working-class people who earn less than R800 a month.

A follow-up two-day protest march to demand political reforms and a constitutional democracy is being planned for November, Mr Masuku said.

Swaziland's high commission to SA refused to comment on political developments in the country.

Questions sent to SA’s Department of International Relations and Co-operation were not answered by the time of going to print.

Last month, two prominent leaders of the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) criticised the Swaziland monarchy for its autocratic tendencies.

Gwede Mantashe, the secretary-general of the ANC, called for civil society movements to campaign against dictatorships on the African continent, including Swaziland.

Jeremy Cronin, deputy secretary-general of the SACP, said that the Southern African Development Community was failing to engage with the Swazi monarchy to institute democratic reforms.