SWAZI KING AND INTERNET INSULTS

King Mswati III of Swaziland reckons there’s a lot of ‘insulting information’ about his kingdom to be found on the Internet.

I assume by ‘insulting’ he means ‘true’ information. That is information about the repressive regime he runs in Swaziland and the way he has been crushing legitimate dissent in the kingdom where he is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

He is not the only member of the Swazi ruling elite worried by the Internet. Barnabas Dlamini, the man he illegally appointed Prime Minister was sounding off last month (June 2010) about the ‘malicious propaganda and misinformation’ (i.e. truth) about Swaziland that was on the Internet.

But King Mswati may have a more personal reason to feel ‘insulted’ by the Internet.

A website claiming to be written by the king has been online since August 2008. Phansi Mswati Phansi brings us the view of the world as seen through the eyes of ‘King Mswati’.

Here’s what the ‘king’ wrote on his birthday – 19 April 2010.

‘I, the great Mswati III, am celebrating my birthday and expect all of you viewers to send me best wishes since I am the most wonderful monarch in the world.

‘I am so superior to all humans I can make the rain fall. Today it was very funny to see all my devoted fans - aristocrats and "commoners" - sitting in the rain waiting for me, the supreme one.

‘I have got my own country to close down for the day, but my neighbours - South Africa and Mozambique - are never going to be invited to my parties again since they too did not shut down their countries to celebrate my great birth!



‘I wanted some more women for my birthday - I am 42 and want 42 wives; but all I got was another Rolls Royce. See how hard it is to be a king!’

FIND NEWS AND VIEWS ON SWAZILAND

Last week I received a private email from a media freedom activist asking me which blogsites on Swaziland he should be following to keep abreast of the continuing fight for democracy.

There is an increasing number of blogsites about the kingdom, but most of them are not about public affairs. Instead they are written by people who are travelling through Swaziland or who are in the kingdom with a volunteer organisation such as the US Peace Corps or churches.

These sites are not written for a general audience and are mostly aimed at the writer’s friends and families. They have little concern for the general reader. You can read examples here and here.

The most visited site on freedom in Swaziland is the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) forum. At the last count it had 684 members and the forum is updated several times a day.

The SSN also has a site based in Canada that has been operating for more than three years that holds a collection of articles and reports on Swaziland.

The banned political party, People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) has started its own website. It hasn’t been operating for long and is still being built. The Swazi Government wanted to close it down, so it must be worth reading.

Libambe Lingashoni describes itself as a journal with a vision ‘One world, one people.’ It says, ‘We see a new Swaziland where all human beings shall be equal before the law.’ It says it is a monthly journal, but the site hasn’t been updated since October 2008.

Caroline in Swaziland is Canadian videographer who was working in Swaziland to produce videos for several non-profit organizations, including the Swaziland Action Group against Abuse, an organization that is trying to fight abuse through counselling, education and women's empowerment programs.

Among the blogsites available on Swaziland is my own Swaziland Elections 2008, which as the name suggests, has a collection of information and comment about the elections in Swaziland held last September.

Among recently-created blogsites (which don’t always get updated that often) are

Phansi Mswati Phansi, which takes a satirical swipe at King Mswati III and purports to be written by the king, ‘I am a king and don't care for my subjects.’

S1ka Media is written by Sikelela Dlamini, and ‘carefully identifies, reflects on, explores, interrogates, and unpacks some uncomfortable socio-political topics/issues confronting contemporary Swaziland’.

Stanley Talks was set up by Stanley Mkhwanazi, a Journalism and Mass Communication graduate from the University of Swaziland, as ‘a commentary on a variety of issues such as media, business, tourism, social , personal development, observations and experiences’.

Tinchapheli ‘is dedicated to the people, young and old, who fight oppression in Swaziland and the world over’.

The Young People’s Division is to help ‘youth overcome all challenges they might be exposed to’.

Apologies to anyone I have left out. If you know of other sites that should be on the list please let me know.

SWAZILAND'S ABSOLUT MONARCHY

I found these two cartoons on the Phansi Mswati Phansi blogsite written by 'King Mswati III', which often provides a laugh or two.

For more Zapiro cartoons click here