SWAZI PRINCE AND THE ‘LYING MEDIA’

Prince Mahlaba, who received worldwide condemnation with his statement that journalists who criticise the Swaziland state should die, has once again called journalists liars.

Prince Mahlaba, a brother of King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, and member of the shady group Liqoqo that advises the king, says that he never made a death threat and journalist are lying about him.

The death threat statement was made in public at the so-called Smart Partnership public gathering last month (July 2010).

Then he was reported saying, ‘I want to warn the media to bury things that have the potential of undermining the country, rather than publish all and everything even when such reports are harmful to the country’s international image.

‘Journalists who write bad things about the country will die.’

He also said at the time, ‘It’s a fact that journalists earn their living by writing lies and if they do not write the lies then their source of livelihood is threatened and this is fact and beyond debate.’

Now in an interview with the Weekend Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, he says he never made a death threat against journalists and those who say that he did, wrote ‘nothing but lies’.

He went on, ‘Is it then not true that reporters tell lies in order to earn a living? They changed my story.’

There were many journalists and members of the public present when the prince made his original statement, but none of them have come forward to say he was misquoted, even though his remarks gained international attention and he was roundly condemned for making them.

Prince Mahlaba wondered why journalists who were present have not disputed the lies that he said journalists would die. Now, he wants the Swaziland nation to defend him.

Over to you Swazi nation.

‘TIMES’ CENSORS ADVERT ABOUT KING

The Times of Swaziland has censored a paid advert from a group of pro-democracy groups in the kingdom, because it contains mild criticisms of King Mswati III.

The advert drew attention to a recent rejection by the king of any dialogue with groups advocating democracy in the kingdom where he is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

The advert also commented on a statement made by the king’s brother Prince Mahlaba who made death threats against journalists who give coverage to political dissenters.

At first, the Times claimed the advert was illegal, but later privately accepted this was not the case.

What was happening, of course, was self-censorship by the newspaper. As I reminded readers earlier this week, the Times has had a series of run-ins with King Mswati and he has threatened to close down the newspaper group if it criticises him.

The pro-democracy groups who signed the advert were the Swaziland Democracy Campaign, the Foundation for Socio-Economic Justice, the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organization, the Swaziland Democratic Front and Swaziland Positive Living (SWAPOL).

The advert runs for more than 800 words and there were significant changes made to four paragraphs. A reference to King Mswati acting in an ‘un-Swazi’ way was also cut.

The pro-democracy groups decided not to publish in the Times and will now try the Nation magazine, an independent monthly.

To see the original text of the advert and the changes demanded, click here or below.

Swaziland Advertisement Censorship

INTERNET TRUTH ABOUT SWAZILAND

King Mswati III of Swaziland recently decried the way information about his kingdom seeped onto the Internet, telling the world about things he’d rather we didn’t know.

I bet he’s giving his brother Prince Mahlaba a good kicking today after his threat that journalists ‘who write bad things about the country will die’ became an international scandal. Mahlaba also said journalists wrote lies.

Mahlaba must have thought he could get away with bullying the media in the kingdom ruled by King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. He made his comments at the Smart Partnership, a talk shop organised and controlled by Swaziland’s ruling elite.

But Mahlaba didn’t reckon on the influence of the Internet. Once the Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, bravely reported the threat on its website, there was no going back.

Within hours the influential media freedom organisation the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had rallied behind the Swazi media and condemned Mahlaba. Then the story went truly global. I’ve counted more than 25 Internet sites from every continent on the planet that carried news criticising the prince and by extension the whole undemocratic regime in Swaziland.

It’s a lesson for us all that it’s important to get the news out. Even when sometimes the mainstream media are too frightened to publish we on the bloggersphere and other social media can tell the world the truth about Swaziland.

Meanwhile, Mahlaba may find himself in deep trouble. The South Africa National Editors' Forum (Sanef) has said King Mswati and his government must ‘repudiate the prince’s view and, in the absence of such an unequivocal statement, [Sanef] would report the threat to the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, and the United Nations.’

Sanef said Mahlaba’s accusations against journalists and about how they operated were outrageous and contemptuously rejected, but the threat to kill journalists who wrote critically about the governance and leadership of the country was extremely menacing, designed to intimidate journalists and their publications.

CPJ ATTACKS ‘DEATH THREAT’ PRINCE

World opinion continues to turn against King Mswati III’s regime.

The latest organisation to condemn the lack of press freedom in Swaziland is the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) which yesterday (26 July 2010) attacked Prince Mahlaba, the brother of King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, for threatening with death journalists who reported critically about Swaziland’s ruling elite.

CPJ has rallied behind the media in Swaziland, most of which is either state-controlled or in effect owned by King Mswati.

CPJ reported Mbongeni Mbingo, managing editor of the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, saying the threats were ‘dangerous’ and could not be taken lightly since the prince was a member of a highly influential royal advisory council, Liqoqo (also known as the Swaziland National Council – SNC).

Comfort Mabuza, the National Director of the Swaziland chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa condemned the threats and feared they could incite the public against the journalists. ‘We are in big trouble because his view may be representing that of SNC, which advises the king,’ Mabuza told CPJ. ‘The council is yet to call him to order and we are really concerned about their continued silence.’

CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita said, ‘The government of Swaziland must immediately reject the death threats against journalists by a leading member of the ruling family,” said. “We call on the government to issue a clear and unequivocal statement condemning this murderous outburst and ensuring the international community that Swaziland is committed to the protection of all journalists.’

Prince Mahlaba had told a meeting of the Smart Partnership, ‘I want to warn the media to bury things that have the potential of undermining the country rather than publish all and everything even when such reports are harmful to the country's international image. Journalists who continue to write bad things about the country will die.’

· CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom around the world.