SWAZILAND: A KINGDOM IN CRISIS

Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) has devoted the latest edition (Winter 2010) of its quarterly magazine ACTSA News to a ‘Focus on Swaziland’.

Here is one of the articles, SWAZILAND: A NATION IN CRISIS, that summarises the extent of the economic meltdown brought on by the chronic mismanagement of the Swazi Government; the crisis in public services, the inequalities in the kingdom headed by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, and the fight for human rights.

Until recently the Swazi regime has successfully managed not only to hide the country’s gross inequality and lack of rights, but has also hidden and failed to act on a growing financial crisis which threatens to bankrupt the nation.

For many years the economy has been reliant on external sources. During the apartheid years Swaziland benefited from investment from companies unwilling or unable to operate in South Africa or war torn Mozambique. More recently, the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) has provided two thirds of government revenue.

The global recession, recent reform of SACU and most of all financial mismanagement have produced a massive but predictable black hole in the Swazi economy which, until recently, has virtually been ignored. Following major criticisms from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), members of the Royal Family and Government have attempted to address the problem by approaching other countries in the hope of obtaining a loan - so far with no success.

In their desperation to obtain approval for a loan, at the end of an IMF delegation to the country Swaziland’s Finance Minister Majozi Sithole announced new tax rules, the privatisation of some public services and plans to cut 7,000 public sector jobs. The IMF’s encouragement for cuts to jobs and services in a country where 40 per cent are already unemployed will inevitably increase the number living in hardship, and trade unions have criticised the measures.

The majority of the Swazi population live under the harshest of conditions. Almost 70 percent live on less than a dollar a day and over a quarter are reliant on food aid. Swaziland has an HIV rate of 26.1 percent (the highest in the world), the consequences of which are horrendous: life expectancy has plummeted to 47 years, and 30 per cent of children are either orphaned or are living with a critically ill parent.

Much of the nation’s wealth lies in the hands of a tiny minority. The Royal Family and its entourage continue to benefit from a massive slice of the national budget, generous contributions from business and industry and the vast Tibyo fund; an undisclosed amount held ‘in trust’ by the King for the people of Swaziland, but only ever used to support a very select minority. $6 million in government funds is lost every month through corruption and, while the country’s semi-feudal agricultural system helps to prop up wealthy landowners, those who farm the land remain in poverty.

One area unlikely to see substantial cuts is the country’s security forces.

The vast military might of this tiny nation and its huge police force lead many to ask what threat the nation faces when it hasn’t seen a war in over a century. This vast force is more focused on keeping order within the country rather than defending it from any external threat.

The Government has promised not to make cuts to education and health, but both areas start from an already low funding base, and cuts to higher education were made in January this year [2010]. In March 2009 Swaziland’s High Court ordered the Government to adhere to its constitutional commitment and provide free education to primary school children, but the legal order did not demand any actual action. A further court case resulted in the judge ruling that the provision of free education was dependent on resources, not a commitment in the constitution.

Despite its problems little is invested in the nation’s health. Leaking roofs, unreliable water supplies, a lack of beds and ‘burnout’ among nurses are commonplace in hospitals and clinics.

According to Sophia Mukasa Monico, Country Coordinator for UNAIDS in Swaziland, these appalling conditions are keeping patients away: “Women are refusing to come to some clinics and hospitals because of the poor environment and the attitude of the health workers.”

Swaziland may call itself a democracy but in reality bears little resemblance to one. The country’s power lies firmly in the hands of the King and those he appoints: the Government and local chiefs, who have extensive powers over their communities, including controls over land and the right to education. This contributes towards a climate in which people feel highly restricted and unable to speak out.

Freedom and rights in Swaziland have become so bad that the country now ranks lower than Zimbabwe and DRC [Democratic Republic of Congo] on the respected Mo Ibrahim Index for participation and human rights. The repressive Suppression of Terrorism Act is used liberally to brandish anyone who speaks out as a terrorist and is regularly used to harass, arrest and torture dissenting voices. In a country where political parties are banned and the main opposition has been declared terrorist, trade unions often fill the resultant void by providing a space where political dialogue can take place. The Government is attempting to limit even this by pushing ahead with a Public Services Bill which would prevent state employees from discussing anything deemed ‘political’.

Despite this, and against all odds, voices of dissent in Swaziland are increasing. Many in Swaziland find it difficult to fathom why the international community is so reluctant to take up their plight.

One factor is a Government which uses every opportunity to portray a completely inaccurate picture of the country.

Tourists see a nation which projects itself as successfully marrying modern affluence with cultural traditions. Those who arrive from South Africa will be surprised at the impressive highway, lined with luxurious houses.

Announcements at Matsapha International Airport proudly inform passengers of the US $150 million project to build a new [Sikhuphe] airport. As they visit the cultural village or experience the infamous Reed Dance, in which young virgin women dance for the King so he can choose his next wife, tourists will remain oblivious to the poverty and inequality that lies behind this facade of affluence and culture.

Much of the media is strictly controlled by the Government. Radio and television are largely under the control of the state, the Observer Group of newspapers is controlled by the Royal Family and the Times of Swaziland Group, although independent, practices extremely strict self censorship.

Issues which many would consider to be in the national interest are often blocked in the interest of national security or to protect the country’s image. In October the Prime Minister, Barnabas Dlamini, announced the creation of a law which would require newspaper columnists to seek permission before writing critically about the Government.

Attempts have even been made to restrict foreign coverage of sensitive issues in Swaziland.

After decades of silence there is a growing global movement working to highlight the dire situation in Swaziland.

The Swaziland Democracy Campaign, with chapters in both Swaziland and South Africa, is building momentum for a regional and international campaign for democracy and rights.

Voices within the United Nations and in particular the International Labour Organisation are slowly growing stronger but are consistently met with procrastination from a government desperate to hold on to the status quo, which hides behind the country’s rich and unique culture.

The world is waking up to the political and economic crisis is Swaziland, but it is doing so far too slowly. With few natural resources, a small population and because it is often overshadowed by its regional neighbours, the situation can far too easily be overlooked by international governments. As well as pressure from within, if Swaziland is to see any fundamental and positive change in the near future, it will take many voices from across the globe to speak out about the plight of the Swazi people and ensure that international governments stop ignoring the growing political and economic crisis.

SWAZI REED DANCE EXPLOITS WOMEN

I’ve been asked why I didn’t write anything about the Reed Dance that was held in Swaziland last week.

Over the years I’ve written plenty about the Reed Dance (also known as Umhlanga). If you want to read what I wrote about the dance as a sex show, how ‘maidens’ are forced to dance for King Mswati III, how the king sometimes uses it to choose a wife, how the local and international media covers it and much more click here.

There wasn’t much new about this year’s Reed Dance, except, perhaps, that heads of state of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) attended. That old goat (and very dirty old man) Robert Mugabe, the ‘president’ of Zimbabwe was so impressed by the estimated 100,000 ‘bare-breasted maidens’ he said he wanted other African countries to have similar events.

For some reason that he never explained, Mugabe reckoned that his presence at this year’s Reed Dance proved that it was not ‘a sexual event bordering on exploitation’.

Swazi traditionalists say the Reed Dance bonds the kingdom and instils ‘good morals’ (virginity is uppermost in their minds) in girls.

Educated people have seen through the nonsense of this and say the Reed Dance portrays women as sexual objects.

One counsellor with a local children’s organisation which works towards rehabilitating abused children, was quoted by News Day, Zimbabwe, saying it was disheartening that heads of state – who were better positioned to spearhead perception change in society – would gather to ‘feast on naked young women under the ruse of upholding culture’.

She said it was ironic that the ‘so-called cultural celebration’ was, in fact, a culture of abuse.



‘Women’s virginity has always been a favourite topic among patriarchal societies, and the fact there is so much obsession about women’s sexuality is in itself an indication that something is wrong because societies are made up of men and women,’ she said.



A Harare, Zimbabwe-based social worker, Robert Mhishi, said young women also needed to be disabused of cultural notions that demanded that they parade semi-naked before men.



A young woman who led the Reed Dance was quoted saying, ‘This is our big day, the Reed Dance.



‘This is a celebration of our culture and we are very proud. We girls are encouraged to take care of ourselves. We are encouraged to stay girls and not to let others pressure us into sex.’



Mhishi said the best way young women could take care of themselves was through socio-economic empowerment which would ensure that they would not be sorely dependent on men for their survival.



News Day reports that critics say the ceremony has degenerated into nothing more than a beauty pageant, and does little to address the status of women in a country with the world’s highest rate of HIV infection.



‘The Reed Dance has been abused for one man’s [King Mswati] personal satisfaction,’ Mario Masuku, the leader of PUDEMO, a banned opposition party, recently told Reuters. ‘The king has a passion for young women and opulence.’



King Mswati, the last absolute monarch in sub-Saharan Africa, rules Swaziland where women have few legal rights and cannot turned him down if he chooses them for a wife.



Women are treated as minors, especially in the rural areas.

SING WHILE YOU’RE SWINGING

Someone at the Times of Swaziland website has a sense of humour.

A story that ‘maidens’ preparing for this weekend’s Reed Dance have composed a song to promote circumcision among men is followed by a report headlined Jolly mood during cutting ceremony.

SWAZI REED DANCE IS ROYAL SEX SHOW

The Reed Dance to honour King Mswati III of Swaziland is used by members of the Swazi Royal Family as a hunting ground to satisfy their insatiable sexual appetites, according to one of the fiercest critics of the king.

Every year tens of thousands of ‘maidens’, many of them displaying bare breasts, dance for the king. Some years King Mswati uses this as an opportunity to choose himself a new wife – he is thought to have 14 at present.

The Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), says the annual Reed Dance (also known as Umhlanga) which will next be held on 30 August 2010 ‘is marketed to outside observers as a glittering rite of passage, [but] it is important that people become aware of the lecherous members of the royal family who use it as a hunting ground to satisfy their insatiable sexual appetites.'

The SSN comments come after a ‘senior’ member of the Swazi Royal Family, Prince Logcogco (also known as Prince Mangaliso) became embroiled in a custody battle with the 18-year-old mother of their four-year-old child.

Prince Logcogco, aged 60, gave interviews to the Times of Swaziland about the custody battle and his belief that the HIV situation in Swaziland (the kingdom has the highest infection rate in the world) was exaggerated.

Although the media in Swaziland are not reporting the fact, the mother of his child conceived by Prince Logcogco, when she was 13 or 14 years old. This is illegal in Swaziland, where the age of consent is 16. If police prosecute and Prince Logcogco is convicted he faces a jail term and up to 24 lashes.

SSN in a blistering attack on Prince Logcogco says, ‘Logcogco, who is also the chief of Gundvwini and Chairman of Tibiyo, the trust held on behalf of the nation by the royal family, was first reported by the Times of Swaziland to be fuming over the fact that a certain girl he had impregnated had allegedly “stolen” his daughter.

'A day later the distraught young lady called the newspaper to give her side of the story where she narrated how the prince had “destroyed her life”, in a manner that she cannot reveal, when he impregnated her. She further went on to disclose how the senior prince had neglected the child by not paying maintenance and later leaving her at his residence where she was sexually abused. The child is only four years old.

‘A follow up interview with the prince has revealed what can be described as a deplorable attitude by a senior citizen of the country. Prince Mangaliso shared his beliefs on HIV and sexuality with a Times of Swaziland journalist recently where he dismissed abstinence, faithfulness and circumcision as a means of curbing the scourge. Describing himself as a fearless human being who could not be bothered by HIV, which he believes has been commercialised by ruthless Capitalist Pharmaceutical companies.

‘Logcogco is a polygamist whose number of wives is unknown. He also has numerous children out of wedlock, many of whom he has no personal relationship with. Like his cousin, King Mswati, he still holds on to backward views of expressing his manhood through his virility. The existence of such attitudes amongst people who are role models to the country’s youth is disturbing and goes a long way towards explaining why the country currently has the highest infection rate in the whole world. As the nation prepares for its annual red dance, which is marketed to outside observers as a glittering rite of passage, it is important that people become aware of the lecherous members of the royal family who use it as a hunting ground to satisfy their insatiable sexual appetites.’

SILENCE ON SWAZILAND REED DANCE

Am I the only one to have been surprised by the near total lack of interest by the international media in this year’s Umhlanga Reed Dance?

In the past there has been TV, radio and newspaper coverage of the tale of King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, and his dancing bare-breasted maidens, complete with speculation that one of the lucky virgins will get chosen to be the king’s next wife.

I’ve written often enough in the past about how the media have covered the Reed Dance (click here) in the past so I won’t repeat myself here.

The Swazi media, of course, gave extensive coverage. The Swazi Observer, the newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III, claimed that 130,000 maidens danced. We should take this figure with a degree of caution, since the South Africa Press Association (SAPA) put the total at a more modest 80,000.

The SAPA report was the only one I saw in the international media. Among the dancers was a nine-year-old girl from South Africa, but SAPA does not say if she was bare breasted or not.

Unless there was any doubt about what the true purpose of the Reed Dance is, consider this extract from SAPA’s report.

‘During the four-hour event, children sang songs which glorified Mswati and condemned his enemies.

‘”This land is your land our king, your enemies want to destroy you,” they sang.’

If you are suffering withdrawal symptoms because of a lack of pictures from the Red Dance you might like to look at this video, posted on Joe Dodson’s Adventures in Swaziland blog and presumably shot by him.