FEAR KEEPS SWAZILAND ‘STABLE’

I’m not the only one who thinks King Mswati III of Swaziland is talking nonsense when he says that his kingdom is at peace.

King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, told a gathering last week to celebrate his birthday that Swaziland had been at peace since its independence from Britain in 1968.

Vusi Sibisi, a columnist for the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, reckons he knows why there is no unrest in Swaziland – people are too scared to speak out.

Writing in the Times, Sibisi reminds us of a recent ‘assessment of the current level of human rights understanding’ in Swaziland that was commissioned by the Council of Swaziland Churches and supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

It found that it was fear, more than anything else, that was responsible for the peace and stability that King Mswati keeps talking about.

Sibisi says the study ‘found out that the majority of the people are afraid of their government hence they dared not challenge it for fear of reprisals’.

The study says peace and stability are not the products of respect for a functional and popular system of governance but a product of fear of the political establishment to the extent that some believe the government has the right to punish its critics.

The study found that 74.4 per cent of the respondents who participated believe that ‘people who speak against the government must expect the government to punish them in any way it sees fit’.

In short the people would, most probably out of fear, subordinate their human rights and freedoms to government rather than cause any discomfiture by demanding the leadership to respect their fundamental human rights and freedoms.

To read Sibisi’s article in full, click here.

RACISM AND THE 'TIMES OF SWAZILAND'

Racist hysteria has gripped one section of the Swazi press following the claim that a group of Asian members of al Qaeda are hiding in Swaziland.

Vusi Sibisi, a top columnist of the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent newspaper, makes the absurd claim that Swazis ‘should be very much afraid’ of Asians in their midst.

He writes, ‘Initially the response likely to be triggered by the news that we might have terrorists within our midst is alarm and panic accompanied by the pungent smell of fear. And we should be very much afraid because we do not know what the mission of these terrorists is or if they are merely using this country as a hideout or a launch pad for their murderous missions.’

He then goes on to claim that ‘the frightening inward flood of Asians’ into Swaziland over the past few years has infiltrated ‘every fibre of Swazi society within every nook and cranny of this country to the extent that by and large they have become the second citizens – far better treated than the majority of the people’.

He then goes on to talk of Asians ‘flooding’ the kingdom and bringing nothing of value in terms of investments.

Complete and utter rubbish of course, and Sibisi, who has a fine record of speaking up for democracy and writing against the ruling class in Swaziland, should know better.

Asians are treated just as badly as Swazis by the ruling elite and have no special privileges.

The Swazi media have an inglorious history of racism and have many times attacked Muslims. They have also allowed the arch racist and businessman Walter Bennett space to peddle his own filth against immigrants.

One of the main ‘concerns’ of the racists is that the Asian immigrants run small businesses (‘fish and chip shop businesses’ they call them in Swaziland) and the implication is that they are taking away businesses that Swazis could do.

I’ll leave it to you to decide whether local Swazis would be setting up the businesses if the Asians weren’t there.

DOCTOR HAS NO QUALIFICATIONS

Here’s another for the list of health care atrocities in Swaziland.



Vusi Sibisi, the columnist for the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, recounts the story of the doctor who worked in a Swaziland hospital but had no qualifications.

Sibisi writes that the doctor was so inept he had to keep referring to books when he was treating patients.

Eventually the doctor confessed that he wasn’t qualified and he returned to his West African home to pursue studies to become one.

To read more of Sibisi on Swaziland’s health care and his analysis of the kingdom in 2009 click here.

MASUKU TRIAL WAS POLITICAL

One of Swaziland’s top independent journalists says the trail of Mario Masuku on ta errorism charge was politically motivated.

But the Swaziland state, ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, came unstuck when the Swazi High Court asserted its independence and freed Masuku only hours into a trail that was expected to last several days.

Vusi Sibisi, writing in the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, today (7 October 2009) says the state prosecuted Masuku, president of the banned People’s United Democratic Party (PUDEMO) because he represented all the people ‘whose political opinions are diametrically opposed to those of government’.

Sibisi writes that Masuku’s arrest and prosecution ‘was politically motivated’ and like the Suppression of Terrorism Act was ‘a subterfuge to positively project the Swazi government as allies united in the global fight against terrorism when in effect the law was primarily a political weapon of choice with which the ruling elite could deal with political dissent and opposition’.

To read Sibisi’s full article, click here.

PUBLIC SERVICES BILL BRINGS WOES

The following is an extract from an article by Vusi Sibisi, one of the most outspoken journalists in Swaziland against the ruling regime, published in the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, this week.

In it he criticises the Swazi Government for introducing the Public Services Bill that ‘essentially seeks to ban civil servants from participating in the country’s politics [and has] widely been interpreted as a strong-arm tactic by the leadership to reign-in civil servants’.

Public Service Bill to add to SD’s woes

Already the all-powerful France-based Public Service International (PSI), a global union federation of organisations for civil servants, has condemned the proposed law and said it erodes the rights and freedoms of civil servants to be unionised and to belong to political parties.

The proposed law follows another controversial piece of legislation, the Suppression of Terrorism Act, which was promulgated in 2008. Already local public service organisations have put government on notice that they intended to take the battle to the streets over the proposed legislation.

As I see it, the proposed law will not help improve the international image of the Kingdom of eSwatini. For while most countries frown upon civil servants openly and publicly coming out to support political parties, especially while in the line of duty, their governments nonetheless respect the rights and freedoms of civil servants as private citizens to participate in the politics of their nations. This is why the proposed law has been viewed as an extension of the Suppression of Terrorism Act that effectively views anyone who is critical of the Tinkhundla system of government as a terrorist.

As noted by the PSI in its protest letter to the Prime Minister, Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini: “The Public Service Bill would make it practically impossible for public servants to exercise their rights to organize themselves politically or to publicly express views of a political nature. This law is formulated in such a way that it can be used to suppress trade union activity and hinder the trade unions’ efforts to represent their members’ social and economic interests.”

As I see it, the proposed law is nothing but another mechanism by the ruling elite to whip into line anyone who is critical of the obtaining political status quo. This situation is unlikely to endear this country to the rest of the democratic world and as such not even a spin doctor from the heavens can project this country in a positive light on the backdrop of sustained oppression of the people from exercising their inalienable rights and freedoms as enshrined in the Bill of Rights of the national constitution.

To see the full article click here.

DISSIDENT JOURNALIST WRITES ON

One of Swaziland’s most outspoken pro-democracy journalists says he is in fear of arrest for his dissident views.

Vusi Sibisi joins former Swazi Government minister Mfomfo Nkhambule in fearing that he is a target because he speaks out against the state.

Already Mario Masuku, president of the banned People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko have been arrested. Masuku has been in jail since November 2008 awaiting trial on a sedition charge.

Sibisi says he was forced to stop writing his weekly column in the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, because of his fear of arrest.

Sibisi said he was tipped off by sources within Swaziland’s ‘security establishment’ that an order had been made for his ‘arrest and detention’.

This order was made two months ago at about the same time as Nkhambule was targeted.

Sibisi is once again writing for the Times. He said the detention of Maseko ‘for expressing a harmless opinion just goes to show how the leadership is gradually and systematically steering this country into a totalitarian state’.

He goes on, ‘No one should be surprised, for example, if shadowy characters follow them wherever they go or have their cellphones and or telephones bugged because we are now in the era of Orwellian Big Brother.

‘To think critically of the state and the going-ons in this country has suddenly become a crime. To express dissenting voices to the obtaining autocratic leadership has also become a crime in this country.’

He adds, ‘This country is systematically ushering in a culture of subservience, praise singing and grovelling by instilling a culture of fear.’

He says, ‘I am not certain if indeed the order to arrest me will be carried out on publication of this column, but what I am certain of is that it will take more than threats to silence me from thinking independently and publishing my opinions on issues that I believe I have an inalienable right to freely talk about, discuss, debate and comment on for as long as there are platforms, such as this, to do so.’

To read the full article click here.