SWAZILAND LESSONS FROM TUNISIA

King Mswati III, Swaziland’s king and the last absolute monarch in sub-Saharan Africa, must be jumping at shadows after the recent events in Tunisia that saw the overthrow of its dictator, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

It happened in the blink of an eye and showed that even a fairly small event could spark a national uprising that a carefully constructed state apparatus was powerless to stop. Within a month of the start of protests, Ben Ali had to flee the country into exile.

There are two lessons for the Swaziland pro-democracy movement from this: (i) dictatorships can be overthrown; (ii) social networking – that is Internet sites such as Facebook, Twitter, You Tube – were important tools in mobilizing action and opinion against the dictatorship.

The first lesson (and most worrying for the Swazi regime) is simple: people can overthrow tyrannical governments. In Tunisia’s case the protests were sparked when a 26-year-old impoverished college graduate set fire to himself in front of a government building to protest that the authorities had confiscated his only way of making a living: an illegal vegetable vending cart.

Demonstrations spread throughout the country. Ordinary Tunisians who were fed up with unemployment and corruption took to the streets and were later joined by labour unions, lawyers, students, professionals and youths.

Tunisia, according to Amnesty International, under Ben Ali had one of the Arab world’s most repressive governments.

The similarities between Tunisia and Swaziland are uncanny, with both ruled by dictators who came to power in a bloodless coup. Tunisia’s Ben Ali, began his presidency in 1987, while Swaziland’s King Mswati came to power in 1986 on the back of the 1973 Royal Proclamation delivered by his father Sobhuza II. The proclamation banned political parties and created a state of emergency that (despite a new constitution) for all practical purposes exists today, making King Mswati an absolute monarch.

Both Tunisia and Swaziland have a large over-educated, under-employed, population, many of them young people. Public dissent in both nations was almost unheard of, with free speech and free assembly routinely quashed by state forces. Many protests are met with violence by police and a top priority of government is to disrupt anyone or any group seen as opponents to the regime. Because of the lack of Western journalists in Tunisia or Swaziland, hardly anything about this gets into the international media.

Tunisia and Swaziland have many of the same social, economic and political problems, including a high rate of youth unemployment (with graduates very often unable to get anything but menial work); a general lack of economic opportunity; elections viewed as a political farce; the state’s credibility lost; members of the government more concerned with their own welfare and operating a jobs-for-the-boys policy when government jobs are allocated; widespread corruption (but, often unacknowledged); and unemployment becomes a medium of expression on the streets for want of another means of expression.

President Ben Ali blamed ‘foreign elements’ for stirring up trouble. In Swaziland, the blame goes to people who are ‘un-Swazi’. Barnabas Dlamini, Swaziland’s illegally-appointed Prime Minister, wants foreigners who speak out against his government tortured.

On a more personal level, Ben Ali's daughter, Nesrine, aged 23, was perceived as ‘friendly and interested, but naive and clueless’. She reflected the very sheltered, privileged and wealthy life she has led.’ (Shades here of King Mswati’s eldest daughter, the rapper, Princess ‘Pashu’ Sikhanyiso).

There was anger in Tunisia that President Ben Ali and his family lived in opulent style. US Ambassador Robert Godec, in a cable published by Wikileaks said, ‘The opulence with which El Materi [Ben Ali’s son-in-law] and Nesrine [Ben Ali’s daughter] live and their behavior make clear why they and other members of Ben Ali's family are disliked and even hated by some Tunisians. The excesses of the Ben Ali family are growing.’

In Swaziland, the excesses of King Mswati and his family are well documented in international circles, but mostly unmentioned in the Swazi media.

The second major lesson to be learned from the Tunisian experience is that ordinary people can use ‘social networking’ as a way of organising protest and letting the world know of their grievances.

In Tunisia, as in Swaziland, state-controlled television and radio is a propaganda tool of the government. Tunisian state television reported that the protests were ‘isolated events.’ This lie was completely shattered when Al Jazeera satellite television aired Facebook and YouTube videos, as well as Flickr images, showing that the demonstrations were anything but isolated. Al Jazeera and other Arab television networks broadcast social media videos because non-state media were banned from reporting from Tunisia.

Tunisians used videos, pictures and words to show the world what is going on in their country. And by putting those messages online, they spurred individuals and media organizations around the world to take a closer look at their cause.

CNN journalist Tim Lister told CTV's Canada AM that Twitter and Facebook were ‘the real motors’ of the protest movement. ‘The scale of the protests became very quickly noticeable to the outside world on Flickr, on Twitter, on Facebook and that attracted the attention of some of the Arabic news networks…and they began to cover this.’

During the protests, Tunisians constantly uploaded videos and up-to-the-minute Twitter feeds of street demonstrations. Some of the images of police brutality were gruesome, which probably served to outrage international opinion even further.

Twitter helped spread the information about what was happening in Tunisia, as demonstrated by the tweets and videos and other media collected by Andy Carvin at National Public Radio (in the United States) while the events unfolded.

And at least one Tunisian revolutionary, who runs a website called Free Tunisia, told a Huffington Post blogger that social media such as Twitter — along with cellphones, text messaging and various websites — was crucial to the flow of information and helped protesters gather and plan their demonstrations.

Turning to Swaziland, protests are brutally repressed by state forces,but people continue to demonstrate. The economy is in collapse and even the Prime Minister has warned of social unrest.

With social networking, it is impossible to calculate exactly how many people in Swaziland use Facebook, Twitter and the other Internet sites, but the number is growing by the day, most obviously among young, educated people, living in urban areas. Many Swazi people online only use the Internet for social chit-chat, but there is also a sizeable pro-democracy community online. Even now, while Swaziland remains relatively peaceful, these sites are valuable at getting information about human rights and civil liberties abuses out into the wider world.

We know that social networking worries the Swazi Government, because it blocked the website of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) and is making plans to expand its propaganda operations outside of the kingdom.

Social networking will be important in the Swazi uprising, but one thing must be clear: it was the Tunisian people who toppled Ben Ali, and social networking helped. In that order.

So, in a nutshell: any small event can spark off the uprising and the ordinary people of Swaziland can get support for their cause from social networking.

Social networking is in place. All we need now is the spark.

DEMOCRACY DECLINES IN SWAZILAND

Swaziland showed a significant decline in democracy over the past year (2010) and there was very little resistance to it from the democratic world.

The kingdom, ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, is among a group of 25 nations where there was a decline in political rights and civil liberties, according to Freedom House, a watchdog group, based in the United States.

‘Our adversaries are not just engaging in widespread repression, they are doing so with unprecedented aggressiveness and self-confidence,’ said David J. Kramer, executive director of the group. ‘And the democratic community is not rising to the challenge.’

Arch Puddington, director of research at Freedom House, said, ‘Authoritarian regimes will have a much freer hand to silence their domestic critics if there is no resistance from the outside world.’

He was commenting at the launch of Freedom House’s annual report. Freedom House is expected to release a detailed report on human rights in Swaziland sometime during the next three months.

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION IS BOGUS

Swaziland’s Human Rights Commission (HRC) is denying women access to its offices if they wear trousers.

And women who are in mourning are also barred.

As Swaziland claims to be close to becoming a ‘First World’ nation, it is revealed today (6 January 2011) that the main body set up to support human rights in the kingdom doesn’t understand the first concept about them.

Women in trousers (pants) and those in mourning are barred because they violate Swazi traditional law and custom: even though Section 28 (1) of the Swaziland Constitution says, ‘women shall have equal opportunities as men in political, economic and social activities.’ The constitution also expressly gives women the right to ignore Swazi law and custom if they wish, but the HRC denies them their constitutional rights.

Keen observers of Swaziland, ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, will know that the ruling elite disregard the constitution whenever it likes. King Mswati also tries to curry favour with the international community by pretending that it a ‘democratic’ nation. The king and his hangers-on like to claim Swaziland’s has a ‘unique’ democracy, although in practice this means elections are bogus, political parties are banned, and traditional custom takes precedence over constitutional law.

Now, the HRC is exposed as a sham.

The Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) Swaziland chapter has complained about the ban at the Nkanini national offices where, as with royal residences, women in mourning gowns and in trousers cannot enter the premises.

David Matse, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs told the Times of Swaziland, the only independent newspaper in the kingdom, that the matter was of primary importance to him and would address it as soon as possible.

But instead of instructing the HRC to immediately lift its ban on women, Matse, himself a former Chairperson of the HRC, said ‘Human rights are a vital issue and we are working on it to ensure that visitors who cannot access the Nkanini offices, for whatever reason, are accommodated elsewhere, particularly in town.’

Lomcebo Dlamini, speaking on behalf of WLSA, told the Times, ‘Right now the perception, because of where they are situated, is that they are not totally independent because some people could have reservations about going there.’

Dlamini said the Commission should be located at a place where all people would feel safe and not fear to report cases.

On the issue of trousers, Dlamini said it was ridiculous that in 2011 there were certain places, in particular courts and Parliament, where women could not enter because they were wearing pants.

I have written before about how Swazi women are unable to get their rights. Last week I reported on the High Court where a judge ruled that women were the property of their fathers for life. Last month (December 2010), I reported how a woman was stripped in public on the orders of a chief because she was wearing trousers.

SWAZILAND COALITION AT YEAR’S END

The following is the End of Year Statement for 2010 from Bishop Meshak Mabuza,Chair of the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations

There is a song by the great American soul singer Solomon Burke that has the chorus;

None of us are free,

None of us are free,

When one of us is chained,

None of us are free,

None of us are free.

So it is for Swaziland. When some of us are chained by poverty, illness, discrimination and suffering all of us are.

For too long have we, as a Swazi Nation, sat silently and pretended that other people’s troubles were not ours. For too long have we been quiet as we have seen people, families and communities denied their rightful dignity, thinking “well at least it is not us”.

Well my brothers and sisters I am here to tell you that it is us. Our colleagues in the unions say “An injury to one is an injury to all”. These are not just slogans, they are reality. When we allow bad things to happen to others through fear, all that we do is to delay the time that the very same bad things happen to us. When we say nothing, when we do nothing what we really say is that what is happening is right. But how can we do something? How do we stand up for what is right? We start by knowing what is wrong and why. Our Lord said “as much as you do it to the least of these you do it to me” But in this country we seem to have a lot more Christians than actual Christianity.

Democracy

The Coalition has always argued that the Tinkhundla system was not democratic, the elite within the system are of the view that Swaziland is not ready for multi-party and so Tinkhundla is what is best for the Swazi People. Of course, this is nonsense - the Tinkhundla system is best for them, the Swazi elite, not us the people. It was put together to ensure that there could be no possible way of challenging those that are in power now. There is no way to stop them denying the poor its rightful share of our national riches.

We, the people, can not choose the government, and therefore the government is not accountable to us. Tinkhundla is not really a system at all. It has no coherent political philosophy, it has no expressed values or goals. All that Tinkhundla has been designed for is to keep those who really choose the government (the labadzala) rich and contented. In the process they abuse those of us who get in the way. And when they abuse one of us - they abuse all of us.

But this is all theory, what does it mean to you and me?

Greed

It means that we cannot know if we can feed our families because the land we live on is at the whim of those who rule us and their petty disputes. It means that we cannot go to work and get a fair day’s wage. It means that when the lowly paid are scraping around for their next meal, while their bosses are going to the doctors with gout from overeating.

Look at what has happened this year. The report on the 40/40 celebrations shows that the organisers spent three times the budget - mainly in payments to themselves and their friends. Look at the Circular No 1 that gives our politicians undeserved and unaffordable pay increases in the same time that they are asking for seven thousand of the lowly paid to become unemployed. Look at how they allocate themselves one million Emalangeni discounts on land - how many jobs does that equate to? For those on the grade of a lowly office cleaner who earns E2000 per month that is five hundred jobs that could have been saved, and five thousand lives spared starvation, desperation and humiliation. But what can those five thousand citizens do to express their dissatisfaction? Nothing - because only one of those ministers was elected - the rest were appointed. Those Ministers should be ashamed of themselves. Do they know shame? Do they know modesty? Do they know any humility? Their greed means that people we know will starve. It means that we will all be shamed when honest workers and their families go hungry while ministers and their cronies live in luxury.

Land Rights

We all know of the saying that when two elephants fight it is the grass that gets hurt. Never was that as true as for the people of KaShigali. The feuding that is going on between the descendants of King Sobhuza II is destroying the very fabric of the community there. It goes to show how far our culture has declined in the twenty eight years since His Majesty’s demise. How have we gone from “A chief is a chief because of his people” to sending in bulldozers to destroy the homes and the crops of ordinary decent Swazi families because of infighting amongst the labadzala? These evictions have little to do with Swazi culture but much to do with the egotistical abuse of power. How can so many families’ rights to food, shelter, community and a decent burial in their homelands be so callously ignored? Only when our culture means less to those who rule us than their own self importance. They do not protect our Swazi culture, they defend their power to rule, and in doing so treat ordinary Swazi citizens with less respect than they treat their cattle. Our Culture is our heritage, it is what binds us together as Swazis, it is not right for these people to destroy our families and communities and then call it Swazi Culture. Swazi Culture is not Dlamini Culture - there used to be a big difference, is it still there now?

Human Rights

We stand beside our brothers and sisters whose pain was so openly and tragically expressed at our people’s parliament this month. We will not let their stories be forgotten or their suffering ignored. If civil society is about one thing only it is about calling those in power to account. The courts are an important way to stand up for our rights but they are not the only ones. We must recognise that we have to stand up for ourselves each and every day as well; we must retain our dignity in our homesteads, our families, our clans and our communities. As a Coalition we will continue to campaign for the ability for the people to claim their rights and human dignity in spite of being dispossessed, disenfranchised and downtrodden.

Corruption

Our Prime Minister has talked a lot about corruption but what has been done? Last year he told us that people would be convicted in January 2010 but nothing happened. He has made exactly the same promises for January 2011. Why should we believe him when the Anti Corruption Commission is not even investigating the story that a government minister had over E30 Million in his or her bank account? The only people that they will convict are the little ones at the bottom who use a government car at the weekend. Not the big ones who are stuffing their pockets with money from government contracts. The PM, and everyone else, knows that the truly corrupt are too powerful to be prosecuted.

Public Choices

Our Finance Minister has also talked about corruption as being at the heart of the current economic crisis and, of course, to some extent it is. But the real problem is the silly, extravagant and selfish spending priorities of the government. How much money is being spent on major vanity projects that will not raise any income? In an agricultural society why are we not having more LUSIP projects and less airports and science parks? We have plans to open mines and railroads but no plans to use the income to invest in our future. We have security forces spending more than any other department apart from health. What for? Who are we defending ourselves against? Costa Rica in Central America has not had a standing army for the last forty years. They have ploughed the money saved into development with the result that it is in the top fifty countries in the world - it has gone from poverty to first world status. We could do well to learn its lessons.

Unity

To my sisters and brothers in the Democratic Movement I have one simple message to put to you. What we have in common is so much more than what separates us. We are all clear about our vision for a properly democratic and accountable Swaziland that respects the rights of all. So let us not allow the differences of approach to the goal hinder us getting there. We are all trying to climb the same mountain - it will be easier if we do it as a team. Nelson Mandela gave us the vision of continuous mountains to climb and he is right. But we have to climb this first one together. After that we may have to go our separate ways. But only when we have reached the first summit.

To all of our friends and supporters we thank you for the constant encouragement you have given us throughout the year and look forward to working with you all in 2011 to achieve a peaceful and prosperous Swaziland.

First World Status

If Swaziland really wants to develop first world status it needs to think radically about the options it faces and the choices it makes in the next five years. If we want things to be different we must do different things. Promote proper democracy, empower women, abolish the army, democratise land rights, engage with business and the unions, respect human rights, obey our own laws, develop pluralism, listen to dissent and most of all have a system of power that enables the best and the brightest to flourish ahead of the loyal and the lazy. Less of the ‘unique democracy’ less of the ‘business unusual’ and a bit more humble recognition that the way out of poverty and to avoid strife in Swaziland is the same as everywhere else. Work hard. Trust the people. Free the people. Only we, the Swazis can help our country to prosper as a nation for all of us and not just some of us.

Bishop Meshak Mabuza+

Chair SCCCO