Swaziland: Striving for Freedom As seen through the pages of Swazi Media

Commentary

Volume 9: September 2013

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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INTRODUCTION

The Swazi people went to the polls this month to select 55 members of the House of

Assembly, but more than a week after the vote the Swaziland Elections and Boundaries

Commission has failed to publish the full results, or the final voter turnout. This has added

further controversy in an already discredited political system. A campaign to boycott the

election because political parties are banned from taking part and the parliament that is

elected has no power because King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute

monarch may have been successful, but we are unable to tell because the results have been

withheld.

Swazi Media Commentary reported and analysed the election and presents this as part of a

digest of the happenings in Swaziland in September 2013 in the latest of its monthly

compilations. Apart from the election, September saw the annual Global Week of Action for

Democracy in Swaziland. As usual, police and state security forces clamped down on any

public discussion of the need for democracy in the kingdom. A panel of trade union experts,

formed to discuss workers’ conditions in Swaziland, was forced to disband after police

arrested and deported many of its participants, including the former South African cabinet

minister Jay Naidoo.

While all this was happening King Mswati said he had a vision (it is assumed from ‘God’)

who told him that the system of governance in Swaziland should henceforth be called a

‘monarchical democracy’. This caused great excitement among the media in Swaziland,

which claimed a new dawn in democracy. It took the international news agency Reuters to

get the king to admit that his new democracy was just a different name for that which already

existed.

It was also announced that the 45-year-old king was to take an 18-year-old beauty pageant

contestant as his new bride (believed to be wife number 14, but nobody is quite sure).

International media pointed out the teenager had a ‘past’ and had previously ‘dated’ two of

the king’s sons and dubbed her ‘naughty Sindi’. Media in Swaziland, which see the marriage

as a fairy story, ignored this inconvenience.

Swazi Media Commentary has no physical base and is completely independent of any

political faction and receives no income from any individual or organisation. People who

contribute ideas or write for it do so as volunteers and receive no payment.

Swazi Media Commentary is published online – updated most days – bringing information,

comment and analysis in support of democracy in the kingdom.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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CONTENTS

1 Elections 3 2 Global Week of Action 15

3 King Mswati III 19

4 Human Rights 27 5 Media 28

6 Reed Dance 31

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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1. ELECTION

‘Party ban cuts people off from election’

9 September 2013

Fewer people are taking part in Swaziland’s national election because political parties are

banned, an international think-tank has reported.

The lack of political parties in the kingdom, where King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan

Africa’s last absolute monarch, is part of a flawed election process, Chatham House, UK,

reported.

‘[T]his is a restriction on both freedom of association and the ability to challenge government

as an organized group in an open electoral process.

‘This has resulted in falling voter registrations and extended registration periods, indicating a

domestic disengagement from the process, it said in a report called, Swaziland: Southern

Africa’s Forgotten Crisis.

The report said at the last election in 2008, 350,778 Swazis registered to vote but only

189,559 participated in the polls – i.e. fewer than half of those eligible to vote actually did so.

‘Turnout in 2003 was 57.9 per cent of registered voters; it was 60.4 per cent in 1998 and 61

percent in 1993.

‘Voter registration for the 2013 elections has been low. With only 20 days to go before the

registration deadline, just 190,000 people had signed up to vote, and two days before the 23

June deadline registration had reached only 344,679 out of an estimated 600,000 possible

voters.

‘The low take-up prompted the king to extend the registration period by a week, by the end of

which the final registration was 415,012.’

Looking forward to the next election due on 20 September 2013, the report authored by

Christopher Vandome, Alex Vines and Markus Weimer, said international observers at the

poll must not be quick to declare it free and fair.

‘Previously, Southern African Development Community (SADC) observer teams have

validated election results on the basis that they have been in accordance with domestic law,

without questioning the legitimacy of such law or whether its processes lie within SADC-

approved definitions of what democracy is and what it wants national representation to be.

‘In contrast, Commonwealth observers have at previous elections highlighted shortcomings

and made recommendations for future conduct.’

Power in Swaziland rests with the monarchy. ‘The king has a tight grip on power, through his

power of royal assent, Swaziland has a House of Assembly of 65 members, of whom 55 are

indirectly elected/selected under the Tinkhundla system and 10 appointed by the king. There

is a more powerful Senate of 30 members, 20 appointed by the king and 10 by the House of

Assembly,’ the report said.

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It added, ‘The new constitution of 8 February 2006 entrenches the absolute powers of the

monarch, although it removes his right to rule by decree and arguably allows for the existence

of political parties. The king is immune from the courts of law, and retains ultimate judicial,

executive and legislative powers.

‘He may veto legislation and dissolve parliament at will. He selects chiefs, judges, the

Judicial Services Commission (which oversees the appointment and removal of judges) and

the Supreme Council of State.’

The report added, that on 3 October 2012 the House of Assembly, ‘in an unusual act of

independence’, passed a vote of no confidence in the kingdom’s prime minister and

government.

‘According to the country’s constitution, the prime minister was required to submit his

resignation within three days of the vote of no confidence. However, he simply refused to

step down, prompting a political crisis. The king, who is mandated by law to remove the

prime minister directly following a vote of no confidence, also refused to dismiss the

government.

‘The attorney-general advised that the vote was null and void, although parliament continued

to support its resolution. The issue was also referred to the king’s advisory council (Liqoqo).

On 15 October 2012 a vote to repeal the previous vote of no confidence was passed in the

House of Assembly with only 32 of its 65 members present.’

All not well ahead of elections

13 September 2013

King Mswati III is trying to convince the international community that all is well ahead of

next week’s national election in Swaziland.

He said the election organiser, the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC), had solved

all the problems from the primary elections last month.

He made his comments when he received letters of credence from the Ambassador of the

Republic of China on Taiwan to Swaziland Thomas Chen and Italian Ambassador to

Swaziland Roberto Vellano at the Lozitha Palace.

King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, is keen for

the international community to believe that the elections are democratic.

He told the ambassadors that the elections were ‘where the country elects a new government.’

The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, reported, ‘He

said the participation of people during the elections was very vital because it means they are

able to shape the country’s future choosing a new government.’

But this is not true. The Swazi people are only allowed to select individuals to sit in the

House of Assembly. Political parties are banned from taking part in the elections and there is

no debate on policy.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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The people only select 55 members of the House of Assembly. The other 10 in the 65-strong

house are chosen by the king. None of the 30 members of the Senate House are elected by the

people. The King choses 20, and the other 10 are elected by members of the House of

assembly.

After the election, the king will choose a prime minister and government ministers. The

Swazi parliament has no powers and the king can overrule any decision it makes if he wishes.

King Mswati also told the ambassadors that the primary elections, where the candidates for

next week’s election were chosen went ‘extremely well’. However, the evidence contradicts

this. There were many complaints made to the EBC about vote-buying and other

irregularities. A number of complaints are to be heard by the Swaziland High Court ahead of

the poll on 20 September 2013.

See also

ELECTION CREDIBILITY AT ROCK BOTTOM

Sedition charge for anti-poll activist

16 September 2013

Musa Dube, deputy general secretary of the Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS), has been

arrested and charged with sedition for campaigning for a boycott of the elections to be held

this week in the kingdom.

In a statement, the CPS said, ‘Our comrade was conducting campaign work to promote the

message that the only elections that should be held in Swaziland are free and fair ones, where

all political parties are able to take part on whatever platform they want.’

Dube reportedly was taken to the Manzini Police Station and is expected to appear in court

later this week.

The CPS said Dube and another activist had been shadowed by police for days before the

arrest. The other activist managed to escape arrest.

Dube allegedly had a PUDEMO (People’s United Democratic Movement) t-shirt in his

possession at the time of his arrest.

Police and security forces in Swaziland, where King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s

last absolute monarch, have clamped down on all opposition to the election due on 20

September 2013.

Last week the Swaziland Police National Commissioner Issac Magagula claimed that

anarchists were intent on undermining the election.

Political parties are banned from taking part in the election and the CPS and PUDEMO are

banned as ‘terrorist’ organisations in Swaziland.

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Anger at pre-election arrest

17 September 2013

Musa Dube, deputy general secretary of the Communist Party of Swaziland, has been

remanded in custody on sedition charges for allegedly distributing leaflets calling for a

boycott of the kingdom’s election.

He is charged with two counts of possessing and distributing leaflets published by the CPS at

Kakhoza in Manzini.

He appeared in Manzini Magistrates’ Court on Monday and was remanded to Zakhele

Remand Centre and is due to reappear on 25 September 2013, pending committal to the High

Court.

An application for bail is expected to be lodged.

National elections take place in Swaziland, which is ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan

Africa’s last absolute monarch, on Friday 20 September. All political parties are banned from

taking part.

Prodemocracy organisations have accused the Swazi state of intimidating Dube and others

who are calling for democracy in Swaziland.

The People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), the best-known opposition group in

Swaziland, in a statement said, ‘Together with the CPS and other political parties, joined by

faith based, students and labour organisations we are calling for the rejections of these sham

elections whose outcome is predetermined and will not change the rotten political system

called Tinkhundla.’

Under Tinkhundla people are only allowed to stand for election as individuals. No

government is elected by the people – this is chosen by King Mswati. At the election on

Friday only 55 members of the 65-strong House of Assembly will be selected. The other ten

will be appointed by the king.

The king appoints 20 members of the Swazi Senate, the other 10 are chosen by the House of

Assembly and none are elected by the people.

Ten reasons why election is not credible

19 September 2013

As Swaziland goes to the polls on Friday (20 September 2013), King Mswati III’s

propaganda machine is working at full throttle to mislead people inside and outside the

kingdom that the election is credible.

Top of the propagandists’ agenda is to try to fool people that the election is to choose a new

government. It is not. The elections have no real purpose other than to give King Mswati,

who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, a fig leaf of democracy.

Here are 10 reasons why the election in Swaziland should not be considered credible.

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1. Political parties are banned from taking part in the election so no debate is possible about

alternative policies being pursued by the outgoing government.

2. The election is only for 55 of the 65-member House of Assembly. The other ten members

are appointed by King Mswati III. No members of the 30-strong Swaziland Senate are

elected; 20 are appointed by the king and 10 are selected by the House of Assembly.

3.The people do not elect a government. The Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers are

appointed by the King. The outgoing PM Barnabas Dlamini was appointed by the king in

contravention of the constitution. He has never been elected to political office.

4. Only a man with the surname Dlamini can, by tradition, be appointed as Prime Minister.

The king is a Dlamini.

5. The Swazi Parliament has no powers. King Mswati can, and does, overrule decisions he

does not like. This was the case in October 2012 when the king refused to accept a vote of no

confidence passed by the House of Assembly on his government, even though he was obliged

by the constitution to do so.

6. Nominations for the primary elections were marred by allegations of interference by

chiefs, who represent King Mswati. Some women were barred from taking part in the

nomination process because they were wearing trousers.

7. Complaints were aired in local newspapers that some people who wished to be nominated

were prevented from doing so illegally by nominating officers.

8. Candidates in the primary election were barred by law fromcampaigning, so voters had no

way of questioning and challenging candidates about what they would do if elected.

9. the secondary election to take place on 20 September 2013 follows a primary election

process that was flawed. Numerous cases are pending at the High Court alleging election

malpractice.

10 The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) received many complaints following

the primary election. These include the buying of votes; polling stations either open for too

many hours (or too few) and people being turned away from polling stations.

See also

THE CASE FOR POLITICAL PARTIES

SWAZI ELECTION ‘WILL BE A FRAUD’

No debate ahead of polls – observers

19 September 2013

People in Swaziland have been prevented from freely discussing issues in the run up to the

election held on Friday (20 September 2013), a report from polling observers said.

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‘Civil society meetings were crushed, including prayer meetings,’ according to the NGOs

Election Network which operates under the Swazi-based Coordinating Assembly of Non-

governmental Organisations (CANGO).

‘With no enjoyment of the rights to access information and also exchange information,

freedom to associate, freedom of movement and freedom of speech it has become difficult for

citizens to canvass issues,’ CANGO said in its Primary Elections Monitoring Report.

The CANGO election observers reported a number of problems with the primary elections

held on 24 August.

‘Some polling stations opened late. Some ballot papers got finished and had to be fetched at

Nkhanani and by the time ballot papers were made available some voters had already left.’

It added, ‘The voters’ roll was not user-friendly, some pictures were not easy to identify. The

polling stations were not adequately announced for easy access. Transport was also a

challenge. The lines were long and the elderly and disabled were poorly served even though

attempts were made to meet their needs.’

CANGO noted allegations that some voters were bribed and bussed from towns to rural

constituencies.

The secondary election which is for only 55 of the 65-member House of Assembly takes

place on Friday (20 September 2013). Political parties are banned from taking part in the

election. King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute

monarch, selects the remaining 10 members. No members of the 30-strong Swazi Senate are

elected by the people, twenty are appointed by the king and the other 10 are selected by the

House of Assembly.

Power stays with king – world’s media

21 September 2013

The world’s media spoke with one voice on Friday (20 September 2013) as they reported on

Swaziland’s nondemocratic election.

Major news organisations including the Associated Press, AFP, BBC and al-Jazeera all

reported that the elections for 55 members of the Swazi House of Assembly was irrelevant

because King Mswati III, who rules his kingdom as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute

monarch, will keep all the power for himself.

The BBC reported, ‘Voters in Swaziland are choosing a new parliament, even though

political parties cannot take part and the king retains absolute power.’

The AFP news agency said the election was, ‘dismissed by critics as a rubber stamp for King

Mswati III's absolute rule’.

AFP quoted a recently-released report from Freedom House, a human rights group, saying,

‘Although the Swazi government boasts trappings of a modern state. The monarch, King

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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Mswati III, chooses and controls all significant office bearers. These must obey his

commands at all times.’

Al-jazeera TV reported, ‘Mswati holds ultimate sway over the government: he can veto new

laws, dissolve parliament and may not be sued or charged.’

The Dow Jones agency called it a ‘predetermined election’. It said, ‘Voters in Africa's last

remaining absolute monarchy go to the polls to elect a new parliament Friday, and the

outcome is all but assured to buttress the reigning king’s rule.’

The Associated Press (AP) news agency quoted the Southern African People’s Solidarity

Network, a civil society group, which described the polls as a ploy to delay genuine

democracy.

‘There is no political change we can expect as a result of these elections,’ Dr. Collins

Magalasi, general secretary of the network, told AP. ‘The traditional system in place supports

the king.’

Closer to home, the media in South Africa, Swaziland’s closest neighbour and political and

economic ally, also highlighted the non-democratic nature of the election.

Business Day reported, ‘While the Swazi system of Tinkhundla allows for political parties,

candidates for parliament are allowed to stand for election only in an individual capacity and

are banned from campaigning. Rising pro-democracy voices are being heard on the sideline

but that is where they will remain for now, as the nonparty elections will not change King

Mswati’s position as ruler.’

The Independent group of newspapers in South Africa reported, ‘Africa’s only unelected

national leader, King Mswati III, will remain firmly in charge whatever the outcome of

Friday’s parliamentary elections.’

The Mail and Guardian, from Johannesburg, reported, ‘Regardless of who gets into

Parliament, King Mswati III – who inherited the throne from his father, King Sobhuza II, in

1986 – holds all the power.’

The international media are unavailable to most Swazi people who are too poor to have

access to them via the Internet. They are forced to rely on local media where broadcast news

is under state control and one of the kingdom’s only two newspaper groups is in effect owned

by the king.

An editorial in the Swazi Observer, the king’s newspaper published on the eve of the

election, said, ‘Tomorrow presents us, Swazis, with an opportunity to put our unique

democracy into full motion.’ The newspaper which is widely regarded as a propaganda sheet

for the monarchy claimed, ‘Tomorrow ushers in that whole new era of a new government

being formed - the promise of a better Swaziland for all.’

The Observer also said, ‘The eyes of the international community [will be] firmly fixed on

us.’

In that, the newspaper was correct.

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King’s paper claims 97% poll turnout

21 September 2013

One of King Mswati III’s newspapers has claimed a 97 percent voter turnout in the

Swaziland election held on Friday (20 September 2013).

The Weekend Observer, one of a group of newspapers in effect owned by the king, reported,

‘about 400,000 voters braved the scorching sun and went straight to the voting centres to cast

their ballots as early as possible’.

But, official figures from the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) state that only

411,084 Swazis living in Swaziland had registered to vote.

If the Weekend Observer report was correct, 97.3 percent of registered voters would have

gone to the polling stations.

The Weekend Observer which is widely regarded, even within Swaziland, as a propaganda

sheet for the monarchy, has been talking up the success of the polling.

It wrote, ‘The nation witnessed remarkable improvement in the national secondary elections

on Friday and all credit can be given to the Elections and Boundaries Commission.’

The EBC, whose members were appointed by the king and is headed by one of his half-

brothers, came under intense criticism for the shambles surrounding the nomination process

and the primary elections held in August.

King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, is keen to

demonstrate the validity of the elections. Opposition groups called for a voter boycott

because political parties were banned from taking part in the election and the parliament that

is elected acts as a rubber stamp for the king.

King Mswati will choose the Prime Minister and his government and is not obliged to choose

people elected to parliament.

It is important for King Mswati that there is a high voter turnout. At the last election in 2008

only 47.4 percent of the estimated 400,000 Swazi people eligible to vote did so. The Electoral

Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) in its report on the election attributed the low turnout in

2008 to a campaign for a boycott of the election by progressives in Swaziland.

It reported on the 2008 election, ‘The best indication we have of whether the boycott was a

success or not is the voter turnout rate.’

It added, ‘In many ways the call by the trade unions, most of the political parties and many

civil society organisations for a boycott of the election transformed the election into a

referendum on the legitimacy of the new Constitution and the political order that it

enshrines.’

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EISA said, ‘From this we may conclude that large numbers of Swazis heeded the boycott call

and thereby signalled their disenchantment with the current Constitutional dispensation.’

A low turnout in the 2013 election would confirm that.

See also

‘SWAZIS WANT CHANGE’ : POLL FIGURES

No change after Swazi election

24 September 2013

Six of eight government ministers standing in the House of Assembly election in Swaziland

on Friday (20 September 2013) were defeated. Of the 55 members of the House standing for

re-election, 43 lost.

It looks like a massive vote of no confidence in the outgoing parliament. But, who knows? It

is impossible to make conclusions of these results because, in Swaziland, where King Mswati

III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, all public debate of politics is

prohibited.

Political parties are not allowed to take part in the election and any discussion prior to the

poll that questioned the validity of what King Mswati and his supporters like to call

Swaziland’s ‘unique democracy’ was suppressed by police and state security forces.

According to the Swaziland Constitution, all MPs are elected as individuals to serve their

local constituency. This meant that at the election candidates could only make promises

(many empty) about the ‘development’ they would bring to their constituents if elected.

There was no debate about which social, political or economic policies a new government

should pursue.

Voters do not choose a government: that is the prerogative of the king. He is not obliged to

choose his ministers from among those people selected by his subjects. It would be no

surprise when he announces his new government next month that he returns to office some of

the ministers defeated at this election.

Media in Swaziland, which are heavily censored, or self-censoring in favour of the monarchy,

reported the election result as if it were a vote of no-confidence against the out-going

government.

But, they provided no evidence for this. The media in Swaziland want it both ways. On the

one hand they say that under Swaziland’s tinkhundla system of government the people elect

MPs as individuals who support their constituencies and on the other they say the people

have elected a group of MPs who they believe collectively will bring them change.

We do not know if the people really seek ‘change’ because there is nowhere in Swaziland

where they can freely debate the strengths and weaknesses of the present system of

governance and discuss possible alternatives. Certainly, the media do not provide that space.

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No media outlet in the kingdom has suggested that if people have voted for change it might

be a change in the political system and a move to democracy that they seek.

What is certain is that the election will not actually bring change. In Swaziland only 55 of the

65 members of the House of Assembly are elected by the people. King Mswati appoints the

other ten members. None of the 30-strong Swazi Senate is elected by the people; the king

appoints 20 senators and the House of Assembly elects the other ten.

Parliament has no power, it acts for King Mswati. He can and does overrule any decision

parliament makes if he disagrees with it. This happened most starkly in October 2012 when

the king refused to accept a vote of no confidence passed by the House of Assembly on his

government, even though he was obliged by the constitution to do so.

The truth is that the voters could dismiss all 55 of their elected members of the House of

Assembly and replace them with 55 other individuals and nothing would change, unless the

king approved and there is no reason to believe he is ready to give up his power and

privileges anytime soon.

Why are full poll results not out?

25 September 2013

Voters in Swaziland still do not know the full results of last week’s election – and it may be

many days before they do.

The Election and Boundaries Commission (EBC) says the result might be available later this

week or early next.

The lack of progress on releasing the details of the voting is leading to speculation that the

turnout for the poll was so low; it will be an embarrassment to King Mswati III and his

supporters.

The EBC was quick to announce the winners of the election in each of the 55 constituencies

in the election for the House of Assembly after polls closed on Friday (20 September 2013).

Although it announced the winners and gave the number of votes cast for the victorious

candidate, it did not publicise the number of votes cast for each of the losers.

In 10 of the 55 constituencies the EBC only announced the winner’s name but not the number

of votes he received.

The EBC said privately this week it was still compiling the lists and would not be able to give

details for some days.

But, if the EBC knows who won at each constituency, it also knows the number of votes each

losing candidate got. From there it is a small step to adding up the total number of voters

across the kingdom so we can know the total turnout in the election.

Either the EBC is being spectacularly incompetent or it is trying to keep back something from

the Swazi people.

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Election coverage found wanting

28 September 2013

Newspapers in Swaziland set out to mislead their readers about the true nature of this

month’s national election, claiming that people were voting for a government when they were

not, a report just published says.

And, rather than discussing issues relating to the social, political or economic policies a new

government should pursue, media concentrated on trying to demonstrate the election’s

legitimacy.

Swaziland is not a democracy and King Mswati III rules his kingdom as sub-Saharan Africa’s

last absolute monarch. The newspaper and broadcasting houses in Swaziland support the

status-quo and it was an imperative for media to continually show support for the political

system of tinkhundla / monarchical democracy, according to a report published by Swazi

Media Commentary.

This meant there was no debate about which social, political or economic policies a new

parliament should pursue. Newspapers confused readers about the nature of the elections:

constantly claiming that they were to elect a ‘government’, when they were not. King Mswat i

appoints the Prime Minister and senior ministers.

The report called Media Coverage of the Swaziland Election 2013 is available online. It

reviews coverage by local, international and social media in the months running up to the

election on 20 September 2013.

Newspapers failed to cover the whole of Swaziland in the election reporting and were biased

towards favoured candidates.

The report is critical of the standards of journalism in Swaziland. It says media in Swaziland,

‘are partisan, inaccurate and generally unprofessional and they are turning into an irrelevant

vehicle in public discourse. Journalists lack credibility. Content in the Swazi newspaper is

compromised by a lack of professionalism in writing and editing. Interesting news stories are

watered down by the incomprehensible way they are written, leaving the reader confused and

bewildered.

‘Comment articles expose readers to un-researched opinion pieces that have compromised

journalistic standards and some journalists willingly work as propagandists, especially at the

SBIS radio.’

Journalists, the report says, ‘sensationalised news and often reported as facts, pure

conjecture’.

In contrast, the report says international news media were not very interested in covering the

election, because, unlike in democracies, no power could change hands as a result of the

voting. When they did report on the election they emphasised the fact that it had little

meaning because the parliament that was being elected had no power.

The report also looks at social media sites that were publishing information and comment in

contrast to the mainstream media in Swaziland and advocating for democracy. The report

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concludes that social media probably had limited influence within Swaziland because only

about 7 percent of the population has access to the Internet.

See also

SWAZILAND MEDIA NEED CODE OF CONDUCT FOR COVERING ELECTIONS

THE STATE OF SWAZI JOURNALISM 2013

King Mswati III rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch

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2. GLOBAL WEEK OF ACTION

Democracy march: leader arrested

5 September 2013

One of Swaziland’s most prominent labour leaders Vincent Ncongwane was arrested today (5

September 2013) at his office by at least 10 police officers to stop him taking part in a

democracy march.

Reports from the kingdom say Ncongwane, who is Secretary General of the banned union

federation TUCOSWA, was arrested ahead of the planned march in the Swazi capital,

Mbabane.

Police took him to his home where he was put under house arrest for an undetermined time.

The march is part of a week of campaigning in Swaziland and abroad to draw attention to the

lack of democracy and human rights in the kingdom, ruled by King Mswati III, who is sub-

Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

Reports circulated by the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), a banned

organisation in Swaziland, say police said the march was ‘prohibited’ because TUCOSA was

not an organisation recognised by the government.

Political parties are not allowed to operate in Swaziland and many pro-democracy groups,

including PUDEMO and the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), have been prohibited as

‘terrorist’ groups under the Suppression of Terrorism Act.

The march was to be part of a Global Week of Action for Democracy in Swaziland. Earlier

joint organisers the Swaziland National Union of Students, the Swaziland United Democratic

Front (SUDF) and the Swaziland Democracy Campaign (SDC), predicted 10,000 people

would take part.

Prodemocracy campaigners also plan to run what is billed as a ‘people’s summit’ in Manzini

tomorrow (6 September 2013) with the intention to profile the boycott of the national so-

called ‘Tinkhundla election’ that will take place on 20 September.

The Swazi people are not allowed to elect a full parliament. Instead, they select 55 members

of the House of Assembly. The King appoints another 10 to make the total of 65 members.

They cannot elect any of the 30-member Senate. The king appoints 20 of these and the other

10 are elected by members of the House of Assembly.

See also

MASS ACTION FOR DEMOCRACY PLANNED

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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Mass police arrests to halt meeting

6 September 2013

Swazi police arrested all members of an international panel of experts who were due to meet

today (6 September 2013) to debate the role of trade unions in Swaziland.

They raided the George Hotel in Manzini where they were staying at 2am after earlier trailing

them from the airport near Matsapha.

The panelists were due to take evidence and then present their findings after the hearing.

They were expected to highlight the role and responsibility of trade unions and civil society

in fighting against the violation of fundamental rights in Swaziland.

The South African trade union federation COSATU reported that the panel was to consist of

Alec Muchadehama (human rights lawyer and activist from Zimbabwe), Paul Verryn

(ordained minister of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, anti-Apartheid activist and

advocate for refugees in South Africa) and Nomthetho Simelane (former Lecturer in Political

Science, University of Swaziland).

It was to be chaired by Jay Naidoo, founding General Secretary of COSATU and former

Minister of Communications for South Africa.

COSATU reported, ‘Representatives from the International Trade Union Confederation

(ITUC) were questioned and subsequently tailed from the airport to the George Hotel in

Manzini, where the panel was to meet. By 2am the place was buzzing with activity with

police all over the hotel; they even asked staff about the panellists, all of whom were then

arrested.’

The arrests followed the detention earlier yesterday (5 September 2013) of Vincent

Ncongwane, Secretary General of the Swaziland labour federation TUCOSWA. He was

taken by police from his office and placed under house arrest to prevent him taking part in a

pro-democracy march in Mbabane, the Swazi capital.

The march and the panel meeting were both parts of a Global Week of Action for Democracy

in Swaziland that is presently taking place.

Police raid to stop union meeting

6 September 2013

Swaziland police and paramilitaries broke into a hotel room where an inquiry into trade union

rights was taking place and ordered it to stop.

The police then ordered all participants who were not Swazi subjects to leave the kingdom.

The South African labour federation COSATU reported the raid happened this morning (6

September 2013) at the George Hotel in Manzini.

COSATU reported the Swazi Police stopped the Chair of the inquiry, Jay Naidoo and his

fellow paneliststs from proceeding with the Inquiry.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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It said in a statement, ‘A contingent of Swazi police and paramilitary led by Manzini

Regional Police Commander entered the hotel room where the inquiry is being held and

demanded that the chair of the Inquiry, Jay Naidoo and the whole panel stop and pack all

their belongings and leave Swaziland.

‘It is expected that they shall be deported anytime soon.’

It added, ‘The inquiry is an initiative of the ITUC [International Trade Union Confederation],

TUCOSWA [Trade Union Congress of Swaziland] and COSATU to hear workers’ accounts

of their experiences and sufferings in order compile a report to be taken to the ILO

[International Labour organisation] for the Committee on the Application of International

Standards.’

The panel was part of a Global Week of Action for Democracy in Swaziland.

COSATU said the panellists were Jay Naidoo, former General Secretary of COSATU and

former Minister under the Mandela Presidency; Bishop Paul Verryn of the Methodist Chruch

and South African Council of Churches and anti-apartheid activist; Alec Muchadehama,

Human Rights lawyer and activist from Zimbabwe; Ms Nomthetho Simelane, former lecturer

of Political Science at the University of Swaziland; together with COSATU delegate Monk

Molapeni.

It added the raid followed the arrest at his office of the Secretary General of TUCOSWA,

Vincent Ncongwane, yesterday morning by 10 police officers from the Lukhozi Serious

Crime Police in Manzini.

He was later placed under house arrest to prevent him taking part in a prodemocracy march in

the Swaziland capital, Mbabane.

COSATU said, ‘They [police] emphasised that the reason is that TUCOSWA is banned in

Swaziland and therefore an illegal entity.’

Various trade unions all over the world are staging activities in support of TUCOSWA and

the global week of action led by the Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF) and its

campaign wing, the Swaziland Democracy Campaign (SDC).

In the UK, the TUC yesterday met the Swazi High Commission in London and raised these

issues decisively, demanding the unconditional release of all those arrested and the

unbanning of TUCOSWA.

Police call Naidoo Panel ‘anarchists’

10 September 2013

Swaziland’s police chief Isaac Magagula has accused a discussion panel led by Jay Naidoo of

trying to cause ‘anarchy and instability’ in the kingdom.

Police, acting without warrants or a court order, broke up the meeting at the George Hotel,

Manzini, last Friday (6 September 2013) and deported panel members from Swaziland.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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The meeting was to be a Global Inquiry Panel on trade union rights and democracy in the

Swaziland, where the main workers’ federation and political parties are banned and King

Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

The inquiry was an initiative of the International Trade Union Confederation, Trade Union

Congress of Swaziland and South Africa’s Congress of South African Trade Unions to hear

workers’ accounts of their experiences in order compile a report to be taken to the

International Labour organisation for the Committee on the Application of International

Standards.

The panel was to be chaired by Jay Naidoo, former General Secretary of COSATU and

former Minister in the South African Government under the President Nelson Mandela.

Police National Commissioner Magagula told media in Swaziland, ‘We wish to state that as

far as our careful analysis of the bigger picture is concerned, the organisers are being

economical with the truth in relation to the actual purpose of the meeting. This is because all

factors surrounding it suggest that it was not merely intended to discuss bread and butter

issues for workers, but it was part and parcel of a broader agenda to further ulterior political

motives aimed at breaching the peace and causing anarchy and instability in the country.’

The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, reported,

‘He said it was striking that the Global Inquiry Panel had attributes of the Global Week of

Action on Democracy in Swaziland.

‘He said the Global Week of Action on Swaziland was conceived with motives that

undermine the peace and security of the country.

‘The Commissioner said the meeting was likely to shift the focus of the nation from the

ongoing elections process and thereby cause confusion and instability, particularly “given

that members of the certain proscribed entities had made threats to sabotage the process.”’

Various trade unions all over the world staged activities in support of trade unionists in

Swaziland and the global week of action led by the Swaziland United Democratic Front

(SUDF) and its campaign wing, the Swaziland Democracy Campaign (SDC).

The police action was criticized globally as an attack on the constitutional rights of Swazi

people to freedom of assembly.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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3. KING MSWATI III

King’s new name for non-democracy

2 September 2013

Swaziland’s King Mswati III, who rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, has

declared there will be a new kind of democracy in his kingdom, but even the briefest glance

at his plan shows it is exactly the same as the present system.

The king said the present ‘Tinkhundla’ system would be replaced by what he calls

‘Monarchical Democracy.’ He revealed this to his subjects on Saturday (31August 2013) as

he opened the 2013 International Trade Fair in Manzini.

He said he was told in a vision that he should do this.

The Times Sunday, an independent newspaper in Swaziland, reported, ‘The king said the

revelation came to him during the time when strange weather occurred on Friday night. He

said the vision came to him when lightning struck on a winter night that generally had neither

clouds nor rain. He said the lightning occurred while he tried to comprehend what was

happening – and that was when he saw the new name of the Swazi democracy.’

The newspaper added, ‘The king said in the vision, he was shown a new name for the

Tinkhundla system of governance. The revelation also came with a definition of what could

be described as a new form of democracy. The king said the system should now be known as

Monarchical Democracy.’

However, what the newspaper did not explain was that the ‘new’ democracy would be no

different from the present version in Swaziland. Political parties will still be banned from

taking part in elections and the king’s subjects will only be allowed to vote for a small

number of individuals to the House of Assembly, they still will not be allowed to elect any

members of the senate.

The king will continue to choose the prime minister and the government. The parliament will

still have no powers and will be subservient to the wishes of the king.

The king has been under increasing criticism from democratic nations to allow his subjects

the opportunity to have political parties and elect their own government.

The king said, ‘When we travel internationally, they ask us about the Tinkhundla system of

governance and we have always had difficulty defining and explaining it.’

The Times reported the king said, ‘According to Section 79 of the Constitution of Swaziland,

the system of government is democratic and participatory based on Tinkhundla. The system

emphasises on the devolution of state power from central government to Tinkhundla while

individual merit is a basis for election and appointment into public office.’

The newspaper reported the king said Monarchical Democracy was a new system which was

unique to Africa and Swaziland. He described it as a reinvention of the Tinkhundla system.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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‘He said this democracy was special because it defined a system formed by merging the will

of the people with the monarch. He said in this system, people cast votes on a ballot box to

decide leaders from community level. These leaders then work with the monarch in

governing the country.

‘The king said the new system ensured that the king worked with the people who were freely

elected by the people in the leadership of the country.

‘He said there were many ideologies of democracy in the world but with the Monarchical

Democracy, Swaziland presented to the world a system that was home-grown and could be

adopted and used by any country.’

He added, ‘[The] Monarchical democracy system was the best in the world.’

God tells King Mswati a home truth

3 September 2013

God got it spot on when He told King Mswati III in a vision last Friday (30 August 2013) that

a better name for the political system in Swaziland was a ‘Monarchical Democracy.’

The king said he received the message during a thunderstorm and immediately decided to

stop calling the political structure in his kingdom ‘Tinkhundla’ and to revert to the new title.

If readers take a moment to look at a dictionary they will find that God’s Words aptly

describe what prodemocracy activists have been saying for years: the king rules Swaziland as

an absolute monarch.

Here’s the definition of ‘monarch’: ‘One who reigns over a state or territory, usually for life

and by hereditary right, especially a sole and absolute ruler.’

And, this is ‘Monarchical’: ‘Ruled by or having the supreme power resting with a monarch;

“monarchical government”’.

So there you have it. ‘Monarchical Democracy’ is exactly what Swaziland has. All power

rests with the king; political parties are banned from taking part in elections; dissenting

voices are crushed.

Readers will note that God did not say He agreed with King Mswati ruling Swaziland as an

absolute monarch, He merely said that is what the king does.

The question now is: why did God choose this time, only a couple of weeks before the

national election in Swaziland, to point this out?

‘King believes he is chosen by God’

3 September 2013

The vision Swaziland’s King Mswati III says he received last week was not the first time

recently God has spoken to him.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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In 2011, the King said God spoke to him through a TV remote control.

It happened at the Lozitha Palace, near Mbabane. At the time the king told his subjects about

his ‘miraculous experience’.

The Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, reported in

October 2011, ‘His Majesty saw a miracle yesterday when he was preparing a sermon [to

preach to a group of evangelical Christians.] The King said a remote control lay at the centre

of a coffee table but something mysteriously brought it down.

‘He said there was no person or wind that could have brought it down. The King said he

realised that God was with him. It was Him who brought the remote control down.’

Reverend Jonas Dlamini, one of the king’s preachers, said, ‘The king preached to us. He was

filled with the light of the Lord when he told us that God had given him a sign when he was

getting ready to meet us. He said a TV remote on his table dropped to the floor with no one

touching it and that is how he knew God was communicating with him.’

King Mswati’s older brother, Prince Masitsela Dlamini, told African Eye News Service that

God had given the royal family authority to rule over other Swazi clans.

‘The Dlaminis are closer to God,’ said Dlamini.

African Eye reported at the time that according to political observer Charles Ndwandwe, the

King, who normally preaches at prayer meetings, believes he is one of God’s chosen ones.

Ndwandwe said, ‘King Mswati claims the right to his absolute power on the basis of both

Swazi culture and the biblical divine rights of kings. His brothers are on record as saying

democracy and other forms of government are illegitimate because the bible sanctions kings

but not presidents or elected officials.

‘So it is important that the king be able to say he was given a direct sign from God, in this

case the seemingly inexplicable dropping of a TV remote from a palace coffee table.’

See also

FEARS OVER KING’S MENTAL HEALTH

King admits no change on democracy

16 September 2013

King Mswati III of Swaziland has admitted publicly that the ‘Monarchical Democracy’ he

introduced to his subjects after receiving a vision from God is nothing more than a name

change for the existing Tinkhundla system.

He described it to the Reuters news agency as, ‘No change really. It's just a name so people

can understand.’

The admission will embarrass many of his followers as they claimed it showed that King

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, had invented a

new kind of democracy.

It was, Reuters reported, ‘merely a name change for foreign consumption’.

The news agency reported the king saying, ‘The world really doesn’t understand the

Tinkhundla system, but everybody can understand monarchical democracy. It’s an English

name. This monarchical democracy is a marriage between the traditional monarchy and the

ballot box, all working together under the monarchy.’

Swaziland is holding it national election on Friday (20 September 2013). All political parties

are banned from taking part. The poll will select 55 members of the House of assembly, the

other 10 members are appointed by the king. No members of the 30-strong Senate House are

elected by the people: the king appoints 20 senators and the others are elected by the House

of Assembly.

Report blasts Royal Family’s ‘greed’

17 September 2013

The greed of Swaziland’s Royal Family damages the lives of ordinary Swazi people, a

Freedom House report just published says.

And, King Mswati III’s ‘insistence on putting himself above the law’ has hit the economy

and institutions of state, the report says.

Freedom House calls the actions of the Royal Family ‘devastating’ and says, ‘a culture of

greed and suspicion are deeply entrenched at the highest level of the Royal Family’. It adds,

‘the occult has a surprisingly large influence over decision making in the kingdom’.

Previewing the report called Swaziland: A Failed Feudal State that was released on Tuesday

(17 September 2013), Freedom House said it detailed, ‘the devastating effects of King

Mswati’s absolute rule on the people of Swaziland’.

It documents, ‘the damage done to the lives of ordinary Swazis, the economy and the

institutions of state through a combination of the Royal Family’s greed and the monarch’s

insistence on putting himself above the law’.

In a statement, Freedom House said, ‘The report is released three days before Swazis are due

to go to the polls in elections that are widely expected to be neither free nor credible and that

will elect representatives with no powers or say in the running the country.’

Daniel Calingaert, executive vice president of Freedom House, said, ‘This report finds that

Mswati not only rules over a kingdom where 50 percent of the youth are unemployed and 80

percent of people die before their 40th birthday, his government also denies citizens their

basic rights through a ban on political parties, prohibition of peaceful gatherings and

widespread use of the security forces to harass, arrest and torture dissidents.’

The report reveals that a culture of greed and suspicion are deeply entrenched at the highest

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

Page 23

level of the Royal Family and that the occult has a surprisingly large influence over decision

making in the kingdom.

It also reports how the king is tightening his grip on power by drastically increasing security

sector spending. Freedom House says the democratic movement suffers from divisions within

its own ranks that weaken its ability to oppose the king’s ‘increasingly oppressive regime’.

Calingaert said, ‘While the solution to Swaziland’s problems must be homegrown, foreign

governments should follow the lead and support the efforts of civil society to bring about

positive change in the country.’

The report recommends that the democratic movement in Swaziland must continue to push

for change by setting its own agenda, forming tactical alliances and not allowing Swaziland

to become subject to a reform process ‘imposed’ by the Southern Africa Development

Community (SADC) or other external actors.

The report concludes that civil society must also ensure that there is sufficient international

attention brought to bear on the crisis in Swaziland.

‘King’s life dominated by fear’ - report

17 September 2013

Musa Ndlangamandla, the former propagandist for King Mswati III of Swaziland, has

revealed the king suffers from paranoia and his life is dominated by fear.

Ndlangamandla, one time chief editor of the king’s newspaper group, the Swazi Observer,

and a former speech writer and praise singer for the monarch, said, ‘At the back of Mswati’s

mind, he knows he was not intended to be king.’

Ndlangamandla made his comments in a report just published by Freedom House.

He said the king’s life was dominated by muti (which includes charms and potions used to

cast spells and curses) and the king was certain it could kill him.

In the report called Swaziland: A Failed Feudal State, Freedom House quoted

Ndlangamandla saying, ‘At the back of Mswati’s mind, he knows he was not intended to be

king. This might be the basis of his paranoia. The king is certain muti can kill him, and his

life is dominated by fear. Mswati believes that he is imbued with a potent aura (infukwana),

and part of the aura can be transferred to any person or object in Swaziland that he might

touch. This is the reason why no Swazi may shake hands with the king.

‘Also when Mswati has visited a Swazi’s home, the chair where he sat must be taken away by

the king’s servants and destroyed. If not, the host could hire a witch to use the aura left on the

chair to make muti and harm the king.’

The Freedom House report added, ‘Any suspected attempt to use muti to attack the king is

taken very seriously and sets off procedures to sniff out and eliminate potential harm to the

king.

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‘Ndlangamandla recalls a tediously long meeting when, as always, the king was seated in a

comfortable chair and the other participants were seated on the floor. To alleviate his

boredom, Ndlangamandla picked up a loose fiber from the carpet and twirled the fiber

between two fingers. As the meeting ended, Mswati ordered Ndlangamandla to stay,

questioned him about the fiber and brought in a team of tinyanga [medicine men] to doctor

the fiber and the place on the floor where Ndlangamandla had found it.

‘Large numbers of Swazis consider the king to be a powerful muti practitioner in his own

right, and the king’s close association with occult practices is an important pillar of his

power.

‘Highly educated Swazi cabinet ministers crawl in the king’s presence, and many rural people

drop to their knees when they see the flashing blue lights of an official motorcade believing

the king might be inside one of the cars,’ Freedom House said.

This is not the first time, the King’s exposure to muti and the occult has been exposed.

In February 2010, Earl Irvine, the then US Ambassador to Swaziland, wrote a confidential

cable to the State Department in Washington.

In the cable, later revealed by Wikileaks, Irvine wrote about what he called ‘Witchcraft and

More: A Portrait of Influences on King Mswati III’.

In the cable Irvine said ‘traditional leaders, superstition, and members of the royal family’

were the major influences on the king.

Irvine wrote, ‘King Mswati III believes in muti and attempts to use muti to attack the king are

taken seriously.’

He wrote that ‘muti people’ hold great sway within the royal family, and that the king must

eat and drink whatever they give him during traditional ceremonies, particularly when in

seclusion. ‘If they are unhappy with the direction the king is taking the country, then the king

has cause to worry.’

A report of what King Mswati does at the annual Incwala ceremony has been circulating

since 2011. It was written by an eyewitness who called himself Sithembiso Simelane.

In Simelane’s account, King Mswati is said to take muti and allows himself to be licked all

over his body by a snake while drugged. In one part of the supposedly-sacred ceremony he

has sexual intercourse with a drugged bull; in another he publicly has sex with two of his

wives.

See also

SWAZI KING AND BESTIALITY RITUAL

SWAZI KING’S BESTIALITY WENT WRONG

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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One-legged man barred from King

19 September 2013

A businessman with only one leg was barred from meeting King Mswati III of Swaziland

because he would not be able to kneel before the monarch.

Peter Petersie, aged 54, of Hlatikhulu, who was leading a group of businessmen, wanted an

audience with the king at the Mbangweni Royal Residence to discuss development matters.

But, he was told that because he had one leg, he could not kneel down as required by custom

when before the king.

He was barred by Lindiwe Dlamini, the outgoing Housing and Urban Development Minister.

The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, reported

Petersie saying, ‘I am still shocked by the way Dlamini treated me, it was the highest

standard of discrimination I have ever seen in my lifetime.’

He added, ‘We went there to deliver two cows to the king and I was in charge of the funds

and having got inside Mbangweni Palace with a colleague, Minister Dlamini said I could not

see the king because I have only one leg.’

He said, ‘I have contributed in building the economy of Swaziland and I do not deserve to be

blocked from seeing the king, despite my disabled condition I am a productive Swazi citizen

hence, I should not be discriminated against but treated as a human being.’

The treatment of Petersie is not unusual in Swaziland, where King Mswati rules as sub-

Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch and requires every Swazi, regardless of their rank, to

kneel when they are before him. In August 2013 a group of disabled people in the

Ngcamphalala Chiefdom of Swaziland, said they were ‘treated like animals’ by traditional

authorities in the kingdom.

A group called the Association for People Living with Disabilities said they were concerned

that a local development by Swaziland Water Agricultural Development Enterprise

(SWADE) which empowered people through agricultural schemes such as growing sugar

cane had excluded them.

Sifiso Nhleko, chair of the local Association for People Living with Disabilities, group told

local media, ‘The chiefdom’s inner council has let us down as they have done nothing to

include us in the development yet they know that we exist. They have not approved our

involvement in the development.’

He added, ‘We are also human beings and deserve to be included in development. People

without disabilities treat us as if we are animals and government and development agencies

do not take us into consideration when implementing development.’

Disabled people in Swaziland are marginalised by traditions and superstitions.

A report published by SINTEF Technology and Society, Global Health and Welfare in 2011

that studied living conditions among people with disabilities in Swaziland, found, ‘There is a

general belief that those who have a disability are bewitched or inflicted by bad spirits.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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‘Many believe that being around people with disabilities can bring bad luck. As a result,

many people with disabilities are hidden in their homesteads and are not given an opportunity

to participate and contribute to society.’

The report was the result of an extensive study in the kingdom in 2009 and 2010.

It also found that people with disabilities had been abandoned by the Swazi Government. The

report stated, ‘The absence of any comprehensive laws and policies to address people with

disabilities’ access to equal opportunities reflect a lack of political will and a failure to

recognize disability as a human right issue contributes to the devaluing and dehumanising of

people with disabilities.

See also

DISABLED PEOPLE ‘TREATED LIKE ANIMALS’

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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4. HUMAN RIGHTS

Critic of King charged with sedition

18 September 2013

In a new clampdown on free speech ahead of the elections in Swaziland on Friday, news has

emerged that a sugar cane farmer has been charged with sedition for allegedly making

unfavourable comments about King Mswati III.

Allen Nkululeko Mango, aged 48, of Manzini, is alleged to have made comments against the

king near the offices of Vuvulane Town Board.

Local media report that the comments were made at a meeting where Mango and other

farmers met senior government officials.

He has been charged under the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act No. 46 of 1938.

The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, where King

Mswati ruLes as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, reported the charges that

Mango, ‘wrongfully and unlawfully made comments which brought hatred or contempt

against the King of Swaziland, King Mswati III so that he can be hated by his subjects at

Vuvulane.’

The comments are alleged to have been made on 5 February 2013, but Mango was only

arrested on Friday 13 September. He has applied for bail but the Director of Public

Prosecutions is opposing him.

There has been a clampdown against free speech in Swaziland ahead of the national election

this Friday (20 September 2013).

Musa Dube, the deputy general secretary of the Communist party of Swaziland, was charged

last week with sedition for allegedly distributing leaflets calling for a boycott of the election.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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5. MEDIA

King praises his own journalists

17 September 2013

King Mswati III has praised his own newspaper, the Swazi Observer, for the coverage it has

given to the national election due on Friday.

The king in effect owns the conglomerate Tibiyo Taka Ngwane that in turn owns the

Observer group.

Mbongeni Mbingo, the Observer managing editor, wrote in his own newspaper, ‘He said, in

particular, this newspaper had endeavoured to encourage the nation to exercise its right to

vote, and had continued to give good coverage of the exercise.’

Mbingo reported, ‘The king said he had observed that a lot of the excitement around the

election was because the media was playing its role as a catalyst.’

Such praise from the king is not unexpected. In its last annual report on media freedom,

published in May 2013, the Media Institute of Southern Africa called the Swazi Observer a

‘pure propaganda machine for the royal family’.

The coverage of the election by the Observer is in stark contrast to that of international

media. They are pointing out that the election for 55 members of the House of Assembly has

little purpose since political parties are banned from taking part and parliament has no power.

The king rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

The comments were part of a wider interview the Swazi Observer had with King Mswati. It

was billed as an ‘exclusive’, but a similar interview was published in the Times of Swaziland,

the Observer’s only rival newspaper on the same day.Reuters news agency also published an

interview with the king last week.

See also

MISA TELLS ‘TIMES’ EDITOR TO RESIGN

THE STATE OF SWAZI JOURNALISM 2013

Censorship over King’s latest bride

23 September 2013

Media in Swaziland are once again censoring themselves when reporting about King Mswati

III.

The latest case involves his new fiancée, the 18-year-old beauty queen contestant Sindiswa

Dlamini.

News broke at a Reed Dance in the southern provincial capital, Nhlangano, in Swaziland last

week that the 45-year-old king had chosen her as his new bride from among tens of thousands

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

Page 29

of bare-breasted ‘virgins’ who paraded before him at annual Reed Dance celebrations.

Media in Swaziland predictably reported the event as if it were quite natural for a middle-

aged man to wed a ‘virgin’ who was younger than many of his daughters.

But outside the kingdom, which King Mswati rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute

monarch, the media have been more candid.

They reported Dlamini as the king’s 14th bride, although some counted her as wife number

15. The confusion was excusable since the number of wives the king has is considered a state

secret in Swaziland and it is considered ‘un-Swazi’ to talk openly about King Mswati’s

polygamy.

Media outside Swaziland are reporting that ‘Naughty Sindi’, as the Sunday Sun newspaper in

South Africa describes her, has had affairs with two of King Mswati’s sons, Prince Majaha

and Prince Bandzile, who are both in their early twenties.

One unnamed source told the newspaper, ‘Sindi has dated both these boys. She’s a party girl

used to having fun.’

Another informant told Sunday Sun, ‘Sindi is no virgin. She drinks and smokes a lot and has

tattoos on parts of her body I cannot mention.’

One source told the newspaper, ‘She is only doing it [marrying the king] because she comes

from a poor background.’

The media in Swaziland never report about the king without his permission. This means

people across the world are better informed than the king’s subjects, the Swazi people.

This is not the first time the media in Swaziland have refused to keep its readers informed

about the Swazi Royal Family. In August 2010, the world’s media were excited by the case

of Swaziland Justice Minister Ndumiso Mamba and King Mswati’s 12th wife, 22-year-old

Inkhosikati Nothando LaDube. This was after pictures appeared of Mamba hiding in a bed

before his arrest at Royal Villas, a hotel at Ezulwini just outside Mbabane, where he was said

to have had regular adulterous meetings with LaDube.

The City Press in South Africa reported at the time that when police pounced, ‘in a desperate

effort not to be found out Mamba cut into the base of the bed and slid in – but police ordered

him out and Mamba, dressed in a brown suit, was soon taken into custody’. He was later

forced to resign from the government and the Senate.

The aftermath of the scandal ran for at least two months: all unreported by media in

Swaziland.

Most of the broadcast media in Swaziland that carries news and current affairs reporting are

government controlled and are banned directly from adversely reporting about the royal

family.

There are two newspaper groups in Swaziland. One, the Swazi Observer is in effect owned by

the king, and the other, the Times of Swaziland censors itself heavily when reporting about

the monarchy.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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In April 2007, King Mswati personally threatened the Times with closure after the Times

Sunday published a minor criticism of him sourced from Afrol, an international news agency.

The king said he would close the paper down unless people responsible for the publication at

the paper were sacked and the newspaper published an abject apology to the king. These

things were done.

Police point gun at journalist

30 September 2013

A Swaziland police officer pointed a gun in the face of a newspaper photographer to try to

force him to destroy pictures he had taken of police beating up a protestor.

Walter Dlamini, of the Times Sunday, had taken photos at Gege where police had broken up a

peaceful protest march by youth in the area. They were protesting against alleged

irregularities at the recent election.

The Times Sunday reported, ‘Dlamini’s only sin was taking pictures of some police officers

who were mercilessly beating a protestor, who was only identified by his name Brother next

to a police vehicle. The officer pointed a short gun at Dlamini’s face and demanded why he

took pictures of the officers who were at work.

‘The intervention of his colleague Mduduzi Magagula saved the day as the officer was

informed to stop interfering with the work of journalists. He left in a huff as the reporters told

him that the pictures they had taken would not be deleted.’

In an editorial comment, the paper’s companion title, the Times of Swaziland, said, ‘[T]his is

harassment and intimidation of the highest order, an implicit threat to the life of the

journalist.’ http://www.times.co.sz/features/91807-reporting-at-gunpoint.html

It added, ‘This sorry excuse for a police officer had reason to be worried; he and his

colleagues were caught in the act assaulting a protestor who was manifestly not being

threatening but was obviously being “punished”; being struck on the knee (where permanent

damage could occur) with a heavy wooden truncheon by one uniformed brute while two

others held him and another watched from a short distance, truncheons dangling in readiness

from their hands.

‘The casual work-a-day savagery of these police officers and their sense of entitlement to

brutalising Swazi citizens with impunity goes a long way to explaining why they would

attack with teargas and batons what was a peaceful protest march before their intervention;

once again proving the police are responsible for much of the violence that erupts during

protests.’

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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6. REED DANCE

Cultural Reed Dance is political

3 September 2013

The Reed Dance, billed as Swaziland’s foremost cultural days, proved to be anything but,

when 120,000 half-naked maidens reportedly sang a song praising King Mswati III’s latest

pronouncement about his continued rule over his kingdom.

They praised the King for announcing at the weekend that henceforth Swaziland would be a

‘Monarchical Democracy’. This is a new name for the already existing ‘Tinkhundla’ system

that bans political parties from elections and puts all power in the hands of the king.

The king said he had been told in a vision to make this change.

The song included these words (loosely translated from the original), ‘Your Majesty

Swaziland is well governed through the Tinkhundla System of Democracy and will be

victorious through it.’

The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, reported,

‘Royal Swaziland Police Superintendent Wendy Hleta who was the Master (sic) of

Ceremonies together with Former Indvuna YeMbali Nothando Ntshangase noted that the

maidens were seemingly pleased with the message conveyed by the new composition.’

Hleta told the newspaper, ‘Your Majesty, through this song the maidens are expressing their

happiness of being governed through the Tinkhundla System of Monarchical Democracy.’

It is nothing new for participants in the Reed Dance, also known as Umhlanga, to sing anti-

democracy songs.

Last year (2013), about 500 children were ordered to sing a song vilifying political parties.

They were then ordered to return to their homes and teach the words to other girls in their

chiefdoms. This was part of a clampdown on dissent in the kingdom, where the king rules as

sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

In 2009, the South Africa Press Association reported, ‘During the four-hour event, children

sang songs which glorified Mswati and condemned his enemies.’

See also

BEWARE REED DANCE PROPAGANDA

SWAZIS FORCED TO DANCE FOR THE KING

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Richard Rooney was associate professor at the University of Swaziland 2005 – 2008, where

he was also the founding head of the Journalism and Mass Communication Department.

He has taught in universities in Africa, Europe and the Pacific. His academic research which

specialises in media and their relationships to democracy, governance and human rights has

appeared in books and journals across the world.

His writing regularly appears in newspapers, magazines and on websites. He was a full-time

journalist in his native United Kingdom for 10 years, before becoming an academic.

He has published the blog Swazi Media Commentary since 2007 and also has other social

media sites that concentrate on human rights issues in Swaziland.

He holds a Ph.D in Communication from the University of Westminster, London, UK.

He presently teaches at the University of Botswana, Gaborone.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

Page 33

Publications from Swazi Media Commentary available online free-of-charge

BOOKS

2013. The beginning of the End? 2012, a year in the struggle for democracy in

Swaziland

This compilation of newsletters from Africa Contact in collaboration with Swazi Media

Commentary contains an assortment of news, analysis and comment covering the campaign

for freedom in Swaziland throughout 2012. These include the Global Action for Democracy

held in September; campaigns for democracy spearheaded by trade unions and students and

the continuing struggle for rights for women, children, gays and minority groups.

2012. The End of the Beginning? 2011, a year in the struggle for freedom in Swaziland

This book looks at activities in the freedom movement in 2011. It starts with a section on the

unsuccessful April 12 Uprising followed by separate chapters looking at events in each

month of 2011, including the Global Week of Action held in September. They also highlight

the numerous violations of rights suffered by the poor, by children, by women and by sexual

minorities, among others, in the kingdom.

2011. Voices Unheard: Media Freedom and Censorship in Swaziland.

This volume of pages from Swazi Media Commentary focuses on media freedom and

censorship. It starts with some overview articles that set out the general terrain, moving on to

look at repressive media laws. Other sections of this book relate the daily threats journalists

in Swaziland face when they want to report, but are not allowed to.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

Page 34

OCCASIONAL PAPERS SERIES

No. 1. 2013. Cynicism Eats Away at Swaziland Journalism: The state of Swazi

journalism, 2013

One thing that shines out about journalists and their editors in Swaziland is the deeply cynical

way they operate. Swazi journalists claim to be upholders of fine ethical traditions of honesty

and inquiry, but instead they are often publishing lies or playing with readers’ emotions to

boost company profits.

This article explores the state of newspaper journalism in Swaziland, a small kingdom in

Africa, ruled over by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Editors

are deliberately misleading their readers by publishing material that is intended to provoke

controversy and reaction, even though they know it also contains lies. This is done in order to

boost profits for owners.

No. 2. 2013. Swaziland Broadcasting Not For The People

A review of broadcasting in Swaziland that demonstrates through research that radio in the

kingdom only serves the interests of King Mswati III and his intimate supporters. All other

voices are excluded from the airwaves.

The paper contrasts a ‘public broadcasting service’ with ‘public service broadcasting’ and

demonstrates that changes in the kingdom’s broadcasting cannot be made until it becomes a

democratic state.

No. 3. 2013. Swaziland Media Need Code of Conduct for Covering Elections

A review of how media have covered past elections in Swaziland highlighting a number of

areas for improvement. The paper includes a suggested code of ethical conduct that Swazi

journalists can adopt in order to improve performance.

No.4. 2013. Swaziland Press Freedom: The case of Bekhi Makhubu and the Nation

magazine

In April 2013 Bheki Makhubu the editor of the Nation magazine and its publishers,

Swaziland Independent Publishers were convicted of ‘scandalising the court’ after two

articles criticising the judiciary were published in 2009 and 2010. The purpose of this paper is

to bring together details of the story so far (May 2013). It is an attempt to bring under one

cover all the available information on the case in order to assist those people in the future

who might need a quick ‘primer’.

No.5. 2013. Media Coverage of Swaziland Election 2013.

A review of media coverage of the Swaziland national election, most notably in the only two

newspaper groups in the kingdom, and at international media. It notes that generally

newspapers in Swaziland ignored the real issue, that of the non-democratic nature of the

elections, and concentrated instead on trying to justify the governance system to their readers.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

Page 35

SWAZILAND: STRIVING FOR FREEDOM PREVIOUS EDITIONS

Volume 1, Jan 2013, is available free of charge here.

Volume 2, Feb 2013, is available free of charge here.

Volume 3, March 2013, is available free of charge here.

Volume 4, April 2013, is available free of charge here.

Volume 5, May 2013, is available free of charge here.

Volume 6, June 2013, is available free of charge here.

Volume 7, July 2013, is available free of charge here.

Volume 8, August 2013, is available free of charge here.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

Page 36

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