Swazi Media Commentary

ONLY 822 PASSENGERS AT KING’S AIRPORT

2013-06-15T07:31:00.001+02:00

Only 822 passengers per day on average are expected to use the new Sikhuphe Airport when it eventually opens, official figures reveal.

That is about the equivalent of two Jumbo Jets landing at the airport every 24 hours.

The airport, dubbed King Mswati III’s ‘vanity project’ by critics, is at least three years behind schedule. It was originally intended to open in time for the FIFA World Cup held in 2010 in neighbouring South Africa.

Despite endless problems, including a claim last week that the structure of the airport was defected and large jet airlines would not be able to land, King Mswati’s supporters continue to talk up the prospects of the airport.

So far, no airline has signed up to land at the airport. Despite this, the Swaziland Civil Aviation Authority (SWACAA) has projected 300,000 passengers will use the airport each year, raising E7 million (US$700,000) per year in service charges. Although SWACAA did not say so, this equates to 822 passengers on average per day.

Deris Hlophe, SWACAA’s Air Transport Economist, revealed the figures to the Times of Swaziland. He also said aircraft parking fees at the airport could amount to E452,000 per year, with E137 being charged per aircraft.

The airport project, which has the personal support of King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, is being built in the wilderness of eastern Swaziland, at least 80km from major towns.

Swaziland at present has an airport at Matsapha, close to the main cities of Mbabane and Manzini, but it only manages to attract about 70,000 passengers a year.

No needs-analysis was made before work started on building the airport, 10 years ago and so far no strategic plan has been revealed on how the airport intends to operate and how it will recoup the estimated E2.36 billion it has cost so far.

As long ago as 2003, the International Monetary Fund said it should not be built because it would divert funds away from much needed projects to fight poverty in Swaziland. About seven in ten of King Mswati’s 1.3 million subjects live in abject poverty, earning less than US$2 per day.

See also

KING’S AIRPORT ‘WILL BE UNUSABLE’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/06/kings-airport-will-be-unusable.html

DOUBTS OVER PROSPECTS FOR AIRPORT

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2012/06/doubts-over-prospects-for-airport.html

ELECTION: CORRUPTION AT REGISTRATION

2013-06-14T12:43:00.001+02:00

People are registering more than once ahead of the Swaziland national election due in September.

The revelation puts the integrity of the election in the kingdom ruled by the autocratic monarch King Mswati III in doubt.

The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) said some people were offered bribes of E100 (US$10) or E200 to register twice.

EBC Chair Chief Gija Dlamini told local media, ‘There are people who have promised the voters that, if they vote for them twice, they will give them E100 or E200 and they get tempted.’

He said voters caught registering more than once would be arrested.

Despite double-registering, the total number of registrations for the election has fallen far short of the 600,000 people who are entitled to vote. Registration ends on 23 June and at the current rate of sign-up, the EBC might not reach 400,000 voters.

The registration process has been hampered by computer break-downs and staff who have not been trained properly to use them.

A campaign to boycott the election is gathering pace in Swaziland. Political parties are banned from taking part in the election and the parliament that is selected has no real power and acts as a rubber stamp for King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

Last week the EBC said it did not have enough money to run the election successfully as the Swazi Government had cut its allocation from E200 million to E100 million. It is claimed that the EBC cannot afford enough staff to monitor the registration of voters across the whole kingdom. There is also doubt that staff working for the EBC will be paid on time.

The Times of Swaziland quoted Chief Gija saying, ‘The current state we are in is caused by the initial budgeting constraints. We had asked for E200 million, but government said it could only afford E100 million. It does not come as a surprise then when we struggle in some aspects. The money is now less and we are patching here and there.’

See also

SWAZI BOGUS ELECTION – SPONSORED BY MTN

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/06/swazi-election-sponsored-by-mtn.html

ACTIVIST STONES GININDZA DIES

2013-06-14T11:33:00.000+02:00

Kenworthy News Media, June 14, 2013

Swazi activist Stones Ginindza passes away

SOURCE

It was with great sorrow that Africa Contact has learnt that long-serving Foundation for Socio-Economic Justice (FSEJ) Secretary General to the Board, Stones Ginindza, has passed away, writes Kenworthy News Media

Stones Ginindza was a dear and long-serving partner of Africa Contact as well as being a major capacity in Swaziland’s democratic movement, where she also served as Secretary General for the Swaziland National Association of Teachers and Chairperson of Swaziland Network Campaign for Education for All, amongst other things.

”Stones has played an important role in the partnership between FSEJ and Africa Contact,” says Africa Contact’s Head of Secretariat, Morten Nielsen. ”As a member of FSEJ’s board, she understood straightaway that FSEJ could play an important strategic role in joining and strengthening the various grass roots movements that are members of FSEJ. Stones’ efforts have therefore been vital in making the democracy movement what it is today. We in Africa Contact, and the many others who fight for democracy in Swaziland, have lost an important ally with the passing away of Stones. She will be remembered and revered for her efforts in posterity.”

Stones visited Denmark in 2009, where she amongst other things spoke about political oppression in Swaziland at a public meeting arranged by Africa Contact, met with Danish Foreign Ministry officials, and gave interviews to the Danish press.

The will be a Memorial Service, Saturday June 15, and Stones will be laid to rest on Sunday June 16 after a short prayer in her home.

BULLYING CHIEFS RULE IN SWAZILAND

2013-06-14T09:38:00.003+02:00

A demand by a chief in Swaziland that his subjects pay him E5,000 (more than two years’ income for some of his people) as a ‘tribute’ highlights the power chiefs have over people in the kingdom of the autocratic King Mswati III.

Chief Mshikashika Ngcamphalala, of Kangcamphalala, is reported to have demanded the money from sugar cane farmers in his chiefdom.

He is demanding ‘setfulo’, which traditionally are tributes paid to the chief a person pays allegiance to.

The Times of Swaziland reported that he is demanding the money from 18 sugar cane farming schemes and he stands to collect E90,000 in total.

The paper reported that people in the area said, ‘members of the sugar cane associations were tentatively earning around E2,000 a year each on average’.

The chief has, through his inner council, sent letters to the sugar cane schemes in the area, reminding them to pay the ‘agreed’ E5,000 with immediate effect.

A source told the newspaper, ‘If you raise such a matter in my area, you will be viewed as radical and you will be victimised. Therefore, most people are complaining in hushed tones.’

Farmers denied that they consented to the arrangement of paying E5,000, claiming the idea was imposed.

Chief Ngcamphalala, described by the Times as, ‘well-known as a disciplinarian’, told the newspaper that he deserved a cut of the takings earned by his subjects. He criticised some of his subjects for talking to the media.

Chiefs in Swaziland have enormous powers over their subjects, because they are personally appointed by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, and traditionally they lead a band of area elders. They can decide who lives where and some have been known to banish people from their homes for not obeying rules. Sometimes chiefs demand tithes from their subjects such as a beast or money.

Chiefs also settle disputes such as over land, accusations of witchcraft, and wandering livestock that harm someone’s crops. Many also settle criminal disputes that probably should best be left to magistrates.

Chiefs are given stipends by the national treasury, but not salaries, and community members pay their allegiance to chiefs by weeding and harvesting their fields, and constructing the traditional mud and thatch huts usually found at chiefs’ homesteads.

In Swaziland chiefs do the king’s bidding at a local level. People know not to mess with the chief because their livelihood depends on his goodwill. In some parts of Swaziland the chiefs are given the power to decide who gets food that has been donated by international agencies and then the chiefs quite literally have power of life and death in such cases and with about a third of the population of Swaziland receiving food aid last year.

Chiefs can and do take revenge on their subjects who disobey them. There is a catalogue of cases in Swaziland. For example, Chief Dambuza Lukhele of Ngobelweni in the Shiselweni region banned his subjects from ploughing their fields because some of them defied his order to build a hut for one of his wives.

Nhlonipho Nkamane Mkhatswa, chief of Lwandle in Manzini, the main commercial city in Swaziland, reportedly stripped a woman of her clothing in the middle of a Swazi street in full view of the public because she was wearing trousers against his orders,

Chiefs know they have the backing of th eking if things go wrong. Zwide Nxumalo defied a courtorder to stop being chief of the Ezikhotheni area in the Shiselweni region of Swaziland because he was appointed to the post by King Mswati III. Magistrates told him he couldn’t go ahead with a sibhimbi ceremony that officially introduces a new chief to his subjects because of a dispute about whether he had been correctly chosen as chief. So he went with the ceremony anyway.

See also

HAIL TO SWAZI CHIEFS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2008/02/hail-to-swazi-chiefs.html

THREE ACTIVISTS ‘BEATEN IN JAIL’

2013-06-10T10:53:00.000+02:00

Three members of the pro-democracy group SWAYOCO charged with sedition for carrying a banner at an election rally in Swaziland say they have been beaten up while in prison awaiting trial.

They say warders beat them at the Sidvwashini Correctional Facility. They told magistrates they now feared for their safety.

The accused, described in local media as members of the Swaziland Youth Congress, one of a number of pro-democracy groups banned in Swaziland, are Mfanawenkhosi Mbhunu Mtshali, 37, of Gobholo, Derrick Dickson Nkambule, 47, of Mgababa and Maxwell Manqoba Thandukukhanya Dlamini, 23.

They appeared before Magistrate Ndumiso Shongwe last week and claimed to be beaten and subjected to harsh treatment and were denied medical treatment.

Dlamini, who is the Secretary General of SWAYOCO, also said he was beaten by an officer from the Correctional Facility just as he was about to enter the court.

The Swazi Observer newspaper reported he told Magistrate Shongwe that he had been beaten by an officer because he refused to have chains on his legs untied as it was normal that they entered in court with the chains.

The chief escort from the Correction Facility, whom the newspaper did not name, told the court the three men had caused trouble in prison because they ‘sometimes sang struggle songs whilst in the cell and disrupted other inmates’.

The three men are charged under the Suppression of Terrorism Act 2008 and the Sedition and Subversive Act of 1938. They are alleged to have taken part in an illegal demonstration on 19 April 2013 and carried a huge banner inscribed with ‘subversive material’.

They were remanded back in custody pending committal to the High Court.

See also

POLICE BREAK UP ELECTION MEETING

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/police-break-up-election-meeting.html

SWAZI ELECTION – SPONSORED BY MTN

2013-06-09T07:44:00.003+02:00

MTN, which has absolute monarch King Mswati III as a major shareholder, and is the sole mobile phone company in Swaziland, has been attacked for sponsoring registration for the kingdom’s controversial national election.

It comes at a time when a campaign by pro-democracy groups to get people to boycott the election appears to be succeeding.

MTN is giving away T-shirts, caps and other products imprinted with its logo, to people who register for the election.

The phone company that has been accused in the past of blocking calls made on its network by pro-democracy campaigners in Swaziland has entered into a deal with the kingdom’s Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC), the Swazi Observer newspaper reported.

The Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, reported that the sponsorship was an incentive to get people to register for the elections.

The elections which are due to be held on 20 September are mired in controversy. The EBC at first announced it was targeting 600,000 people to sign up for the election, but with 18 days of registration still to go had registered only 210,000 people.

Then, as it became clear it was unlikely to reach its target, the EBC back-tracked and denied its target was 600,000. This figure was the total number of people eligible to register, not the Commission’s actual target, the EBC chair ChiefGija Dlamini told the Observer.

The increasingly discredited EBC has been travelling the kingdom trying to get people to sign-up for the elections. Places it has visited include work places, media houses and hospitals. It has also been criticised for failing to stop sitting cabinet ministers from illegally giving gifts, including money and food, to constituents to entice them to vote.

But, the EBC and the Observer have failed to report that a campaign by pro-democracy groups to get people to boycott the election appears to be gaining ground.

Opponents of the election say the poll is valueless because political parties are not allowed to take part and the parliament that is selected has no real power and works as a rubber-stamp for King Mswati.

The Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), one of a number of pro-democracy groups banned in Swaziland by King Mswati, said in a statement the sponsorship by MTN was a ‘desperate’ move by the EBC to get people to register.

The SSN said, ‘Fearing that [the boycott] call was resonating within the population, the EBC resorted to some extremely desperate measures to ensure that they registered as many of those who normally do not vote because they saw no importance in participating in this useless exercise.

‘This resulted in hospitals being invaded, with sickly patients disrupted from their recuperation as King Mswati’s PR [public relations] agents sought to create the impression that the majority of the population is fully behind his absolute grip of power.’

It added, ‘MTN Swaziland has since shamefully joined the fray, sponsoring this sham exercise, knowing well that poor Swazis will not pass the opportunity to have free T-shirts and caps. We ask a simple question to these friends of dictatorship, “Does this mean that the company does not value those amongst its subscribers who wish to live in a democratic country?” Surely if it valued them then it would not plough the profits it makes from their patronage into sustaining their oppression.

‘If this gesture is innocent and has nothing to do with pleasing the king then MTN should also give out its products to those organizations who called for a boycott of the elections, failing which the Mass Democratic Movement is rightly advised to boycott this company, difficult though this may be, since it is a total monopoly thanks to the fact that its “esteemed shareholder” [King Mswati III] pulls the strings to ensure that there is no competition in the mobile telephone industry.’

See also

US DECRIES KING ON MTN DEAL

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/08/us-decries-swazi-king-on-mtn-deal.html

PHONES CUT AS SWAZILAND PROTESTS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/09/phones-cut-as-swaziland-protests.html

SWAZI POLICE AND THE AFRICAN DESPOT

2013-06-07T13:20:00.002+02:00

Swaziland is to train more police cadets for the discredited government of Equatorial Guinea.

This was announced only days after President Teodoro Nguema Obiange of Equatorial Guinea claimed that his party, the ruling Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE), had won 99 of the 100 seats in the lower house of assembly and 54 of 55 senate seats in elections held last month.

The main opposition party the Convergence for Social Democracy said it completely rejected the results, calling them, ‘a real fraud, in total violation of the law’.

During the election campaign police in Equatorial Guinea arrested opposition politicians and dispersed demonstrators who accused the President of ‘maltreatment’.

Reuters news agency reported the United States voiced serious concerns over the election process, pointing to arbitrary detentions, limits on freedoms of assembly and speech, and severely restricted media access for the opposition.

At least four members of the opposition in Equatorial Guinea were detained for trying to organize a protest march ahead of the election.

Police in Swaziland have taken a similar stand against any opposition to the national elections due in the kingdom for September. Meetings have been banned and organisers arrested.

People protesting against the Swazi poll, which is seen as undemocratic because political parties are not allowed to take part and the parliament that is elected has no real powers, have been charged with sedition. King Mswati III rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

Swaziland signed a five-year deal in 2012 to train police cadets for Equatorial Guinea.

See also

SWAZI COPS TRAIN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/swazi-cops-train-human-rights-abusers.html

NEWSPAPERS DO GOVERNMENT’S BIDDING

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/newspapers-do-governments-bidding.html

VERY CRUDE SWAZILAND OIL DEAL

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2012/01/very-crude-swaziland-oil-deal.html

KING’S AIRPORT ‘WILL BE UNUSABLE’

2013-06-07T12:38:00.002+02:00

Swaziland’s Sikhuphe Airport, the multi-billion rand vanity project of King Mswati III, has construction flaws and is likely to be unusable, a South African newspaper has claimed.

The Mail and Guardian reported it had two confidential technical reports by engineer Derrick Dlamini alleging that there were major structural defects in the airport’s concrete apron and ‘that it is unfit for use by large commercial aircraft’.

The Swazi Government has denied the claim. Percy Simelane, the Swaziland government spokesperson, said the state was ‘absolutely’ satisfied with the work done.

The newspaper also said that there might be ‘widespread fraud and other irregularities’ at the airport, but did not give details.

The newspaper reported the cost of the airport was in the region of R2.36 billion (US$236 million), but estimates in the past have put the cost much higher. One report in 2010, in the Swazi Observer, the newspaper in effect owned by the king, estimated it could be as much as US$1 billion.

The king has been the leading force behind the airport which is being built in a wilderness in eastern Swaziland, about 80km from the kingdom’s capital, Mbabane. No needs analysis was done before the project started and to date no airline has agreed to use the airport, which is many years behind schedule for completion. Swaziland already has an underused airport at Matsapha, close to both the kingdom’s capital, Mbabane, and its main commercial city, Manzini.

The newspaper reported Sikhuphe airport was scheduled to open later this year (2013).

Sikhuphe is an on-going project to build an ‘international airport’. Since the idea for the airport was first raised by King Mswati, who rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, more than 10 years ago independent observers have called it a waste of resources.

As long ago as 2003, the International Monetary Fund said it should not be built because it would divert funds away from much needed projects to fight poverty in Swaziland. About seven in ten of King Mswati’s 1.1 million subjects live in abject poverty, earning less than US$2 per day.

Meanwhile, the king has a lavish lifestyle, including a personal fortune, once estimated by Forbes magazine to be US$200 million, 13 palaces, a private jet and fleets of top-of-the range Mercedes and BMW cars.

See also

KING’S VANITY COMES BEFORE THE POOR

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/02/kings-vanity-comes-before-poor.html

DOUBTS OVER PROSPECTS FOR AIRPORT

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2012/06/doubts-over-prospects-for-airport.html

PROOF: KING’S AIRPORT POINTLESS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/02/proof-kings-airport-pointless.html

ARMED POLICE STOP ELECTION WORKSHOP

2013-06-05T12:21:00.002+02:00

Armed police stopped a youth group in Swaziland from holding an election workshop at a local church.

The workshop organised by the Swaziland Youth Empowerment Organisation, also known as Luvatsi, was due to be held in Sidvokodvo.

The police had no warrant or court order, but were acting on instructions of their station commander, local media reported.

The workshop was to cover the election due in Swaziland this year, human rights and democracy.

About 50 young people from Sidvokodvo and surrounding areas were reported to have assembled at the Pentecostal Church for the workshop by the time police arrived.

The Times of Swaziland reported that a police officer was waiting for the Luvatsi Coordinator Colani Nhleko when he arrived at the venue. He was told that the workshop would not be allowed to proceed.

Nhleko went to the police station to find out why the workshop was banned and was told it had been done on the orders of the police station commander, who was not present at the station.

Nhleko returned to the church and began the workshop. Then about 10 armed police officers arrived and forced them to stop.

See also

POLICE BAN DEMOCRACY PUBLIC MEETING

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/police-ban-democracy-public-meeting.html

SWAZILAND REDUCES ELECTION TARGET

2013-06-05T11:43:00.002+02:00

Swaziland’s Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) Chair Chief Gija Dlamini is backtracking over the number of people expected to be registered for this September’s national poll.

It comes as the EBC has struggled to meet targets for voter registration. The EBC had said there were 600,000 people in Swaziland eligible to vote and allowed the media to report this as the body’s target for registration.

But, with only 20 days of registration to go only 190,000 people have signed up to vote.

At this rate of registration only about 363,000 people will have signed up by the end of the registration period on 23 June 2013.

But, now Chief Gina is claiming the 600,000 figure was never a target. The Swazi Observer, the newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III, reported, ‘The chairman [Chief Gija] also clarified that the 600 000 people expected to register were not in actual fact the commission’s target.’

The newspaper added, ‘However, he explained that this was the number of people eligible to vote in the country. Such people are those who are 18 years and above.’

If 363,000 people register to vote, it will represent only 60 percent of the total number of people eligible to vote.

At the last election in 2008, King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, claimed a triumph when 350,778 people registered to vote. In 2008, the EBC claimed the total number of people eligible to vote was 400,000 (200,000 fewer than the figure claimed for this year).

Those 350,778 represented 88 percent of the total number eligible to vote.

To at least match the 88 percent take-up figure for 2008, this year the ECB must sign up at least 528,000 people.

The Swazi Observer gave no reason why Chief Gija and the ECB had moved the goal-posts and revised down its figure for participation at this year’s election.

A campaign by prodemocracy groups to get people to boycott this year’s election is in full swing. They say the elections are meaningless because political parties are not allowed to take part and the parliament that is selected has no real powers.

The election is for 55 members of the 65-seat House of Assembly. The king appoints the other 10 members. No members of the 30-strong Swazi Senate are elected by the people: 20 senators are appointed by the king and the other 10 are selected by members of the House of Assembly.

See also

DATE SET FOR CONTROVERSIAL ELECTION

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/06/date-set-for-controversial-election.html

‘SWAZIS WANT CHANGE’: POLL FIGURES

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/swazis-want-change-poll-figures.html

DATE SET FOR CONTROVERSIAL ELECTION

2013-06-04T16:27:00.002+02:00

King Mswati III of Swaziland, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, has announced the controversial elections to the House of Assembly in his kingdom will be held on 20 September.

The ‘primary’ elections will take place on 24 August 2013.

In Swaziland political parties are banned from taking part in the elections. Only 55 of the 65 members of the House are chosen by the electorate: the other 10 are selected by the king. No members of the Swazi Senate are elected: of 30 seats, 20 are appointed by the king and the other 10 are chosen by members of the House of Assembly.

Swaziland is broken up into 55 tinkhundla or administrative districts and each of these makes up one constituency in the House of Assembly. One Member of Parliament is elected from each inkhundla at the secondary election.

This is how the Swazi Observer, the newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, explained the election process at the last poll in 2008.

‘Nominations: This is done at the Imiphakatsi (chiefdoms) regardless of whether there is a chief or not. A minimum of four people to a maximum of 10, are nominated. 15 registered voters should second each nominee. After being seconded he must express his willingness to represent the people at a higher level.

‘These nominees will then go for Primary elections, where out of the four in some cases or the 10 in others, one must come out victorious. These are still conducted at the Imiphakatsi. The winners will then represent their Imiphakatsi in the election for constituency representatives MPs.

‘Campaigning: It is in this stage that campaigning is then allowed. The Primaries winners are then taken to all the Imiphakatsi under that constituency and campaign publicly fielding questions asked as well as tell the people what he has in store for them. Only one person must come out the winner, so he can go for Secondary elections.

‘Secondary elections: These are the final elections where winners will then go to Parliament to represent their constituencies.’

The Observer did not point out that this process is controversial because of the amount of power it gives chiefs over the selection of candidates. Chiefs are the representative of the king in their chiefdom.

The Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) in its observer mission report on the last election in 2008, stated, ‘The chiefdoms serve as a nomination base for the primary elections for the secondary phases. Here the chiefs have used their power to influence the nomination and election of candidates in the primary election in a way that is in conflict with basic democratic values and practices. They are in a position to coerce the voters.

‘The grouping of the chiefdoms into an inkhundla necessarily and unavoidably advantages candidates from chiefdoms with large populations over those with small ones.

‘Currently an inkhundla is established by the King on the recommendation of the Elections and Boundaries Commission.’

A campaign by prodemocracy groups to boycott the 2013 election is growing in Swaziland. At the 2008 election there was some evidence that a boycott might have been successful as only 189,559 people actually voted in the secondary election out of 350,778 people who registered to vote.

In 2013, the Elections and Boundaries Commission estimates 600,000 people are eligible to vote in the forthcoming elections.

See also

HUNGRY WILL SELL THEIR VOTES FOR FOOD

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/hungry-will-sell-their-vote-for-food.html

‘SWAZIS WANT CHANGE’: POLL FIGURES

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/swazis-want-change-poll-figures.html

'SOLIDARITY FORCES POLICE APOLOGY'

2013-06-03T12:46:00.002+02:00

Kenworthy News Media June 3, 2013

SOURCE

“Pressure” and “solidarity” causes Swazi police to apologize for march ban

“The Royal Swaziland Police have written a statement of apology to the Swaziland Rural Women’s Assembly,” the Foundation for Socio-Economic Justice (FSEJ) said in a statement, writes Kenworthy News Media.

According to FSEJ this apology has not “come natural” and the excuse given, that “permission had been granted but there was a communications breakdown,” was not likely to be true.

Instead, FSEJ said that the resolve of the Swaziland Rural Women’s Assembly (SRWA) and “pressure exerted by international pressure groups” had been the true reason for the apology.

“To us this is an example of the practical power of solidarity, not only to this matter but for the broader struggle for democracy in Swaziland.”

Last Wednesday Swazi police had banned a march arranged by the SRWA intended to raise awareness about gender-based violence in general, and more specifically to protest against a man punishing his girlfriend by stripping her naked, cutting of some of her hair with a knife and injuring her in the process, and parading her naked along a heavily trafficated road for 3 kilometres.

“The women made to walk naked for 3 kilometres by a man carrying a knife still feels alone and her voice silenced. But this time it is not because we were silent but because women who stood with her in solidarity were not allowed to even speak on her behalf,” Swaziland Rural Women’s Assembly said in a press release on Thursday.

Swazi women are legally subordinate to men. In Swazi customary law, women in effect have the status of minors and cannot get a bank loan without the consent of their husbands. Women can also be fined for wearing trousers by traditional authorities.

Violence against women is widespread in Swaziland. One in three females have “experienced some form of sexual violence as a child”, and nearly two thirds of 18 to 24 years old women have “experienced some form of sexual violence in their lifetime”, according to UNICEF.

Generally, there has been a steady rise in violence against women in the past ten years.

Swaziland has signed the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and Swaziland’s Constitution guarantees women the right to equal treatment with men – politically, economically and socially.

See also

POLICE BAN MARCH AGAINST VIOLENCE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/police-ban-march-against-violence.html

KING’S MAN WHO WHIPPED VIRGINS DIES

2013-06-03T10:45:00.002+02:00

One of Swaziland’s most senior traditionalists Ntfonjeni Dlamini, who once made international news for whipping virgins, has died.

The Times Sunday newspaper in Swaziland said he reportedly died of tuberculosis, aged 65, but cast doubts on whether this was true by stating, ‘It was not immediately clear how he could have died of TB, as it is a curable disease.’

Ntfonjeni Dlamini was the overseer of the Imbali maiden’s regiment. This is the group of young women, supposedly virgins, who parade semi naked before King Mswati III at the kingdom’s annual Reed Dance.

Ntfonjeni is survived by three wives and 34 children with the youngest aged eight.

His family described him as a disciplinarian. ‘He would beat us each time we strayed. He never hesitated to discipline us, no matter our age,’ one of his son’s, Lusaseni, told the newspaper.

The Times Sunday reported that Ntfonjeni Dlamini’s reign as overseer of the Imbali maidens’ regiment was characterised by controversy.

‘He was known for being a strict disciplinarian but the kingdom’s authorities retained him,’ the newspaper reported.

‘His reputation attracted a lot of criticism both locally and internationally when he hit [King Mswati’s eldest daughter] Princess Sikhanyiso, the leader of Imbali maidens after he stumbled across her at a party, hosted by the then 17-year-old that featured loud music during the Reed Dance activities in 2005.’

It added, ‘Unimpressed with what he saw, Ntfonjeni whipped the princess with a stick as she fled.’

It went on, ‘His act was widely criticised and condemned by both local and international children’s rights organisations.

‘Dr Allen Brody, then Country Representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was among those who condemned it and said it was child abuse.

The newspaper reported, ‘However, his act was lauded by traditionalists such as Prince Jahamnyama who said Princess Sikhanyiso received what she had bargained for by turning such an important event (the Reed Dance) into a social gathering.

‘As he lived up to his reputation of being a disciplinarian in the ensuing years, on September 3, 2007 he assaulted a group of maidens with a stick resulting in two of them being rushed to the Lobamba Clinic.

‘The girls were Nokulunga Mamba and Calisile Tfwala of Mzimnene.

‘They could not dance before Their Majesties as they were seriously injured after the beating.

‘Mamba and Tfwala were not the only maidens who were beaten as four others were also involved but were lucky not to sustain serious injuries,’ the newspaper reported.

Swazi Media Commentary (SMC) reported on Ntfonjeni Dlamini and the Reed Dance whipping controversy in 2007. Not only were women whipped but men also.

The traditional authorities who were given the responsibility of supervising the ‘maidens’ systematically detained and whipped at least 27 young men who were caught at night trying to get close to the young women.

The whippings were not isolated incidents, taking place over at least two days. ‘So we must assume that the detention and whipping of unwelcome visitors was an agreed method of discipline among those tasked with supervising the maidens,’ SMC reported.

Muzi Dlamini, one of the men responsible for supervising the maidens, said at the time that the men were taken to a small tent. ‘They were beaten with sjamboks and sticks. We were disciplining them and I must say they deserved such a punishment.’

In September 2007, the Times of Swaziland, a companion paper of the Times Sunday, reported that Ntfonjeni Dlamini, assaulted a group of maidens with a stick. He hurt two of them so badly, the Times reported, that they had to go to Lobamba Clinic, where one of them was treated for injuries to her right leg and bruises all over her body. The other was reported to have bruises all over her body and was bleeding on her back.

The Times reported four other ‘maidens’ were also thrashed, but were not as badly injured.

The Times later said that the two women had reported Ntfonjeni Dlamini to the police.

In an editorial comment, the Times said, ‘Ntfonjeni Dlamini … seems to believe he holds the right to beat up anybody’s child for no apparent reason.’ It called on ‘traditional authorities’ to take strong action against the blemishing of the Reed Dance, which it described as a ‘colourful event’ and an opportunity for Swaziland to make a bit of money from tourists.

The Times also gave an account of eight stabbings in isolated incidents at the Reed Dance. The newspaper reported that those stabbed were involved in brawls over ‘girls’.

Swazi Media Commentary at the time commented, ‘There are two themes that emerge from these stories that deserve further consideration from the Swazi media.

‘The first is the role of those in “traditional” authority and the way they are allowed to ignore the law. The Times in its editorial comment cast doubt on whether anything would be done about Ntfonjeni Dlamini and we might assume this is because in Swaziland the ruling elite relies on the upholding of Swazi traditions for their power.

‘A legal system that places a person’s human rights at its centre would not tolerate “Swazi custom” for one moment.

‘The second is the general attitude of Swazi society to its women. Many see the annual Reed Dance as an event that cements Swazi culture, but others with a more modern outlook, believe it to be outdated and some say the Reed Dance, is old fashioned and makes a mockery of women, as it has become little more than a showcase for the king to choose a new bride.’

See also

REED DANCE – DARK SWAZI CULTURE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2007/09/reed-dance-dark-side-of-culture.html

MAY: ELECTION CHAOS STARTS

2013-06-03T09:01:00.001+02:00

The national elections have started in Swaziland amid chaos. As it sets out to register voters, the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) is unsure how many people are eligible to vote in the kingdom and has almost certainly under estimated the number substantially.

The month of May has been dominated by the election as people trying to register have been turned away: the EBC blamed malfunctioning computers. The campaign to boycott the election because political parties are banned and the parliament that is selected is a stooge for King Mswati III is gaining momentum.

Sitting ministers have been found out bribing would-be voters with food and other goods. So many Swazi people are so poor they are unable to eat and some have admitted they would willingly sell their vote to the person who feeds them. Meanwhile, a scandal is emerging about food donated to feed the hungry by the international community deliberately being left by the government to rot – allegedly as punishment for an attempt to pass a vote of no confidence against the Prime Minister last year.

Elsewhere, police and security forces continue to clamp down on legitimate protest. The month began with a muted May Day celebration as police made house arrests of union and political leaders to stop them appearing at rallies. The month ended with police banning women protesting against gender violence from marching. Police reportedly told the women they did not want any noise ahead of the election.

King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, has yet to set the date of the election.

Swazi Media Commentary has published free of charge on scribd dot com Swaziland: Striving For Freedom, the fifth volume of information, commentary and analysis on human rights in the kingdom taken from articles first published on its blogsite in May 2013. Each month throughout this year a digest of articles will be published bringing together in one place material that is rarely found elsewhere.

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.

Swaziland Striving for Freedom Vol 5 May 2013

POLICE BAN MARCH AGAINST VIOLENCE

2013-05-29T13:48:00.002+02:00

Police refused to allow women in Swaziland to march in protest against gender-based violence.

They told the women they could not march because police and the local chief did not want any noise ahead of the election soon to be held in the kingdom.

The march at Siphofaneni was to protest at an incident in the area when a wife was paraded naked for three kilometres by her boyfriend after he accused her of being ‘promiscuous’.

The Swaziland Rural Women’s Assembly responded by organizing a march in solidarity with the woman. They wanted to march for three kilometres in the area then go to a church and hold a prayer against gender based violence.

Reports from the scene today (29 May 2013) say police and the chief of the area yesterday refused permission to march or hold the prayer service.

However, SRWA decided to defy the ban and continue with the march.

Social media from Swaziland report one eyewitness saying, ‘Upon assembling and preparing for the march the police told us to go away and stop our “shit” because, “they don’t want noise here”’.

SWAZILAND TRADES WITH IRAN DICTATORS

2013-05-29T13:30:00.002+02:00

Swaziland is eager to expand its ties with Iran, the Iranian news agency FNA reported this week.

What it did not report was that Iran is about to have an election. This is what Human Rights Watch says about the Iranian election.

‘Serious electoral flaws and human rights abuses by the Iranian government undermine any meaningful prospect of free and fair elections on June 14, 2013. Dozens of political activists and journalists detained during the violent government crackdown that followed the disputed 2009 presidential election remain in prison, two former presidential candidates are under house arrest, and authorities are already clamping down on access to the internet, having arbitrarily disqualified most registered presidential and local election candidates.’

Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch said, ‘Fair elections require a level playing field in which candidates can freely run and voters can make informed decisions.’

‘How can Iran hold free elections when opposition leaders are behind bars and people can’t speak freely?’

Swaziland wants to do business with the Iranian regime. The news agency FNA reported, “‘We want strong ties between the two countries and while we are completely satisfied with the current relations with Iran, we are also after expanding these relations,’ the Swazi justice minister [Chief Mgwagwa Gamedze] said in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Morteza Bakhtiari in Tehran on Tuesday.’

Swaziland, which is ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, is holding its own election later this year. Political parties are banned from taking part and members of parliament have been silenced from appearing on state controlled broadcast media in the kingdom.

Swaziland’s economy is in free-fall and it is finding it almost impossible to attract foreign investment into the kingdom.

According to the FNA report the Swazi Justice Minister, ‘called on Iran to provide the ground for a visit by the Swazi businessmen to Iran, and said, “No doubt, more job opportunities will be created in our country after such visits.”’

Swaziland has a murky relationship with the dictators in Iran. In February 2011, the Guardian newspaper in the UK reported that Britain had blocked a $60m sale of helicopters, armoured cars and machine guns to Swaziland, fearing the weapons could end up in Iran. The report was based on cables between US diplomats that had been published by Wikileaks.

See also

SWAZI ‘SECRET ARMS DEAL FOR IRAN’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/02/swazi-secret-arms-deal-for-iran.html

SWAZI KING SUPPORTS IRAN LEADER

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2009/06/swazi-king-supports-iran-leader.html

SWAZILAND IN TALKS WITH IRAN

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2008/11/swaziland-in-talks-with-iran.html

OBSERVERS WILL NOT FIND DEMOCRACY

2013-05-29T10:21:00.000+02:00

Swaziland’s elections board is sending out invitations to international bodies to come and observer the kingdom’s election due later this year.

The kingdom has no option but to do this if it wants the international community to recognise the election as credible.

But, if the last election in 2008 is anything to go by, the kingdom will end up simply confirming what its autocratic ruler King Mswati III refuses to admit: Swaziland is not a democracy.

In 2008, the European Union did not even bother to attend the election, declaring in advance of the poll that there was no need to visit since the election clearly was not democratic.

Other organisations did attend, but when they wrote their reports on the poll, they too, declared the election flawed.

The observing bodies are in agreement that elections in Swaziland are not democratic because political parties are not allowed to take part, and the people are not electing a government.

Many observing bodies also state that the parliament that is elected in this way has no power. This is because King Mswati rules as an absolute monarch. He selects the person to be prime minister – the present PM Barnabas Dlamini was not even elected to parliament. The king and his prime minister then select cabinet ministers.

Swaziland has two chambers of parliament: the House of Assembly and the Senate. Of the 65 members of the House, 55 are elected by the people and another 10 are appointed by the king. None of the 30 members of the Senate are elected by the people: 20 are appointed by the king and the other 10 are selected by members of the House of Assembly.

Following the last election in 2008, the Commonwealth election monitoring team declared that the voting was flawed and urged Swaziland to rewrite its constitution, if the kingdom wanted to ‘ensure that Swaziland’s commitment to political pluralism is unequivocal’.

The Commonwealth group issued a report saying, ‘it is widely accepted internationally that democracy includes the right of individuals to associate with and support the political party of their choice… Yet in practice this right currently does not exist [in Swaziland]’.

In February 2013, the main opposition group in Swaziland, the banned People’s United Democratic Party (PUDEMO), called for international election observers to boycott this year’s poll because political parties are outlawed.

Mario Masuku, President of PUDEMO, told Voice of America radio the election was a charade and a mockery of democracy and an affront to Swazis. He said the balloting did not allow Swazis to freely choose their representatives.

After the 2008 poll, the Pan African Parliament observermission reported a number of flaws in the political process in Swaziland, including the ban on political parties and a lack of representation of women in parliament.

As in 2008, a campaign to get people to boycott thisyear’s election is gaining momentum.

In 2008, of the 400,000 estimated eligible population registered for the elections, when it came time to vote fewer than half these people (47.4 per cent), actually did so.

The Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) in its observer mission report on the election concluded that large numbers of Swazis heeded the boycott call and ‘thereby signalled their disenchantment with the current Constitutional dispensation’.

See also

EU TELLS KING: FREE PARTIES

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/03/eu-tells-king-free-parties.html

NEWSPAPERS DO GOVERNMENT’S BIDDING

2013-05-27T14:45:00.000+02:00

Newspapers in Swaziland deliberately suppressed criticism about a visit by the Equatorial Guinean president after being instructed to do so by a Swazi government minister.

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Swaziland chapter, has publicly revealed for the first time the extent of the collusion between Swaziland’s newspapers and the government.

MISA, the foremost media freedom advocacy group in the region, reported on how the newspapers in Swaziland covered the visit to the kingdom by President Teodora Mbasago.

In its annual report on media freedom in Swaziland, published this month, MISA, said, ‘In January 2012, Minister of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), Winnie Magagula held an impromptu meeting with all [print] editors , where she told them they must positively report the visit of Equatorial Guinean President, Teodora Obiang Nguema Mbasago.

‘The newspapers heeded her directive: all the media houses waxed lyrical about the expected socio-economic benefits to be reaped from a questionable oil deal.

‘The editors suppressed President Mbasago’s negative stories of graft and repression that were run by the international media. In fact, the Swazi Observer was forced to apologise for a cable news item published by SAPA (South African Press Association) that negatively exposed the President.’

There are only two newspaper groups in Swaziland that publish daily and weekly titles. The Swazi Observer group is in effect owned by King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. The Times of Swaziland is an independently owned group.

All broadcast media in the kingdom are state controlled, with the exception of one TV channel that supports the king, and a radio station that does not carry news or current affairs.

In its annual report MISA called the Swazi Observer, ‘a pure propaganda machine for the royal family’. It said the Times of Swaziland publisher, ‘had allowed commercial interests to take precedence over editorial independence’.

The visit of the Equatorial Guinean Presidential to Swaziland made headlines in the international media. Swazi Media Commentary (SMC) said at the time that the Times of Swaziland reported that King Mswati had done a deal with the President to import crude oil into his kingdom.

The Times reported Thembinkosi Mamba, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy, saying the Swazi Government had plans to build its own refinery so that, in future, the crude oil would be brought directly to Swaziland for refinement and separation, thereby, cutting down on costs.

SMC reported, ‘Although the Times doesn’t say this, it looks like this deal is something special the King has dreamt up. In the past, as with the notorious US$5 billion power plant deal that turned out to be a con-trick, the King has bypassed his parliament and made deals on his own initiative.

‘Clearly, Swaziland has no need to import the crude oil and doesn’t have the capacity – nor can it develop the capacity in the foreseeable future – to process the oil once it receives it. Mamba’s claim that Swaziland will be able to build its own refinery is a fantasy.

‘The deal is pointless - why doesn’t Equatorial Guinea just send the crude oil to South Africa for refinement, bypassing Swaziland altogether?

‘The deal is also too costly. Mamba told the Times, ‘There are costs involved in the acquisition of the oil, like the cost of transporting it to South Africa where it will be refined, and the charges that we will have to pay for refining it in that country.’

‘Looks like King Mswati is about to enter a bad deal that will cost his subjects a great deal of money, rather than save them some.

‘So what’s going on? Obiang’s regime has been labelled one of the world’s most corrupt by international rights groups.

‘Transparency International has ranked Equatorial Guinea 168th out of 178 countries for its efforts in tackling corruption.

‘Only last month (December 2011), the UK International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell told his parliament that oil wealth was being stolen from Equatorial Guinea ‘for the corrupt and personal use of an unaccountable and self-serving elite’.

‘The US Justice Department said in October 2011it was looking to seize assets worth more than US$70 million from Obiang’s son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, including a US$30 million home in Malibu.

‘In September 2011 the president’s son visited Swaziland. While he stayed at the five-star Royal Villas Resort (where the president has been staying this week) he had his bag stolen – containing US$2.5 million in bank notes. We still don’t know why he came to Swaziland with so much cash in his case, but it is hard to believe it was for legitimate reasons.

‘Now, three months later his father is in town and a needless oil deal is signed with the King.’

See also

MISA TELLS ‘TIMES’ EDITOR TO RESIGN

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/misa-tells-times-editor-to-resign.html

‘POLICE SPIES INFILTRATE MEDIA’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/police-spies-infiltrate-media.html

VERY CRUDE SWAZI OIL DEAL

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2012/01/very-crude-swaziland-oil-deal.html

VOTING CHAOS AS NUMBERS DON’T ADD UP

2013-05-27T13:04:00.000+02:00

Voter registration in Swaziland is in chaos – even the electoral board running the election does not know how many people are eligible to vote in the kingdom.

The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) announced it believed there were 600,000 people in Swaziland who would be eligible to vote.

EBC Chairman Chief Gija Dlamini confirmed the figure to theVoice of America radio. He said, ‘From the statisticians, they gave us a population of 600,000 Swazis who are eligible to vote and we are targeting that number.’

But, Dlamini’s estimate might be well wide of the true picture.

The law says that people aged 18 and over can vote, with a small number of exceptions, including those who are not of sound mind.

The latest estimates suggest the total population of Swaziland is 1.38 million people.

The total population is broken down by age group. Unfortunately, the exact number of people aged 18 and above is not measured. But, the statistics show that there are 557,080 people aged 25 and above in Swaziland. If the number for those aged 15 to 24 is included the total number aged 15 and above is 868,858.

Even a conservative estimate would place the number of people aged 18 and above comfortably above 600,000.

The ECB has almost certainly underestimated the number of people eligible to vote in the 2013 national election.

But, it was even more wrong at the last election in 2008. Then, it was estimated that the number of people eligible to vote in Swaziland was only 400,000. When the ECB signed up 350,778 people to vote it claimed a huge success, saying 88 percent of those eligible to register actually did so.

However, if the true figure of the numbers eligible to vote in 2008 was broadly similar to the figure today (600,000), the percentage that registered falls to 58 percent – which, rather than being a huge success, is a pretty poor result.

In 2008, only 189,559 people actually voted in the secondary election (the vote that finally determines who goes to the House of Assembly). This was only 31 percent of the 600,000 people who were probably eligible to vote.

So, the 2008 election was not a success, and on the basis of these figures it might be described as a failure.

Registration has until 23 June 2013 to run and media in Swaziland have been reporting a series of problems, ranging from computer malfunctions, poorly trained staff not knowing how to operate equipment and local chieftaincy disputes denying people the opportunity to register.

The Swazi News estimated at the current rate of registration 269,970 people would have signed up by the time the registration is over.

See also

‘SWAZIS WANT CHANGE’: POLL FIGURES

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/swazis-want-change-poll-figures.html

HUNGRY WILL SELL THEIR VOTES FOR FOOD

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/hungry-will-sell-their-vote-for-food.html

SWAZILAND, A WORLD HOTSPOT FOR CRIME

2013-05-27T11:51:00.000+02:00

Swaziland has been labelled one of the world’s hotspots for crime, in a report published by the United States Government.

Gangs armed with knives or firearms roam the streets of the cities looking for houses to break into, while residents live barricaded behind ‘perimeter walls, security guards, dogs, security lighting, window grills, and alarm systems with security response teams […] essential for ensuring the safety of residents’.

Burglaries and home invasions occur frequently. Gangs have been known to break into homes while the residents are still at home.

Pedestrians cannot walk the streets in safety and robberies take place in broad daylight. Motorists are stopped on the roads and robbed.

Swaziland’s autocratic ruler King Mswati III and his supporters constantly say the kingdom is a place of peace. The king, in particular, tells the international community that all is well in his kingdom and his subjects are happy and contented.

A report from the United States Department of State contradicts that picture. It says streets, public parks, roads, homes, restaurants and hotel rooms are not safe.

The US Department of State has designated Swaziland as a ‘Critical Threat Crime Post’.

In a report called Overall Crime and Safety Situation in Swaziland it says, ‘Criminals consider Mbabane, the capital city, and Manzini, Swaziland’s urban industrial center, prime grounds for operation due to the number of people, businesses, and affluent areas.

‘Additionally, crime affects urban and rural areas due to limited police assets.

‘Criminals will resort to force if necessary, including deadly force, in order to accomplish their goal. Gangs are not deterred by confrontations with their intended victims. Car-jackings are not common, but they occasionally occur. Crime increases dramatically during the holiday season.

The report written by US government’s Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) is intended as guidance to Americans visiting Swaziland.

It says, ‘Congested urban areas are particularly dangerous at night; although, daytime larceny is not uncommon. The presence of other pedestrians on the street should not be taken as an indication of a secure or safe environment.

‘Many victims report being robbed in broad daylight in the presence of witnesses.

‘Mob justice exists in Swaziland; suspects can find themselves pursued and beaten by by-standers.

‘Pedestrians are cautioned not to wear jewelry or carry expensive items in plain view. It is not advisable to display large amounts of cash, flashy jewelry, expensive clothing items, or cellular telephones.

‘Walking around at night, either alone or in a group, is strongly discouraged.’

The report says, ‘Most residents in Swaziland take residential security seriously and attempt to protect their homes accordingly. Perimeter walls, security guards, dogs, security lighting, window grills, and alarm systems with security response teams are essential for ensuring the safety of residents. Burglaries and home invasions occur frequently.

‘Gangs, armed with knives or firearms, target homes they suspect possess cash or valuables. Criminals have been known to enter residences while the occupants are home.’

The report says that Manzini, Swaziland’s largest city, ‘is notorious for criminal activity’.

It says, ‘The bus rank in Manzini, which most inter-city transportation must pass through before traveling throughout the country, is routinely cited as being dangerous.’

The report warns motorists to keep doors of vehicles locked and windows rolled up at all times when driving in Swaziland..

‘Do not roll down your window in the event someone approaches your vehicle. Ignore persons outside your vehicle, and drive away if you feel uncomfortable. While stopped in urban traffic, continue to scan rearview mirrors to identify potential trouble.’

It adds, ‘Do not stop your vehicle if you encounter rocks or logs in the middle of the road. This is a technique used in Swaziland and South Africa for robbers to force vehicles to stop. Either drive around the barriers or turn around. Do not stop to assess the situation.

‘Keep belongings out of plain view at all times. While idling at a light or stop sign, leave adequate space between your vehicle and the one in front of you so that you can quickly depart should the need arise. Park only in well-lit areas, preferably in parking lots with a security guard.’

The Swazi police are slow to respond to incidents, if they respond at all, the report says.

‘Swazi police consider a 30 minute response time adequate, even in urban areas. Police are generally willing to assist but often lack the transportation and resources to properly investigate crimes.’

The report paints a picture of constant danger of crime in Swaziland. In tips to visitors on how to avoid becoming a victim, it says, ‘Most crimes that occur in Swaziland are crimes of opportunity. The criminals are generally interested in cellular phones and cash.

‘Visitors should always be aware of their surroundings and maintain visual/physical contact with their belongings. Avoid walking alone, particularly after dark.

‘Travel in groups. Never hail a taxi that has passengers already in the car. If you take a taxi, ensure it is a reputable taxi. Dining establishments have been robbed late at night when there are few diners in the restaurant.’

It adds, ‘The most reoccurring crimes involve robbing victims on the streets, particularly in residential areas, regardless of the time of day. Residential break-ins are very common throughout Swaziland, even when the tenants are in the home. Most residential break-ins occur at houses without security guards and/or centrally monitored home alarms. Criminals often perpetrate such robberies using edged weapons, e.g., a knife or machete, and occasionally firearms.’

It tells visitors to avoid parks in Mbabane, the Swazi capital. ‘In particular, Coronation Park should be avoided at night and only visited as a group (more than two people) during daylight hours.

‘This is often the rally point for marches and demonstrations. At night, criminals have been known to loiter in the park. As a general rule, visitors should avoid night clubs and walking around any town after dark to minimize the risk of being victimized.’

GOVT ‘DELIBERATELY STARVING PEOPLE’

2013-05-27T11:44:00.001+02:00

Starving people in Swaziland are being denied food by the government because it is punishing the kingdom’s members of parliament for passing a vote of no confidence against it, local and international media have claimed.

Food intended to feed destitute families, especially those headed by single women with children, has been deliberately left to rot in government warehouses, they said. One Swazi newspaper said, ‘[T]here could be a deliberate ploy at cabinet to systematically starve the people’.

Swaziland has a food crisis and in recent years up to a half of Swaziland’s 1.1 million population have relied on donated food to stop from starving.

Now, a scandal is being uncovered in Swaziland that points to the government deliberately withholding food from starving people, in the hope they will blame their local members of parliament for the problem.

The international news agency IRIN reported the problem is being blamed on ‘bad blood’ between members of parliament (MPs) and members of King Mswati III’s cabinet. This is after the House of Assembly passed a no-confidence vote in October 2012 against Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini, who is both a relative and appointee of the king. The no-confidence vote was later reversed.

The Swazi Observer, the newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, in an editorial comment said, ‘[T]here could be a deliberate ploy at cabinet to systematically starve the people’.

IRIN reported, ‘Although the country has institutions resembling those in democracies, Swaziland's parliamentarians do not enact legislation; rather, they approve policies of the king’s appointed cabinet.

‘But MPs are still responsible to their constituents - voter registration began a few days ago for this year’s scheduled elections, although a poll date has yet to be announced. Political parties remain banned.

‘Some observers believe the disruption of food supplies was meant as a lesson for the MPs.

‘Aaron Simelane, a Swaziland-based political commentator, told IRIN, “MPs are considered community development agents by the people who vote ... Swazis want their MPs to bring roads, jobs and aid to their communities, but MPs have no power to do any of these things. [The] cabinet has this power.

‘“The people do not know this, and when things aren’t done they blame MPs, who promise to deliver this and that to get elected. By withholding food aid, [the] cabinet is teaching MPs a lesson about power.”’

Local media in Swaziland reported that ‘hundreds of 50kg bags of beans, mealie-meal and boxes of cooking oil’ had been left to rot at the government central warehouse in Matsapha.

IRIN said the spoiled food included, ‘15,000kg of the staple maize meal, 25,000kg of beans and 600 cartons of vegetable oil.’

The Swazi Observer in an editorial comment stated, ‘[T]ons of donated staples like maize, beans and cooking oil were deliberately being allowed to rot at a government granary in Matsapha, while starving people had to contend with the pangs of hunger out there.

‘We may be forced to agree with the honourables [members of parliament], who are now claiming there could be a deliberate ploy at cabinet to systematically starve the people and obliterate them from the face of their army worm-ravaged areas.’

The Observer went on to say, ‘Or much sinister still, it is to alienate the present crop of MPs from their constituents, so they cannot be voted back to parliament, if that was to happen.

‘Are the hungry people being used to hit back at the MPs for their still-born vote of no confidence last year? When things happen in this manner, one starts to believe even the most far-fetched theories, which is why government should avoid such embarrassing situations at all costs.

‘That people are hungry out there is a given. Even those who send money home from towns have drastically reduced the amounts they send as a result of high costs of living and the triple-taxation they are forced to shoulder.’

The Swazi Government which is hand-picked by King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, caused a scandal in March this year when it was revealed it had sold maize donated forhungry people by Japan, for about US$3 million.

The money was put in a special account at the Central Bank of Swaziland. The Government has yet to publicly reveal exactly what the money was spent on.

IRIN reported the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Swaziland provides food assistance at more than 1,500 neighbourhood care points, more than 200 secondary schools and 12 health facilities. In 2012, the WFP supply chain reached 327,000 people.

In 2007, more than half of the kingdom’s 1.1 population required food aid, IRIN said.

See also

SALE OF FOOD AID BY GOVT ‘NOT ANOMALY’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/03/sale-of-food-aid-by-govt-not-anomaly.html

GOVT SELLS MAIZE DONATED FOR HUNGRY

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/03/govt-sells-maize-donated-for-hungry.html

GOVT-DONATED MAIZE SCANDAL WON’T DIE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/03/govt-donated-maize-scandal-wont-die.html

‘SWAZIS WANT CHANGE’: POLL FIGURES

2013-05-24T12:26:00.000+02:00

Supporters of King Mswati III’s autocratic regime in Swaziland say that the Swazi people accept the present political system and do not want change, but evidence from the way they vote suggests the opposite is the case.

As Swaziland prepares for a national election later this year, a campaign for a boycott is growing. Opponents of the election say that it is undemocratic because political parties are banned from taking part and the parliament that is elected has no powers, because King Mswati rules as an absolute monarch.

The opponents have been silenced, often violently, by the king’s police and security forces. Police chiefs are on record saying that opposition to the election is a threat to state security. Some opposition leaders have been charged with sedition.

Members of the Swazi Government, which is not elected by the popular vote, but selected by the king, say Swazi people, voicing their opinion through sibaya, want the present system to stay and do not want to hear opposition to the election.

Sibaya is an event where the king allows people to gather at the royal cattle kraal to voice opinions about matters they feel are important to them. It is suggested by the king’s supporters that sibaya is the supreme policy making body in the kingdom.

But, an analysis of how people vote at election time suggests that Swazi people do not support the present system.

At the last election in 2008, fewer than half the people eligible to vote actually did so. A report by the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) published shortly after the election, using official statistics, revealed that a although a record 88 percent of the 400,000 estimated eligible population registered for the elections, when it came time to vote fewer than half these people (47.4 per cent), actually did so.

In its analysis called Election Observer Mission Report, EISA recorded that in 2008, 350,778 people actually registered to vote, but only 189,559 (54 percent) of those people went on to vote.

EISA also noted that the numbers of people voting at elections had fallen since 1993, the first election in Swaziland where registration of voters took place. National elections in Swaziland take place every five years. It reported the turnout of registered voters who actually voted in 2003 was 57.9 percent; in 1998 it was 60.4 percent; and in 1993 it was 61.0 percent.

EISA 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, ‘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.

‘The King’s response to the boycott call was to summon the nation to the royal cattle byre and urge the people to register for the election and to vote. The government’s response has been to pour resources into the election to enable the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) to conduct it efficiently and to ensure that voters were able to vote.

‘The chiefs for their part mobilised their subjects in the rural areas to register and to vote.’

The report added that the Swazi people turned up in large numbers to register, ‘reversing the apathy that characterised the 2003 election: a record 88 percent of the 400,000 estimated eligible population registered for these elections’.

It added, ‘The best indication we have of whether the boycott was a success or not is the voter turnout rate.’

It added there was, ‘a slight but steady decline (3 percent) in the number of voters casting their ballots between 1993 and 2003.

‘However, in the 2008 elections, despite the large number of voters who registered for the election and efforts of the authorities to galvanise voters, the turnout actually dropped by nearly 4 percent, 1 percent more than over the previous three elections together. Thus only 47.4% of the 400,000 estimated eligible voters actually voted.’

‘From this we may conclude that large numbers of Swazis heeded the boycott call and thereby signalled their disenchantment with the current Constitutional dispensation,’ the report said.

See also

GOVERNMENT WRONG ON ELECTION FREEDOM

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/govt-wrong-on-election-freedom.html

HUNGRY WILL SELL THEIR VOTES FOR FOOD

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/hungry-will-sell-their-vote-for-food.html

SWAZILAND STILL VIOLATES FREEDOMS

2013-05-24T12:06:00.002+02:00

The rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly continued to be violated in Swaziland during 2012, Amnesty International said in its annual report, just published.

There were also ‘arbitrary arrests and excessive force used to crush political protests,’ the report stated.

In a review of 2012, Amnesty International, global human rights organisation, said, ‘torture and other ill-treatment remained a persistent concern’ in Swaziland.

Amnesty noted that in May 2012 the African Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution ‘expressing alarm’ at the Swazi Government’s failure to implement previous decisions and recommendations of the Commission relating to the rights of freedom of expression, association, and assembly.

Amnesty International’s report stated these violations included the use by police of, ‘rubber bullets, tear gas and batons to break up demonstrations and gatherings viewed as illegal’.

Swaziland is in economic and political upheaval at present, with an economy close to collapse and growing demands for King Mswati III, who rules the kingdom as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, to implement political reforms.

A parliamentary election due in Swaziland later this year has focussed attention on the lack of democracy in the kingdom.

All political parties are banned from taking part in the elections and many other major political parties have been branded ‘terrorists’ and banned from operating altogether because they are advocating for democracy in the kingdom.

Police and security services have been accused of operating as private militias for King Mswati’s regime.

In its report, Amnesty also stated, ‘Torture and other ill-treatment remained a concern, with a High Court judge in April [2012] calling for a commission of inquiry into repeated allegations by accused in criminal trials that they had been subjected to torture, which included beatings and suffocation.

‘Deaths under suspicious circumstances and the failure of the authorities to ensure independent investigation and accountability continued to cause concern. Police and members of the military were implicated in the reported incidents.’

See also

GOVT TRYING TO CRUSH UNIONS - AMNESTY

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/govt-trying-to-crush-unions-amnesty.html

ANGER AS S. AFRICA COLLUDES WITH COPS

2013-05-24T10:34:00.002+02:00

The Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) has condemned the action by officials at the South African High Commission in Mbabane, Swaziland, for handing the names of eight CPS activists visiting the offices earlier this week to the Swazi security police.

The CPS activists had arranged with the High Commission to deliver a memorandum urging the mission to condemn the recent spate of arrestsof pro-democracy activists in Swaziland.

But, the names of the activists submitted to the HC in advance had been passed to the Swazi police, who were waiting when the delegation arrived at the mission.

‘The police were plain-clothed, and they tried to intervene when our members approached the mission,’ said CPS general secretary Kenneth Kunene.

He said that the police wanted to identify the delegation members against a list of names they had been given by someone at the High Commission.

In a statement, Kunene said,‘This was no ordinary security protocol. It was an effort to intimidate our members and block their visit to the South African mission. They pounced on the delegation caused a massive commotion when our comrades refused to identify themselves to the officers.’

Kunene said that the matter was only resolved when the South African High Commissioner personally intervened and ushered the delegation into his office.

Kunene added that there was clearly collusion between someone at the High Commission and the Swazi police concerning the delegation.

‘We hope that in the current situation in Swaziland diplomatic missions who receive visits from the pro-democracy movement do not collude in this way with the Swazi police. Our country is ruled by a brutal dictatorship, and missions from democratic countries should try to protect pro-democracy activists,’ he said.

GOVT TRYING TO CRUSH UNIONS – AMNESTY

2013-05-23T08:58:00.001+02:00

Kenworthy News Media

May 23, 2013

SOURCE

Swazi government trying to crush union movement, says Amnesty report

“The rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly [in Swaziland] continued to be violated, with arbitrary arrests and excessive force used to crush political protests,” Amnesty International write in their 2013 Annual Report that was published today [23. May]. “Torture and other ill-treatment remained a persistent concern,” writes Kenworthy News Media.

Swaziland is an absolute monarchy where a 40-year-long state of emergency and oppressive anti-terror laws have meant that the space for peaceful political protest is virtually non-existent. The political space there is has been filled mainly by the unions, who Swaziland’s government have attempted to neutralize by de-registering the newly formed Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA).

“On the eve of its participation in planned demonstrations in April, TUCOSWA was informed by the Attorney general that it was unlawfully registered, despite registration having been confirmed by the Acting Commissioner of Labour under the Industrial Relations Act,” the report says.

The report also describes how this de-registration has been seen by the police as a reason to arrest, assault and threaten union officials and activists who in any way display affinity to TUCOSWA. “Police disrupted their gatherings, confiscated banners displaying TUCOSWA insignia, conducted arbitrary arrests and threatened union officials and activists.”

Amnesty’s report also describes the ill-treatment and unfair trials that union members and others face in Swaziland, including the “repeated allegations by accused in criminal trials that they had been subjected to torture, which included beatings and suffocation. Deaths under suspicious circumstances and the failure of the authorities to ensure independent investigation and accountability continued to cause concern.”