Feb 25 Sd 2009

Since the last update in Sept 2008, Swaziland has continued on its downward spiral.
Here's a brief summary:

The elections of September 2008 were a farce and the Commonwealth's report indicates so. Page 32 of the 54 page document states: We cannot therefore conclude that the entire process was credible.

http://www.thecommonwealth.org/document/184655/2008_swaziland_elections.htm

In October the King's government tried to stop the Southern African Social Forum three days before it was to begin in Manzini. Social movements and NGOs were quick to point out not even Mugabe had tried this when the forum took place in Zimbabwe! Mswati's true colors became apparent to all. The Swazi organizers took the issue to High Court, won and the event went ahead as scheduled on Oct 16.

Oct 14 Government bans Southern African Social Forum


The King summoned the nation to the traditional royal area the very same day. People began arriving as early at 7am and sat in the hot sun until the king strolled in at 4 in the afternoon. Many of these people had left their homes at 3 or 4am so they would be there in the morning. The temperature was around 35 celcius that day and people were made to sit in the sun without shade, food or water. All waiting for the king's announcement.


Many suspected the king was drunk for his words were slurred and the speech rambled from topic to topic. He angrily told the nation those who oppose the current system need to be "throttled" or "strangled". He warned opposition not only they but their families would be targeted as well.

Oct 17 King declares war


The king then appointed Barnabus Sibusiso Dlamini as Prime Minister. The Constitution says the PM should be chosen by the king from one of the elected Members of Parliament. You won't be surprised to know the king ignored this.


In November the new PM labeled four political organisations "terrorist" and arrested the president of PUDEMO. Mario Masuku has been in prison since the middle of November as government concocts charges. First they said police found material in his home about how to construct weapons. Two days later that charge was dropped and police said Masuku said something seditious at a funeral in September.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/free-mario-masuku

But the government never explained why it took them two months to lay charges. What had conspire between September and November? Of course, those in Swaziland will tell you - the king needed an arrogant man to follow his whims and one who would ignore the Rule of Law. This is exactly what Barnabus Dlamini had done when he was the PM from 1998-2003.

While Mario Masuku is locked in prison for speaking against the tyranny of the aristocratic system Swaziland is again making world news. Once more it has the notorious distinction of having the highest HIV rates in the world.

HIV rate among women in Swaziland at 42% Feb 20, 2009


See LATEST NEWS for more news.

Sept 1 SD 2008

The situation is Swaziland is rapidly reaching a monumental crisis as the king refuses to listen to reason. The public is outraged over the blatant arrogance and disregard which is shown by the aristocracy. It seems the royalty can never satisfy their lust for extravagance nor loosen their fist-tight grip on absolute power.

The upcoming 40/40 celebration of Sept 6 has been criticised for months. An overflowing amount of cash has been directed to this one day event which has received the scorn of civic organisations, public health employees, banned political parties, unions, and educators. This superficial ceremonial spectacle of "independence" would be laughable if it were not so destructive. It might be comical if it were not criminal.

While the general populace suffers from a lack of food, lack of employment, inadequate health care, no political rights, etc., the "big spenders" are living the high life. That is their inalienable right. They follow a creed which allows for elitism and discrimination. Incapable of understanding the notion of equal rights, their wealth, they argue, is God given and surely their God knows best!

But the Swazi people collectively are far greater than the Dlamini aristocracy and it is those people who are now marching through the streets in protest.

On Aug 16, after the local papers published a report about nine of the king's wives (as well as their children, servants and bodyguards) who all went on a holiday shopping spree to the Middle East and Thailand, over 1000 women of Swaziland reacted.

University students marched a few days later. They are furious about the 40/40 spending while scholarships are awarded yet later student are told "the funds are dry."

Unions are united and have called for a general strike on Sept 3-4. The powerful Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), in solidarity with Swazi unions and the Swazi people, has said they will prevent goods from exiting or entering Swaziland for the entire week leading up to Saturday, Sept 6.

Since Dr Gabriel Mkhumane, Deputy President of PUDEMO, was killed in April 2008, many PUDEMO leaders and members have been targeted. Harassment, detention, midnight interrogations and physical attacks against political activists have dramatically increased. Now, more than anytime during its 25 year history, are hundreds of PUDEMO members at risk of the intensified state brutality. It is under these grave conditions that PUDEMO has declared it will, in self-defense, protect its members.

And finally, the Sept 19 election is still scheduled to go forward although the primary nominations were a "fiasco." This king Mswati III is not willing to share one iota of power.


Aug 30 Pigging it at 40/40 secretariat
Aug 30 SFTU, SNACS unite
Aug 29 SSN PRESS RELEASE
Aug 28 ‘SD’s healthcare on brink of collapse’
Aug 27 SSN CONDEMNS ARREST OF PUDEMO NATIONAL ORGANIZER
Aug 27 UNISWA students protest against 40-40
Aug 27 More BMWs for Mswati's Birthday Bash
Aug 25 His Majesty is 2nd richest in Africa?
Aug 25 Civic Organisations' Statement on the EBC fiasco
Aug 23 Swazis march against lavish trip
Aug 16 Memorandum to SADC Summit on Zimbabwe and Swaziland


To follow current events in Swaziland see LATEST NEWS

Information compiled by T. Debly

Writing about 40/40

In Sept of this year Swaziland will host a "40/40" celebration. It is to mark the 40th birth year of the king, as well as the 40th year of "independence" from England.

These celebrations are being condemned by the people of Swaziland but the army grows as does the brutality.

Below, please read a sample letter to the Canadian High Commissioner for Swaziland who is based in Pretoria, South Africa. If you are so inclined write a note yourself.

Send to pret@international.gc.ca, pret@dfait-maeci.gc.ca

Notes can also be copied to the Minister of Foreign Affairs David Emerson. Emerson.D@parl.gc.ca


****************************
Sample Letter

High Commissioner Archibald

I am a citizen of Canada and am very much concerned with deplorable state of affairs in Swaziland. I understand Canada, through the Canadian International Development Agency, financially assists civic organizations and and grateful for that.

I am writing today to express my grave concern that members of the banned political party, the Peoples' United Democratic Movement of Swaziland, PUDEMO, are being targeted by the government before the grand 40/40 celebrations are to begin. This is a clear violation of the Declaration of Human Rights and Commonwealth countries must not enable these acts through appeasement and silence.

As you and Consulate staff have visited Swaziland, you will know the level of poverty which grips that country. You will also be aware of the seven or eight royal palaces and the lavish style of those governing. It is unreasonable and contemptible for the citizens of Swaziland to have to live under such a corrupted system.

In my opinion, Swaziland is not independent and rather than 40 years of so-called independence, the country experiences only 5 years of independence from 1968 to 1973. When the king closed parliament, banned all political parties and imprisoned three democratically elected MPs the country began to move in a retrogressive direction. These celebrations ignore the needs of the people at an outrageous cost; meanwhile, the same government goes abroad, time and time again, to beg "donors assistance." Frankly, this is utter madness!

I am therefore kindly requesting that Canadian representatives abstain from this "celebration." If Canadians are seen as people who believe in a royal type of "unique democracy" we will surely lose much respect from the international community and we will be doing a huge disservice to the people of Swaziland.

It is tragic that the majority of Swazis have neither self-determination nor democratic choice. Most live a subsistent existence and try to cope with the HIV/Aids crisis, a dire health care system (where rats are found in the government Mbabane Hospital), a government that makes promises about OVC education fees but never fulfills them, as well as high levels of unemployment and inflation. But the nation increases its army, buys weapons, and bullets to silence any voice of opposition. PUDEMO has recently reported several examples of police harassment and threats of death if they continue to speak out for the unrepresented people of Swaziland.

If Canada attends this event of Sept 6 we will feel ashamed of our diplomats and our country's hypocrisy. If representative are in the country that day or earlier, (Sept 3-4 union strikes are scheduled), they can witness the brutality of the royal army. I and many others in Canada encourage you to meet with civic organisations, unions leaders, and banned political party members to learn how they are excluded from the exclusive style of democracy in SD.

July 9 SD 2008

Swazi Update-July 9, 2008

When textile workers demanded a 12% wage increase in March of this year they were met with rubber bullets, tear gas and live ammunition! Eventually 10% was agreed upon but that is lower than the inflation rate in Swaziland.

Now bus rates are scheduled to jump by 60% and electricity rates by 10% with an additional 7% added on quarterly. Meanwhile relatives of the boy-king, like Chief Gija of Nkomazi who heads the elections commission, has received a lovely 26% raise.

June 26 Cabinet approves 60% bus fare hike
July 1 SEC wants to increase electricity by 10% today
July 5 Gija gets about 26 percent increase

Some readers in New Brunswick may know the name of Gija for he is the chief that has given permission to local HIV/AIDS agencies to work with the people in Nkomazi near Manzini. He even built a brand new house for the Canadians who travel there to "observe" how desperate the situation really is. It seems he will build for foreign donors but not his own countrymen. Can you guess why?

After meeting Gija in Swaziland one Canadian director said: "He is a modern man and has only one wife." It is a pity when "humanitarian" workers will not scratch below the surface veneer as they look for simplistic solutions. Unfortunately, some people grow like onions - with their heads in the ground.

Read the following article and look for the roots.

If you agree hunger is a central issue in Swaziland, will you go one step more and ask why? June 24 Hunger at the heart of many Swazi issues


To follow current events in Swaziland see LATEST NEWS

All issues of swazisolidarityca newsletters can be found on our blog
at http://swazilandsolidaritycanada.blogspot.com/


Information compiled by T. Debly

35years-enough is enough

Yesterday marked the 35th anniversary of Sobhuza's notorious April 12 Proclamation of 1973. Perhaps many subscriber to this forum know the history in fine detail but i had to do some digging to come to a better understanding. If any are interested, below i've posted a bit of the information i was able to find in academic journals and textbooks.

VIVA PUDEMO!

The Swaziland Progressive Party (SPP), under the leadership of John Nquku, was founded in 1960. It’s manifesto had four points: democratic enfranchisement for all persons irrespective of race, colour, or creed, opposition to the incorporation of Swaziland by South Africa; adoption of the United Nations declaration of human rights; and complete integration to eliminate racial discrimination. Due to questions about Nquku's leadership that party splintered and eventually another party, the Ngwane National Libratory Congress (NNLC) was formed in 1963. Around this same time two other but much less significant parties also were born - the Swaziland Democratic Party (SDP) and the Mbandzeni National Convention (MNC).

Seeing the British would go ahead with the June 1964 elections, Van Wyk de Vries, one of Sobhuza’s legal advisors and a “prominent member of the South African Broederbond" encouraged him to hold a referendum and then form his own party. The Imbokodvo* National Movement (INM) was formed one month before the election. INM won 85.45 percent of the vote and NNLC was the only party to gain any support – 12.3 percent. The MDC and SDP now aligned themselves with INM as did the white settlers United Swaziland Association (USA). The king's party again won all twenty-four seats in the April 1967 election but the NNLC had won 20 percent of the popular vote - that would change in five years.

In the 1972 election, the NNLC won three of the twenty-four seats in Parliament. Dr. Ambrose Zwane, Thomas Ngwenya and Mageja Masilela had gained all three seats from the eastern constituencies of Mphumalanga – the same region which had experienced the huge labour strikes of May 1963. One eighth of the seats did not pose an immediate political danger but Sobhuza would not tolerate these members. This was significant because the three had been elected in the “constituencies containing large numbers of sugar plantation workers who were disgruntled with the government over their working conditions”. Additionally, “the NNLC had enjoyed significant popular support among non Swazi Africans”.

Before the drastic action of April 12, 1973 three attempts were made to limit the NNLC opposition. First, Ngwenya was ordered deported on the grounds that he was not a Swazi citizen. Secondly, the Assembly Standing Order was amended so that a Private Member’s Motion “would lapse for the duration of the meeting if there were no quorum when it was either moved or put to the vote”. Thirdly, INM members left the chamber “when NNLC Members rose to introduce a motion”.

Ngwenya was not deported as he challenged the order in High Court and was successful. Immediately an Immigration Amendment Act was introduced to Parliament and passed; so once again Ngwenya was ordered deported. He then challenged this in the Swaziland Appeals Court and won. Sobhuza would not be out-maneuvered by the courts. Parliament passed a motion that the Constitution was “unworkable” and the king was called upon to resolve the crisis. With assistance from Pretoria, on April 12, 1973 Sobhuza declared: the constitution had “failed”; it was the cause of “growing unrest”; it had permitted “undesirable political practices”; there was “no constitutional way” to amend the Constitution; and a new constitution needed to be “created by ourselves for ourselves in complete liberty.” A State-of-Emergency was declared and Sobhuza “assumed supreme power”. The Attorney General then read the decrees that included “Political parties [including his own INM] were prohibited and political meeting, processions and demonstrations disallowed without prior consent of the Commissioner of Police. The King-in-Council was given the power to detain a person without trial for a period of sixty days, which period could be repeated as often as deemed necessary in the public interest. This situation would be reviewed in six months’ time.”

April 12, 2008 is the thirty-fifth anniversary of these decrees; they have never been repealed. Vieceli explains the Swazi people refer to this as the “King’s Coup.”

*Imbokodvo = grindstone


Information compiled by T. Debly of UNBSJ, Canada

Another Swazi blood bath!

COSATU is the Congress of South African Trade Unions and today they have sent this press release out concerning Swaziland.
Mar 17 COSATU condemns Swazi police brutality

Briefly, textile workers in Swaziland have been on strike since Mar 3 so the "royal police" and army have been called in. The Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisation has reported today that Royal Swazi Police use teargas, baton rounds (rubber bullets) and live ammunition on unarmed and unprotected women who are legally striking for the right to the lowest standard of living that can be called decent.
Mar 17 SCCCO Statement on Police and Army at textile strike

Also see SWAZI POLICE SHOOT IN THE BACK

For Canadians:
Please write to Canadian Foreign Affairs asking that they:

1) immediately contact the Swazi government to request that police and army refrain from this bloody frenzy!

2) request that a Canadian mission be immediately dispatched to Swaziland to evaluate the conditions in this "unique democracy".

Mr Maxime Bernier
Minister of Foreign Affairs
BerniM@parl.gc.ca

Canadian High Commission in Pretoria
Ms Ruth Archibald
High Commissioner to South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho
pret@dfait-maeci.gc.ca

Mr Vincent Charron
High Commission Swaziland Desk
Vincent.Charron@international.gc.ca


If you are able to write one note copied to these 3 addresses I would appreciate it very much. If you know others who are concerned about human rights and workers' rights, kindly forward to them. Thanks.

Mar 3 SD 2008

Discontent in Swaziland grows daily yet the government fails to address the fundamental issues: food shortages, inadequate health care, high rates of unemployment, political repression and the list grows. Since 2007 police have been struggling to form a union which will have strength to negotiate collectively and now the army is following suit.
Feb 26 Over 600 000 needed food aid late last year
Feb 26 Govt hospitals are a health hazard
Feb 20 Aggrieved soldiers form secret union

When the Prime Minister isn't busy flying all over the world to talk of Swaziland's "unique democracy" or chowing down the country's wealth, he can be found praying with the police. This fellow who talks of "preserving our Swazi culture" seems to use God and religion as long as it keeps him and the sycophants in power. If the police were truly allowed to "excel in their duties in order to fight crime in the country" they would be heading straight to the royal palaces!
Feb 24 PM prays with the police

In the past two weeks there have been at least three cases of petrol bombing incidents at the parliament and a police station. The authorities behave as if more oppression will change the situation and fail to realize they can not simply blow out a fire! The king's newspaper, the Swazi Observer writes of "terrorists" which sounds too much like Bush rhetoric. In 2005, Brussels based International Crisis Group wrote a report entitled Swaziland: The Clock is Ticking. In April of 2006 Laurie Goering of the Chicago Tribune wrote "Swazi frustration isn't hard to understand."
Mar 3 Nhlangano police station petrol bombed
Feb 24 Parliament ‘bombed’ — again

Feb 17 Petrol bombers left note for authorities
Feb 16 Parly marquee petrol bombed before opening session
April 19, 2006 Observers see trouble ahead in Swaziland

A recent documentary about Swaziland was released on dvd in January and features several activist from the People's United Democratic Movement (Pudemo) and Swaziland Youth Congress (Swayoco). Without the King contrasts royal life of a 'princess of the palace' with daily life in Moneni. This is a realistic look at the huge disparities in Swaziland - huge disparities created and perpetuated by the royal elites. To watch a 2 minutes preview click youtube.com/without the king

This documentary will be shown in Saint John on Wednesday March 5 at the public library at Market Square. It is an 80 minutes presentation which will be shown at 11am, 1pm and 3pm.

Thanks to Mackenzie for finding another site which focuses on Swaziland. The blogger is Richard Rooney an Associate Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Swaziland. It seems even academics know the power of and take advantage of alternative media.

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com


To follow current events in Swaziland see LATEST NEWS