May 21 SD 2007

In May 2005, Paul Boateng was appointed the UK High Commissioner to Swaziland, as well as South Africa. In Feb 2006, he caused a stir as he called for the unbanning of political parties when presenting his credentials at Lozitha Royal Palace in Swaziland. Two weeks ago he spoke of multi-party elections; he understands democratic principles and is a rare politician for speaking out so clearly on this matter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Boateng
Feb 17, 2006 Unban political parties says UK
May 10, 2007 British call for parties by 2008
May 14, 2007 Constitution implementation needs to move rapidly

Currently in Swaziland there is concern about housing for police officers. Earlier this month a single officer allegedly raped his house mate's teenage daughter. Single and married officers share accommodations and it seems male and female officers are also sharing their quarters. Clearly there is a problem and the government will no doubt set up a commission or inquiry but the situation is plain to all. To keep a tight grip of control on the people of Swaziland, the government increases the number of police but is unconcerned over the basis needs of these individuals. At the same time, police are not able to organize and form a union in Swaziland and recently two members have been fired from the police service for doing so!

May 4 Cop rapes housemate’s daughter
May 18 Police to probe female cop who shared with male
May 8 Cop union angered by continuous victimisation
May 21 Unions march to PM on ‘victimised’ cops

To follow current events in Swaziland see LATEST NEWS

May7 SD 2007

It's a pleasure to receive feedback from these newsletters. After April's issue a question was asked about the use of the phrase "eradicate affluence" and here's a reply:

...at a recent Make Poverty History meeting the organizer mentioned a fund raising event at Western University. The young folks there were talking about the concept of "Make Affluence History" which seems an interesting twist of ideas....

...in the context of Swaziland, the king has since the early 1990s made public statements about how he would "eradicate poverty in Swaziland this year". He is a fool and a huge part of all the social, health, & education issues in Sd; yet owns millions of dollars worth of cars, palaces.....

The phrase was used to provoke thought and discussion. Thanks for your comments.



Yesterday the Prime Minister returned to Sd after seeking funds from Europe. How long will Europe continue to aid and abet Mswati's exclusively narrow government?

May 7 PM meets with European stakeholders over economy

May 5 Poverty drives residents to eat rubbish

May 4 PUDEMO to march to Cabinet

May 2 Corruption high in SD

May 2 Country has high tax rates



To follow current events in Swaziland see LATEST NEWS

April22 Sd 2007

Birth of a king or death of a nation.

On Thursday April 19th king Mswati III of Swaziland celebrated his 39th birthday in royal style. When he was first crowned in the late 1980s many people of the nation hoped this young man would have some decency while several said "No, we can only expect self-interest from the royal family". Sadly he is a royal brat with a "sun-king" mentality and a hollow heart. He speaks of a peaceful nation and eradicating poverty using words from his spin doctors. In truth, Swaziland is a revolting nation which may prefer to eradicate affluence before poverty!

A few days before the birthday bash the king married yet one more woman. She was a teenager chosen a couple years ago and recently must have become pregnant. The king marries only those who produce more royalty - if non-productive they become a type of step-daughter for the king's mother.

And a few days before that, on April 12th, the royal police were once again showing what royal rottweilers they have been trained to be. As political activists protested the April 12th, 1973 Decree which banned political parties and gathering the "authorities" were up to the usual. A journalist from a local paper, the Times of Swaziland, snapped a photo of 4 officers carrying away one Pudemo member while a fifth officer was seizing the activist's throat. We need not wonder why it's easy to die in police custody in Swaziland! See photo at

http://groups.google.com/group/sa-swaziland-solidarity-eom-forum

LINKS:

Ap 19 Swazi Solidarity condemns the 15 million ($2 million US) birthday bash

Ap 20 A starving nation feeds a gluttonous king!

Ap 15 SWAZILAND KING SECRETLY MARRIES WIFE NUMBER 13

Ap 16 Pudemo Australia: Swaziland police attempt to murder political activist in public

Articles concerning the April 12, 2007 Border Blockade


To follow current events in Swaziland see LATEST NEWS

Mar22 SD2007

In 2005, Maude Barlow wrote her fifteenth book entitled Too Close for Comfort: Canada's Future within Fortress North America. It's a chilling view of "deep integration" with the USA - we are to provide big brother with all the natural resources (oil, water, minerals, etc) and Mexico can provide the cheap labour. It's the American Dream. The 19th century notion of "manifest destiny" seems to be forever expanding. Their greedy eyes search each continent and they found a small African kingdom in the mountains. "Free trade" is always free for the USA but it's the people of the other country who will pay dearly.


According to the Times of Swaziland "March 17 either signals that freedom of peaceful assembly is finally being recognized or that every member of society is now unhappy with government and has moved from the comfort zones and demanding action." There were several organizational gatherings - the new police union, Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) the Swaziland Nurses Association (SNA), the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations (SCCCO) and the Swaziland Federation of Labour (SFL).They "were also planning on how to beat government." April 12th will mark the 34th anniversary of the 1973 Decree which banned all political parties and gathering - the Swazi people will not accept this any longer.

SWAZI STORY TO 18m US VIEWERS

THE OBSERVER TIES UP WITH US TV

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifest_Destiny

Mar 18 Police Union - We fooled them!

To follow current events in Swaziland see LATEST NEWS

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

Mar8 Sd2007

Women of Inspiration

The king's newspaper, The Swazi Observer, is very much like a bad winter cold which just keeps spreading germs around and around. March 8th marks International Women's Day but Saturday's Weekend Observer got off to an early start with Dumisa Dlamini's article entitled Femininity is a Magical Wand for Women. Clearly it is the epitome of irrational thinking but what can we expect from the king's cheer leading journalists? Welcome to 21st century misogyny.

Dlamini's "feminine" depiction of half the population reduces women to objects of desire, materialistic wretches and empty headed vain creatures. This magical "she" is a perverted alchemist's concoction combining a seductive Salome, a materialist Marie Antoinette and a power hungry Margaret Thatcher! Is the author describing the mother of the king, the wives of the king, women in politics?

Indlovukazi - "she elephant", mother of the king - lives in luxury and tosses bit and pieces to destitute children and the elderly. Yes, isn't it generous to give stationary to rural schools while students can't pay school fees?

Inkhosikati - the wives of the king - are often the "patron" of NGOs or Arts organizations but prefer their Cinderella privileged lives. Need they pray for the nation?

And then there are women in politics like Constance Simelane. As Minister of Education, this absurdly ignorant women warned junior high students about the consequences of premarital sex - "crooked penises" and "mutilated genitals" - rather than explain the very real consequences of HIV/Aids! Now as the Deputy Prime Minister, Simelane wants parents arrested if they encourage their children to speak English at home.

So where shall girls and young women find their role models as we celebrate Women's Day? The true heroines of Swaziland are the young and teenage girls who try to manage family households after their parents are deceased, the grandmothers who watched their children die as they continue to care for the grandchildren left behind, and the widows who take to the streets to demand respect from the parasitic Swazi government. These are the women of dignity whom we remember and celebrate - the courageous and the noble. We shall not forget La Fakudze.

Jan 8, 2006 Death of LaFakudze

Feb 19, 2007 Widows’ march shocks traditionalists

Mar 3, 2007 FEMINITY IS A MAGICAL WAND FOR WOMEN

Feb 22, 2007 Indlovukazi donates E10,000 ($2000) stationery to rural schools

Feb 21, 2007 Inkhosikati LaMbikiza made executrix

Feb 22, 2007 Arrest parents who insist on English at home - DPM

Feb 24, 2007 Royal Exploitation:150 girls strip naked at Prince’s home

Feb11 Sd2007

Give what you can, take what you need.

The cracks and fractures are all to apparent - the government of Swaziland is ready to crumble. Fiscal corruption is widespread, health and education are disastrously underfunded, labour, political, business and law organisations are united in believing the constitution does not enjoy popular legitimacy, credibility and acceptance, young police officers are harassed by their seniors for wishing to unionize, and the list goes on and on.

Globally there appears to be a new jargon as governments are all talking of their "Visions" - Sd is no exception. Last week the Minister of Economic Planning and Development stunned his colleagues with the notion of good governance - an unusual concept within the MP "team". It seems the fellows don't want to rush out of their comfortable seats very soon so their dream Vision is set for 2022. And it's 15 more years of watching those fat cats?

At the same two-day long review, this "team" of Ministers discussed issues related to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination on Women but ignored the story of a 15 year old girl that was traditionally married to a 44 year old man - she became his 6th wife!

And the generous king is allowing mining companies to rip apart this tiny and fragile country as long as he gets his 10% of the wealth. He's a royal plunderer!


Feb 11 Orphan was kicked out of School

Feb 10 King to get 10% shares from mines

Feb 9 Police union members shout intimidation

Feb 8 NCA gives govt 90-day ultimatum

Feb 8 More arrests looming in E50 million scandal

Feb 7 The hypocrites speak: Good governance key to Vision 2022 dream

Feb 6 Girl (15) forced out of school to marry

Jan28 Sd2007

Several foreign AIDS organizations partner with HIV/AIDS groups in Swaziland but rarely wish to engage in a realistic analysis of that country. They avoid the topic of politics as if it were the plague. In hushed tones, Directors often claim "we can't get involved in the political situation because it could affect our funding" or "we don't want to be thrown out of the country". Why will they never demand of the Swazi government what they themselves expect at home - a system which is concerned with the public welfare?
Even an American business newspaper such as the Wall Street Journal points out the inter-connectedness!


'Swazi king sets poor example'
December 27, 2006
http://www.iol.co.za/

Swaziland - where one in three people between ages 15 and 49 are HIV-positive, according to UNAIDS - has the highest HIV prevalence in the world, and King Mswati III is the "elephant in the room when Swazis contemplate their Aids crisis," the Wall Street Journal reports.

To prevent the spread of HIV, the king in 2001 reinstated a custom that mandates that all girls under age 18 should not have sexual relations for five years and that any man who has sex with a virgin under age 18 must pay one cow to the girl's family, according to the Journal.

However, soon after reinstating the rule, the king became engaged to a 17-year-old woman.

In addition, although some HIV/Aids advocates "credit the king" - who has at least 12 wives - for declaring HIV/Aids a national disaster in 1999 and for his frequent discussion of the virus, some Swazis "privately say the 38-year-old monarch's own polygamous lifestyle sets a poor example for a nation dying of Aids," according to the Journal.

"There's a lack of role models," Agnes Mtetwa, HIV/Aids programme officer for the Council of Swaziland Churches, said, adding, "The king is a young man, and he has a whole host of the most beautiful girls in the land. ... Which young man doesn't want to be like the king?"

Researchers, health workers and the king's Aids council have said that traditional practices - including child marriage, polygamy and widow inheritance - are fuelling the spread of HIV and that HIV/Aids is intimately linked to the comparative powerlessness of women in Swazi culture (Phillips, Wall Street Journal, 12/20/2006).

For more information on Swaziland see

http://swazilandsolidaritynetworkcanada.wikispaces.com/CURRENT+NEWS