Swaziland Striving For Freedom, Vol 20, October To December 2015

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom
Swaziland:
Striving for
Freedom
As seen through the pages of Swazi Media
Commentary
Volume 20: October to December 2015
CONTENTS
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Introduction
King Mswati III
Human rights abuses
Free speech
Political parties and democracy
Police action
Army shootings
Media
Food and drought crisis
Health
House Speaker crisis
UNISWA and Black Wednesday
About the author
Other publications
2
3
17
24
28
32
37
40
42
46
47
51
55
56
INTRODUCTION
Swazilands King Mswati III was in the international spotlight in the last quarter of 2015. He
was reported to the United Nations over the deaths in a traffic accident of children and young
women who were on their way to dance half-naked for him at the kingdoms annual Reed
Dance. It is argued that the ceremony is unlawful and perpetuates forced marriages,
inconsistent with international human rights standards.
In the British Virgin Islands, the King is being personally being sued over a US$3.5 million
debt relating to repairs and improvements to his private jet aircraft. His representative told the
court that he had no financial assets outside of Swaziland. In the past it was reported that
King Mswati had a net worth of US$200 million.
These are some of the stories from the past three months that have been reported by Swazi
Media Commentary. This compilation brings together posts that originally appeared on the
Swazi Media Commentary website from September to December 2015.
Elsewhere, lawyers in Swaziland and an international human rights group CIVICUS jointly
called judicial persecution, harassment and intimidation of members of civil society
organisations in the kingdom to end. In a submission to the United Nations they also call for
restrictions on freedom of assembly to be lifted.
Swaziland has become an open-air prison, a militarised society and a royal farm in which
people become mere farmworkers for the King and his family, according to research
published in the international academic journal, Review of African Political Economy.
Swazi Media Commentary website has no physical base and is completely independent of
any political faction and receives no income from any individual or organisation. People who
contribute ideas or write for it do so as volunteers and receive no payment.
Swazi Media Commentary is published online updated regularly.
1. KING MSWATI III

King reported to UN over deaths
8 October 2015
A human rights lawyer has reported Swazilands King Mswati III of Swaziland to the United
Nations over the deaths of children and young women at the Kingdoms Reed Dance.
At least 13 people died, but the number has been disputed, with some reports putting the
figure at 65.
They died when they were loaded up onto the back of a truck used for conveying building
materials. The truck was involved in a road collision on 28 August 2015. They were on their
way to the annual Reed Dance or Umhlanga where they were expected to be among
thousands of virgins to dance half-naked in front of the King.
Femi Falana, a lawyer in Nigeria, has reportedly sent a petition to the United Nations Special
Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
Juan Ernesto Mendez; the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes
and Consequences, Dubravka Simonovic; and the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial,
Summary or Arbitrary Executions, Christof Heyns.
Punch, a Nigerian-based news site, reported, The lawyer said it was particularly insensitive
of the Swaziland monarch to have reportedly allowed the dance festival to proceed despite
the news of the victims death.
He said it was also condemnable that rather than address the issues of rights violation, King
Mswati III had continued to cover it up by trying to prevent publication of reports on the
incidents.
According to Punch, the petition read in part, I argue that the annual Umhlanga Reed Dance
itself is unlawful as it has continued to perpetuate forced marriages, entirely inconsistent with
international human rights standards.
I also argue that religion, culture and tradition cannot be used to justify human rights
violations, including violence against women, which is what the annual Umhlanga Reed
Dance constitutes. The continuation of the Umhlanga Reed Dance also gives rise to other
human rights abuses, including forced marriages.
Under international human rights law, states like Swaziland are to be held accountable if
they fail to act with due diligence to prevent violations of rights such as those highlighted
above or to investigate and punish acts of violence against women and provide effective
remedies and access to justice for victims and their families.
By packing the girls onto the back of open trucks, the government of Swaziland should have
reasonably foreseen that this would lead to violation of their rights to life and human dignity.
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In fact, due diligence places a strict standard of conduct upon the government of Swaziland
to protect all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction, including the girls
and women.
I argue that the government of Swaziland has the supreme duty to prevent acts such as those
highlighted above that can cause arbitrary loss of life such as the unnecessary deaths of these
girls.
King Mswati came in for heavy criticism after the crash because journalists were prevented
from reporting the event. King Mswati rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africas last absolute
monarch and media are heavily restricted in his kingdom.
There was a dispute over the number of deaths. The officially sanctioned figure was 13, but
prodemocracy groups in Swaziland said it was as high as 65.
Punch, the Nigerian website reporting on Falanas petition to the UN, caused controversy in
August 2015 when it incorrectly reported that girls and young women in Swaziland were
forced to undergo public virginity tests before King Mswati III decided whether to take them
as his wife.
See also
DEAD GIRLS ARE VICTIMS, NOT HEROES
DEAD GIRLS TRANSPORTED LIKE CATTLE
COVER-UP ON SWAZI REED DANCE DEATHS
CANCEL REED DANCE AFTER DEATHS
King: Ive no assets outside Swaziland

20 October 2015
King Mswati III of Swaziland who was once reported to have a personal net worth of
US$200 million has told a court that he has no assets outside of Swaziland.
He made his statement in a case where he is personally being sued over a US$3.5 million
debt relating to repairs and improvements to his private jet aircraft.
The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) made a freezing
order against the King, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch,
which meant he could not dispose of his jet until the debt dispute was resolved. King Mswati
was also required by the court to disclose his assets.
In an affidavit to the court, Sihle Dlamini, the Kings Private Secretary and Director of
Administration at the Kings Office, who had been authorised by the King to swear on his
4
behalf, stated the King had no commercial assets outside of Swaziland. He also stated the
King, does not own any assets in the United Kingdom and that the King did not own any
assets in any overseas territories of the United Kingdom.
He also stated that the King and the Kings company Inchatsavane, which is also being sued,
do not own any other property, solely or jointly, in their own name or not, in any other
jurisdiction outside of Swaziland.
King Mswatis wealth is a closely guarded secret. In August 2007, Forbes magazine first
disclosed that his personal net worth was US$200 million (E1.4 billion at the then exchange
rate). That figure was revised downwards in later years.
In June 2014, Forbes estimated his wealth had fallen to US$50 million, which made him the
third wealthiest monarch in Africa.
Forbes reported, The King is one of Africas wealthiest royals. His personal net worth is at
least $50 million, based on the annual $50 million salary that he is paid out of government
coffers.
He also controls Tibiyo TakaNgwane, an investment holding company that owns stakes in
sugar refining giants Ubombo Sugar and Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation (RSSC), dairy
company Parmalat Swaziland, spirits manufacturer Swaziland Beverages and hotel chain
Swazi Spa Holdings. The company has assets worth over $140 million, but he holds it in trust
for the people of Swaziland.
In 2012, Forbes named King Mswati as one of the top five worst rulers in Africa.
It reported the King ruled over a kingdom which has one of the worlds highest HIV
prevalence rates: over 35 percent of adults. Its average life expectancy is the lowest in the
world at 33 years; nearly 70 percent of the countrys people live on less than US$1 a day and
40 percent are unemployed.
It added, But for all the suffering of the Swazi people, King Mswati has barely shown
concern or interest.
He lives lavishly, using his kingdoms treasury to fund his expensive tastes in German
automobiles, first-class leisure trips around the world and women. But his gross
mismanagement of his countrys finances is now having dire economic consequences.
Swaziland is going through a severe fiscal crisis.
The kingdoms economy is collapsing and pensions have been stopped. In June last year
[2011], the King begged for a financial bailout from South Africa.
In February 2011 the Mail & Guardian newspaper in South Africa reported King Mswati also
had US$10-billion that was put in trust in King Mswatis name for the people of Swaziland
by his father, King Sobhuza II.
In 2015, a report from the United States government report concluded there was no oversight
in the kingdom on how the King, his 15 wives and vast Royal Family spent public money.
See also
KING DIVERTS WEALTH FROM HIS SUBJECTS
KINGDOMS WEALTH STAYS WITH THE KING
KING MSWATI SPENDS AND SPENDS
King took 100 servants on India trip

30 October 2015
King Mswati III of Swaziland booked more than 200 hotel rooms to accommodate his
entourage at the Indo-African summit that concluded in Delhi on Thursday (29 October
2015), according to media reports from India.
Zee media reported he took his 15 wives, 30 children and 100 servants to a five-star hotel.
According to News World India, each room cost between 7,000 and 15,000 rupees (US$230)
a night. If the account is correct the rooms alone would have cost up to US$46,000 a night.
Swaziland was one of 54 nations represented at the summit, designed to encourage trade
between India and African countries.
Media in Swaziland which extensively cover the Kings official foreign travels have been
silent about the cost of the trip.
King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch, has a
stranglehold over the media in his kingdom where seven in ten of his subjects live in abject
poverty earning less than US$2 per day. At that rate it would take most Swazi workers nearly
four months to earn the cost of the Kings hotel room for one night.
King Mswati was listed among seven dictators who attended the summit by Indias Catch
News.
It said, Mswati III came to power as a 14 year-old following his fathers passing, even
though his mother ruled in his stead until he turned 18. Waiting for him to mature into a
sensible leader was a good idea, unfortunately, it didnt pan out that way.
As King of Swaziland, Mswati III is virtually all-powerful, with powers over both the
executive and judiciary. But with great power comes great responsibility. Sadly no one ever
told Mswati III that.
He practises polygamy and currently has 15 wives, which isn't the problem. No, the problem
is that not all of his brides consented to marrying him. One, as young as 18, disappeared from
her school and was later found being forced to marry Mswati III, an act that was condemned
by Amnesty International.
Still, he builds his wives palaces and sends them to Europe on his private jet for lavish
shopping sprees. Unfortunately this benevolence doesn't extend to Swaziland's general
populace, with over 60% of the population living on under $2 a day.
He's also been accused of using force (even lethally) to silence dissenters, activists and
journalists. With Swaziland's monarchical system deeply entrenched in the Swazi way of life,
his reign isn't ending anytime soon.
Kings paper accuses media of lies

2 November 2015
The Observer Sunday, a newspaper in effect owned by Swazilands King Mswati III, has
accused media in India of lying about the extravagancies of the Kings visit to that country.
The newspaper which is part of the Swazi Observer group, labelled as a pure propaganda
machine for the royal family by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) in a report on
press freedom in Swaziland, objected to reports in a number of media outlets during the
Kings October 2015 visit to the Indo-Africa summit in Delhi.
The Observer objected to reports that the King, who is sub-Saharan Africas last absolute
monarch, took 100 servants, 30 of his family and 15 wives on the trip. He reportedly booked
about 200 rooms at a five-star hotel for his entourage.
The reports originally appeared in Zee Media and News World India. Reports said a single
hotel room cost up to US$230 a night.
The Observer also criticised Swazi Media Commentary, the internationally-renowned
website that has been reporting on human rights issues in Swaziland since 2007, for drawing
global attention to the news reports.
The Observer called the reports blatant lies but offered its readers no evidence to support its
case. Nor did it inform its readers of the cost of the Kings trip.
There has been an international spotlight on King Mswatis extravagant spending for many
years, but media in Swaziland remain silent on the matter. In 2011, Alec Lushaba, editor of
the Weekend Observer, wrote that the newspaper group would never publish anything about
the monarchy without the Kings approval.
In 2007, Forbes, the internationally-respected media group, revealed that the King had a
personal fortune estimated to be US$200 million.
The King has at least 13 palaces, a private jet, a fleet of top-of-the-range Mercedes Benz and
BMW cars and at least one Rolls Royce car.
Swaziland faces a severe financial crisis and the government, which is not elected by the
people but handpicked by King Mswati, has announced that elderly grants (old age pensions)
are to be abolished for some people. This is to save the government money.
Meanwhile, as recently as Friday (30 October 2015) the Mail and Guardian (M&G)
newspaper in South Africa reported that despite the financial meltdown in the kingdom, King
Mswatis government has approved a plan to lease a private A-340 jet for the King. The
M&G reported, Industry sources estimated the annual cost of leasing an A-340 over and
above running costs and fixed costs such as insurance at about $9-million (E122-million).
M&G also reported, King Mswatis wealth is a closely guarded secret, but it has been
variously estimated at between US$50-million and US$200-million.
In addition to his enormous government salary, Mswati controls the royal investment house,
Tibiyo Taka Ngwane, which draws mining royalties and has stakes in the Royal Swaziland
Sugar Corporation and hotel chain Swazi Spa Holdings. He has direct stakes in other firms,
including 10 percent of MTN Swaziland.
It added, Swazilands Gini coefficient is 51.5, meaning that of 187 countries ranked by the
United Nations Development Programme in terms of wealth inequality, it stands at 170.
In 2012, Forbes named King Mswati as one of the top five worst rulers in Africa.
It reported the King ruled over a kingdom which has one of the worlds highest HIV
prevalence rates: over 35 percent of adults. Its average life expectancy was the lowest in the
world at 33 years; nearly 70 percent of the countrys people live on less than US$1 a day and
40 percent are unemployed.
It added, But for all the suffering of the Swazi people, King Mswati has barely shown
concern or interest.
He lives lavishly, using his kingdoms treasury to fund his expensive tastes in German
automobiles, first-class leisure trips around the world and women. But his gross
mismanagement of his countrys finances is now having dire economic consequences.
Swaziland is going through a severe fiscal crisis.
The kingdoms economy is collapsing and pensions have been stopped. In June last year
[2011], the King begged for a financial bailout from South Africa.
In February 2011 the M&G newspaper in South Africa reported King Mswati also had
US$10-billion that was put in trust in King Mswatis name for the people of Swaziland by his
father, King Sobhuza II.
In 2015, United States government report concluded there was no oversight in the kingdom
on how the King, his 15 wives and vast Royal Family spent public money.
Swazi King wants 10pc of Coca-Cola
4 November 2015
Coca-Cola, the global firm that accounts for about 40 percent of Swazilands economy, has
threatened to leave the kingdom because King Mswati III has demanded it give him a 10
percent stake in its Swazi subsidiary for nothing, a prodemocracy group reported on
Wednesday (4 November 2015).
The Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) said in a statement, Reliable sources within the
kingdom have informed our network that the company flatly refused to yield to Mswatis
demand and would rather leave.
It added, If he does not back down from this demand Coca-Cola will be forced to relocate its
operations to another country, a move that will be catastrophic for economy of the tiny
impoverished kingdom and will lead to the loss of many jobs.
It added this would worsen an already desperate situation for Swazi workers as many of
them became unemployed when the kingdom lost beneficial trading rights with the United
States under the Africa Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA). This was because King Mswati,
who is sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch, refused to allow democratic reforms in
Swaziland.
Swaziland supplies the Coca-Cola concentrate (the sugary syrup the drink is made from) to
most of Africa, big parts of Asia and all of Australia and New Zealand from its industrial
plant in Matsapha.
Swaziland has been mortgaged to Coca-Cola (trading as Conco Swaziland) ever since it
allowed the company to use it in its fight against workers interests in other countries. In
2009, Coca-Cola closed its concentrate supply plant in Nigeria, citing an unfriendly
manufacturing environment in that country. It had made little profits because of the high
manufacturing costs.
Coca-Cola also has an impact on the international standing of Swazilands economy. The
money generated by Coca-Cola is what largely accounts for the kingdom being classified as a
lower-middle income developing country (and therefore not eligible for certain types of
international aid), even though seven in ten of Swazilands one-million population live in
abject poverty, earning less than US$2 a day.
Peter Kenworthy, of Africa Contact, writing in 2011, said, The real point, though, is that
Coca-Cola is probably in Swaziland because it is a dictatorship that oppresses its unions and
population. This allows wages to be kept low and unemployment high.
Kenworthy visited one of the sugar cane fields in Eastern Swaziland, which produces sugar
for Coca-Cola.
He wrote, The area that I visited, Vuvulane, is managed by the Vuvulane Irrigated Farms
(VIF) but the sugar cane fields are under the auspices of the Swaziland Water and
Agricultural Development Enterprise and the Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation who lease
them to individual farmers, who in turn employ casual labourers.
In a small village in Vuvulane, most of the adults worked in the sugar fields as casual
labourers for between 400 and 550 Rand (US$40-55) per month. This is not enough to pay
for medicine, proper food or school fees for our children, one villager told me. Sometimes
we do not eat for days. We used to have our own vegetable gardens but these were
confiscated by the sugar company. We sometimes fish in the nearby dam in the evening,
when it is dark. If we are caught we will be arrested as the dam is owned by the sugar cane
company, another villager said.
Practically none of the children in the village, who were clad in dirty and ripped clothes and
looked underfed, attended school and many of the villagers, receive food aid. In addition to
this, the water supply is controlled by a privately owned company that readily closes the
water supply form the village if they are not paid on time.
In 2012, the prodemocracy group the Swaziland Democracy Campaign called on Coca-Cola
to leave Swaziland immediately.
See also
SWAZILAND, SPONSORED BY COCA-COLA
COCA-COLA SUPPORTS SWAZI DICTATOR
COCA-COLA COLONISES SWAZILAND
Proof: Swazi King paid for his jet

20 November 2015
Documents revealed publicly for the first time on Friday (20 November 2015) confirm that
King Mswati III of Swaziland personally paid US$9.5 million for a jet aircraft in 2012.
The government that he handpicked had publicly said the jet was donated by development
partners.
The sale and purchase agreement contains the signature of King Mswati as the purchaser.
King Mswati, who rules the tiny impoverished kingdom of Swaziland as sub-Saharan
Africas last absolute monarch, has been at the at the centre of a public row over the purchase
of the jet.
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Last Friday (13 November 2015) the Mail and Guardian (M&G), a South-African based
newspaper published details of the aircraft purchase on its website.
Most of the M&G report was not new. In April 2015, the Swazi Media Commentary website
revealed details behind the purchase. It reported that the Kings own company Inchatsavane
paid the US$9.5 million cost of the McDonnel Douglas McDonnell Douglas DC-9-87 (also
known as an MD-87). Later, a further US$4.1 million was spent on refurbishing the plane.
The Sale and Purchase Agreement for the plane dated 18 April 2012 stated the purchaser as
Inchatsavane Company (Pty) Ltd. The agreement describes Inchatsavane as a limited
company formed under the law of Swaziland under certification of incorporation No 581 of
2010. The companys office address is given as 1 st Floor, Ellerines Building, Swazi Plaza,
[Mbabane], Swaziland.
King Mswatis signature appears on the document as sole shareholder / owner of the
company. For the first time Swazi Media Commentary has released a copy of the document
online.
The seller is given as Wells Fargo Bank Northwest, National Association, not in its
individual capacity but solely as owner trustee.
A Bank of America Wire Transfer dated 26 April 2012, shows US$9.5 million dollars was
transferred from the account of His Majesty King Mswati III, bank account number
0240037517401, at the Standard Bank Swaziland Ltd, Stanbic House, Swazi Plaza, Mbabane,
Swaziland.
Swazi Media Commentary has also released online a copy of the bank transfer.
The money was transferred to McAfee and Taft escrow account in the United States. An
escrow account is a bank account for keeping money that is the property of others.
Under US law funds wired to an escrow account must come directly from the purchaser and
not a parent, subsidiary, related company, officer, governor or director. King Mswati
personally signed the escrow agreement. Swazi Media Commentary has for the first time
released a copy of this document online.
What is not clear is where King Mswati got the money to pay for the jet. In 2012, the Swazi
Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini, who was personally appointed to office by the King, said
on government-controlled radio that the King had been given the jet as a birthday gift, from
development partners and friends of the King, to be used by their majesties for travels
abroad.
The Swazi Government denied public money had been used to buy the jet. Government
spokesperson Percy Simelane was reported by the BBC saying the jet was a gift to the King
from, people already involved in the social and economic development of the country.
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There has been speculation that the jet was donated by Kuwait, but if this was the case it has
not been explained why the oil-rich state made the gift and what it expected in return.
In April 2012, the Swazi Government categorically denied that the plane was donated by the
Kuwait Government.
It issued a statement saying, It is true that His Majesty the King received a gift in the form of
a Mcdonnell DC-9 Aircraft for his and the Queen Mothers travels abroad on engagement on
national interest.
It is also true that the sponsors of this magnificent gift, exercising their rights, elected to
remain anonymous.
It is not true that the Kuwait Government or countries and companies mentioned in the
South Africa media purchased the aircraft for His Majesty the King or contributed in any
form whatsoever towards this present.
Seven in ten of the Kings 1.3 million subjects live in abject poverty, with incomes of less
than US$2 per day, three in ten are so hungry they are medically diagnosed as malnourished
and the kingdom has the highest rate of HIV infection in the world.
See also
WHO PAID FOR SWAZI KINGS JET?
KING'S COMPANY AT CENTRE OF JET ROW
Newspaper calls Swazi King despot

27 November 2015
King Mswati III of Swaziland has been listed by a top UK media house as one of the
despots and rogues gallery of dubious characters who will meet Queen Elizabeth II at the
Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Malta that started Friday (27 November
2015).
The Daily Telegraph, one of the most conservative and traditionalist newspapers in the UK,
reported that the Swazi Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini was expected to attend the meeting,
but that the King might also arrive.
The newspaper reported, Swaziland will be represented by its Prime Minister, Barnabas
Dlamini, though the organisers have said the countrys controversial king, Mswati III, may
also decide to attend.
King Mswati has 15 wives, each of whom, by tradition, had to become pregnant by him
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before he would marry them. Amnesty International has accused him of violating the human
rights of women and girls by subjecting them to forced marriage, and his lavish lifestyle in a
country where most people live on less than 1 per day has also attracted regular criticism.
He is reported to spend 37m (US$56m) per year keeping his 15 wives and at least 24
children in 13 separate palaces. Political parties are banned in Swaziland and Mswati remains
an absolute monarch.
King Mswati never gets a good press outside of Swaziland, where media regularly report on
the abuses of human rights that take place in Swaziland. Political parties are banned from
taking part in elections, the King chooses the Government (Barnabas Dlamini, the present
PM, was not even elected to the Swazi parliament) and opposition groups are banned under
the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
Pettiness of the Kings red carpet
2 December 2015
News that spread internationally that in Swaziland only King Mswati III should be afforded
the honour of a red carpet at special events reminds us of another time the King wanted to
assert his superiority over his subjects.
That time, according to a cable from the US Embassy in Swaziland, the King made his
advisors sweat in 40-degree heat in a basement to demonstrate his power over them.
The issue of the red carpet emerged when it was reported that the red carpet at the Business
Woman of the Year Awards ceremony this year (2015) was rolled away. The same happened
at the Swaziland Inter Municipal Games Association (SIGA). The Times of Swaziland, the
only independent newspaper in the kingdom, reported that the Swazi Police had ordered
SIGA to remove the red carpet. Barnabas Dlamini, the Swazi Prime Minister, was at the
event to give a speech.
The Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), a prodemocracy group banned in the kingdom,
then reported the police ordered the ban on the instructions of King Mswati.
Later, the Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, reported the Swazi
Police spokesperson Superintendent Khulani Mamba saying no police action was ordered.
However, he said the red carpet might have been removed as is might be, misconstrued in
other quarters as equating himself to the Head of State [King].
He added, A well-intended gesture may have unintended consequences and be read totally
out of context.
The Observer reported Mamba saying, [N]o specific individual instructed the cops to
remove the red carpet but was feeling of those who were waiting to welcome him that such
good gesture may be lost in interpretation, hence the decision to remove it.
13
The Prime Minister had not ordered it, nor ordered its removal, but given his stature it was
felt that such a gesture may be seen as setting him up against authorities.
It is not surprising that the Prime Minister or any other of the Kings subjects would not want
to upset him.
A cable from the US Embassy in Swaziland, made public by Wikileaks, gave a startling
example of how the King behaves.
The US Embassy said King Mswati III was not intellectually well developed and is not a
reader. It also called him imbalanced.
The comments about the Swazi King came from Earl Irvine, the then US Ambassador to
Swaziland, in February 2010.
In a confidential cable to Washington released by Wikileaks, Irvine said King Mswati had a
lack of wisdom.
Quoting an informant, Irvine wrote the king was not a reader, and will not review documents
left for him. [The informant] called the king not intellectually well-developed, and
contrasted the current sovereigns scant educational background with Sobhuza II, who was
educated at Lovedale College in South Africa alongside future leaders of South Africas
African National Congress (ANC).
Essentially a bastard outsider to the royal family, King Mswati III was plucked from relative
obscurity when members of the royal family could not come to an agreement on a successor
to King Sobhuza II, the cable said.
After Mswati III was selected to be the next king, a posthumous marriage of Sobhuza II to
Ntombi [the Queen Mother] was quickly arranged, according to our interlocutor.
Irvine wrote, Unlike in his early years, the King now identifies and pushes specific projects,
and will look to replace ministers or employees who are unable to provide progress on those
projects.
Irvine quoted his informant calling King Mswati imbalanced. He gave an anecdote to
illustrate this. The King, [the informant] said, invited about forty officials and advisors to a
basement in one of his palaces, where they all sat on the floor to attend to him. King Mswati
III turned up the heater, which warmed the floor first, until the temperature in the room
reached about 40 degrees Celsius, and told inconsequential stories to those gathered while
they sweated, merely to show them he was in power.
See also
US FRANK ASSESSMENT OF SWAZI KING
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New move in Kings jet court dispute

30 December 2015
A court has confirmed that King Mswati III of Swaziland cannot sell or dispose of his private
jet until a dispute over his alleged failure to pay a US$3.5 million debt is resolved.
The ruling was made in the British Virgin Islands on 23 December 2015after the East
Caribbean High Court was told that there might be plans to lease the plane and then lease a
second plane for King Mswatis use.
There has been a long-running dispute between Shanmuga Rethenam, who owns a company
called SG Air, and the King.
Rethenam, popularly known as Shan, succeeded in getting a freezing order from the Eastern
Caribbean Supreme Court in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in September 2015.
SG Air claims that King Mswati owes it the money for repairs and modifications undertaken
to his private McDonnell Douglas DC-9-87 aircraft in 2012. The case was heard in the
Superior Court in Ontario, Canada, in June 2015, when the King won on a legal technicality.
However, pending possible appeals, King Mswati, through a company he owns called
Inchatsavane, was forced to lodge a letter of credit for US$3.5 million with Canadian
lawyers, in case he lost the appeal. The money was due to be released on 15 September 2015.
Since the Canadian court case, the Swazi Government announced it intended to try to lease
out the aircraft, valued at about US$14.5 million, and in turn lease the King a larger, more
luxurious jet, with the possibility of buying it at a later date.
The BVI Commercial Court was told the DC-9-87 was flown from Swaziland to South Africa
and back again since September 2015. There was a dispute that this might violate the freezing
order. The plane is presently at Matsapha Airport in Swaziland.
The freezing order means the King cannot dispose of the aircraft or its engines until the court
case over the alleged debt is resolved.
The court order was made in the BVI because that is where SG Air is incorporated.
The judgment of the BVI Commercial Court, delivered by Judge Gerald St. C. Farara, was
that the freezing order on the aircrafts movement should continue pending the outcome of
the financial dispute.
Swazi King in secretive ceremony

31 December 2015
The secretive annual Incwala ceremony in which Swazilands King Mswati III is alleged to
engage in unnatural sexual practices, took place on Monday (28 December 2015).
15
The annual event is called a sacred event by traditionalists, but has been dubbed unChristian and Pagan by others.
The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africas last
absolute monarch, has been running numerous reports supporting Incwala. It quoted Swazi
Deputy Prime Minister Paul Dlamini on Tuesday (29 December 2015) saying, Incwala just
unites us as Swazis where we get to be together in one place and dance. This is also a way in
which children are taught about life.
So this must be preserved as it has helped so many people. For those who have disowned
culture, they are facing different problems in their lives where some get pregnant before
getting married; some dump children because they are not able to take care of them. So we
need to go back to our own ways of doing things and respect culture.
In 2014, the Observer reported, The ceremony, which also marks the fresh fruits of the
season, has a spiritual power that is largely lost on outsiders, and indeed many of its inner
workings remain shrouded in secrecy.
Journalists who try to report the event are harassed and in 2011 a street vendor who sold
pirated DVDs of Incwala was hauled in by the police and handed over to traditional
authorities for a grilling. He was ordered to reclaim all the copies of the DVD he had sold.
Failure to do so might have seen him banished from his homeland, local media reported at the
time.
A first-hand account of alleged activities at Incwala has been circulating on social media
outlets for years.
In 2011the Southern Africa Report and Africa is a Country website, reported the eyewitness
testimony of Incwala. Africa is a Country said, The ceremony is cloaked in secrecy and
marks the kings return to public life after a period of withdrawal and spiritual contemplation.
Among its highlights is a symbolic demonstration by the King of his power and dominance
in a process involving his penetration of a black bull, beaten into semi-conscious immobility
to ensure its compliant acceptance of the royal touch. The royal semen is then collected by a
courtier and stored, for subsequent inclusion in food to be served at Sibaya traditional
councils and other national forums.
See also
ILLEGAL TO POSSESS INCWALA SONGS
SWAZI KING AND BESTIALITY RITUAL
NOW, EVEN HOLY SPIRIT IS SEDITIOUS
16
2. HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

Report tells UN of rights abuses
8 October 2015
Lawyers in Swaziland and an international human rights group have jointly called for judicial
persecution, harassment and intimidation of members of civil society organisations in the
kingdom to end.
In a submission to the United Nations they also call for restrictions on freedom of assembly
to be lifted.
The calls come jointly from CIVICUS, a global network of civil society organisations and
activists dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society around the world, and
Lawyers for Human Rights (Swaziland) (LHRS), a non-partisan group of lawyers that
advocates for the respect of human rights and promotes good governance, the rule of law and
democracy.
The report is to the United Nations Human Rights Councils Working Group on the
Universal Periodic Review of Swaziland that is to investigate Swazilands record on human
rights next April and May 2016.
The report listed a number of violations in Swaziland over recent years. The report said it was
a matter of deep concern that human rights activists have been arrested and persecuted for
the work and others have been threatened by senior government officials including the Prime
Minister.
In a detailed account, the report said, On 26 August 2014, Vincent Ncongwane, Secretary
General of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), was apprehended shortly
before he was due to address a prayer meeting on the effects of the withdrawal of financial
assistance through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) from Swaziland by the
United States Government.
He had also planned to discuss the position of civil society regarding the withdrawal. The
Matsapha area has many textile factories that will be affected by the cancellation of
assistance through AGOA. Following his apprehension by the police, Vincent was forced to
leave the venue of the meeting before delivering his address.
On 5 September 2013, Vincent was followed by police officers in civilian clothing and
arrested while attempting to enter his office. He was whisked to the police station without any
explanation or warrant and detained for several hours. He was later placed under house arrest
and the authorities argued he had attempted to instigate an unlawful protest.
On 6 August 2014, Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini threatened human rights
defenders Sipho Gumedze and Vincent Ncongwane while they participated in the civil
17
society meeting on the promotion of democracy in Africa on the sidelines of the African
leaders summit hosted by US President Barack Obama in August 2014.
The activists had also participated in peaceful demonstrations aimed at highlighting threats
to freedom of expression in Swaziland. While addressing the Parliament in Swaziland, the
Prime Minister called for both activists to be interrogated and strangled when they return to
Swaziland.
Sipho is a member of Lawyers for Human Rights (Swaziland) and Vincent is the Secretary
General of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA).
On 1 May 2014, Mario Masuku, President of the pro-democracy Peoples United
Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) and Maxwell Dlamini of the Swaziland Youth Congress
(SWAYOCO), were arrested after addressing a crowd of about 7,000 people during a Labour
Day event in the capital, Manzini.
They were charged with singing a seditious song and uttering seditious statements under the
Suppression of Terrorism Act. The state argued in court that their utterances were serious and
threatened the leadership of Swaziland. They were denied bail on two occasions before they
were released on bail on 14 July 2015 by the Supreme Court.
The report said that the Swazi Constitution guaranteed the rights of citizens to assemble
freely, but these rights were being ignored.
The report said, However we remain concerned that the authorities regularly suppress
peaceful demonstrations, Persons considered leaders of such protests have been arrested and
subjected to judicial persecution and some have been charged under the Suppression of
Terrorism Act.
In March 2015, security forces prevented members of the Trade Union Congress of
Swaziland (TUCOSWA) from holding their national executive committee meeting at the
premises of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT). In dispersing the
participants, security forces harassed the Secretary of SNAT, Muzi Mhlanga after he took
pictures of the police actions against protesters.
Again on 28 February 2015 security forces forcefully dispersed a meeting of TUCOSWA
because the participants discussed multi-party democracy.
On 24 April 2014, Mlungisi Makhanya, Secretary General of PUDEMO and six others were
arrested at the High Court in Mbabane as they demonstrated against the manner in which the
trial of Thulani Maseko and Bheki Makhubu was conducted.
They were charged for contravening the Suppression of Terrorism Act for wearing and being
in possession of tee-shirts on which the word PUDEMO was inscribed.
The authorities noted that the tee-shirts reflected terrorist demands. They were also charged
with chanting terrorist slogans and for conspiring with others to commit seditious acts. In
18
May 2014 they were all released on bail of E15,000 (approximatelyUS$1,106) and asked to
pay E5,000 (approximately US$368) upfront and provide surety of E10,000 (approximately
US$737).
On 5 September 2013, security forces in Swaziland arrested and detained Jay Naidoo, a
South African trade union activist, Bishop Paul Verryn from the Methodist Church in
Johannesburg, South Africa and Zimbabwean human rights lawyer and activist Alec
Muchadehama ahead of a planned global inquiry scheduled for 6 September 2013.
Those arrested were part of an international panel of experts who had been requested by
TUCOSWA and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to engage in a dialogue
with workers about the effect of violations on labour rights on all Swazis. The panellists were
followed from the airport and arrested at a roadblock on their way to Manzini. They were
then transported to a police station where they were interrogated about the rationale for the
planned meeting. They were later released after questioning and had to return to
Johannesburg as the authorities closed the George Hotel in Manzini where the inquiry was
scheduled to take place.
On 12 April 2012, the police intercepted pro-democracy protests planned to be held at
Coronation Park in Mbabane and arrested 15 organisers. The protests had been planned to
coincide with King Sobhuza IIs 1973 Proclamation which outlawed political parties. The
venue was filled with police and security offices who prevented protesters from entering.
Protesters who were driving from other parts of the country were stopped at road blocks,
prevented from entering Mbabane and sent back to their home towns.
The organisers of the protests had planned to use the day to call for democratic reforms, the
organisation of multiparty election, for freedom of association to be respected and express
concerns over the imposition of tax on basic goods.
See also
KING BLOCKS JUDGES INDEPENDENCE
CALL TO END SWAZI MEDIA CENSORSHIP
Beating banned in Swazi schools

15 October 2015
A directive from Swazilands Ministry of Education that corporal punishment is now banned
in schools seems to have gone largely unnoticed.
19
Phineas Magagula, Minister of Education and Training, warned that teachers who beat pupils
should be reported to the ministry so that they could be disciplined, according to a report in
the Times of Swaziland.
The directive was issued without fanfare and few teachers appear to know it has been made.
Swaziland has a long history of atrocities committed by teachers against their pupils in the
name of discipline. Although there were rules about how corporal punishment could be
administered, these were largely ignored.
As recently as September 2015, the Times reported a 17-year-old school pupil died after
allegedly being beaten at school. The pupil reportedly had a seizure.
In March 2015, a primary school teacher at the Florence Christian Academy was charged
with causing grievous bodily harm after allegedly giving 200 strokes of the cane to a 12-yearold pupil on her buttocks and all over her body.
In February 2015, the headteacher of Mayiwane High School Anderson Mkhonta reportedly
admitted giving 15 strokes to a form 1 pupil for not wearing a neck tie properly.
In April 2015, parents reportedly complained to the Ndlalane Primary School after a teacher
beat pupils for not following his instruction and shaving their hair.
In October 2014, 20 pupils were thrashed before they sat an examination because they had
been absent from school studying for the exam the previous day.
On Thursday (15 October 2015), the Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King
Mswati III and the voice of the traditionalists in Swaziland published an article against the
abolition of corporal punishment.
Observer journalist Fanyana Mabuza wrote that if corporal punishment was abolished, [T]he
future could be bleak, especially for the children who for their own good need a bit of
spanking to bring them to order.
The article in the Observer, a newspaper that believes Swaziland will be a First World
nation by 2022 added, We just do not see the future clearly without the cane in our schools.
See also
SWAZI SCHOOL TORTURES STUDENTS
CHILDREN CHAINED AND FLOGGED BARE
PROBE VICIOUS SCHOOL BEATINGS
SCHOOL HEAD PUBLICLY FLOGS ADULTS
20
Swaziland, an open-air prison

10 November 2015
Swaziland has become an open-air prison, a militarised society and a royal farm in which
people become mere farmworkers for the King and his family, according to new research
published in an international academic journal.
The autocratic system parasitically feeds off the labour of the poor, whose primary reason
for existence is to work for the royal family and reproduce future workers of the same,
Bongani Masuku and Peter Limb conclude.
Masuku and Limb say that the education system in the kingdom, ruled by King Mswati III as
sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch, is in decline and only 6 percent of high school
graduates go on to further education.
The aim appears to be to deny wider educational opportunities and discourage various forms
of critical thinking and action so that more and more people see success tied to the mercy of
the King, whose propaganda is pushed on state-owned radio and exploited in cultural
spheres, they write in the Review of African Political Economy.
They say, Many rural areas lack basic services such as clean water, health facilities, schools
and roads whilst the royal family and its politicians enjoy lavish lifestyles.
Masuku, the International Relations Secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions
and Limb, of the Michigan State University, United States, analyse the present state of
political freedom and democracy in Swaziland.
They say the monarchy exercises absolute power through the system of governance known
as tinkhundla. The royal family controls key economic sectors and has its footstalls in the
form of chiefs at community levels.
They add that key appointments of power are exclusively the Kings prerogative. He
appoints the prime minister, chief justice, principal secretaries and political commissions.
State legal immunity, absence of political parties and suppression of the media and civil
society undermine the rule of law and accountability.
King attacked over human rights

20 November 2015
Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) has called on the Commonwealth to vigorously
respond to the Government of Swazilands failings on human rights, democracy and the rule
of law.
It said King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch,
must be held to account for its serious breaches of the Commonwealth Charter.
21
ACTSA, which is the successor to the Anti-Apartheid Movement, issued a report ahead of the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting due to be held in Malta on 27-29 November
2015.
In a submission to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, ACTSA said Swazilands
lack of respect for Commonwealth principles, along with its violations of international human
rights law, resulted in the subordination of the vast majority of the kingdoms population.
The report noted the growing internal criticism of the Government of Swaziland, including a
call for a transformation of the political system and added internal pressure for reform can
be bolstered by external pressure.
ACTSA said Swaziland must address: bans on political parties participating in the democratic
process; restrictions on freedom of expression; a weakened judiciary; and abuses of womens
rights.
The report challenged Swazilands response to previous recommendations made by the
Commonwealth and demanded that the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group take action.
ACTSAs Director, Tony Dykes, said in a statement, The Swazi government has led the
Commonwealth on a merry dance. If the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group - and thus
the Commonwealth as a whole - is to command respect, it absolutely must take action to
ensure Swaziland lives up to the commitments it has made. The time has long come for the
Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to formally consider the Government of
Swazilands status with respect to the Commonwealth Charter. The people of Swaziland
deserve nothing less.
See also
NO LET UP IN CALL FOR DEMOCRACY
COMMONWEALTH CALLS FOR DEMOCRACY
Swazi culture and wife beating

8 December 2015
A survey in Swaziland suggested four in 10 women believe that a husband is justified in
beating his wife because he is the head of the household.
This is not the first time that so-called Swazi culture has been investigated.
The APA news agency said a demographic health survey called the Multiple Indicator
Cluster Survey Comparative Report gave a number reasons for wife-beating which included;
22
if she refused to have sex with him, if she argued with him, if she went out without telling
him, if she neglected the children and if she had sex with other men.
APA reported, Silindelo Nkosi, the Communication and Advocacy Officer for Swaziland
Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) said, These beliefs of justifying abuse have
increased to the worst rate resulting in more young women dying in the hands of their lovers
or husbands.
It added, Clinical Psychologist Ndo Mdlalose describes this as an abusive mentality where
men also tend to claim they are correcting their women by beating them.
The report told us nothing new about Swazi culture and its abuse of women and girls.
The world famous medical journal, the Lancet in 2009 reported that one in three girls in
Swaziland had experienced sexual violence by the age of 18, according to a study.
Sexual violence was defined as forced intercourse; coerced intercourse; attempted unwanted
intercourse; unwanted touching; and forced touching.
The most common perpetrators of the first incident of sexual violence were men or boys from
the girls neighbourhood or boyfriends or husbands. Over a quarter of all incidents of sexual
violence occurred in the respondents own home, with a fifth occurring at the home of a
friend, relative or neighbour.
In June 2008 it was reported that the National Democratic and Health Survey found that 40
percent of men in Swaziland said it is all right to beat women. The same year, the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) found that the status of some women in Swaziland is so
low that they are practically starved at meal times, because men folk eat first and if there is
not enough food for everyone, the women must go without.
Women, who under traditional Swazi law are treated as children and are in effect owned by
their husbands or fathers, were expected to live lives devoted to their men and families. A
report on the State of the Population in Swaziland said that Swazi women were responsible
for childbirth, raising the children and taking care of the entire family.
Women are expected to give their husbands sex on demand and those who refuse have been
blamed for men who rape children.
See also
SWAZI CULTURE LETS WOMEN STARVE
TWISTED SWAZI MEN RAPE CHILDREN
SHOCKING LIVES FOR SWAZI WOMEN
23
3. FREE SPEECH
Kings word block free speech
23 November 2015
People in Swaziland have been ordered not to comment on the controversial sponsorship of a
new soccer tournament because King Mswati III has pronounced on the subject.
In a stark example of the lack of freedom of speech in the tiny kingdom where King Mswati
rules as sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch, the most senior monarchy loyalist TV
Mtetwa has pronounced that members of parliament, [cabinet] ministers and whoever must
be silent on the matter.
The controversy surrounds the E9 million (about US$900,000) sponsorship of the
Ingwenyama Cup tournament by the government parastatal Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle
Accident Fund (SMVAF).
SMVAF exists to compensate victims of road accidents.
King Mswati himself launched the tournament at an event at Lozitha, one of the 13 palaces
he has in Swaziland.
A range of critics said the amount of sponsorship was too much to spend in a kingdom that
was presently battling with poverty and a drought. Seven in ten of the Kings 1.3 million
subjects live in abject poverty with incomes of less than US$2 a day.
But, the Observer on Saturday, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, reported on
Saturday (21 November 2015) that Mtetwa, who is generally regarded as the traditional
prime minister, said people must stop discussing the topic, because the lion has already
roared on the matter.
The newspaper is part of the Swazi Observer group, which was called a pure propaganda
machine for the royal family by the Media Institute of Southern Africa in a report on press
freedom in Swaziland.
The Observer on Saturday reported Mtetwa, emphasised that it was wrong for people to
publicly talk about what the King has already pronounced and set in motion.
The newspaper added, Mtetwa said since time immemorial it had been a traditional norm
that no one speaks after the King had spoken.
The newspaper said, He warned all critics to guard against being seen to be going against
pronouncements made by the King.
24
The newspaper added, Also sought for comment, was traditionalist and National Court
President Ndumiso Dlamini who put it clear that he expected no one to taint what the king
had blessed.
He said it was a known traditional or and cultural practice that once His Majesty had spoken,
no one is expected to say a word against his.
Earlier, some members of parliament told Minister for Finance Martin Gobizandla Dlamini
that they were against the allocation of E9 million to the soccer tournament. The money will
be paid over three years.
Swazi Terror Act stops free speech

26 November 2015
The Swaziland regime regularly uses the Suppression of Terrorism Act (STA) to stop free
speech in the kingdom, the Commonwealth has been told ahead of its heads of government
meeting.
The STA is regularly used by the police to interfere in trade union activities, Action for
Southern Africa (ACTSA) said in a submission to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action
Group (CMAG), ahead of the meeting in Malta on 27-29 November 2015.
It said King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch,
must be held to account for its serious breaches of the Commonwealth Charter.
In its submission, ACTSA, which is the successor to the Anti-Apartheid Movement, said, A
cornerstone of any State seeking to demonstrate its dedication to human rights is the ability of
its citizens to exercise freedom of speech. In Swaziland, freedom of speech is denied.
It added, A key instrument used to curtail freedom of expression in Swaziland is the STA.
The STA has been widely criticised since its enactment because of its vague definitions and
broad designation of ministerial power as well as its inconsistencies with Swazilands own
constitution and Swazilands obligations under international and regional human rights law.
This includes condemnation by the International Bar Association and Amnesty International.
ACTSA added, The STA is regularly used by the police to legitimise interference with trade
union activities. For instance during the 2014 May Day celebrations organised by the Trade
Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), Mario Masuko, President of PUDEMO, and
Maxwell Dlamini, Secretary General of the Swaziland Youth Congress, were arrested and
charged under the STA after delivering speeches in which they questioned the socioeconomic governance of the country. The charges brought against them meant that if they
were found guilty, they would have faced a sentence of up to 15 years of hard labour.
Over a year passed with both men in detention and with no verdict having been passed.
Finally, on 14 July 2015, the two men were released on bail, with conditions forbidding them
25
from addressing public rallies. Whilst no longer incarcerated, the charges against both men
have not been dropped.
Additionally, on 17 and 18 March 2014, charges of criminal contempt were brought against
human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko and editor in chief of the Nation, Bheki Makhubu. Both
men were charged following publication of articles in the Nation that questioned the
reasoning behind and circumstances of a case before the High Court of Swaziland. The state
action taken against them was subject to condemnation by UN experts in June 2014. The
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported concerns that the
detention of both men was related to the legitimate exercise of their right to freedom of
expression as recognised in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Swaziland.
The OHCHR stated that it was of the view that the detention and trial of Maseko and
Makhubu for the exercise of their right to express an opinion on the court case was counter to
Swazilands international human rights obligations. The two men were subsequently
sentenced to two years in prison without benefit or bail where the usual sentence is 30 days.
Following much international condemnation and the dismissal of the judge who had
imprisoned them, Bheki Makhubu was finally released on 30 June 2015 having spent 447
days in prison, the prosecution having decided not to oppose his appeal against conviction.
The prosecution adopted a similar approach in the case of Thulani Maseko who was also
released in July of this year.
The use of oppressive laws to limit freedom of speech is not limited simply to the use of
existing legislation; there are also instances of unhelpful commentary by government officials
that is indicative of the repressive nature of the Swazi State. For example, in August 2014,
Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini, the Swazi prime minister, made a speech in Parliament in which
he publically threatened Sipho Gumedze from Lawyers for Human Rights and Vincent
Ncongwane, the General Secretary of TUCOSWA, by suggesting that members of their
constituency must strangle them.
These comments were made following their attendance at the US-Africa Leaders Summit in
Washington DC.
These actions are in contrast to the Charter that commits the Commonwealth to peaceful
open dialogue and the free flow of information through a free and responsible media to
enhance democratic traditions and strengthening the democratic processes.
The Commonwealth Observer mission in 2013 heard testimony that a number of journalists
critical of the government had lost their jobs, faced legal action or jail, with the consequence
that the practice of self-censorship had grown amongst reporters. The media are Swaziland is
overwhelming controlled by the state, and thus, ultimately, by the king.
The repeated arrests of the editor of one of the very few independent publications that has
been critical of the state and its institutions is clearly intended to intimidate those who would
seek to challenge the current regime.
26
The recommendation made by the Commonwealth Observer mission urging the Government
of Swaziland to encourage and facilitate private media has apparently failed to inspire action.
Instead, efforts to intimidate and restrict the media in fulfilling its legitimate role are
ongoing.
Beyond this, the much-criticised STA is being used to suppress political dialogue and thus
scupper democratic processes. We believe that CMAG must not be a bystander whilst there
are ongoing, serious and persistent violations of fundamental Commonwealth values.
See also
SWAZI TERROR ACT TRIAL PUT ON HOLD
SCRAP SWAZI TERROR ACT AMNESTY
27
4. POLITICAL PARTIES AND DEMOCRACY

Swaziland political parties: the facts
12 November 2015
Traditionalists in Swaziland have been gloating that because only 36 percent of people
surveyed in the kingdom wanted political parties it proved the present system of autocratic
monarchy was the preferred system of government. They have missed the point
spectacularly.
In Swaziland political parties are banned from contesting elections and King Mswati III, subSaharan Africas last absolute monarch, chooses the government. All debate about alternate
political systems is banned in the kingdom. Meetings to discuss political reform are routinely
broken up by police and security forces; prayer meetings are closed and advocates for reform
are jailed. Political parties and prodemocracy groups are banned under the Suppression of
Terrorism Act.
The media, which are mostly state-controlled under the King, do not allow debate for
political reform and schools teach the present tinkhundla system as the Swazi way of
government. Even children at the annual Reed Dance at which virgins dance half-naked
before the King are taught to sing songs against political parties.
With all this going on, it is close to a miracle that as many as 36 percent of the population
still say they want political parties. It does not take a leap of the imagination to suppose that
if the Swazi people were given the space to genuinely discuss alternative political systems,
the 36 percent would quickly grow to a majority and King Mswatis absolute monarchy
would come to an end.
Monarchists and traditionalists in Swaziland are dishonest about political parties. They say
they bring division and chaos, but that does not stop them accepting charity and aid from
nations that are multi-party democracies.
As recently as 2 November 2015, the Swazi media praised King Mswati when he returned
from India with promises of business loans from that country. What the Swazi people were
not told was that India is known as the largest democracy in the world (because of the size of
its population) and has a multi-party system.
Taiwan, which set up numerous businesses in Swaziland to exploit the kingdoms (now
withdrawn) special trading relationship with the United States, is a multi-party system.
South Africa, Swazilands neighbour and largest trading partner, is a multi-party democracy.
Without the support of South Africa, Swaziland would not have an economy.
King Mswati gladly receives charity for his kingdom from the European Union, an economic
bloc that consists entirely of multi-party democracies. The United States another multiparty democracy also provides aid and charity in abundance.
28
It is the economic and aid support from multi-party democracies that keeps Swaziland
functioning. But traditionalists refuse to openly discuss why it is that all these multi-party
democracies have such successful political systems that they can afford to be charitable to
Swaziland, while Swaziland, where parties cannot contest elections, cannot support itself.
Tens of thousands of Swazi people are predicted to go hungry during the present drought that
grips southern Africa. Swaziland will only stop its people from starving because food will be
donated by multi-party democracies.
While the Swaziland Government runs around like headless chickens unable to cope with the
drought, which recurs year after year, other, multi-party democracies in the area have put in
place schemes to cope with the crisis.
In Botswana (a multi-party democracy) for example, dams and pipelines take water from
areas with water to those without. Financial schemes are in place to compensate farmers
when crops fail and livestock die.
The government has worked on this for years, not only because it believes it is the right thing
to do, but also because it knows that if it fails the people will throw it out at the next election
and vote in an alternative government to meet their wishes.
People in Swaziland have no such choice. In the Swazi system the people elect only 55 of the
65 members of the House of Assembly; the King appoints the other 10. No members of the
Senate are elected by the people. King Mswati choses the Government: the Prime Minister
Barnabas Dlamini was not elected to parliament by the people, nor did they choose him to be
the government leader.
There is nothing the people in Swaziland can do. It makes no difference who they vote for.
Whoever they elect into parliament, the decision-making remains with the King and nothing
will change.
Richard Rooney
See also
SWAZIS WANT DEMOCRACY - SURVEY
EU TELLS KING: FREE PARTIES
UK CALLS FOR PARTIES TO BE UN-BANNED
NO PARTIES AT SWAZILAND ELECTION
29
One in three wants political parties

30 October 2015
More than one in three Swazi people want political parties to be allowed in the kingdom,
ruled by King Mswati III as an autocratic monarch.
The figure comes even though all debate on democratising the kingdom is ruthlessly crushed
by King Mswatis state police and security forces. Meetings called to discuss democratic
change are routinely disrupted by police and prodemocracy activists are jailed.
No news media in Swaziland support political parties.
In Swaziland, political parties are banned from taking part in elections. Groups that support
democracy are banned under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. The King chooses the Prime
Minister and Government. No members of the Swazi Senate House are elected by the people.
The people are allowed to elect 55 members of the 65-strong House of Assembly but the
other 10 are chosen by the King.
Afrobarometer reported on Thursday (29 October 2015) that in Swaziland 36 percent of
people questioned agreed with the statement, The Swazi Constitution should be amended to
allow for the existence of political parties in our country.
A total of 58 percent agreed with the statement, The constitutional ban on political parties
has served our country well and should therefore be maintained.
Democracy talks did not happen

7 October 2015
The much anticipated meeting between Swazilands autocratic King Mswati III and
representatives of the prodemocracy movement in his kingdom did not take place.
It was scheduled for 30 September 2015 and had been brokered by the Commonwealth. A
total of 15 representatives of civil society, including some groups banned under the
kingdoms Suppression of Terrorist Act, had been expected to attend.
Swaziland is a secretive society and existence of the meeting was never officially confirmed.
However, leaks about the meeting and who was attending, and who had been barred,
circulated freely on social media.
The meeting attracted attention because King Mswati rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan
Africas last absolute monarch, political parties are banned from taking part in elections and
groups advocating for democracy are outlawed. Every major global human rights
organisation has criticised Swaziland for its poor human rights record. Public meetings are
routinely broken up by police and state security. Journalists critical of the regime have been
jailed.
30
The meeting called by some talks about democracy failed to materialise after it became
clear that some participants had drawn up a list of demands for the King. These included the
unbanning of political parties and a commitment to democracy.
The Observer Sunday, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati and described by the
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) as belonging to a stable of newspapers that was a
pure propaganda machine for the Royal Family, reported Prince Masitsela, a senior
traditionalist in Swaziland, saying the Royal Family had not taken kindly to reports that
civil society representatives at the meeting had demands for the King.
The newspaper reported (4 October 2015), This has been viewed as a sign of disrespect
towards the King.
It added, Senior Prince Masitsela is one of the people who have come out to state publicly
that chances of the political formations meeting the King were now slim.
The Observer also reported, The 85-year-old prince said he did not see the meeting taking
place as it was unheard of that Swazi citizens would openly say they have demands for the
King.
Prince Masitsela is an advisor to the King on the Ludzidzini Council.
See also
NOW, PUDEMO SAYS IT WILL MEET KING
KING WONT MEET DEMOCRACY LEADERS
PUDEMO ON DEMOCRACY TALKS WITH SWAZI KING
KING TO MEET DEMOCRACY GROUPS
31
5. POLICE ACTION
Textiles protest: Police fire guns
9 October 2015
Police in Swaziland fired guns and teargas at workers engaged in a legitimate protest against
employment conditions.
According to different local newspaper reports between 2,000 and 3,000 workers at the
Zheng Yong Garment factory in Nhlangano had a confrontation with the companys security
guards.
According to the Swazi Observer newspaper one of the workers was assaulted heavily by the
guards which led to workers throwing missiles.
Management at the textile firm called in the police.
According to the Observer, It was then that gunshots were heard which saw another
stampede as the workers ran in different directions.
According to the Times of Swaziland, Witnesses said the violence was sparked by an
incident, on Wednesday [7 October 2015] afternoon, where one of the textile firm workers
was attacked by the security guards, following a misunderstanding with one of them.
Apparently, the worker had complained after he discovered that his E10 had gone missing
from a table where one of the security officers was keeping guard.
An argument ensued when the man enquired about the whereabouts of his money from the
security guard, leading to an exchange of blows.
Other security guards stationed at the company are said to have wasted no time and rushed to
the scene upon receiving a report.
However, it is alleged that instead of calming the situation, they added fuel to the fire.
Police are routinely called in during legitimate industrial disputes and there is a long history
of weapons being fired at striking workers. Police in Swaziland have also been criticised for
having a shoot-first-ask-questions-later policy.
In June 2015, Swaziland was named as one of the ten worst countries for working people in
the world, in a report from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
32
Another Swazi Police shooting

10 November 2015
Police in Swaziland shot a man at close range after he overturned rubbish bins and then ran
away from them, local media reported.
It is the latest in a long list of police shootings in the absolute monarchy.
The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom ruled by King
Mswati III, reported that a 21-year-old man had been suspected of throwing rubbish in the
road and pelting vehicles with stones.
The newspaper said, he was shot by police at close range after refusing to board their
vehicle.
It added, This, after he had been fingered to be one of those who pelted vehicles with stones
and further threw rubbish in the road. The bullet pierced through the mans stomach due to
the close proximity of the shooting. The incident happened in the early hours of Saturday [7
November 2015] in Ezulwini near Boma Restaurant.
A witness said the shooting happened after Simanga Mnisi and his friend took to their heels
when the police ordered them to board their vehicle.
This was not the first time police have shot civilians.
In October 2015 police fired guns and teargas at workers engaged in a legitimate protest
against employment conditions at the Zheng Yong Garment factory in Nhlangano.
A plain-clothed policeman shot an unarmed man in the back killing him while on a public bus
in February 2014. The man had allegedly stolen some copper wire before boarding the bus,
travelling from Siteki, in eastern Swaziland to Manzini.
The Times Sunday newspaper reported at the time the driver of the bus Majahonke Zikalala
said, the man was attempting to force his way out of the bus, the police officer shot him in
the back, near the spine the man fell on the floor after which he was handcuffed while he
bled. He died of his injures at the scene.
In March 2013, Swaziland police shot a man dead in front of his 11-year-old child as he held
his hands up in an attempt to surrender to them.
Thokozani Mngometulu, aged 31, was killed as he got out of his car at his homestead in
Dlakadla, in the Shiselweni region of Swaziland. Thokozanis family, who also witnessed the
killing, say he was shot in the pelvis at close range by a police officer.
In June 2012, a serial rapist suspect Bhekinkhosi Masina, popularly known as Scarface, was
shot by police as they cornered him for arrest. Police say they only shot him in the thigh and
he unexpectedly died of his injuries. The Times of Swaziland newspaper later revealed he had
33
been shot six times, including in the head and back.

In a separate incident, a mentally ill man, Mduduzi Mngometulu, aged 34, was shot seven
times by police and died of his injuries. He had four holes in his stomach, one in the leg and
two bullet wounds on the left side of his chest.
These are not isolated incidents in Swaziland where police have a growing record of killing
or maiming suspects before arrest. The cases have largely gone unreported outside of the
kingdom itself.
In one example, police executed a suspect, Thabani Mafutha Dlamini, at Nkwalini in
Hlatikulu in the presence of his colleagues and home boys in what local media called
cowboy style. The Swazi Observer newspaper reported the incident in December 2011
saying, Police had previously warned the mother of the dead man to budget for funeral
expenses as they intended to remove him. He was said to be on a police wanted list.
Dlamini was unarmed.
In a separate case in February 2011, a Swazi policeman shot Mbongeni Masuku, described in
media as a Form IV pupil, in the head in what was later described as an execution-style
killing.
The killing happened outside a bar in Matsapha, an industrial town in Swaziland.
Masukus uncle Sigayoyo Maphanga said Mbongeni had been dragged out of his car by
police. He told the Swazi Observer, a policeman whom he named, shot my nephew at the
back of the left ear and he fell on the ground with blood oozing from his mouth and ears. We
were all shocked and angered by such brutality from police officers.
In a separate case in May 2011, Mathende Matfonsi was shot dead by police while he was
attending a field of dagga, inside the remote forests of Lomahasha near the border with
Mozambique.
His family accused the police of cold-blooded murder. Matfonsi was shot dead at
Ebhandeni, the same area where Nkosinathi Khathwane had previously been shot dead by
soldiers at night.
The police told residents that Matfonsi fired at them and they shot back. The family said he
was unarmed.
In March 2010, police shot a man as he was trying to surrender to them. This time the victim,
Mncedisi Mamba, did not die. His mother, Thoko Gamedze, said Mamba had his hands up
and was surrendering to police, but they shot him anyway.
It is not only crime suspects who get shot at. In June 2013, police fired live bullets and
34
teargas as children protested against alleged corruption at Mhubhe High School in Ngculwini
Police were called after school pupils boycotted classes.
Local media reported police were armed with rifles and pistols. Gunshots were fired at the
pupils after police drove them away from the school, but they tried to return.
Legitimate protestors are also targets. In February 2012, a woman at a protest march in Siteki,
called by vendors and transport operators over plans by the town hall to move the local bus
rank, was shot in the hand as she walked away from police. Reports said she was only 2
metres away from police when they fired.
Police in Swaziland also shoot innocent bystanders. In May 2012, a student was shot in the
leg by police as they tried to break up a protest at the Limkokwing private university in
Mbabane. The 23-year-old was not part of the protest and was caught in crossfire, according
to human rights activists in the kingdom.
See also
SWAZI POLICE SHOOT-TO-KILL
POLICE SHOOT TWO STUDENTS IN HEAD
POLICE SHOOT INNOCENT BYSTANDER
SWAZI GUN COPS ENDANGER CHILDREN
POLICE SHOOT AND KILL MENTALLY ILL MAN
POLICE SHOT ACCUSED RAPIST IN HEAD
POLICE KILL SUSPECT IN COLD BLOOD
Police block workers from court

25 November 2015
Public sector workers in Swaziland were blocked by police from entering the High Court to
hear a case relating to their claim for salary increases.
It came after the government asked the High Court to ban a march by public sector unions to
protest that a salary review report had not been released.
The Swazi Government in the small kingdom ruled by King Mswati III, who is sub-Saharan
Africas last absolute monarch, told the court the march would be a breach of state security.
The High Court was due to meet on Tuesday (24 November 2015), but the case could not go
ahead because the unions lawyers did not have time to prepare their case.
The Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Secretary General Muzi Mhlanga
told local media they had not been allowed access to the High Court.
35
We had come here to listen to a case in which we are involved with the government. It is
disturbing to find that we are now denied access to the High Court, which is a public place,
the Swazi Observer quoted him saying.
The protest was to be organised by the Public Sector Associations (PSA). The PSA includes
SNAT, the Swaziland National Association of Civil Servants (SNACS), Swaziland Nurses
Association (SNA), and Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting
Personnel (SNAGAP).
Members of the PSA had intended to go to the offices of the Ministry of Public Service to
demand release of a salary review report.
Swazi Government lawyers said the PSA had not consulted the Mbabane Municipal Council
and the Hhohho regional police about the proposed march.
In Swaziland at least 14 days notice must be given for a march and police permission
obtained.
In June 2015, Swaziland was named as one of the ten worst countries for working people in
the world, in a report from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
A week after that report was issued, the International Labour Organization (ILO) told
Swaziland it must stop interfering in the activities of trade unions; ensure workers
organizations are fully assured of their rights and ensure they have the autonomy and
independence they need to represent workers.
The ILO placed Swaziland in a special paragraph in its annual report to highlight the
deficiencies in the kingdoms commitment to freedom of association.
See also
KINGDOM IN TOP 10 WORST FOR WORKERS
ILO URGES SWAZI WORKERS REFORM
36
6. ARMY SHOOTINGS
Army shoot 16 bullets into smuggler
16 October 2015
Soldiers in Swaziland put 16 bullets into a man and killed him because he would not stop his
car at a road check.
This was the latest in a long line of incidents that show the kingdoms army is out of control
and also enforces a shoot-first-ask-questions-later policy.
The army in Swaziland is known as the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force (USDF) and has
King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch, as its chief.
The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the King, reported on Friday (16
October 2015) that the soldiers, found themselves with no option but to open fire when a
Toyota Tazz bearing foreign registration numbers was smuggled into the kingdom with the
occupants failing to stop when ordered to do so.
It added, A total of 16 bullet wounds were found on the deceaseds body which the army
riddled through at him as he tried to escape.
The shooting occurred at Gege. There were two occupants in the vehicle believed to have
been stolen from around Piet-Retief. The driver was killed on the spot while his colleague
who also got shot managed to flee with several bullet wounds, according to the Observer.
The newspaper added, Army mouthpiece Madoda Mkhatshwa said the soldiers tried to stop
the car but the driver ignored them even after firing warning shots.
This incident comes less than two weeks or so after soldiers also gunned down another
suspected car smuggler near Mshololo not far from Zombodze Emuva.
In July 2015 it was reported by Titus Thwala a member of the Swazi parliament that
Swaziland soldiers beat up old ladies so badly they had to be taken to their homes in
wheelbarrows. They were among the local residents who were regularly beaten by soldiers at
informal crossing points between Swaziland and South Africa.
This was not the first time soldiers in Swaziland have been accused of beating and torturing
people. A man was reportedly beaten with guns and tortured for three hours by soldiers who
accused him of showing them disrespect.
Soldiers have been out of control in the kingdom for a very long time. In January 2010 they
were warned by the Swaziland Human Rights and Public Administration Commission that
their attacks on civilians amounted to a shoot to kill policy and this was unconstitutional.
37
Swazi soldiers ambush and kill man

11 November 2015
Soldiers in Swaziland ambushed a truck and riddled it with bullets, killing the occupant,
because it would not stop when requested.
The dead man had his skull and chest split open, according to a local media report.
This was one of a long line of army killings which have prompted accusations that King
Mswati III, the absolute monarch in Swaziland, runs a military state.
The latest incident on Friday (6 November 2015) happened on the border between Swaziland
and South Africa, near Mankayane.
According to the Times Sunday newspaper in Swaziland soldiers spotted a white South
African registered truck being smuggled through a cut fence in the borderline at Dwalile
area, outside Mankayane.
The newspaper reported, The soldiers are said to have first signalled for the truck to stop but
the driver ignored their instructions, prompting them to open fire.
The truck did not stop and the army personnel alerted their colleagues from another base to
be on the lookout for a white truck that was approaching their direction.
Upon receiving the message, the soldiers are said to have waited in ambush for the truck.
When they also failed to force the driver to stop, the army personnel sprayed the truck with
bullets, some of which are said to have blasted his skull, splitting it open in the process.
Other bullets are said to have landed in different areas in the body, including the feet and
also leaving another gash wound in the mans chest.
The man died on the spot, possibly from the serious nature of the injuries sustained.
In October 2015, soldiers put 16 bullets into a man and killed him because he would not stop
his car at a road check. The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the King,
reported that the soldiers, found themselves with no option but to open fire when a Toyota
Tazz bearing foreign registration numbers was smuggled into the kingdom with the occupants
failing to stop when ordered to do so.
It added, A total of 16 bullet wounds were found on the deceaseds body which the army
riddled through at him as he tried to escape.
The shooting occurred at Gege. There were two occupants in the vehicle believed to have
been stolen from around Piet-Retief. The driver was killed on the spot while his colleague
who also got shot managed to flee with several bullet wounds, according to the Observer.
This incident came less than two weeks or so after soldiers also gunned down another
suspected car smuggler near Mshololo not far from Zombodze Emuva.
38
In July 2015 it was reported by Titus Thwala a member of the Swazi parliament that
Swaziland soldiers beat up old ladies so badly they had to be taken to their homes in
wheelbarrows. They were among the local residents who were regularly beaten by soldiers at
informal crossing points between Swaziland and South Africa.
Soldiers have been out of control in the kingdom for a very long time. In January 2010 they
were warned by the Swaziland Human Rights and Public Administration Commission that
their attacks on civilians amounted to a shoot to kill policy and this was unconstitutional.
In April 2013, the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) condemned
Swaziland police and state security forces for their increasingly violent and abusive
behaviour that is leading to the militarization of the kingdom.
In a report to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) meeting in
The Gambia, OSISA said, There are also reliable reports of a general militarization of the
country through the deployment of the Swazi army, police and correctional services to clamp
down on any peaceful protest action by labour or civil society organisations ahead of the
countrys undemocratic elections.
See also
SWAZILAND BECOMING MILITARY STATE
SWAZI SOLDIERS TORTURE OLD LADIES
39
7. MEDIA
Jailed journalists seek millions in compensation
20 October 2015
The two Swaziland journalists who were jailed for writing and publishing articles critical of
the judiciary but later released by the Supreme Court are suing the Swazi Government for
millions of emalangeni.
Thulani Maseko, a human rights lawyer and writer, wants E20 million (about US$2 million)
and Bheki Makhubu, the editor of the Nation magazine, where the articles appeared, wants
E3.7 million.
The pair spent about 470 days in jail of a two-year sentence after being convicted of contempt
of court in a case that attracted condemnation from across the world.
They claim unlawful arrest, prosecution and detention.
Makhubu, in his letter of demand directed to the office of Attorney General Majahenkhaba
Dlamini, says his arrest, prosecution and detention were unlawful and without probable
and/or reasonable cause and were motivated by malicious intent.
Makhubus claim includes compensation for malicious arrest, prosecution and detention;
defamation of character; emotional trauma, shock and discomfort and legal costs incurred
during his trial.
Thulani Maseko who is claiming E20 million stated that he was maliciously prosecuted and
he was released when the Crown conceded that the arrest, prosecution and detentions were
unlawful.
See also
SWAZI HUMAN RIGHTS WORSEN: AMNESTY
JOURNALISTS JAILED TO DETER OTHERS
US BACKS CONVICTED SWAZI JOURNALISTS
JUDGE RESTRICTS PRESS FREEDOM
SUPPORT FOR CONVICTED JOURNALISTS
WHAT CONVICTED JOURNALISTS WROTE
King keeps grip on Swazi Observer

1 December 2015
King Mswati III of Swaziland has reappointed the entire board of directors of the Swazi
Observer newspaper group.
40
The King, in effect owns the group which is part of the Tibiyo Taka Ngwane that he controls
in trust for the nation, but uses as a source of personal finance.
The six-member board includes two members of his family and one chief. In Swaziland,
where King Mswati rules as sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch, chiefs owe their
positions to the Kings patronage.
The Swazi Observer group has been called a pure propaganda machine for the royal family
by the Media Institute of Southern Africa in a report on the lack of press freedom in
Swaziland.
The board of directors has been in place since 2013 and will sit until 31 October 2018.
In a report in the Swazi Observer on Thursday (26 November 2015) Chair of the Board
Sthofeni Ginindza was reported saying, Bayethe Wena Waphakathi. Thats all we can say as
a board and thank the King for showing confidence in the board and ours is to continue with
our mandate to ensure that our newspaper remains independent in its presentation of news.
Despite Ginindzas statement on independence, the Swazi Observer group has made no
secret that it exists to support King Mswati and his so-called traditionalists.
On 1 March 2010, Musa Ndlangamandla, the then editor-in-chief of the Swazi Observer
group, wrote in his own newspaper, But our collective stand as a newspaper is that the
integrity of Swaziland as a democratic State and His Majesty King Mswati III as the
legitimate leader of the Swazi nation, must never be compromised in any way.
On 8 January 2011, Alec Lushaba, then editor of the Weekend Observer and now editor of the
Sunday Observer, wrote in his own newspaper, We commit ourselves into respecting and
observing the institution of the Monarchy by ensuring that all publications with regard to
Their Majesties are factually, culturally and traditionally correct. The sensitivity of the
institutions demands that all facts be checked or verified with the traditional structures and/or
have been in direct consultation with Their Majesties.
The full board of the Swazi Observer group is: Sthofeni Ginindza, Prince Mandla Roland
Dlamini, Senator Princess Phumelele Dlamini, Chief of Ezulwini Mashampu Sifiso Khumalo,
Dumsile Lavumisa Sigwane and Simanga Zibuse Simelane.
41
8. FOOD AND DROUGHT CRISIS

Swazi Government to blame for drought crisis
15 October 2015
The Swaziland Government has been blamed for not acting quickly enough nor giving the
financial support it promised to avert a national disaster as cattle die and people go hungry
in drought-hit areas of the kingdom.
The government had promised it would devote 10 percent of the national budget to
agriculture, but instead only allocated 3.5 percent, according to a report just published.
This was at a time when the budget for King Mswati III, who rules the kingdom as subSaharan Africas last absolute monarch, increased by 25 percent over the previous year and
amounted to E792 million (US$79.2 million), roughly half the E1.5 billion allocated to
agriculture.
This extent of the drought was revealed in a study commissioned by the Swaziland Economic
Justice Network (SEJUN) on poverty in outlying areas, particular in the Lubombo region.
Among some of the areas it visited in the first week of October 2015 were Siphofaneni,
Gucuka, Sithobeklweni, Big Bend, Nsoko, Lubulini, Zindwendweni, Somntongo and
Maloam.
The report concluded the situation, now borders on a national disaster and quick and
decisive intervention [is] needed.
On Wednesday (14 October 2015) SEJUN reported, We are, however, disappointed that
government has not acted with the requisite speed to try and find short and long term
solutions to the problems of draught not just the Lubombo region but the entire country. In
our visit we were informed that in one family they had lost close to 43 cattle owing to draught
while other families have not planted anything for their own livelihood in over a year.
SEJUN reported the Swazi Government allocated only E1.5 billion in the 2014/2015 national
budget towards agriculture. This is despite that in 2002 she signed the Maputo declaration
which states that she would allocate nothing less than 10 percent of the national budget
towards agriculture. This years budget allocation to agriculture was about 3.5 percent of the
national budget.
SEJUN added Swaziland lagged behind other African countries, in terms of developing
agriculture to be the main driver of the Swazi economy, especially as our rural agriculture has
not been integrated into mainstream economy. For example, our people in rural areas still use
manual labour for agriculture which does not reflect modern ways of engaging in
agriculture.
SEJUN reported, Swaziland is ranked as a lower middle-income country yet income
distribution within the country is extremely unequal. The wealthiest 10 percent of the
42
population account for nearly half of total consumption and there is an ever-widening gap
between urban and rural development. There are clear signs that poverty and unemployment
are on the rise. About 84 percent of the countrys poor people live in rural areas, where per
capita income is about four times lower than in urban areas, and food consumption is two
times lower.
A large proportion of rural households practice subsistence agriculture. About 66 percent of
the population is unable to meet basic food needs, while 43 per cent live in chronic poverty.
When drought hit Swaziland in 2004 and 2005 more than one quarter of the countrys
population required emergency food aid.
To underline the income inequality in Swaziland, in June 2015, the Nation magazine, an
independent monthly publication in Swaziland, revealed that the budget for King Mswati and
the royal household rose 25 percent in 2015 from E630 million [US$63 million] the previous
year to E792 million.
SEJUN said the effects of the drought in Swaziland were, a result of long-term
environmental degradation and policy blunders at all levels.
It said, among others, the following measures were needed:
Strengthen, improve early warning systems to prepare local people and build their resilience
before the disaster hits;
The National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) needs proper financing or
enhancement. The Swaziland government need to set aside adequate funding to address
impact of climate change without relying much on donor community.
SEJUN added, We therefore propose that as an immediate solution the problems of drought
in the Lubombo region the following needed to be done:
The Minister of Agriculture as well as Minister of Health must visit the affected areas for a
first-hand account of what is happening around these areas. This will assist the Honourable
Ministers to develop ideas and suggestions which would serve the remaining livestock and
prevent any human loss of lives through practising safety precautions.
This is because the poverty stricken people of these areas tend to eat some of the decaying
meat and this is a health hazard and could cause an outbreak of many diseases. Some of the
cattle die in the muddy streams only to find that downstream there are people who are using
the water for cooking and washing. This is an early warning that very soon we could face
problems of loss of human life.
Immediate water and food supply to the people. This is necessitated by the fact that it is not
just animals that are affected by this drought but ordinary people too who have not planted
any crop in the last year owing to the drought. These people were surviving by selling their
43
cattle and right now there is no longer anything they can sell nor eat. Government must
immediately assist the our people with food and water.
The government must immediately provide hay as a temporary measure for those cattle that
have survived the drought. Government also needs to dispatch a veterinary team to inspect if
the cattle have not been infected by any diseases and to assist the people in getting their cattle
back.
Government, working with the communities, must also assist identify and burn the dead and
decomposing cattle in an environmentally safe way.
See also
KING GETS NEW JET AS PEOPLE STARVE
SWAZIS AMONG HUNGRIEST IN THE WORLD
HUNGER INCREASES IN SWAZILAND
GOVT DELIBERATELY STARVING PEOPLE
CORRUPTION LEADS TO STARVATION
FEAR OF MASS HUNGER IN SWAZILAND
Swazi Government to blame for food crisis

10 December 2015
The unelected government in Swaziland is being blamed for a pending humanitarian crisis in
the kingdom where at least one in six of the entire population are predicted to be without food
by March 2016.
The Deputy Prime Minister Paul Dlamini was reported by one local newspaper saying
200,000 people would be starving by then.
That amounts to about one sixth of the 1.2 million population of Swaziland.
A different newspaper reported Dlamini giving a higher figure of about 300,000 people in
need of food aid by April 2016.
Swaziland is ruled by King Mswati III as sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch.
Political parties cannot contest elections and the King chooses the Prime Minister and
Cabinet ministers.
Media in Swaziland reported that members of the Swaziland House of Assembly gave the
Deputy Prime Minister 24 hours to report on where he would find money to tackle the crisis.
The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, reported on
Thursday (10 December 2015) that the ultimatum came after the Swazi Government
44
confirmed that it does not have a budget to feed the thousands of people affected by the
drought brought about by El Nino.
The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, reported Dlamini saying
the figure requiring food aid would rise to 200,000 by March 2015. The Observer added,
Dlamini stated that statistics had revealed that next year 200,000 people would be starving.
The Times reported, Dlamini said their predictions showed that by March and April, about
300,000 people would be in need of food aid.
The Observer reported, The deputy prime minister stated that unfortunately government
would not be able to help the affected people due to financial constraints.
45
9. HEALTH
Kingdom bottom in health ranking
3 November 2015
Swaziland has come last in a study of the healthiest nations in the world.
The kingdom came bottom out of 145 countries in the Worlds Healthiest Countries report published
by Bloomberg. Data for the report was compiled from the United Nations, the World Bank and the
World Health Organisation.
The Bloomberg rankings gave each country with a population of 1 million or more a health
score and a health-risk score.
Each countrys place was calculated by subtracting their risk score from their health score.
The health score is based on factors such as life expectancy from birth and causes of death,
while health-risk is based on factors which could impede health such as the proportion of
young people who smoke, the number of people with raised cholesterol and the number of
immunisations
46
10. HOUSE SPEAKER CRISIS

Committee tells Swazi Speaker to quit
19 October 2015
The Swaziland House of Assembly Speaker Themba Msibi has been told to resign by a
Parliamentary Select Committee.
The five-member committee found him guilty of a series of offences, including nepotism and
favouritism in the hiring of parliamentary staff;
plotting the ousting/removal of the Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini from the Premiership
position;
abusing the name of the monarchy for his own selfish ends;
promoting anarchy and running parliament like a personal fiefdom, and
engaging in corrupt practices not being trustworthy and being fraudulent.
The Select Committee recommended he resign within seven days of the adoption of its
report. Parliament has yet to discuss the report.
Msibi has been surrounded in controversy over the past few months. He was briefly
suspended from his duties in June 2015.
Following the publication of details contained in the Select Committee report, Msibi told
local media in Swaziland that he had no intention of resigning.
The Observer on Sunday, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III and seen as the
mouthpiece of Swazi Royalty, published the findings of the Select Committee report on
Sunday (18 October 2015). It is reproduced below.
Select Committee findings
1. The Speaker (Honourable Themba Msibi) indeed interferes with the hiring and promotion
of staff members in parliament. The Speakers actions are tantamount to nepotism and
favouritism, abuse of authority, corruption and fraud.
2. The Honourable Speaker Themba Msibi (MP) did misrepresent the CPA [Commonwealth
Parliamentary Association] Swaziland branch in the CPA Africa branch; when he
fraudulently nominated himself as CPA Southern Africa Regional Representative much
against the Swaziland CPA Constitution. The Speaker Themba Msibi fraudulently selected
himself to become Regional Representative without consent of the Executive Committee,
CPA Swaziland branch.
3. That the Honourable Speaker did expel the Joint House Committee; directly or
47
constructively. The Speaker Honourable Themba Msibi acted improperly and violated the
privileges of House by acting ultra vires.
4. The Speaker plotted the ousting/removal of the Right Honourable Prime Minister Sibusiso
Dlamini from the Premiership position. The presiding officers abuse the name of the
monarchy for their own selfish ends. They were a deadly combination that sought to
destabilise the government as messengers of royalty.
5. The Speaker has no admiration, respect, regard and reverence for members of parliament;
as he took two secretaries, including his favoured Secretary 1, for a trip to Korea.
6. That the parliamentary organogram and remuneration need review; particularly the
Hansard Department. The entire staffing system in parliament has been grossly corrupted.
7. The presiding officers interfere and jeopardise the work of the clerk to parliament.
Unfortunately, the clerk gets intimidated and succumbs to their whims.
8. The Speaker did hire and promote parliamentary staff, yet there is no single piece of
regulation or policy that assigns that responsibility to his office.
9. The Speaker not only practices nepotism in parliament, but also promotes anarchy. The
Speaker is running parliament like a personal fiefdom, without any regard for the
governments general orders which govern the parliaments staff.
10. The Honourable Speaker did unscrupulously try to siphon the select committees
investigation information from the Technician working with the select committee, as
evidenced by the police statement attached.
11. The Speaker Honourable Themba Msibi fails to control his temper, as per evidence of
Honourable Sitezi Dlamini, Library1, Library 2, assistant clerk 4 and others.
12. The Honourable Speaker did engage in corrupt practices, which include his failure to
recuse himself or at least declare interest to the Parliamentary Service Board meetings when
accounts 1, cleaner 1, canteen 1were interviewed.
13. The Speaker is not trustworthy and is fraudulent.
14. The Speaker treats parliament as an extension of his own personal property.
15. The Speaker does have dubious, shady, and adulterous relationships with parliamentary
female staff members. It is unfortunate that about half of those ladies associated with the
Speakers shenanigans are married.
16. The Speaker usurped the responsibility of procurement from the office of the clerk and
made it his own business, obviously for unclean and unprofessional reasons.
17. The Honourable Speaker has no respect for parliament, as he flatly refused to appear
before the select Committee while on the other end continued to tarnish the image of
48
parliament by making headlines in the media, responding to the allegations he was being
investigated for.
18. That in parliament, there are serious allegations of sex for jobs.
19. That the Honourable Speaker has uncontrollable weakness for women.
Recommendations
1. The presiding officers interference in purely administrative matters should be condemned
in the strongest terms since it is tantamount to flagrant abuse of authority. Therefore a review
of all the illegal appointments made should be undertaken by the Management Services
Department and a way forward mapped out.
2. Parliament should expedite the enactment of the Parliamentary Service Board Bill, so that
a properly constituted PSB can be established.
3. The whole staffing system needs a thorough review that will address improved working
conditions, including remuneration, promotion etc.
4. The hiring of parliamentary staff should be based on the principle of meritocracy, to avoid
the sex for jobs scenario.
5. The Joint House Committee must resume its duties forthwith, as it was illegally dissolved
by the presiding officers. Those responsible for its dissolution should not be allowed to
interfere in its operation ever again.
6. The Honourable Speaker must be surcharged by Treasury for
a) The money unduly paid to him in refund for a book he bought in London, which remains
unaccounted for;
b) Defrauding government by filing for full per diem on a fully sponsored trip to South
Korea; and this must also include all those who formed part of his delegation;
c) The computers that he unilaterally purchased.
7. Fraud, corrupt practices, theft and abuse of authority are covered in the Prevention of
Corruption Act, 2006. It is expected therefore that the Anti-Corruption Commission will
execute its mandate as provided in law; without fear or favour. It is quite incontestable, if not
indubitable, that the findings portray the administrative atmosphere in parliament as so
polarised and corrupted that the long arm of the law has to intervene.
8. The House business should continue with or without the Speaker. Parliamentary
Committees should not compromise the integrity of Parliament by remaining indifferent even
when the institution is being eroded. No individual has the right to stall parliamentary
business, for this is a sacred institution.
49
9. It is crystal clear, and one need not be a rocket scientist to tell that the current Speaker
Honourable Themba Msibi is not fit to hold the office of the Speaker; and cannot be
rehabilitated.
In light of the preceding revelations, which include acts of corruption, fraud,
misrepresentation of facts, illegal procurement, graphic sexual escapades, nepotism,
favouritism, abuse of power, bringing the name of the monarchy into disrepute; it is,
therefore, concluded that the Hon. Speaker, Honourable Themba Msibi must sacrifice the
seals of his office.
The Honourable Speaker must, within seven (7) days from the adoption of this report, do the
honourable thing and resign as Speaker of the House of Assembly; failing which a vote of no
confidence be passed on him in terms of Section 102(7)(b) of the Constitution of the
Kingdom of Swaziland.
See also
SWAZI HOUSE SPEAKER SUSPENDED
KINGS MAN STANDS FOR SPEAKER JOB
CONFUSION AS SPEAKER NOT ELECTED
DISSIDENT STANDS AS HOUSE SPEAKER
50
11. UNISWA AND BLACK WEDNESDAY

When Swaziland Army invaded UNISWA
19 November 2015
Students and prodemocracy activists this week have marked the anniversary of the time the
Swazi Army invaded the University of Swaziland (UNISWA) in what one international
newspaper called, a crackdown of unprecedented violence in the history of the university.
The invasion which came to be known as Black Wednesday happened on 14 November
1990.
The Times Higher Education Supplement newspaper in the UK reported, the Swazi
government dispatched armed police and military units to the [University of Swaziland]
campus to disperse boycotting students. It was a crackdown of unprecedented violence in the
history of the university.
The event is still commemorated at UNISWA, but over time it is thought that many of
todays students do not know much about what happened that day at the universitys
Kwaluseni campus.
The news agency Inter Press Service (IPS) called the student unrest in 1990 a rebellion that
became a seminal event that signalled a new generations political consciousness. It was,
IPS said, a dawning political awareness born from a confluence of historical forces then
sweeping the world and the Southern African region.
The IPS report which was a retrospective nine years after the event (2 December 1999) said
armed soldiers pushed police aside and forced students out of the library where they had
barricaded themselves.
The day began as a disorganised demonstration against campus issues such as poor food
but soon turned into demands for democratic reforms in Swaziland's government.
The IPS report quoted Manzini lawyer Lindiwe Khumalo-Matse, a university student at the
time, saying, The reason why soldiers were called in was because government saw our
protest as a political uprising.
Khumalo-Matse was further quoted by IPS, This was because of the involvement of Sabelo
Dlamini, who was a member of the People's United Democratic movement (PUDEMO).
Sabelo was prominent in the Students Representative Council, hesaid.
In 1990, one of its most draconian measures, a 60-Day Detention Law, was still in force,
permitting authorities to lock up anyone they saw as a threat to public order. All political
protestors were designated as such threats.
51
The violence that ensued after soldiers swept through campus has been a sensitive subject
with government ever since. A commission of enquiry had its report secreted away for years,
with a bowdlerized version finally released to the public in 1997.Two students who were
seriously injured sued government for damages, and their cases were settled out of court.
IPS reported that not only was the traditional leaderships fear of democracy revealed on
Black Wednesday, but also a proletariat attitude of resentment, displayed by the soldiers,
was shown against the educated student elite. The military's code name for the university
invasion was Operation Tinfundiswa (educated ones).
It was a time of wild rumors, recalled Khumalo-Matse. We heard that government feared
we would burn down the library, which belied common sense because we were inside and
would have incinerated ourselves.
The army officials in charge gave students a five-minute warning, and then unleashed what
one onlooker later told an investigating committee was a military riot against civilians.
Students were beaten as they emerged from the library to escape teargas canisters hurled
through windows, and had to run a gauntlet of soldiers. Other soldiers chased students until
they cornered them along fences. As they beat students with batons, the soldiers informed
them they were being punished.
People in Swaziland were shocked by the brutality. Particularly offensive was one newspaper
photo depicting a young woman carried out of the library between soldiers like a slaughtered
pig, according to a letter writer to the Times of Swaziland.
After the invasion, Michael Prosser, a professor from the United States who was working at
the University of Swaziland, posted an account of what he saw on his personal website. A
version of this later appeared in a book he co-edited called Civic Discourse: Intercultural,
International, and Global Media.
This is his account from his website that is no longer available online.
BLOODY WEDNESDAY IN SWAZILAND
November 14, 1990, Bloody Wednesday in Swaziland still lingers as a most important
moment in my life. It was the only day that I thought I surely might die. I was a Fulbright
Professor at the University of Swaziland in south east Africa that year.
University students began boycotting classes on November 12 in protest of a lack of faculty
lecturers, poor food conditions, and the suspension of a popular young sociology lecturer for
promoting democracy in Swaziland.
Early on November 12, all 1 600 university students held a protest meeting and boycotted all
52
classes. At noon, they dumped their plastic wrapped lunches at the administration office door.
The Swazi radio, and tv stations, Swazilands newspapers gave extensive coverage to the
dumping of the lunches. Many Swazis were subsistence farmers who often went to bed
hungry; thus this student decision reflected very badly on them. All students received a
University notice demanding the end of their class boycott on November 13. They decided to
continue it. The University Council demanded their return to classes on November 14, or be
considered in defiance of the twenty-three year old King Mswati III.
Another student meeting on November 14 continued the boycott. About 500 students
peacefully barricaded themselves in the two-storey university library. Several hundred
students left campus or stayed in their student hostel area. At about 5pm, armed Swazi
soldiers entered the high fenced campus.
A university official drove through the campus announcing the immediate campus closure.
Five young women rushed to me and asked for emergency protection in my home. I took
them there immediately.
A fifteen hour rain and thunderstorm had just begun. The young women were quite terrified.
The young soldiers broke into the library and the student hostels, dragging students out,
beating both men and women with their night sticks on their arms and legs, and forcing them
to run a gauntlet toward the front gate while the soldiers gave them sharp blows.
The soldiers taunted the students: Well beat the English out of you. They were especially
vicious toward the women. The soldiers had been stationed that day at the high school next
door to the campus and drank lots of beer before they attacked the campus, making them
even more violent than otherwise so likely.
A neighbor warned us that at 10pm, soldiers would search our houses and arrest any students
found there or on campus. Two Canadian families and I, in a caravan of three autos, took 11
frightened Swazi students in the three cars to the front gate to take them to safety.
With a gun pointed the first drivers cheek, he got permission from the guard to leave the
campus with the students. In the swirling rain, lightening, and thunderstorm, we took the
students to safe shelters. When we returned to campus late in the evening, two soldiers were
posted all night in the back and in the front of our houses.
With some students, I drove to the nearby hospital where more than 120 students had
received emergency treatment. We visited more than a dozen badly injured students. We
learned that soldiers possibly had injured as many as 300-400 and had killed perhaps as many
as two-four students.
The Swazi radio and tv stations gave no information about what had happened after the
53
students had dumped their food. However, the two Swazi newspapers did give the event
considerable coverage over several weeks. They also printed many letters to the editor
decrying the incident and called for a national judicial enquiry. Reuters News Agency and the
South African press gave it some coverage.
Amnesty International cited it in their 1991 Annual Review. The University remained closed
for two months, reopening on January 14. A national judicial enquiry, more heavily critical of
the student boycott than the hostile military response, began on March 14, 1991 and ended on
May 14.The enquiry panel never released any details to the public.
The print media called the incident Black Wednesday but my students and I attempted to
have the newspapers rename it Bloody Wednesday since so much innocent student blood had
been shed.
I always recall that day as my worst and best day in Swaziland when much evil occurred but
many good people at the campus, the hospital, and nearby clinics generously helped the
students. Do these former African students, now in their thirties, still remember that day? I
assume so. I certainly always do.
54
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Richard Rooney was associate professor at the University of Swaziland 2005 2008, where he was
also the founding head of the Journalism and Mass Communication Department.
He has taught in universities in Africa, Europe and the Pacific. His academic research which
specialises in media and their relationships to democracy, governance and human rights has appeared
in books and journals across the world.
His writing regularly appears in newspapers, magazines and on websites. He was a full-time journalist
in his native United Kingdom for 10 years, before becoming an academic.
He has published the blog Swazi Media Commentary since 2007 and also has other social media sites
that concentrate on human rights issues in Swaziland.
He holds a Ph.D in Communication from the University of Westminster, London, UK.

He presently teaches at the University of Botswana, Gaborone.
55
Publications from Swazi Media Commentary available online free-of-charge
BOOKS
2013. The beginning of the End? 2012, a year in the struggle for democracy in
Swaziland
This compilation of newsletters from Africa Contact in collaboration with Swazi Media
Commentary contains an assortment of news, analysis and comment covering the campaign
for freedom in Swaziland throughout 2012. These include the Global Action for Democracy
held in September; campaigns for democracy spearheaded by trade unions and students and
the continuing struggle for rights for women, children, gays and minority groups.
2012. The End of the Beginning? 2011, a year in the struggle for freedom in Swaziland
This book looks at activities in the freedom movement in 2011. It starts with a section on the
unsuccessful April 12 Uprising followed by separate chapters looking at events in each
month of 2011, including the Global Week of Action held in September. They also highlight
the numerous violations of rights suffered by the poor, by children, by women and by sexual
minorities, among others, in the kingdom.
2011. Voices Unheard: Media Freedom and Censorship in Swaziland.

This volume of pages from Swazi Media Commentary focuses on media freedom and
censorship. It starts with some overview articles that set out the general terrain, moving on to
look at repressive media laws. Other sections of this book relate the daily threats journalists
in Swaziland face when they want to report, but are not allowed to.
56
OCCASIONAL PAPERS SERIES

No. 1. 2013. Cynicism Eats Away at Swaziland Journalism: The State of Swazi
Journalism, 2013
One thing that shines out about journalists and their editors in Swaziland is the deeply cynical
way they operate. Swazi journalists claim to be upholders of fine ethical traditions of honesty
and inquiry, but instead they are often publishing lies or playing with readers emotions to
boost company profits.
This article explores the state of newspaper journalism in Swaziland, a small kingdom in
Africa, ruled over by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch. Editors
are deliberately misleading their readers by publishing material that is intended to provoke
controversy and reaction, even though they know it also contains lies. This is done in order to
boost profits for owners.
No. 2. 2013. Swaziland Broadcasting Not For The People
A review of broadcasting in Swaziland that demonstrates through research that radio in the
kingdom only serves the interests of King Mswati III and his intimate supporters. All other
voices are excluded from the airwaves. The paper contrasts a public broadcasting service
with public service broadcasting and demonstrates that changes in the kingdoms
broadcasting cannot be made until it becomes a democratic state.
No. 3. 2013. Swaziland Media Need Code of Conduct for Covering Elections
A review of how media have covered past elections in Swaziland highlighting a number of
areas for improvement. The paper includes a suggested code of ethical conduct that Swazi
journalists can adopt in order to improve performance.
No.4. 2013. Swaziland Press Freedom: The case of Bekhi Makhubu and the Nation
magazine
In April 2013 Bheki Makhubu the editor of the Nation magazine and its publishers,
Swaziland Independent Publishers were convicted of scandalising the court after two
articles criticising the judiciary were published in 2009 and 2010. The purpose of this paper is
to bring together details of the story so far (May 2013). It is an attempt to bring under one
cover all the available information on the case in order to assist those people in the future
who might need a quick primer.
No.5. 2013. Media Coverage of Swaziland Election 2013.
A review of media coverage of the Swaziland national election, most notably in the only two
newspaper groups in the kingdom, and at international media. It notes that generally
newspapers in Swaziland ignored the real issue, that of the non-democratic nature of the
elections, and concentrated instead on trying to justify the governance system to their readers.
57
SWAZILAND: STRIVING FOR FREEDOM

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