Swaziland Striving For Freedom Vol 36 Oct To Dec 2019

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

Vol. 36. October – December 2019
Compiled by
Richard Rooney
Compiled by
Richard Rooney
SWAZILAND: STRIVING FOR FREEDOM
INTRODUCTION
Campaigning against Swaziland’s absolute monarch King Mswati III with renewed calls for
democratic reform dominated the final three months of 2019. A new grouping of political
parties – some banned in the kingdom – called the PPA (Political Parties Assembly) launched
and engaged in a number of public meetings and demonstrations.
In a statement the PPA said it wanted to end the kingdom’s form of government, known as
Tinkhundla, or monarchical democracy. They want power returned to the people. PPA stated,
‘We unanimously observed that the royal project Tinkhundla has reached a point of no return
in dragging down our dignity and stretching beyond limits our patience as a people.’
These were some of the main events in the period October to December 2019 and contained
in Swaziland: Striving for Freedom, volume 36, a compilation of reports posted on the
Swazi Media Commentary website.
King Mswati received global attention when he bought himself and his family at least 15
luxury Rolls-Royce cars (early reports suggested as many as 20 had been purchased). The
state then bought 126 BMW cars and motorbikes for ‘escort duties’ in the kingdom. US
Ambassador to Swaziland Lisa Peterson criticised this lavish spending in a public speech and
unleashed a torrent of criticism from the King’s supporters. There may be attempts to censor
her future public statements.
In other events, police attacked workers on legal strikes, using teargas, water cannon and
rubber bullets. There were reports of live bullets being fired. Police shot one union leader in
the back even though he had his hands raised and pleaded: Don’t shoot.
Police also fired live ammunition and shot a university student with a rubber bullet as class
boycotts against the government’s non-payment of allowances swept the kingdom.
Swazi Media Commentary is published online, updated most weekdays. It is operated entirely
by volunteers and receives no financial backing from any organisation. It is devoted to
providing information and commentary in support of human rights in Swaziland.
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CONTENTS
Introduction 2
1 Political activity 3
2 King Mswati III 13
3 Police 33
4 Students 46
5 Workers’ disputes 50
6 Govt financial crisis 53
7 Media freedom 57
8 Women 64
9 Profile: Mario Masuku 70
10 Interview: Richard Rooney 74
11 And the rest … 83
About the editor 90
Previous publications 91
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1. POLITICAL ACTION
Swaziland political parties unite in bid to end absolute king’s power
12 November 2019
Political parties in Swaziland – some of them outlawed – have joined together to try to force
an end to the rule of absolute monarch, King Mswati III.
Their leaders intend to march on Wednesday (13 November 2019) to deliver a petition to
Swazi Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini. They will also petition the South African High
Commission to Swaziland, saying it is the accomplice and beneficiary of the ‘royal
dictatorship’.
This will be followed on Saturday by a public gathering in Manzini.
The political parties include the Ngwane National Liberation Congress (NNLC), the
Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS), the Swazi Democratic Party (SDP) and the
People’s United Democratic Party (PUDEMO). They have formed a grouping called the
Political Parties Assembly (PPA).
In Swaziland, political groups advocating for democracy are banned under the Suppression of
Terrorism Act.
All political parties are banned from taking part in elections and the King appoints the
government.
Tinkhundla, or monarchical democracy. They want power returned to the people.
PPA stated, ‘We unanimously observed that the royal project Tinkhundla has reached a point
of no return in dragging down our dignity and stretching beyond limits our patience as a
people.’
The announcement came days after it was revealed the King had taken delivery of at least 15
Rolls-Royce cars for his wives and family and 79 luxury BMW cars worth US$6 million for
‘escort duties’.
PPA said, ‘Brazen looting and plunder of national resources by the monarchy have reached
levels unmatched in history, plunging our people into unbearable conditions as witnessed
through escalating cost of living, crisis in education and health, high unemployment as well
as poor general service delivery.’
In a statement, Mduduzi Gina, Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland
(TUCOSWA), said, ‘A petition should be delivered to the office of the Prime Minister and
other Ministries by the PPA lead coalition on Wednesday November 13 in Mbabane. A Mass
Meeting of every concerned organizations and persons shall be convened on Saturday 16th,
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November at the SNAT Center starting at 0900hrs. A long-term program of action will be
taken for implementation in the mass meeting envisaged. Any changes if any, will be
communicated in due as we receive direction from the PPA.’
See also
King of impoverished Swaziland takes delivery of 79 luxury BMW cars worth US$6
million
Not enough Supreme Court judges so Swaziland Terrorism Act appeal postponed
Swaziland ex-Govt minister in hiding after calling on absolute monarch to hand over
power
28 November 2019
A former government minister in Swaziland (eSwatini) is in hiding from police after he

publicly called on absolute monarch King Mswati III to hand over power to the people.
Musa Nkambule, former Minister of Tourism and now Chairman of the party known as Sive
Siyinqaba (Sibanje Sinje), fled from his home, the Swaziland News, an online newspaper
reported.
The News said, ‘Sive Siyinqaba is a [conservative] political party dominated by powerful
members of the royal family who are collectively working towards forcing King Mswati to
hand over power to the people and transform the country into multi-party democracy.’
In an interview with the newspaper Nkambule said police wanted to arrest him for a
statement he released on behalf of his political party. Nkambule appealed to the international
community to protect him.
The News reported Nkambule said ‘a battalion of police officers’ from Manzini and
Mafutseni arrived at his home at Mafutseni on Sunday (24 November 2019).
He said, ‘They then heavily assaulted my wife who was refusing to give them the house keys.
When I asked them their mission, they said it was in connection with the statement I released
on behalf of Sibanje Sinje, but they failed to produce an arrest warrant. They camped in my
home and left around 8pm and that was when I managed to escape. I am now in hiding while
consulting with the other members on the way forward.’
Later, in the early hours of Tuesday police raided Nkambule’s home and detained his wife,
Zama Nkambule. They confiscated items including a laptop and political documents of Sive
Siyinqaba.
Zama Nkambule told the Swaziland News, ‘They [police] said they were looking for my
husband in relation to his political statement he made on an online platform. They produced a
search warrant.’
She was taken to the police station, questioned and detained for an hour.
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She said, ‘They said they had been sent by the State to take my husband to the police station.’
She added, ‘The conduct of the police is a clear indication that freedom of speech is not
allowed in the country. Many Swazis are not happy with the way this country is governed and
they have expressed that, sadly my husband had become the target.’
In its statement Sive Siyinqaba had criticised the King for his recent actions, including the
purchase of a fleet of 15 luxury Rolls-Royce cars for himself and his wives which were
estimated to have cost US$6 million and the purchase of a fleet of 126 BMW cars and
motorbikes for ‘escort duties’.
It said some aggrieved members of the royal family were holding meetings with the intention
of advising the King to hand over power to the people before the situation got worse.
The statement read in part, ‘Sive Siyinqaba holds the view that someone [King Mswati] is on
a suicide mission; unfortunately, he wants to sink with the whole country. We think it is time
we say, we would rather remain afloat than to sink with you. High volumes of hundreds of
millions in foreign exchange have been siphoned from the country to be spent in countries
that need them less, in the form of competitive royal trips that we witnessed this year.’
It also said, ‘Rolls Royces and BMWs, expensive as they are, are a tip of the iceberg. More
than half of the armed forces, police and correctional services are stationed as royal guards in
every royal residence where the national flag fly. There are more police officers providing
security to the first family and serving as escorts to each of the wives and children, than there
are stationed in the country’s police stations, combined.’.
Democracy leaders detained by Swaziland police as illegal march halted

13 December 2019
Three democracy leaders in Swaziland (eSwatini) were detained by police when protesters
tried to march through the industrial town of Matsapha.
The march was halted after it had been banned by the courts hours earlier.
It was the latest activity from the recently-organised Political Party Assembly (PPA).
Political parties are banned in Swaziland where King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch.
It happened on Thursday (12 December 2019) when the PPA wanted to march from factory
to factory in the town to drum up support.
Those detained were Swaziland Democratic Party (SWADEPA) President Jan Sithole;
Ngwane National Liberation Congress (NNLC) President Sibongile Mazibuko; and Zodwa
Mkhonta, Deputy President of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO).
The leaders were arrested on the streets of Matsapha, taken to the local police station and
later released.
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The Times of eSwatini said there were also unconfirmed reports that police from the Serious
Crime Unit (Lukhozi) rounded up ordinary members of the PPA at the assembly point for the
march.
Protest marches are routinely banned in Swaziland where freedom of assembly is severely
curtailed.
In July 2019 Human Rights Watch reported restrictions on freedom of association and
assembly continued in Swaziland although the kingdom had signed the African Charter on
Democracy, Elections and Governance in January 2018, the government has not taken steps
to ratify and implement the charter.
Amnesty International in a review of Swaziland for 2017 / 2018 stated, ‘The Public Order
Act and the Suppression of Terrorism Act severely limited the rights to freedom of
expression, association and peaceful assembly.’
It added, The Public Order Act, ‘curtailed the rights to freedom of assembly and association,
imposing far-reaching restrictions on organizers of public gatherings. The Act also failed to
provide mechanisms to hold law enforcement officials accountable for using excessive force
against protesters or public gatherings.’
Freedom House scored Swaziland 16 out of a possible 100 points in its Freedom in the World
2019 report. It concluded that Swaziland was ‘not free’.
Police question Swaziland political leader amid fears of treason charge

18 December 2019
The chairman of the Swaziland (eSwatini) political party Sive Siyinqaba was questioned by
police amid a fear he might be charged with sedition or terrorism.
Musa Nkambule, who is also a former government minister, was held for three hours and
questioned by eight officers in Manzini on Tuesday, Eyewitness News in South Africa
reported.
He was accompanied by his lawyer Thulani Rudolf Maseko.
It followed an official denial from the Swaziland government that Nkambule and three others
were wanted for questioning on treason charges.
Nkambule had recently written a statement on behalf of his party that criticised King Mswati
III, Swaziland’s absolute monarch, for buying a fleet of 15 luxury Rolls-Royce cars for
himself and his wives which were estimated to have cost US$6 million and the purchase of a
fleet of 126 BMW cars and motorbikes for ‘escort duties’.
The statement read in part, ‘Sive Siyinqaba holds the view that someone [King Mswati] is on
a suicide mission; unfortunately, he wants to sink with the whole country. We think it is time
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we say, we would rather remain afloat than to sink with you. High volumes of hundreds of
millions in foreign exchange have been siphoned from the country to be spent in countries
that need them less, in the form of competitive royal trips that we witnessed this year.’
Eyewitness News quoted Maseko saying, ‘If they do believe the statement that Mr Nkambule
made undermines the authority of the king, they can move against you with sedition or even
terrorism.’
He said police confiscated Nkambule’s cellphone.
He added, ‘They want to see what conversations he has had and they will see if they can
charge him.’
Eyewitness News reported, ‘Maseko said while police insisted their intention was not to
arrest Nkambule, they wouldn’t be surprised if they go back on their word or go as far as
charging him with treason.’
The Swaziland News, an online newspaper, quoted Maseko saying, ‘We went there in the
morning together with his wife and they confirm to have raided his home, they then requested
to speak to him privately. Thereafter, he was released, hence we are waiting for their
feedback tomorrow if they charge him or not.’
Swaziland police in mass raids on homes of democracy activists, some detained

20 December 2019
Police across the absolute monarchy of Swaziland (eSwatini) raided the homes of a number
of prodemocracy activists in the early hours of Friday (20 December 2019).
Some were detained by police for interrogation.
The action came following increased activity from critics of King Mswati III.
Political action is severely curtailed in the kingdom and political parties are banned from
taking part in elections.
Groups advocating for democracy are outlawed under the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
Many use social media to further their aims.
Laptops, phones and other devices were confiscated by police in the raids.
The Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC), based in neighbouring South Africa,
reported, ‘eSwatini police visited the houses of a number of pro-democracy activists
including Sikelela Dlamini, Secretary General of the Swaziland National Association of
Teachers (SNAT), Jan Sithole, President of the Swazi Democratic Party (SWADEPA),
Mbongeni Mnisi, SWADEPA youth leader, Sibongile Mazibuko, President of the Ngwane
National Liberation Congress (NNLC), Dumsane Fakudze, chairperson of the Communist
Party of Swaziland, Wandile Dludlu, Secretary General of the People’s United Democratic
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Movement (PUDEMO), Mphandlana Shongwe, a member of the National Executive

Committee of PUDEMO, and Amos Bulunga, PUDEMO Manzini Secretary, and Themba
Mabuza from the Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF) and others whose names could
not be established at the time of publishing this statement.
‘The search warrants indicated that the police intended to confiscate all laptops, computers,
cell phones and tablets in their possession.
‘The police subsequently detained a number of the activists, including Jan Sithole, Sikelela
Dlamini, Sibongile Mazibuko, Wandile Dludlu, Amos Bulunga, Dumsane Fakudze, Themba
Mabuza and Mbongeni Mnisi. They were released a few hours later after interrogations.
‘Earlier in the week, on 17 December 2019, the police questioned the Chairperson of Sive
Siyinqaba National Movement (Sibahle Sinje), Musa Nkambula, at the Manzini police
headquarters. He was released pending investigations and his cell phone was confiscated.’
SALC added, ‘We are concerned by the actions of the police, which appear to be targeted at
those activists who have been prominently involved in protests relating to workers’ rights and
who have been promoting multi-party democracy and government accountability in the
country.’
Swaziland police say they raided democracy activists’ homes for ‘state security’
21 December 2019
A newspaper in Swaziland (eSwatini) in effect owned by the absolute monarch King Mswati
III has confirmed that police raids on homes across the kingdom were to seek out political
activists.
The Observer on Saturday, part of the eSwatini Observer group, reported, ‘Police have
intelligence on state security that has required the conducting of raids at homesteads
belonging to political activists and the bringing in for interviews at their stations of these
activists who are leaders of different political groupings.’
It reported a press conference given by Royal Eswatini Police Service National

Commissioner William Dlamini after the raids on Friday (20 December 2019).
Leaders of at least five pro-democracy groups were taken to police stations and interrogated.
All were released but phones, laptops, tablets and other devices were kept.
Political activity in Swaziland is severely curtailed. Parties are banned from taking part in
elections and groups advocating democracy are outlawed under the Suppression of Terrorism
Act. The King rules as an absolute monarch in a political system known as Tinkhundla.
The Observer reported Dlamini said they were seeking ‘information’ from those questioned.
It quoted him saying, ‘We’re taking action on information that is not criminal per se.’
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He said police raids on homesteads were routine in Swaziland. The Observer reported, ‘He
said had it been through their choice, they would conduct the raids on a daily basis because
that is what assists decrease crime throughout the country.’
He denied that only political activists were raided but there have been no reports of any
people not connected with the prodemocracy movement being taken in for questioning.
The raids were reported by media across the world. Reuters reported, ‘Police Commissioner
William Dlamini told reporters the police had “invited some individuals to assist us in our
enquiries pertaining to state security information”’.
The Swaziland United Democratic Front, one of the groups targeted, in a statement circulated
on social media said, ‘This comes weeks after the all progressive formations in the country
resolved to unite under the banner of the Political Party Assembly to fight against the
Tinkhundla regime. This led to the start of a campaign that was dubbed #MSWATI MUST
FALL and has since been gaining momentum and meeting equal resistance from the
autocratic regime.’
The Southern Africa Litigation Centre in a statement said, ‘We are concerned by the actions
of the police, which appear to be targeted at those activists who have been prominently
involved in protests relating to workers’ rights and who have been promoting multi-party
democracy and government accountability in the country.’
It added, ‘We call on the government to respect its citizens’ rights to freedom of expression,
association and assembly and to end the harassment of the leadership of political parties and
trade unions. We further call on the government to release all persons who are currently in
custody because of their criticism of the monarchy, including Goodwill Sibiya, who has been
detained since May 2019.’
Swaziland police hunt activists behind banner saying absolute king ‘must fall’
21 December 2019
Police in Swaziland (eSwatini) are hunting for the people who were involved in carrying a
banner during a protest that said absolute monarch King Mswati III ‘must fall.’
It happened during a demonstration organised by the recently-formed Political Party

Assembly (PPA) when a banner reading ‘#MSWATI MUST FALL’ was carried.
Dissent is stamped on in Swaziland where political parties cannot contest elections and
groups advocating for democracy are outlawed by the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
Royal Eswatini Police Service National Commissioner William Dlamini told a media
conference that police had not given permission for the banner to be used and it would not be
allowed to be seen at any future march.
The Observer on Saturday, a newspaper in effect owned by the King, reported he said, ‘The
truth is that we’re investigating the matter. The banner was carried by individuals on the day
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and the law will take its course. It shows that those people carrying the banner had planned
for an opportunity to raise it such that when the police realise the damage the message would
have already been disseminated.’
The newspaper said a man who was carrying a banner had been taken in by police.
The Observer added, ‘He [Dlamini] said, however, this is not the end as they would continue
with their investigations and get to the bottom of such acts.’
The slogan ‘#MSWATI MUST FALL’ is being used by the PPA as part of its campaign for
reforms in the kingdom.
Three of the group’s leaders were detained by police on 12 December 2019 when they tried
to lead a march through the industrial town of Matsapha aimed at drumming up support for
the PPA.
The banner the police have banned
Protest marches are routinely banned in Swaziland where freedom of assembly is severely
curtailed.
The PPA consists of political parties including the Ngwane National Liberation Congress
(NNLC), the Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS), the Swazi Democratic Party (SDP) and
the People’s United Democratic Party (PUDEMO).
Tinkhundla, or monarchical democracy. They wanted power returned to the people.
10
PPA stated, ‘We unanimously observed that the royal project Tinkhundla has reached a point
of no return in dragging down our dignity and stretching beyond limits our patience as a
people.’
The announcement came days after it was revealed the King had taken delivery of at least 15
‘escort duties’.
PPA said, ‘Brazen looting and plunder of national resources by the monarchy have reached
levels unmatched in history, plunging our people into unbearable conditions as witnessed
through escalating cost of living, crisis in education and health, high unemployment as well
as poor general service delivery.’
Swaziland democracy leaders call on absolute monarch to arrange talks for political
change
22 December 2019
Prodemocracy leaders in Swaziland (eSwatini) who had their homes raided by police are
calling on the absolute monarch King Mswati III to allow people to talk openly about the
political future of the kingdom.
Political parties are banned from taking part in elections and groups that advocate for
democracy are outlawed by the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
Six political groups have formed the Political Parties Assembly (PPA) to advocate for
change. Leaders of these groups had their homes raided by police on Friday (20 December
2019). They were interrogated by police and had laptops, phones, tablets and other gadgets
taken.
At a media conference on Saturday the PPA called on King Mswati to allow talks. The Times
Sunday, a newspaper in Swaziland, reported Mlungisi Makhanya, President of the outlawed
People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), said, ‘The King should convene a
session where the people will dialogue. He has to mandate a team to engage with us. We
don’t mean we should engage with him personally because that would lower his status as
King but he can delegate a team mandated to discuss the governing of the country alongside
the reigning monarch.’
The Times reported the PPA said if the King did want to be personally involved in talks they
would need to adopt international standards, appoint a facilitator, have clear ground rules and
a neutral venue.
There is open hostility in Swaziland between the supporters of the PPA and state forces,
especially the police.
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Jan Sithole, President of the Swaziland Democratic Party (SWADEPA), told the media
conference the police service had been politicised and were taking actions on behalf of the
government.
Separately, Ngomyayona Gamedze, the former Deputy President in the Swaziland Senate and
now acting Chairman of Sive Siyinqaba, one of the groups in the PPA, warned government
and the police against the continuous detention of political activists who were calling for
democratic reforms.
He told the Swaziland News, an online newspaper, ‘Harassing political activists, breaking
into their houses and seizing their cellphones amounts to the violation of human rights. A
cellphone is a personal gadget with personal information that should not be accessed even by
the police without the consent of the owner and what they doing now is wrong. I am not
talking about hearsay here because I was there as a Presiding Officer when Parliament
ratified these UN Conventions that ensured the protection of human rights. It’s now
surprising that even the Human Rights Commission is silent on this.’
He added, ‘Is it a crime to openly express my political view that I don’t want the current
government? Are these political activists expected to embrace the current government by
force? Why are we allowing the police to violate human rights in this manner? Any detention
of a person even if its five minutes amounts to human rights violation because you have taken
that person out of his or her comfort zone, it’s worse when you have seized his cellphone
because by so doing you have disconnected that individual from communicating with the
world and gained access to personal information.’
Further police action is expected. The Times reported Sithole telling the media conference,
‘We are committed to the spirit of no retreat, no surrender, forward forever.’
He added, ‘Even if it meant being arrested, even if it meant being eliminated; we are prepared
to lay our lives on the block for the liberation of the people that have given us that mandate.’
The PPA consists of six groups: People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO);
Swaziland Democratic Party (SWADEPA); Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS); Ngwane
National Liberatory Congress (NNLC); Swaziland People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM)
and Sive Siyinqaba (Sibahje Sinje).
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2. KING MSWATI III

Princess says Swaziland King can solve mysteries by seeing into the future
7 October 2019
King Mswati III, the absolute monarch of Swaziland / eSwatini, can solve any mystery
because he can see into the future, a newspaper that the King in effect owns reported.
Previously, the King had claimed he had a direct line to God and had received messages from
angels.
The latest claim was made by Princess Sikhanyiso, Minister of Information, Technology and
Communications, at a trade meeting. The Princess is the King’s eldest daughter and was
appointed by him to her position, in 2018. The Princess was not elected to Parliament by the
people.
The Sunday Observer reported she told the meeting that the King could solve any mystery. It
reported, ‘She said the King could do this through his transcendent wisdom, foresight and the
ability to foresee the future of his people and in time yet to come.’
Nearly seven in ten of Swaziland’s estimated 1.2 million people live in abject poverty. Public
services in health and education are grinding to a halt because the government, which is not
elected but handpicked by the King, has run the economy into the ground. Public service
workers have been violently assaulted by police while striking for increased cost-of-living
salary adjustments.
The Observer reported the Princess told the meeting, ‘Due to the King’s discernment,
strength and tenacity, eSwatini boasted of having one of the best road networks, airports and
overall quality of life in Africa.’
The King himself had previously claimed to have a direct line to God. In October 2018, he
told a meeting of the kingdom’s ‘People’s Parliament’ known as Sibaya that he had been
visited by angels and they told him who he should appoint as the kingdom’s new Prime
Minister.
The Times of Swaziland reported at the time, ‘He said the angels and ancestors would show
him the man who was given the authority to run the country.’
In March 2018, the Queen Mother in Swaziland, known as the Indlovukazi, told her subjects
they must bow down before her and the King to earn forgiveness from God to be able to enter
heaven. She said they must always obey those in authority over them.
The Sunday Observer reported at the time she said, ‘If you are a child of God, one day when
you have left this world, Jesus will say I am forgiving you, because I have seen you travelling
the journey to the extent of bowing to Their Majesties, enter in my Father’s Kingdom.’
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The newspaper reported, ‘She added that it would be difficult for Christians to please God if
they failed to respect and bow before those in authority in their communities, saying the
genesis of faith was respecting leaders.’
The Queen Mother also said, ‘Whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed,
and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but too
bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority?’
In 2013, African Eye News Service reported King Mswati’s elder brother, Prince Masitsela
Dlamini, said that God had given the royal family authority to rule over other Swazi clans.
‘The Dlaminis are closer to God,’ said Dlamini.
In 2011, the King said God spoke to him through a TV remote control. It happened at the
Lozitha Palace, near Mbabane. The Times of Swaziland reported in October 2011, ‘His
Majesty saw a miracle yesterday when he was preparing a sermon [to preach to a group of
evangelical Christians.] The King said a remote control lay at the centre of a coffee table but
something mysteriously brought it down.
‘He said there was no person or wind that could have brought it down. The King said he
realised that God was with him. It was Him who brought the remote control down.’
In September 2013, the King told his subjects he had received a vision during a thunderstorm
and was told that the political system in Swaziland that puts the King at the head and bans
political parties should from then on be called ‘Monarchical Democracy.’
On 21 October 2009, the Swazi Observer told its readers King Mswati was ‘ordained by God
to lead his people’. Musa Ndlangamandla, the Observer chief editor at the time, reported that
Lutfo Dlamini, then Swaziland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, wrote a poem
to the King that included the line, ‘You are living proof that Kings and Monarchs are
ordained by God to lead his people’.
Following this, the most senior ‘traditionalist’ leader in Swaziland Timothy Velabo Mtsetfwa
was reported in the Observer saying ‘Royalty was a gift from God’. He said this while urging
the Swazi nation ‘to respect the Royalty because it cares for the needy’.
Mtsetfwa also spoke about how multi-parties which are banned in Swaziland, ‘were a
monster to which many countries had succumbed and fell’. He then went on to say, ‘in other
countries, especially those under multi-party democracy, the leaders only think of themselves
and their immediate families and forget about the needy people’.
See also
Swazi King’s ‘God delusion’
Fears over King’s mental health
God is like King Mswati: Govt Minister
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All 20 heads of state invited snub trade event hosted by Swaziland absolute monarch
21 October 2019
King Mswati III, the absolute monarch of Swaziland (eSwatini), was snubbed by 20 heads of
state who failed to accept his invitation to attend a trade launch.
The Swazi Government, which is not elected but picked by the King, was so confident they
would attend it hired 18 top-of-the range cars to transport them while they were in Swaziland.
Media in the undemocratic kingdom revealed that many of the heads of state (sitting
presidents and prime ministers) had at first accepted the invitation to the opening of an
eTrade regional office but did not show.
The Sunday edition of the Times of eSwatini reported those who at first accepted included
Zambia’s President Lungu and Guinea President Alpha Condé. It said, ‘Government went all
out to ensure that these very important people would receive dignified treatment once they
arrived in the kingdom.’
No heads of state attended and the only ‘VIPs’ who actually attended were former Ethiopian
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Chief Executive Officer of the Africa eTrade
Group, Mulualem Syoum, it reported.
The Times reported Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo,
‘confirmed that 20 heads of state had been invited but those that either eventually arrived or
sent representatives were five.’ He said they were not heads of states, but ministers.
Khumalo said 18 cars had been hired for the dignitaries. They included Lexus SUVs and
BMW 5 series vehicles.
The King received another snub in February 2019 when it was announced Swaziland had
missed out to South Africa on the chance to host the 2020 African Union summit. Media in
South Africa said this was because Swaziland did not have the resources to fulfil the role.
It is no secret that Swaziland is broke. Hospitals have run out of vital drugs and schools have
been forced to close because the government has not paid its suppliers. In his budget speech
in March 2018 Finance Minister Martin Dlamini said government owed E3.1bn (US$230
million) in total to its suppliers for goods and services.
Public servants have been striking for a 7.8 percent cost-of-living pay rise but the government
says it does not have the money and has offered zero percent. Police brutally attacked
workers during legal protests.
In 2016, when King Mswati was Chair of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) he took about E40m, mostly from public funds, to host a lavish Heads of State
summit at a time when his government was so poor it could release only E22m of the E305m
earmarked for drought relief in that year’s national budget.
15
The Times of Swaziland reported in 2017 that the Swaziland Government spent E29 million
(US$2.4 million) on 14 BMW cars and 80 motorbikes for the SADC summit. The vehicles
were left idle after the summit ended.
See also
Swaziland’s absolute king misses out on AU Chair because his kingdom is broke
Millions ‘wasted’ on luxury vehicles at SADC summit
Swaziland King investigates possible purchase of military arms while at Russian

summit
25 October 2019
The Swazi delegation are impressed with the Kalashnikovs. Picture: Quartz
King Mswati III, the absolute monarch of Swaziland (eSwatini), and members of his
delegation attended a trade fair in Russia to investigate the latest military hardware offered
for sale to African countries.
It happened at the Black Sea city of Sochi on the opening day of the inaugural Russia-Africa
Summit.
Russian president Vladimir Putin gave an introductory address that positioned its renewed
push in the continent in the Soviet tradition of fighting colonialism.
The Quartz website reported, ‘Russian officials argued deals with the modern Russia offered
African states their “independence” presumably implying deals with former colonial powers
like France and the UK or global powers like the United States or China come with strings
attached one way or another.’
16
Although deals in nuclear energy, oil, gas, agriculture, and diamonds took a prominent place,
two of the main attractions for African heads of state were military cooperation and military
hardware, Quartz reported.
It added, ‘Russia, which is the second largest supplier of arms in the world, is already a major
supplier of arms to African countries.’
Swaziland is a desperately poor kingdom where seven in ten of the estimated 1.3 million
population have incomes less than the equivalent of US$2 per day. Military spending by
Swaziland, according to estimates published by the Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute (SIPRI), for the current year is expected to reach US$87.8 million (E1.3bn in local
currency). For 2017, spending was estimated at US$88.7 million and for 2016, US$86.3
million.
The figures amount to about 1.5 percent of Swaziland’s total gross domestic product (GDP).
SIPRI states military expenditure data is based on open sources only, meaning on publicly
available data. The true figure might be higher.
The high military spending comes at a time when Swaziland is broke. In the 2018 national
budget all government job recruiting was frozen. It was announced Value Added Tax would
go up by 1 percent to 15 percent and there was a plan to try to impose VAT on electricity
tariffs for the first time. Pensions for people aged 60 and over were frozen.
Swaziland which is not a democracy has been criticised for many years for the way state
forces oppress the people. Political parties are banned from taking part in elections and
groups that advocate for democracy are outlawed under the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
Swaziland is a landlocked country and has no disputes with neighbours.
The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) at the African Commission on
Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) meeting in The Gambia in 2013 said the King was
turning Swaziland into a ‘military state’.
In a report 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
country’s undemocratic elections.’
In 2009, the Swazi Government was revealed to be engaged in arms dealing by the United
States. A diplomatic cable written by Maurice Parker, the then US Ambassador to Swaziland,
and later published by WikiLeaks, revealed that the UK Government had blocked an arms
deal between a UK company Unionlet and the Swaziland Government because it feared their
‘possible use for internal repression’.
The Swazi Government wanted to buy equipment worth US$60 million.
17
Among items listed for purchase were, ‘3 Bell Model UH-1H helicopters, FN Herstal
7.6251mm Minimi light machine guns, blank and tracer ammunition, armored personnel
carriers, command and control vehicles including one fitted with a 12.7x99mm M2 Browning
heavy machine gun and others fitted with the FN Herstal light machine guns, military
ambulances, armored repair and recovery vehicles, weapon sights, military image intensifier
equipment, optical target surveillance equipment, 620 Heckler & Koch G36E assault rifles,
240 Heckler & Koch G36K assault rifles, 65 Heckler & Koch G36E rifles, 75 Heckler &
Koch UMP submachine guns 9x19mm, and 35 Heckler & Koch USP semi-automatic pistols’.
The Swaziland Government said it wanted the items to fulfil its United Nations
‘peacekeeping’ obligations in Africa.
The UK Government did not believe it and thought either the weapons would be used against
the Swazi civilian population, or they were being bought in order to sell on to another
country, possibly Iran. The UK Government blocked the deal.
In his diplomatic cable, Parker said, ‘The array of weapons requested would not be needed
for the first phases of peacekeeping, although it is possible someone tried to convince the
Swazi government they were required. The GKOS [Government of the Kingdom of
Swaziland] may have been attempting to build up domestic capability to deal with unrest, or
was possibly acting as an intermediary for a third party such as Zimbabwe or a Middle
Eastern country that had cash, diamonds or goods to trade.’
See also
Swaziland’s massive military spending
Swazi ‘secret arms deal for Iran’
Swaziland ‘becoming military state’
Absolute King of impoverished Swaziland buys himself and wives 20 Rolls-Royce cars
worth $15 million
1 November 2019
King Mswati III, the absolute monarch, of impoverished Swaziland (eSwatini), has spent
about US$15 million on 19 top-of-the-range Rolls-Royce cars for his wives and a customised
Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV for himself, according to reports.
Photographs of the cars appeared on news sites in South Africa and Zimbabwe and have also
been widely circulated on social media.
The Citizen newspaper in South Africa reported, ‘A source, from eSwatini’s Ministry of
Information Communications and Technology, confirmed to The Citizen that the King had
indeed bought the vehicles. She said the vehicles arrived on Tuesday [29 October 2019] but
was unsure on the exact number of the cars.’
18
The Citizen said video of the cars had been circulating on social media. It added, ‘Footage of
the cars only shows a few of the similar-looking Rolls-Royces driving out of what seems like
a compound, still with a few stickers indicative of their new nature.’
Exact details of the purchase and the costs have not been officially confirmed by the Swazi
Government. Reports on social media put the total number of vehicles at 20.
The exact number of wives King Mswati has is not clear as this is considered sensitive
information within Swaziland. It is thought that after deaths and defections the number
presently stands at 13.
The purchase is just one of the many extravagances of the King and his family. In 2018 at his
50th birthday party he wore a watch worth US$1.6 million and a suit weighing 6 kg studded
with diamonds. Days earlier he had taken delivery of his second private jet. This one, an
Airbus A340, cost US$13.2 to purchase but with VIP upgrades was estimated to have cost
US$30 million.
The King also has 13 palaces.
At his most recent birthday in April 2019 King Mswati received E3.5 million cash
(US$240,000), including E300,000 from a state workers’ pension fund, in birthday gifts.
He also received other gifts, including five of the latest 65-inch TV sets, portraits, jewellery,
clothing and more than 100 cattle. In total the gifts for his 51st birthday were worth E6.8
million, according to the Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the King.
The money King Mswati received included E300,000 from the Public Service Pensions Fund
which is set up to provide members with retirement annuities, death benefits, disability
benefits and other pension-related benefits.
The eSwatini sugar industry contributed the biggest cheque of E1.3 million, mobile phone
company Eswatini MTN donated E500,00 and Royal Swazi Spa, E264 000.
The King took the gifts just after news broke in Swaziland that people were dying because of
the lack of medicines in hospitals. Schools across the kingdom were struggling to feed
malnourished children. The government, which is not elected but handpicked by King
Mswati, is broke and cannot pay its suppliers.
Meanwhile, seven in ten of the estimated 1.3 million population of Swaziland live in abject
poverty on incomes less than the equivalent of US$2 per day.
The presents the King received were modest compared to those he was given in 2018 for his
50th birthday. The Queen Mother gave him a dining room suite made of gold. It went
alongside a lounge suite trimmed with gold that he was given by senior members of his
government. He also received cheques totalling at least E15 million.
19
The Rolls-Royce cars. Picture: Vukile Khanyile
King Mswati III with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and one of his 13 wives, Inkhosikati
LaMotsa during at his 50th birthday party. He is wearing both the US$1.6 million watch and
the suit beaded with diamonds. Picture: Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
20
The Swazi Observer reports on the King’s birthday gifts in 2018
See also
Swazi King and queens of bling
King wears watch worth US$1.6-million
King wears suit beaded with diamonds
Swazi royals spend, spend, spend
King of impoverished Swaziland takes delivery of 79 luxury BMW cars worth US$6
million
8 November 2019
King Mswati III, the absolute monarch of impoverished Swaziland (eSwatini), has taken
delivery of 79 luxury BMW cars worth about US$6 million.
This happened a week after he took delivery of 15 Rolls-Royce cars.
The Sowetan newspaper in South Africa reported details of the purchase on Friday (8
November 2019).
It reported, ‘Yesterday, 12 trucks loaded with the latest model BMW X3 SUVs and BMW
540 sedans, mostly navy blue in colour and a handful of them in white, waited for hours in
Carolina, about 100km from the Oshoek Swazi border post. The 12 trucks took almost the
entire truck stop parking space in the small Mpumalanga town.
‘The spanking new fleet was transported from the BMW Rosslyn plant to Manzini in
eSwatini in abnormal load trucks with some carrying as many as eight vehicles a truck.
21
‘An entry-level BMW X3 USV retails at more than R650,000 each [US$44,000], while the
BMW 540 sedans retail for more than R1m each.
‘Although it's unclear what the intended use for the vehicles is, most of those navy blue were
already fitted with roof top blue lights.’
The Swaziland News, an online publication, reported the cars would be used by escorts of the
Swazi royal family.
The Times of eSwatini reported, ‘Sources claimed that a large number of BMWs would be
delivered in the country and they would be used as escorts. They also claimed that
government did not have the money to buy the cars upfront so it signed a letter of
commitment but the claims could not be verified.’
The Sowetan reported that15 ultra-luxury Rolls Royce cars had been shipped into South
Africa through the Durban port and delivered to the royal palace at Manzini, Swaziland, a
week ago.
It added, Daytona, which was understood to have facilitated the importation of the king's
Rolls-Royces, would not disclose any customer details or purchase information but confirmed
it was the sole importer of Rolls-Royce motor cars in Southern Africa.
Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg refused to answer questions about the purchases in the
House of Assembly, the Times reported.
Rijkenberg did say that Swaziland presently had a public debt of E18.6 billion (US$1.2bn).
He had been trying to negotiate loans of E2 billion to pay suppliers.
Public services across the kingdom are in meltdown. At least six children were reported to
have died from diarrhoea in August 2019. Drugs to treat them were unavailable.
In August 2019 the Ministry of Health confirmed in its first quarter performance report
delivered to the Swazi parliament that drugs had run out and there were shortages of nurses,
midwives and other health professionals. Fuel frequently ran out and ambulances and other
vehicles had broken down.
The government has not paid schools fees and support staff have been sacked as a result.
Teaching supplies have run out and in some school pupils have been without a teacher for
more than a year. Some programmes to feed destitute children at school have been stopped
because of lack of funding.
About seven in ten of the estimated 1.3 million population live on incomes less than the
equivalent of US$2 per day. On the day news broke of the king’s multi-million dollar
purchase it was announced that bread prices would rise.
22
Some of the BMW cars purchased being transported to King Mswati. Picture sourced from
Facebook.
23
Front page of the Sowetan newspaper
See also
Swaziland cancer patients refused treatment because Govt has not paid hospital bills
More deaths in Swaziland as Govt fails to pay medicine suppliers
Swaziland King’s purchase of 15 Roll-Royces came from private money, not public
funds, PM says
14 November 2019
The Prime Minister of Swaziland (eSwatini) Ambrose Dlamini said that the fleet of 15 Rolls-
Royce vehicles purchased by the kingdom’s absolute monarch King Mswati III were paid for
by private money and not public funds. They were reported to have cost up to US$4 million.
24
News of the purchase had been reported around the world and the King came under heavy
criticism for the lavish spending. It had been reported that Rolls-Royce had been purchased
for the king’s wives.
A few days after the purchase the King also took delivery of a fleet of 126 BMW vehicles
which were reportedly for ‘escort duties’.
The Times of eSwatini reported Dlamini told a press conference on Wednesday (13
November 2019) the Rolls-Royce cars ‘were purchased privately and not through the public
purse and no money from the national budget went to the purchase of these cars’.
The eSwatini Observer (previously Swazi Observer), a newspaper in effect owned by the
king, reported Dlamini warned those who protested against the king were in danger of
breaking the kingdom’s Suppression of Terrorism Act. ‘Violators of the law will be
prosecuted,’ he said.
Swaziland is not a democracy and political parties are banned from taking part in elections.
The king personally appoints the government, including the Prime Minister.
The Observer reported, ‘Government, he said, would not tolerate statements that were
demeaning to the person of His Majesty and the institution of the Monarchy.’
On the same day the Prime Minister spoke a march by political parties protesting against
King Mswati and calling for democracy was stopped by police in Mbabane.
The Times reported the Prime Minister confirmed that it was responsible for buying 84 BMW
cars and 42 BMW motorbikes. The exact cost of these has not been reported.
‘The purchase of the fleet came against the backdrop of an ailing economy, where the
country was struggling to meet its obligations,’ the Times reported.
It quoted the Prime Minister saying, ‘Government receives the public criticism regarding the
purchase of the vehicles given the current financial situation in the country. It is worth noting
that the decision to replace the fleet was taken in July 2018 before austerity measures were
put in place.
‘A commitment was made with the supplier at that time hence the agreement could not be
reversed now as doing so could lead to litigation which would come with adverse
consequences for government.’
The Times added, ‘Dlamini said as previously stated, the purchase of this fleet was in line
with government policy to replace cars after five years. He said most of the VIP and escort
vehicles being replaced now were 11 years old and others were no longer roadworthy, which
was a huge cost to government as they had to constantly cater for the repairs of the cars. He
said government saved a lot of money from having a newer fleet because it came with a
warranty and service plan.’
25
In a speech the US Ambassador to Swaziland Lisa Peterson criticised the purchases. She said,
‘While the government continued using its existing vehicle fleet, the palace sees fit to acquire
more than a dozen Rolls-Royce vehicles with a minimum price tag of E52.5 million. To
accompany this royal fleet, there is now an even larger fleet of official escort vehicles,
purchased with public funds.’
She said, ‘It is exceedingly difficult for development partners to continue advocating for
assistance to eSwatini when such profligate spending or suspicious giving is taking place.’
She said, ‘However, should the people of Eswatini really be comfortable with such disregard
for the perilous fiscal state of the country, particularly with so many of His Majesty’s subjects
living below the international poverty line? Should people really believe that a possible
multi-million dollar gift came without any strings attached?’
Swaziland King buys himself fleet of 15 Rolls-Royce cars but there’s no money for
public ambulances
25 November 2019
There are only 16 working public ambulances to serve the whole of Swaziland (eSwatini).
Another 12 are off the road in need of repair but there is no money to fix them. The news
came at the same time that the kingdom’s absolute monarch King Mswati III spent an
estimated US$6 million buying 15 luxury Rolls-Royce cars for himself and his wives.
Health and other public services across Swaziland are grinding to a halt because the
government, whose members are elected but handpicked by the King, has mismanaged the
economy for years.
Dr Simon Zwane, Principal Secretary in the Swazi Ministry of Health, told parliament that
there were shortages of medicines and blood in public hospitals across Swaziland.
He said patients with cancer, diabetes and blood pressure were among many who were not
receiving medication. The Times of eSwatini quoted Zwane saying, ‘We are managing what
we have and anticipating shortages. And honestly, we don’t have everything in stock.’
Zwane also said there were only 16 working public ambulances for a population estimated to
be 1.2 million. The Times reported he said ambulances were constantly in need of being fixed
as they were old. There were 28 ambulances in total but 12 had been grounded for quite some
time.
The news about the shortage of ambulances came at the same time it was revealed that King
Mswati had spent an estimated US$6 million on 15 Rolls-Royce cars.
A few days later Swaziland took delivery of a fleet of 84 BMW cars and 42 BMW
motorbikes, which were reportedly for ‘escort duties’. The cost of these has not been
revealed.
26
The King has a long history of lavish spending. He has two private airplanes, at least 13
palaces and fleets of top-of-the-range cars. At his 50th birthday in 2018 he wore a watch
worth US$1.6 million and a suit beaded with diamonds that weighed 6 kg. Days earlier he
had taken delivery of his second private jet. This one, an Airbus A340, cost US$13.2 to
purchase but with VIP upgrades was estimated to have cost US$30 million.
Meanwhile, seven in ten of the population live on incomes less than the equivalent of US$2
per day
Threat to censor U.S. Ambassador to Swaziland after criticism of King’s lavish

spending
13 November 2019
Authorities in Swaziland (eSwatini) want to censor future public speeches by the US

Ambassador Lisa Peterson after she criticised the kingdom’s absolute monarch King Mswati
III for his lavish spending on luxury Rolls-Royce and BMW cars.
It was not the first time she had criticised the King. She warned that donors who gave money
to Swaziland for development would think twice before contributing in the future.
An online newspaper the Swaziland News reported that Ambassador Peterson is now under
police surveillance.
Peterson had made comments while giving certificates to young entrepreneurs at Nhlangano
on Friday (8 November 2019). Earlier in the week the King had taken delivery of at least 15
‘escort duties’. A fleet of BMW motorcycles were also purchased.
The African Press Agency (APA) quoted her saying, ‘As a development partner, I have
serious concerns about the leadership example currently coming out of the palace.’
She added, ‘While the government continued using its existing vehicle fleet, the palace
sees fit to acquire more than a dozen Rolls-Royce vehicles with a minimum price tag of
$3.71 million. To accompany this royal fleet, there is now an even larger fleet of official
escort vehicles, purchased with public funds.’
An official transcript of the speech issued by the US Embassy in Swaziland, reported her
saying, ‘Should the people of eSwatini really be comfortable with such disregard for the
perilous fiscal state of the country, particularly with so many of His Majesty’s subjects living
below the international poverty line? Should people really believe that a possible multi-
million dollar gift came without any strings attached?’
27
Following her comments the former chief executive officer in the King’s Office, now
Shiselweni Regional Administrator, Vincent Mhlanga, told the Eswatini Observer (formerly
Swazi Observer), a newspaper in effect owned by the King, that he was angered by the
Ambassadors speech.
Lisa Peterson, US Ambassador to Swaziland (eSwatini)
The Observer quoted him saying, ‘Going forward, when she comes to the region for any
activity or event, we need to first know what she will say.’
The Swaziland News reported, ‘The Regional Administrator said it was unfortunate that he
was not present when the Ambassador made these sentiments, otherwise, he could have
stopped her from continuing with the speech.’
He said, ‘If I was present, I could have intervened and told her that she was offside, it’s
unfortunate that I was not there to reign on her. We have learnt a lesson and now each time
she comes in the region she would have to declare what she has to offer. We can’t allow her
to push any political agenda in function we thought are to capacitate the youth, doing so is
dangerous.’
The Swaziland News also reported that Ambassador Peterson was under police surveillance.
It said plain clothes police posing as journalists took photographs of the Ambassador during
her visit to Nhlangano.
28
It reported eSwatini Police Spokesperson Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said it was part of
the Intelligence Unit duties to gather information on what was happening in the kingdom.
It reported, ‘The Intelligence Officers who posed as journalists were seen keeping an eye on
the Ambassador and monitoring her movements after delivered a speech highly critical of the
Monarch. However, the core message of her sentiments was censored in the eSwatini two
newspapers.’
Vilakati told the Swaziland News, ‘We go to any gathering and collect information, it’s not
like we’re only targeting the American Ambassador. We have been doing this for a long time,
collecting information for our files.’
The Swaziland News reported, ‘Information gathered suggests that the police spies were not
only monitoring the US envoy but independent journalists, union leaders and members of the
progressives. But the interest of the police to the USA Ambassador intensified after she came
hard on King Mswati for the continuous expenditure particularly on the delivery of BMWs
and Rolls-Royce cars to the royalty.’
Ambassador Peterson has previously criticised the absolute monarchy in Swaziland. In an

article published in November 2018 by both of Swaziland’s two national daily newspapers
she called for the decree that puts King Mswati in power as an absolute monarch to be
repealed. She also called for political parties to be allowed to contest elections.
In 2016, after reports that three of the King’s wives had taken an entourage of 100 people on
a shopping trip to Toronto, Canada, Peterson warned Swaziland that the kingdom might not
receive further food aid from her country because of the King’s ‘lavish spending’ on
holidays.
News24 in South Africa reported at the time Peterson said the US had limited funds for
drought relief. She said, ‘When we hear of the lavish spending by the Swazi royal family –
especially while a third of their citizens need food aid – it becomes difficult to encourage our
government to make more emergency aid available. You can’t expect international donors to
give more money to the citizens of Swaziland than their own leaders give them.’
South African media reported that the queens, their bodyguards, protocol officials, family and
other ‘support staff’ were on the trip that was expected to last eight days. The City Press
newspaper in Johannesburg reported the vacation had irritated diplomats who were
motivating for more drought relief aid for the Kingdom, which was in the grips of its worst
drought in 18 years.
Swaziland Govt. Minister wants to monitor all foreign ambassadors and score their
usefulness
22 November 2019
The Swaziland (eSwatini) Government will monitor the United States Ambassador to the
kingdom and other senior foreign diplomats to see how well they ‘market’ the kingdom, if
29
Senator Thuli Dladla, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, gets her
way.
Dladla wants a ‘scorecard’ to be kept for each ambassador based on how many investors they
bring into the kingdom.
The Minister made her remarks in the House of Assembly after several members criticised a
speech made by Lisa Peterson, the US Ambassador to Swaziland.
Peterson had criticised the absolute monarch King Mswati III for his lavish spending on
luxury Rolls-Royce and BMW cars. He had bought at least 15 Rolls-Royce cars for his wives
and the government, which he personally appointed, bought a total of 126 BMW cars and
motorbikes, for escort duties.
It had earlier been reported by the online newspaper the Swaziland News that Ambassador
Peterson and other ambassadors were now under police surveillance.
Dladla told the House all ambassadors accredited to the kingdom would be called in for a
meeting, the Times of eSwatini reported.
The Times added, ‘The minister said there would be score cards for ambassadors based on
how many investors they managed to bring into the country, including how well they
marketed the kingdom from the various stations.’
Later a US Embassy spokesperson said, Ambassador Peterson’s remarks were guided by

principles of the eSwatini Constitution that allowed for freedom of expression.
U.S. Ambassador to Swaziland renews criticism of King’s lavish spending while people
live in poverty
12 December 2019
US Ambassador to Swaziland (eSwatini) Lisa Peterson has renewed her criticism of absolute
monarch King Mswati III’s decision to buy his family a fleet of Rolls-Royce cars.
Reports on the number purchased have ranged from 13 to 15 and they were reported to have
cost up to US$4 million.
Swaziland also bought him 126 BMW cars and motorbikes to escort the Royal family around
the kingdom.
In an interview with The Nation, a monthly independent magazine in Swaziland, Peterson

said, ‘Since the arrival of the Rolls-Royce fleet [in November 2019] I have both witnessed
directly and heard about the level of anger among emaSwati [the people of Swaziland] over
these cars that were “purchased privately.”
30
‘My initial anger was at the excessive luxury enjoyed by a tiny segment of the country, while
40 percent of the population lives on less than E29 per day [US$2], according to the World
Bank.’
She added that people in Swaziland felt bound by ‘a cultural expectation’ to keep quiet while
more powerful people took advantage of their goodwill and respect.
She said, “Goodwill and respect should be earned based on a person’s actions, which must be
guided by giving the utmost consideration to human dignity.
‘They require that a person deal honestly with those around him, particularly those who
depend on his conscientious leadership. By always dealing honestly, a leader gains the trust
and respect of his public.’
Ambassador Peterson said the United States taxpayers invested E7.5 billion (US$500 million)
in Swaziland for the fight against HIV and AIDS. She hinted the future of this investment
was threatened.
She said, ‘If your brother’s family is sick but he doesn’t have the money to care for them, you
assist without question.
‘But if your brother continues to count on you to pay for his family’s health care even after he
buys himself a Rolls-Royce you will surely speak up to question how he can afford one and
not the other.’
This was not the first time Peterson had criticised King Mswati for his lavish spending. Last
month [November 2019] authorities in Swaziland said they wanted to censor her future
public speeches after she criticised the King for his spending on the luxury Rolls-Royce and
BMW cars.
An online newspaper the Swaziland News reported she was now under police surveillance.
Peterson had made comments while giving certificates to young entrepreneurs at Nhlangano
on 8 November 2019.
A transcript of her speech issued by the US Embassy in Swaziland quoted her saying, ‘While
the government continued using its existing vehicle fleet, the palace sees fit to acquire more
than a dozen Rolls-Royce vehicles with a minimum price tag of E52.5 million. To
accompany this royal fleet, there is now an even larger fleet of official escort vehicles,
purchased with public funds.’
She said, ‘However, should the people of eSwatini really be comfortable with such disregard
for the perilous fiscal state of the country, particularly with so many of His Majesty’s subjects
living below the international poverty line?’
31
Following her comments the former chief executive officer in the King’s Office, now
Shiselweni Regional Administrator, Vincent Mhlanga, told the Eswatini Observer (formerly
Swazi Observer), a newspaper in effect owned by the King, that he was angered by the
Ambassadors speech.
The Observer quoted him saying, ‘Going forward, when she comes to the region for any
activity or event, we need to first know what she will say.’
The Swaziland News reported, ‘The Regional Administrator said it was unfortunate that he
was not present when the Ambassador made these sentiments, otherwise, he could have
stopped her from continuing with the speech.’
The Swaziland News also reported that Ambassador Peterson was under police surveillance.
It said plain clothes police posing as journalists took photographs of the Ambassador during
her visit to Nhlangano.
eSwatini Police Spokesperson Superintendent Phindile Vilakati told the Swaziland News,
‘We go to any gathering and collect information, it’s not like we’re only targeting the
American Ambassador. We have been doing this for a long time, collecting information for
our files.’
Ambassador Peterson had previously criticised the absolute monarchy in Swaziland. In an

article published in November 2018 by both of Swaziland’s two national daily newspapers
she called for the decree that puts King Mswati in power as an absolute monarch to be
repealed. She also called for political parties to be allowed to contest elections.
In 2016, after reports that three of the King’s wives had taken an entourage of 100 people on
a shopping trip to Toronto, Canada, Peterson warned Swaziland that the kingdom might not
receive further food aid from her country because of the King’s ‘lavish spending’ on
holidays.
News24 in South Africa reported at the time Peterson said the US had limited funds for
drought relief. She said, ‘When we hear of the lavish spending by the Swazi royal family –
especially while a third of their citizens need food aid – it becomes difficult to encourage our
government to make more emergency aid available. You can’t expect international donors to
give more money to the citizens of Swaziland than their own leaders give them.’
South African media reported that the queens, their bodyguards, protocol officials, family and
other ‘support staff’ were on the trip that was expected to last eight days.
See also
U.S. Ambassador calls for repeal of decree that makes Swaziland an absolute
monarchy
32
3. POLICE
Swaziland police shoot union leader in back as peaceful workers’ protest turns into a
‘battlefield’
3 October 2019
Police in Swaziland / eSwatini once again attacked striking workers using teargas, water
cannon and rubber bullets. One union leader was shot in the back with a live bullet.
The kingdom’s main commercial city Manzini was brought ‘to a complete standstill’ and
‘became a battlefield,’ according to local media.
The AFP international news agency reported the majority of shops in Manzini were closed
due to the unrest.
This was the third time in a week that police attacked workers.
The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland
as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, said thousands of people took part in
demonstrations. The People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), a prodemocracy
group banned in Swaziland, in a statement on Facebook, put the number of protesters at ‘well
over 7,000’. The Times of eSwatini (formerly Times of Swaziland), the only independent daily
newspaper in the kingdom, put the figure at 8,000.
The Observer and the Times said about 10 people were injured. PUDEMO put the number at
17. The Observer reported one of the injured was National Public Service and Allied
Workers Union (NAPSAWU) Manzini Branch Secretary General Dumisani Nkuna. It said he
‘was shot at, allegedly with live rounds of ammunition, in the back, just close to the spinal
cord’. He was admitted to the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital.
Another person had two gunshot wounds in his hand, the newspaper said. PUDEMO said the
injured woman might be permanently disabled.
Public sector workers were striking for a 7.85 percent cost-of-living salary increase.
The Observer reported the demonstration was peaceful until riot police, the Operational
Support Services Unit (OSSU), fired teargas after a small fire was lit by protesters in the
middle of a street.
Last week during a three-day national strike, police fired rubber bullets and teargas at striking
public service workers, injuring at least 15. The workers were at the end of a three-day strike.
The violence happened in Mbabane after what local media called ‘a long day of peaceful
protest’.
On Monday the Government applied to the Industrial Court for an interim order to have the
march declared illegal which has since been granted. A full hearing is due to be heard on 17
33
October 2019, the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) said in a statement
posted on Facebook.
Union leaders and Swaziland police are expected to meet on Thursday morning.
Public sector strikers peacefully march in Manzini: Picture source Facebook
See also
Swaziland police fire rubber bullets and teargas injuring 15 during national strike
Swaziland police fire teargas into classroom packed with children
Swaziland union leader shot by police during strike put his hands up and pleaded: don’t
shoot
4 October 2019
The trade union leader who was shot in the back with a rubber bullet at close range by police
in Swaziland /eSwatini during what was until then a peaceful strike has told how he put his
hands up and pleaded at the officer not to shoot.
Dumisani Nkuna, Secretary General of the Manzini Branch of the National Public Service
and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), was a marshal at a march in Manzini, the
kingdom’s main commercial city, on Wednesday (2 October 2019).
About 8,000 people marched through the city as part of a public servants’ strike for an
increase in cost-of-living salary payments.
Nkuna told the Times of eSwatini (formerly Times of Swaziland), the only independent daily
newspaper in the kingdom ruled by absolute monarch King Mswati III, ‘I raised my hands
and shouted; “Please do not shoot. I am a marshal”’.
From his hospital bed he told the newspaper he had been working with police to control the
march which had begun to get unruly. He ran away with other demonstrators when police
fired teargas. Armed police followed them.
34
He said after he raised his hands the police were very close to him. ‘He saw one of them
aiming to shoot towards him, and he decided to take it to his heels,” the Times reported.
It quoted him saying, ‘It was then that they shot me in the back. I fell down the slight slope
and crawled towards the main road near Mzimnene River where I was assisted to get into a
car and was rushed to hospital.’
‘I thank God for making a quick decision to run again because if I had delayed for a few
minutes, maybe the rubber bullets would have pierced through my stomach and I do not
know what would have happened,’ he said.
He was taken to Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital where two pieces of the rubber
bullets were removed. It had previously been reported by media in Swaziland that he was
shot with a live bullet.
The Times also interviewed Fikile Nhlabatsi, who was not part of the protest and works for an
insurance company, who said she was shot four times at close range. She was hit by two
rubber bullets in the right hand and two of her fingers were fractured.
She was returning to her place of work when she saw people running and a police armoured
vehicle. When she heard live gunshots she hid in a hedge.
She said she was ‘gripped by fear’ and lay face down and covered her face with her hands.
‘I heard two shots hitting the hedge right next to me and thereafter two rubber bullets hit my
right hand,’ she said. When the firing died down she was taken to a local health centre and
then to RFM where she was admitted.
Another victim of the police rubber bullets was Swaziland National Association of Teachers
(SNAT) member Londiwe Mdlovu who was shot with a rubber bullet in her left arm.
She told the Times she was running away with two other marchers from the police when they
fired rubber bullets and tear gas canisters at them. They escaped and were walking to a KFC
fast-food restaurant when a group of armed police officers alighted from a speeding armoured
vehicle and fired rubber bullets at them. The officers then jumped back into the vehicle which
drove off, she said.
They were treated by the Baphalali Eswatini Red Cross Society, who cleaned their wounds
and bandaged them.
Later, in a statement posted on Facebook, the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland

(TUCOSWA) condemned the ‘barbaric action that is continuously done by the “trigger
happy” police, in shooting unarmed citizens of the country’.
It added, ‘We promise that we shall take up this matter with the relevant bodies locally and
internationally if need be, since it has become a chronic disease in the country.’
35
The Swaziland Solidarity Network, a group banned in Swaziland because of its

prodemocracy activities, said in a statement posted on Facebook, ‘The brutalisation of these
innocent workers is an example of the way all pro-democracy activists are treated in
Swaziland by King Mswati whenever they organise peaceful activities to protest against his
illegitimate regime.’
It added, ‘While we condemn the actions of the Swazi dictatorship, we also extend an
accusing finger to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which even today
continues to pretend as if Swaziland is another democratic state.’
Swaziland police brutality under attack from international workers’ group

10 October 2019
The International Trade Union Confederation has condemned police brutality during last
week’s public sector strike in Swaziland (eSwatini).
Previously the ITUC had criticised other police attacks on workers. It also declared that the
tiny southern African kingdom, which is ruled by King Mswati III as an absolute monarch,
had one of the worst records on workers’ rights in the world.
More than 30 people were injured when police opened fire with rubber bullets. They also
used water cannon and teargas on protestors during a three day strike for a cost-of-living
salary increase.
36
ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow said in a statement on Tuesday (8 October

2019),‘Respect for workers’ rights, good faith dialogue and a government that responds to
people’s needs and concerns – just like any other country, this is what Eswatini needs, not
state violence against the people. Eswatini’s King Mswati pledged to us earlier this year to
build these bridges, yet now we are seeing the government pulling all stops to undermine
them.’
In a letter addressed to Swazi Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini, the ITUC highlighted past
commitments to establishing dialogue. It added, ‘The use of violence, even for purported
reasons of internal security, constitutes a serious violation of human and trade union rights.’
Burrow said, ‘The government claimed that the strike was a threat to national interests. If the
Swazi people asking for decent working conditions is against this government’s version of
“national interest”, then the government has got it totally wrong.’
In the letter to the PM, ITUC, which represents 207 million workers across 163 countries,
called for an ‘urgent and impartial investigation’ into the police shootings.
It added King Mswati had made a commitment at a meeting with the ITUC at the
International Labour Conference in Geneva in June to engage in good faith in dialogue to
improve industrial relations. ‘The violence and repression against the protesters and the legal
obstacles for strike actions and protests undermine this commitment,’ ITUC said.
Swaziland has one of the worst records in the world for workers’ rights, according to an
ITUC report. Reviewing the year 2018, ITUC said ‘police brutality reached unprecedented
levels’ and ‘security forces fired live ammunition at protesting workers’.
In September 2018 police fired live bullets, rubber bullets and teargas at workers and
demonstrators who had been legally protesting during a three-day strike. The streets of
Manzini, the kingdom’s main commercial city, were turned into a ‘battlefield’, according to
local media. The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, said the bus
rank in Swaziland’s major commercial city was ‘turned into a warzone as stun grenades,
teargas, teasers and rubber bullets became the order of the day’.
The Times of Swaziland , the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, called it an ‘open
battlefield’.
The ITUC said there was no guarantee of workers’ rights in Swaziland and it was getting
worse. It put Swaziland near the bottom of 145 countries in its Global Rights Index for 2019
that ranked countries on the degree of respect for workers’ rights in law and in practice.
In July 2018 the ITUC protested to the Swaziland Government after police attacked peaceful
demonstrators in the kingdom’s capital Mbabane. Four people were seriously injured, with
two left critical, after police fired stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannon.
37
The demonstration organised by the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) was
over accusations that millions of dollars had been removed from the national pension fund by
the government which was not elected but chosen by King Mswati.
Pictures show the wounds suffered by two of the protestors. Sourced from Facebook
See also
Police fire stun grenades at protest
Two critical after police attack
Norwegians protest against Swaziland police shooting

Kenworthy News Media, 11 October 2019
Norwegian union confederation protests police brutality against striking workers in

Swaziland.
In a letter sent to Swazi Prime Minister, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, on Tuesday, the
Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions, LO Norway, protests against police firing rubber
bullets and teargas at public sector workers on strike last week. Several of the strikers, who
were demanding cost of living adjustments and a 7,85 per cent salary increase, were injured.
38
– LO Norway is shocked to learn that the General Secretary of the National Public Service
and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) was shot with live ammunition, requiring his urgent
transfer to Raleigh Fitkin Hospital. LO Norway condemns in the strongest terms this brutal
attack, part of the letter reads.
– In addition, your government directed the National Industrial Relations Court to have the
strike declared illegal, under reasons of being a “threat to national interest”. We recall that the
use of violence, even for purported reasons of internal security, constitutes a serious violation
of human and trade union rights, the letter continued.
Protestors in Swaziland during the strike. Pictured from Facebook
Others, including the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Public Services
International (PSI) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), have also
condemned the conduct of the Swazi police.
– Respect for workers’ rights, good faith dialogue and a government that responds to people’s
needs and concerns – just like any other country, this is what Eswatini needs, not state
violence against the people. Eswatini’s King Mswati pledged to us earlier this year to build
these bridges, yet now we are seeing the government pulling all stops to undermine them,
said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.
– PSI condemns in the strongest terms the barbaric behavior of the Kingdom of eSwatini
police who fired rubber bullets and threw teargas into crowds of striking workers who were
only demanding a Cost of Living Adjustment they have not received for 3 years now.
Workers attacked included Dumisani Nkuna, Secretary General of the Manzini Branch of our
affiliates the National Public Services & Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), who was shot
in the back, PSI said in a statement. Public sector workers were last awarded salary
adjustments in the 2015/2016 financial year and all negotiations with employers have not
yielded any positive results, PSI added.
39
– Employers have remained adamant on their position of a 0% salary increment. This put in
the context of annual inflation rates estimated as follows: in 2017 it was 6.22%, in 2018 it
was 4.83% and in 2019 it is estimated to be 5.63%., the statement concluded.
COSATU, in neighbouring South Africa, also issued a strongly worded statement.
– We strongly denounce and rebuke the manner in which Swaziland police have dealt with
the strike action. The peaceful workers’ protest turned into a battlefield when King Mswati
once again set his gladiatorial “trigger happy” police force on unarmed civilians in the city of
Manzini. Live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas were opened on 8000 workers who
were demonstrating, as part of the public servants’ strike for an increase in cost-of-living
salary payments, COSATU said in a statement.
In its annual Freedom in the World-report, independent watchdog organisation Freedom

House concludes that “political dissent and civic and labor activism are subject to harsh
punishment under sedition and other laws. Any criticism of Swazi culture and traditions or
defacement of national symbols—including the king’s image—can draw fines and up to two
years in prison”.
Human Rights Watch concluded in their 2017 report that “Swaziland continued to repress
political dissent and disregard human rights and rule of law in 2017”.
Swaziland police comb social media to track down union activists during legal strike
17 October 2019
Striking trade unionists in Swaziland (eSwatini) say police are using social media to track
them down before taking them in for questioning.
Schoolteachers have been especially targeted, according to union sources.
This is not the first time police have used surveillance and spying against trade unionists.
It happened after a three-day legal strike by public servants who want a 7.8 percent cost-of-
living (CoLA) salary increase. The government which was not elected but appointed by
absolute monarch King Mswati III says it is broke and has offered nothing.
Some teachers were summoned to the Manzini police station after they were traced on social
media platforms. Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) President Mbongwa
Dlamini and Secretary General Sikelela Dlamini accompanied some of them.
The Times of eSwatini reported that police knew details of the teachers, including their
nicknames and what subjects they taught. Teachers said they used social media groups to
discuss topics including their welfare, the CoLA issue and the strike action.
One teacher told the Times ‘I believe they just pick individuals who post or comment about
the strike and CoLA issues.’
40
The newspaper quoted one teacher saying police said, ‘they were inviting us to the police
station for our involvement in the clash between the law enforcers and marchers during the
recent civil servants’ public sensitisation march’ on 2 October 2019.
Police used teargas, rubber bullets and water cannon on strikers.

Meanwhile, the Times also reported that the Ministry of Education and Training had
instructed regional educational offices to supply it with details on SNAT leaders in their
areas. The information is to include the names of branch leaders and members of the national
executive council.
Police in Swaziland have a long history of surveillance and spying. In September 2018
teachers discovered a police spy at their union conference and threw him out. His name and
photograph and a picture of the car he was using was published on social media.
A week before the conference police shot and wounded a schoolteacher when they fired into
a group of teachers during a protest over pay.
In July 2018 it was reported that police were video recording and keeping data of protest
marches by political parties and labour federations. They then used the information to deprive
people of college scholarships, jobs in the army, police, and correctional services or
promotions in government departments, the online newspaper Swaziland News reported.
The newspaper said the Police Intelligence Unit had been captured filming a protest march
organised by the Trade Congress Union of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) in June 2018.
In September 2017 police in Swaziland disguised themselves as news reporters at a march of

public servants in Mbabane. The Sunday Observer in Swaziland at the time called it ‘spying’
and said it had happened before at other public demonstrations, ‘They [police] are always
plain clothed and carry traditional journalistic tools including cameras and notebooks,’ the
newspaper reported.
The march was legal. A police spokesman said they were not spying because the march took
place in a public place.
In August 2017 it was reported that police infiltrated a Pensioners’ Association meeting to
make notes on proceedings.
In July 2013 it was reported that police in Swaziland were spying on the kingdom’s members
of parliament. One officer disguised in plain clothes was thrown out of a workshop for MPs
and one MP reported his phone had been bugged. Ntondozi MP Peter Ngwenya told the
House of Assembly at the time that MPs lived in fear because there was constant police
presence, in particular from officers in the Intelligence Unit.
In May 2013 the Media Institute of Southern Africa reported that police spies had infiltrated
journalism newsrooms in Swaziland, which had led to a heightened climate of fear.
41
It is legal in certain circumstances to tap phones in Swaziland. The Suppression of Terrorism

Act gives police the right to listen in on people’s conversations if they have the permission of
the Attorney General.
See also
State police spy on Swazi MPs
Police spies infiltrate media
Swaziland workers to march and petition against police brutality

28 October 2019
Workers in Swaziland (eSwatini) are to march in protest against police brutality in the
kingdom, ruled by absolute monarch King Mswati III.
Police recently used live ammunition, rubber bullets, teargas and water cannon against public
service workers engaged in legal protests. The police and security forces have a long history
of using violence against striking workers and people demonstrating for democracy.
Political parties are banned from contesting elections in Swaziland and groups advocating for
democracy are banned under the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
The protest on 31 October 2019 will include marches to deliver petitions to the Ministry of
Public Service, Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Ministry of Education and Training
and the police headquarters in the Swazi capital, Mbabane.
Earlier this month (October 2019), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
condemned police brutality during the public servants’ strike where more than 30 people
were injured by police.
ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow said in a statement, ‘Respect for workers’ rights,
good faith dialogue and a government that responds to people’s needs and concerns – just
like any other country, this is what Eswatini needs, not state violence against the people.
eSwatini’s King Mswati pledged to us earlier this year to build these bridges, yet now we are
seeing the government pulling all stops to undermine them.’
In a letter addressed to Swazi Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini, the ITUC said, ‘The use of
violence, even for purported reasons of internal security, constitutes a serious violation of
human and trade union rights.’
In the letter to the PM, ITUC, which represents 207 million workers across 163 countries,
called for an ‘urgent and impartial investigation’ into the police shootings.
Swaziland has one of the worst records in the world for workers’ rights, according to an
ITUC report. Reviewing the year 2018, ITUC said ‘police brutality reached unprecedented
levels’ and ‘security forces fired live ammunition at protesting workers’.
42
In September 2018 police fired live bullets, rubber bullets and teargas at workers and
demonstrators who had been legally protesting during a three-day strike. The streets of
Manzini, the kingdom’s main commercial city, were turned into a ‘battlefield’, according to
local media. The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, said the bus
rank in Swaziland’s major commercial city was ‘turned into a warzone as stun grenades,
teargas, teasers and rubber bullets became the order of the day’.
In July 2018 the ITUC protested to the Swaziland Government after police attacked peaceful
demonstrators in the kingdom’s capital Mbabane. Four people were seriously injured, with
two left critical, after police fired stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannon.
Swaziland police ‘beat teenager to death to make him confess to crime he did not
commit’
31 October 2019
Community police in Swaziland (eSwatini) allegedly beat a teenager to death to make him
confess to a crime he had not committed.
They used knobkerries and batons on Celumusa Dlamini, aged 17, the Times of eSwatini
reported from Mahwalala.
Community police in Swaziland have a long record of illegal beatings.
In the latest case, the Times reported that Dlamini was one of six people accused by the police
of robbing an elderly man. It said he was interrogated through the night and died of his
injuries.
‘Knobkerries and batons were allegedly some of the objects that were used by the community
police members to retrieve the truth” from the minor and the five others,’ the Times reported.
It added it later transpired that Dlamini was not part of the gang that committed the robbery.
Community police in Swaziland, which is ruled by King Mswati III as an absolute monarch,
have a long history of attacks on people. In June 2019 it was reported police at Gundvwini in
the Manzini region illegally forced a six-year-old boy to strip and then thrashed him on the
naked buttocks after he was accused of stealing a cellphone from a schoolteacher.
The Times of Swaziland reported at the time the boy’s aunt said the boy he had been taken to
the mountains and had his private parts squeezed before being ordered to undress. After
undressing, he was allegedly thrashed a number of times with a stick on his bare buttocks.
The community police operate in rural Swaziland and are supervised by traditional chiefs
who are local representatives of King Mswati. They have the authority to arrest suspects
concerning minor offences for trial by an inner council within the chiefdom. For serious
offences suspects should be handed over to the official police for further investigations.
43
There have been a number of cases reported by media in Swaziland where community police
have acted illegally. In June 2018 five community police officers at Ngoloweni in Sandleni
attacked a man described as ‘mentally disturbed’ and beat him close to death and set his
genitals on fire. They suspected the 44-year-old man had attempted to rape a girl aged six.
In April 2018 it was reported that two community police officers at Malindza stripped a man
naked, tied him to a tree and flogged his bare buttocks with sticks until they bled profusely.
They had accused him of stealing pots from his grandfather’s house.
In March 2018 a court heard that three community policemen from Dvokolwako gang-raped
a 17-year-old schoolgirl at knifepoint and forced her boyfriend to watch. One of them
recorded it on his cellphone. The teenager was in her school uniform while she and her
boyfriend walked to a river after a school athletics competition. The community policemen
told them they were on patrol to make sure none of the pupils committed any offences during
the athletics competition.
In 2014 three Malindza community police beat to death a mentally challenged man who had
escaped from the National Psychiatric Centre.
In 2011 community police in Kwaluseni reportedly threatened to murder democracy activist

Musa Ngubeni if he was released on bail pending trial on explosive offences. Residents
accused the community police in the area of being involved in criminal activities.
See also
Police beat man close to death
Police gang-rape schoolgirl
Community police banish gay men
Swaziland community police strip theft suspects naked and beat their buttocks in latest
illegal action
24 November 2019
Community police officers in Swaziland (eSwatini) paraded naked five suspected thieves and
severely beat them on their buttocks. At least two needed hospital treatment.
It happened at KaMasuku and is the latest example of how local police disregard the law.
The Times of eSwatini reported Mpolonjeni community police made a widespread search
looking for stolen vehicle parts. The suspects were removed from their homes in the early
hours.
It reported one of the community police officers Menzi Maseko saying, ‘We were just fed up
as a community and wanted to send a clear message to criminals as we are approaching the
festive season.’
44
The Times added, ‘They warned anyone who would be tempted to commit crime in the area
not to dare try as they were on the lookout and ready for war.’
The community police operate in rural Swaziland and are supervised by traditional chiefs
who are local representatives of the absolute monarch, King Mswati III. They have the
authority to arrest suspects concerning minor offences for trial by an inner council within the
chiefdom. For serious offences suspects should be handed over to the official police for
further investigations.
Community police in Swaziland have a long history of attacks on people.
In October 2019 it was reported community police at Mahwalala allegedly beat a teenager to
death to make him confess to a crime he had not committed. He was one of six people
accused by the police of robbing an elderly man. It said he was interrogated through the night
and died of his injuries.
In June 2019 it was reported community police at Gundvwini in the Manzini region illegally
forced a six-year-old boy to strip and then thrashed him on the naked buttocks after he was
accused of stealing a cellphone from a schoolteacher.
In June 2018 five community police officers at Ngoloweni in Sandleni attacked a man
described as ‘mentally disturbed’ and beat him close to death and set his genitals on fire.
They suspected the 44-year-old man had attempted to rape a girl aged six.
Swaziland community police officers in court charged with murdering crime suspect
10 December 2019
Three community policemen in Swaziland appeared in court charged with murdering a

suspect they were holding.
Sibusiso Mhlanga, aged 32, had been captured by members of the Maliyaduma community
police for allegedly stealing solar panels.
They reportedly called Manzini police who took Mhlanga away.
Later the Manzini officers returned to Maliyaduma and arrested the community police
officers. They said Mhlanga had died from injuries sustained during their interrogation of him
at Maliyaduma.
In a report of the case at Mbabane Court, the Times of eSwatini said a witness reported
hearing screaming from an interrogation room and saw police officers assaulting Mhlanga
with an electric cable.
The murder allegedly happened in February 2014.
The police officers deny murder and the case will resume in 2020.
45
4. STUDENTS
Swaziland students boycott classes as Govt breaks promise to pay allowances

4 November 2019
Students in Swaziland (eSwatini) boycotted classes and at least one college has been closed
after the government failed to honour its promise to pay allowances.
Some students have been without payment for the past two months.
The William Pitcher teacher training college at Manzini was closed down indefinitely,
according to a report from the Swaziland Youth Congress.
Students at the Southern Africa Nazarene University at Manzini have also boycotted classes.
The government fails to pay allowances on time most years and boycotts routinely take place.
In September 2019 students only agreed to return to classes after the government promised to
double their allowances and pay it monthly. No payments have been made in the past two
months.
A statement from the SANU student representative council (SRC) said it wanted the
immediate release of book, practical and monthly allowances; scholarship for all students
admitted at the institution and allowances to be increased to meet students’ economic needs.
SANU SRC Secretary General Colani Khulekani Maseko sustained serious injuries during a
confrontation with other non-protesting students and was admitted to the Raleigh Fitkin
Memorial Hospital, the Observer on Saturday reported.
It said some students who were not government sponsored wanted to continue with classes.
Police were called to SANU after students marched on the university administration.
SANU SRC President Tholumuzi Gubevu Simelane told the newspaper the first day of class
boycott was a huge success. ‘The boycott continues until our demands are met,’ he said.
The Swazi News reported Simelane said the students were concerned about government’s
inability to uphold its agreement to pay their monthly allowances within a period of 30 days.
This was stipulated by a clause contained in the pre-service tertiary education study loan
agreement form the students signed in September 2019.
Simelane said they had not received their allowances for September and October.
In a letter to tertiary institutions the Ministry of Labour and Social Security said payments
had been delayed because it did not have all students’ bank details.
46
See also
Students march on government
Swaziland police fire gunshots and shoot student with rubber bullet as campus protests
continue
5 November 2019
Police in Swaziland (eSwatini) fired live ammunition and shot a university student with a
rubber bullet as class boycotts entered their second day.
It was the latest police shooting during legal protests in the kingdom ruled by absolute
monarch King Mswati III.
Students across the kingdom are angry that the government failed to keep its promise to pay
them their allowances for books, accommodation and other equipment.
The shooting happened at the Southern Africa Nazarene University (SANU) in Manzini.
Armed police patrolled the campus after students boycotted classes and set up a roadblock
and started fires near the university.
The SANU administration ordered the university to be closed indefinitely and told students to
vacate the premises immediately.
That was when police moved in, the Times of eSwatini reported. It quoted sources saying,
‘That is where all hell broke loose and the students clashed with the law enforcers who were
trying to drive them out of the institution.’
It added students lit a fire on a public road. ‘As a result of the students’ behaviour, the police
fired several warning shots in the air and also used rubber bullets to disperse the scholars,
who ran helter-skelter.’
Phephile Sifundza, aged 20, a student, was shot in the leg.
The Swazi Observer reported, ‘[Sifundza] said she was not among the protesting students but
was crossing the road at the traffic lights towards Manzini City. She said she was in the
company of her friend when she heard gunshots.’
It quoted her saying, ‘In a moment, I was on the ground and I realised that I was hurt. I tried
to call out for help but everyone was running around.’ When the chaos died down her
colleagues took her to hospital.
On Thursday (31 October 2019) workers marched in protest against police brutality and
delivered petitions to the Ministry of Public Service, Ministry of Labour and Social Security,
Ministry of Education and Training and the police headquarters in the Swazi capital,
Mbabane.
47
Police recently used live ammunition, rubber bullets, teargas and water cannon against public
service workers engaged in legal protests. More than 30 people were injured by police.
Last month (October 2019) the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) condemned
police brutality. ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow said in a statement, ‘Respect for
workers’ rights, good faith dialogue and a government that responds to people’s needs and
concerns – just like any other country, this is what eSwatini needs, not state violence against
the people. eSwatini’s King Mswati pledged to us earlier this year to build these bridges, yet
now we are seeing the government pulling all stops to undermine them.’
One in three female students at Swaziland university sexually assaulted in single year
30 November 2019
More than one in three female students at the University of eSwatini reported they had been
sexually assaulted in one year, academic research just published reveals.
The assault was most commonly committed by a boyfriend.
Only a minority of the students disclosed their assault to anybody, and many did not think
their experiences were ‘sexual assault’ despite reporting experiences that met the legal
definition of rape and sexual assault, the research published in the Journal of Interpersonal
Violence found.
Four researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, USA and
the University of eSwatini, Faculty of Health Sciences, Mbabane, concluded there was a need
to increase intervention and prevention efforts in eSwatini.
A total of 372 of the 1,498 female students enrolled full time (about one in four) at the
University of eSwatini (UNESWA) Kwaluseni Campus (formerly University of Swaziland:
UNISWA) took part in the research conducted in 2018.
Sixty percent of participants reported experiencing an attempted or completed sexual assault

in their lifetime, and a total of 38 percent reported an assault in the previous 12 months. The
vast majority (93 percent) of assailants were known to their victim, and the majority (56
percent) of perpetrators were ‘romantic partners’. The majority of participants in the research
had never before disclosed their assault fearing they would be blamed or stigmatized.
Food insecurity, losing a parent before age 21, and hazardous drinking were all significantly
associated with experiencing sexual assault in the previous 12 months, as was experiencing a
previous assault before the age of 18.
Previously published research suggested about 40 percent of Swazi women in the population
as a whole reported that their first sexual encounter was forced or coerced and just over 11
percent of Swazi women had experienced forced sex in their lifetime. One in three young
women aged 13 to 24 experienced some form of sexual violence before their 18th birthday.
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This was a rate 4.75 times the global average and nearly three times higher than that reported
by women in the rest of Africa.
The researchers reported, ‘We found that sexual assault is extremely common in the lives of
university women in the Kingdom of eSwatini. While lifetime rates of sexual assault were
similar to those reported by women aged 18 to 24 in the general population, the prevalence of
any attempted or completed sexual assault in the previous 12 months was approximately 1.8
times higher than that reported by women of a similar age.
‘Moreover, we found that approximately 38 percent of women at the UNESWA experienced

a completed sexual assault in the past 12 months—a rate nearly four times higher than that
reported in the general population of 18 to 24 year olds.’
Taken together, these findings suggest that university women had a significant greater risk of
experiencing sexual violence compared to other women in their age.
The researchers said, ‘Only one in five women whose experiences met the legal definition of
rape labeled their experience as such. The majority of women who did not disclose their
assaults said they did not do so either because they did not think what had happened was
abuse, or because they did not know who to tell.’
The researchers said survivors felt that disclosing the assault, ‘meant running the risk of
stigma, blame, mockery, and anger or disappointment from their families’.
Survivors also felt that disclosing the assault to an institution, such as the university, was
likely to be ‘re-traumatizing and unhelpful’. The researchers added findings suggested that
women who had disclosed assault to their friends or family were not always been met with
non-judgmental support.
The researchers suggested both formal and informal networks to support survivors could be
created and reducing victim blaming might be one key approach for programming and policy
makers to consider.
The researchers added, ‘Our findings suggest that there is a strong need for counseling
services tailored to survivors of sexual assault in the region.’
See also
Sex violence a ‘national disaster’
Sex-starved Swazi men rape children
49
5. WORKERS’ DISPUTES
Swaziland Government goes to court to try to stop public sector workers’ pay strike
2 October 2019
The Government of the tiny southern African kingdom of Swaziland / eSwatini has applied to
the Industrial Court to have a continuing public service unions’ strike for more pay declared
illegal.
It says the strike has gone beyond being just an industrial dispute.
Swaziland is ruled by King Mswati III as an absolute monarch. The kingdom is regularly
criticised by international groups for the lack of workers’ rights.
In the latest move the Attorney General Sifiso Mashampu Khumalo said in court documents
that the strike was against ‘the national interest’. He said the economy would be damaged. He
claimed lives would be put in danger.
The court action is directed at the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union
(NAPSAWU) and the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT). It was heard on
Monday evening (1 October 2019). No ruling has yet been announced.
Khumalo alleged that strikers had intimidated workers and had caused violence at some
schools.
Last week during a three-day national strike, police fired rubber bullets and teargas at striking
public service workers, injuring at least 15. The workers were at the end of a three-day strike
over cost-of-living pay rises. The violence happened in Mbabane after what local media
called ‘a long day of peaceful protest’.
Workers want a 7.85 percent cost-of-living salary increase. The Government says it is broke
and cannot pay. Negotiations have broken down.
Before the court intervention, unions planned to ‘shut down’ all government departments in
Swaziland’s main commercial town, Manzini.
See also
Swaziland police fire rubber bullets and teargas injuring 15 during national strike
Swaziland police fire teargas into classroom packed with children
Move to call textile workers’ pay strike in Swaziland as firms give gifts to King
Thursday, 21 November 2019
A trade union representing textile workers in Swaziland (eSwatini) is planning a strike before
Christmas, accusing Taiwanese-owned businesses in the kingdom of colluding with the
government to underpay employees.
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They say the money the companies save will be presented to absolute monarch King Mswati
III as tetfulo (gifts).
The Swaziland News, an online newspaper, reported on Tuesday that such gifts were
normally given by people who wanted favours from the King.
The News reported Warnder Mkhonza, the Secretary General of the Amalgamated Trade
Union of Swaziland (ATUSWA), said most Taiwanese investors had royal connections.
It added, ‘Mkhonza said they have noted that Taiwan was now funding government
operations through various donations while on the other hand, workers are complaining of
low wages.’
The News quoted Mkhonza saying, ‘Our country has become more like a Taiwanese colony
and this has negative impact in the lives of the working class particularly the textile workers.
The Taiwanese donate millions for social responsibility projects including cultural events like
Incwala and Umhlanga. This happens while workers are complaining of low wages and
government is staggering in addressing this issue because our authorities are highly
connected and personally benefiting from Taiwan.’
The News added, ‘Mkhonza said the Taiwanese might be doing all this because they have
since realized that corruption was legitimate in the country and running in the veins of the
royal family.’
Mistreatment of workers in the textile industry in Swaziland has been known for many years
and workers have staged strikes and other protests to draw attention to the situation.
ATUSWA is campaigning for a minimum wage of at least E3,000 (about US$250) per
month. At present, it is reported most textile workers earn between E1,300 and E1,500 per
month. They are supported by the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA).
ATUSWA reported workers had been sacked for trying to join the union.
In July 2014 a survey of the Swazi textile industry undertaken by the Trade Union Congress
of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) revealed workers were subjected to harsh and sometimes abusive
conditions, many of the kingdom’s labour laws were routinely violated by employers, and
union activists were targeted by employers for punishment. More than 90 percent of workers
surveyed reported being punished by management for making errors, not meeting quotas or
missing shifts.
More than 70 percent of survey respondents reported witnessing verbal and physical abuse in
their workplace by supervisors.
In its report on human rights in Swaziland in 2013, the US State Department said wage
arrears, particularly in the garment industry, were a problem. It said, ‘workers complained
that wages were low and that procedures for getting sick leave approved were cumbersome in
some factories. The minimum monthly wage for a skilled employee in the industry -
including sewing machinists and quality checkers - was E1,128 (US$113 at the time).
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Minimum wage laws did not apply to the informal sector, where many workers were
employed.
‘The garment sector also has a standard 48-hour workweek, but workers alleged that working
overtime was compulsory because they had to meet unattainable daily and monthly
production quotas.’
In September 2014 hundreds of workers at Tex Ray were affected by poisonous chemical
fumes at the factory in Matsapha. Many needed hospital treatment and the factory was closed
for several days.
In May 2015, it was estimated 3,000 people in the textile industry lost their jobs when the
United States withdrew trading benefits under the Africa Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA)
because of Swaziland’s poor record on human rights which included workers’ rights.
Swaziland makes a lot of its relationship with Taiwan. It is the only nation in Africa that
officially recognises Taiwan. In 2018 Taiwan gave the King US$1.3 million towards the cost
of his 50th birthday celebration. In April 2018 the King called on the United Nations to admit
Taiwan to the organisation. Taiwan, which calls itself the Republic of China on Taiwan, is
not recognised by the UN because the People’s Republic of China claims the territory as its
own.
See also
Exploitation by Taiwan textiles
52
6. GOVT FINANCIAL CRISIS
Broke Swaziland Govt wants to borrow another E1bn to complete unnecessary

convention centre
9 October 2019
The Government of Swaziland / eSwatini is to seek another E1.2 billion (US$83 million) in
loans to complete the building of a conference centre and hotel to house an African Union
summit that will not now take place.
Costs of the building under construction at Ezulwini have already exceeded E1bn and are
estimated to be a further E2bn over the next three years.
The International Convention Centre and five star hotel project known as ICC-FISH was
started because Swaziland hoped to house an African Union summit in 2020. But it has not
won the contract for this.
The Government of Swaziland, which was not elected by handpicked by absolute monarch
King Mswati III, tabled a ‘certificate of urgency’ on Monday (7 October 2019) to pass a bill
to allow it to borrow US$83 million (about E1.2bn) from the Bank of the Republic of China
(Taiwan).
The Times of eSwatini reported there was controversy in the House of Assembly when the
bill was sent to be discussed by committee as it was not clear if a majority of members
present voted in its favour.
The Eswatini News (formerly Swazi News) reported last week that costs of ICC-FISH had
already reached E1.027bn and this had been financed mainly by Taiwan. Bathroom fittings
alone at the hotel cost E78m.
Swaziland’s economy is in meltdown and public services in health and education are grinding
to a halt. However in March 2018 the government declared the building of ICC-FISH to be a
priority and earmarked E1.5bn for it in the national budget. This was more than the sum
allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture (E1.4bn) or the Ministry of Defence (E1.15bn). It
was the biggest single capital project in Swaziland’s budget that year. Total capital spending
was set at E5.6bn.
The hotel and conference centre is another project supported by the King Mswati III. He
believes such buildings add to the prestige of his kingdom and will make it a First World
nation by 2022. He already has an airport named in his honour that cost an estimated E2.5bn
to build but only has one airline using it. King Mswati III International Airport has been
described as a ‘white elephant’ and a ‘vanity project’ for the King.
In 2013 when the plan for the development of ICC-FISH was announced the cost was
estimated at E1bn. Completion of the work was expected by 2016.
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In September 2017 it was reported that King Mswati had visited Las Vegas in the United
States to try to get the Caesars Palace company (famous for its hotel and casino) to manage
the ICC-FISH. ‘The King’s Office Correspondent’, writing at the time in the Swazi Observer,
a newspaper in effect owned by the King, reported Caesars Palace management had promised
to submit a proposal on what it would cost to manage the ICC and hotel.
In 2013, when the plan for building was announced the Swazi Observer reported, ‘The scope
of the project include a facility of international standards with a Swazi theme, a facility to
handle up to 4,500 delegates at a time, trade centre for high value exhibition, a secure
chamber room to take 53 heads of state, 3,500 seat banqueting hall, restaurants, 1,500 seat
theatre, and special holding rooms.’
ICC-FISH was intended to house the African Union (AU) summit which is held twice a year
and lasts about eight days.
In February 2019 it was announced Swaziland had missed out to South Africa on the chance
to host the 2020 AU summit. Media in South Africa said this was because Swaziland did not
have the resources to fulfil the role.
It is no secret that Swaziland is broke. Hospitals have run out of vital drugs and schools have
been forced to close because the government has not paid its suppliers. In his budget speech
in March 2018 Finance Minister Martin Dlamini said government owed E3.1bn (US$230
million) in total to its suppliers for goods and services.
In 2016, when King Mswati was Chair of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) he took about E40m, mostly from public funds, to host a lavish Heads of State
summit at a time when his government was so poor it could release only E22m of the E305m
earmarked for drought relief in that year’s national budget.
When he formally opened the Swaziland Parliament on 8 February 2019, King Mswati
demanded severe public spending cuts for the coming year. He said the kingdom’s spending
had ‘surpassed sustainable levels’ and government debts were increasing. The kingdom’s
financial reserves were falling and there was little economic growth. He warned that taxes
collected in Swaziland would not be enough to pay the bills.
See also
King’s deal with $18bn bankrupt
Swaziland Govt’s investment ‘fantasy’
Swaziland breaks promise to pay off its suppliers to halt public services meltdown
16 October 2019
The Swaziland (eSwatini) Government failed to meet its promise to repay E3billon (US$200
million) its owes to suppliers by the end of September 2019.
54
Public services, especially in heath and schools, are in crisis because businesses are refusing
to provide goods and services until their bills are paid.
The government has failed to secure loans to settle the arrears. The failure is a significant
setback to the government that was not elected but handpicked by absolute monarch King
Mswati III.
After it came into power following the September 2018 election it pledged to get the ailing
economy back on track.
The Times of eSwatini, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, reported,
‘When asked whether they had been able to meet the September deadline as earlier promised,
Ministry of Finance Communications Officer Setsabile Dlamini could only say: “raising
money for the settling of arrears is work in progress. However, it still has to go through
Parliament.”’
Dlamini added, ‘Government was engaging a number of financiers, both local and external,
with a view to pay up the arrears with intent to ultimately bolster eSwatini’s economy for the
better.’
The Times reported, ‘Dlamini assured that a detailed austerity measures report would be
issued soon.’
It added ‘In his presentation of the integrated annual report, Central Bank of Eswatini
Governor Majozi Sithole further noted that the economic activity was projected to decelerate
to 1.4 per cent in 2019 from 2.4 per cent in 2018.’
This contradicts a statement by Finance Minister Neal Rijkenberg who as recently as

September 2019 told the African Development Bank, ‘We believe there’s not a problem we
can’t solve … We believe that we’ve turned a corner. The indicators … are turning from an
unsustainable future to a sustainable future.’
In June 2019, he told newspaper editors in the kingdom, ‘Government is working on

proposals to financiers to secure funding of arrears of around E3billion as at 31st March
2019. It is important to note that payment of suppliers is an ongoing process, payments have
never stopped, we pay as and when revenue is received.’
Meanwhile, the Swazi Government continues to insist that it does not have the money to pay
public servants 7.8 percent cost-of-living salary increases. Unions have been striking for
more pay while the government has offered zero percent.
Public services across the kingdom have ground to a halt with reports of people dying for
lack of medicines and children going hungry because the government was unable to pay
suppliers of meals for children.
55
In 2017 King Mswati was named the third wealthiest King in Africa by the international
website Business Insider. It reported he had a net worth of US$200 million (about E3 billion
in local Swazi currency). The King rules a population of about 1.3 million people and seven
in ten of them live in abject poverty with incomes of less than E30 per day.
King Mswati and his family live a lavish lifestyle, at the expense of the people of Swaziland.
The Swazi Government paid US$30 million to buy the King a private jet plane in 2018. King
Mswati now has two private planes, 13 palaces and fleets of top-of-the-range BMW and
Mercedes cars. He wore a watch worth US$1.6 million and a suit beaded with diamonds
weighing 6 kg, at his 50th birthday party in April 2018. He received E15 million (US$1.2
million) in cheques, a gold dining room suite and a gold lounge suite among his birthday
gifts.
His family regularly travel the world on shopping trips spending millions of dollars each
time.
Meanwhile, the World Food Program said it could not raise the US$1.1 million it needed to
feed starving children in the kingdom.
See also
More deaths in Swaziland as government fails to pay medicine suppliers
Swaziland schoolchildren learn under trees or in tents as government runs out of
money
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7. MEDIA FREEDOM
Swaziland Govt minister is far from truth when she praises media freedom in kingdom
20 November 2019
Princess Sikhanyiso, the Minister of Information, Communication and Technology in

Swaziland (eSwatini), was just plain misleading when she told a meeting of editors in the
kingdom, ‘A free media is not an optional extra. Therefore it is our duty to protect media
freedom.’
There is very little media freedom in Swaziland, where one of the only two daily newspapers
is owned by King Mswati who rules the kingdom as an absolute monarch.
All broadcast news is controlled by the government, whose members are handpicked by the
King.
Princess Sikhanyiso is a daughter of the King and was not elected by the people. In
Swaziland, all political parties are banned from taking part in elections and the King appoints
all government ministers. He also appoints top public servants and senior judges.
Princess Sikhanyiso made her comment on Wednesday (20 November 2019) at a meeting of
the Swaziland Editors Forum.
Her comment is demonstrably false. In its most recent annual report on human rights in
Swaziland covering 2018, the United States State Department stated, ‘The constitution and
law provide for freedom of expression, including for the press, but the government restricted
this right, particularly with respect to press freedom and matters concerning the monarchy.
Although no law bans criticism of the monarchy, the prime minister used threats and
intimidation to restrict such criticism.
‘The law empowers the government to ban publications if it deems them “prejudicial or
potentially prejudicial to the interests of defense, public safety, public order, public morality,
or public health.” Many journalists practiced self-censorship. Journalists expressed fear of
reporting on matters involving the monarchy.’
The report added, ‘Broadcast media remained firmly under state control. Most persons
obtained their news from radio broadcasts. Access to speak on national radio is generally
restricted to government officials, although a leader of the Trade Union Congress of
Swaziland received an opportunity in September to share trade union frustrations and
demands.’
A report compiled by Swazi Media Commentary in May 2019 detailing attacks on journalists
in Swaziland during the previous 12 months revealed they had been beaten by state forces
and teachers as they tried to cover public events. Two were detained at the Qatar Embassy in
Mbabane, the Swazi capital, when they went to question a diplomat. A government minister
57
called for a journalist to be arrested for taking photographs of ministerial cars parked in a
public place. A former newspaper editor was questioned by police about allegations he had
interviewed members of banned political organisations back in 2011.
In April 2019 it was reported that a journalist on the Swazi Observer needed hospital
treatment after he was beaten by family members of a prominent bishop when he was
investigating allegations of the bishop’s sexual relationship with a schoolgirl. He needed
hospital treatment. Five people were later charged by police.
In July 2018, Health Minister Ndlela-Simelane called on police to arrest a Swazi Observer
journalist who was photographing government ministers’ cars outside the Deputy Prime
Minister’s office. She demanded that the photographs be deleted which the journalist did. The
newspaper had previously published a report about government ministers’ BMW cars being
in a bad state of repair. It was checking a government claim that the vehicles had been
repaired and were back on the road.
In August 2018, police and prison warders beat up a Times of Swaziland journalist and
demanded he delete photographs he took of them attacking and shooting at striking textile
workers at Nhlangano. The reporter was treated in hospital. More than 200 paramilitary
police and correctional facility warders with riot shields, helmets and batons had been at
Nhlangano. It had been the third police attack on workers in a week.
Human rights groups condemned the attack. The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
Zimbabawe chapter called on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to
investigate Swaziland after a series of ‘state-sponsored violations against journalists’.
It called the police attack, ‘an increasingly worrying development involving state security
agents’. It pointed out that in February 2018 a photojournalist with the Swazi Observer had
also been attacked after he took pictures of a convoy of overcrowded vehicles transporting
prison wardens.
MISA called the attacks, ‘a direct attack on the rights to free expression and press freedom as
explicitly protected in Section 24 of eSwatini’s Constitution. Yet State security forces
continue to attack journalists with impunity.’
It called on SADC to look into ‘these continued state-sponsored violations against journalists.
It is high time the regional body condemned the continued use of state security agents to
violate fundamental rights such as the right to free expression and the right to access
information.’
MISA Swaziland chapter said it was concerned the attacks on journalists were taking place
ahead of national elections which were held in September 2018. It stated, ‘The law
enforcement agents ought to know that journalists play a public service of disseminating
information that emaSwati [Swazi people] need desperately to make informed decisions and
choices.’
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It added, ‘Whosoever attacks journalists in line of duty, stands accused of violating

emaSwati’s constitutional right to information.’
Separately, the Panos Institute Southern Africa said the state attacks on journalists were
unconstitutional. In a statementit said, ‘Journalism is not a crime, but is a freedom that must
be cherished and protected by all who are concerned about the region’s development. Any
attack on press freedom is a blow on the implementation of poverty eradication interventions,
as the media is a strategic ally in the roll-out of national development programmes.’
In September 2018, a photojournalist with the Swazi Observer was assaulted and had his
camera taken while covering protest march by schoolteachers. He was hit with open hands
and fists and he sustained injuries on the face and body. His camera was taken but later
recovered. It happened near the United States Embassy in Mbabane while teachers marched
to deliver a petition seeking support in their campaign for higher salaries.
In October 2018, the Qatar embassy in Swaziland detained two journalists from the Times of
Swaziland for more than an hour in the kingdom’s capital, Mbabane. The Committee to
Protect Journalists reported a senior diplomat tried to make them sign a statement barring
them from publishing a report about his alleged involvement in an assault.
The journalists refused to sign, saying the story was in the public interest. They were released
and later went to local police to lay a charge of kidnapping.
Times of Swaziland editor Martin Dlamini told CPJ, ‘We are shocked that our journalists
could be subjected to such treatment by an ambassador. This is not just a serious attack on the
local media but displays disrespect toward the country.’
In November 2018, Musa Ndlangamandla, a former editor-in-chief of the Swazi Observer and
a writer for South Africa’s Mail & Guardian newspaper, was questioned by police for talking
to banned political parties for articles he had written in 2011.
He wrote on his Facebook page, ‘They told me they are building a case against me for
interacting (they actually called it advertising) PUDEMO, Umbane and other entities they
described as proscribed.’
Richard Rooney
See also
Censorship total at Swazi state media
Journalists say they are under threat
Editor wants media freedom inquiry
59
Swaziland editor writes absolute monarch is ‘unhinged’ and ‘a narcissist’ and has
assumed ‘godly status’
27 November 2019
Bheki Makhubu, a magazine editor in Swaziland (eSwatini), has written that absolute
monarch King Mswati III is ‘unhinged’. He also called the king ‘a first class narcissist who
no longer identifies with his people’.
Makhubu made his comments in the November 2019 edition of the Nation, a magazine that
supports democracy in the kingdom.
Makhubu gained international attention in 2014 when he and writer and human rights lawyer
Thulani Maseko were sentenced to two years in jail after writing and publishing articles in
the Nation that were critical of the Swazi judiciary.
They were released by the Swazi Supreme Court on 30 June 2015 after they had served 15
months of their sentences.
In his latest article, Makhubu criticised the king for taking delivery of a fleet of 15 Rolls-
Royce cars for himself and his wives while public servants were being beaten by police on
the streets as they marched for more pay. The cars were reported to have cost about US$6
million.
He wrote, ‘In truth, luxury does not even begin to describe those vehicles. Custom made to
order, some of them even arrived in the most ridiculous of colours, such as pink.’
Makhubu’s article is significant because freedoms of the media, speech and information are
severely restricted in the kingdom. State broadcasting is heavily censored by the Government
whose members are not elected by the people, but chosen by King Mswati. Of the only two
daily newspapers in Swaziland, one is in effect owned by the King.
Makhubu wrote, ‘After 33 years on the throne, wielding absolute power over a docile people
who accept his every word as gospel, King Mswati has now assumed a godly status. He sees
himself as the 14th Apostle, after the 12 who followed Christ on earth and the 13th who said
he has seen the Almighty in His glory in heaven on the road to Damascus.’
Makhubu added, ‘It is difficult to shake away a sense that, as our government continues to
moan about a depressed economy, with ordinary people continuing to sink deep into grinding
poverty, King Mswati has himself detached from all this. He doesn’t believe he owes us
anything.’
He concluded, ‘Our king is feeding alone at the trough. Our king has abandoned us.’
In 2015 a report from the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) concluded the arrest and
detention, trial, conviction and sentencing of Makhubu and Maseko, ‘involved multiple
violations of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Swaziland, the African Charter on Human
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and Peoples’ Rights, the Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Fair Trial in Africa and
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.’
Bheki Makhubu in chains during his 2014 trial: Picture source Facebook
See also
Making media freedom in Swaziland is more than a dream
Supreme Court frees jailed writers
‘Attempt made to poison journalist critic of Swaziland’s absolute monarch,’ editor says
11 December 2019
The Swaziland News, an online newspaper, has called for an investigation following a report
that a former government minister and members of an elite group linked to the Swazi Royal
Family attempted to poison its political commentator Mfomfo Nkambule after he wrote
articles critical of absolute monarch King Mswati III.
Nkambule, himself a former government minister, reported he was targeted at a braai. The
Swaziland News reported details of the allegation and those said to be involved. A former
government minister and a billionaire businessman were among them, the newspaper alleged.
Swaziland News Managing Editor Zweli Martin Dlamini said the matter needed to be
investigated. ‘That’s how they operate, they invite you for lunch or a braai and kill you while
61
smiling. It very unfortunate that in this country you can be killed just for having a different
political opinion,’ he told his own newspaper.
Nkambule had recently written a series of articles for the Swaziland News criticising the
political system in Swaziland / eSwatini. King Mswati rules as an absolute monarch and
political parties are banned from taking part in elections. The King appoints the government.
Groups that advocate for democracy are outlawed by the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
In a recent article for the Swaziland News Nkambule wrote, ‘He [the King] has given us the
status of servants in this country. As servants, we do not have any right whatsoever. We have
no right to vote, no right to form political parties, no right to form a government of our
choice, no power to legislate and to appropriate resources. We need a referendum on the
King!’
He added, ‘The King has failed us as a people, and we are no longer proud of him as our
King.’
He wrote, ‘The Swazi King should not practice deceit, dishonesty, corruption, nepotism,
dictatorship, greed, hatred, prejudice, extortion and all the bad things that happen under the
sun.’
Nkambule has been a critic of the political system in Swaziland and the role of the monarch
for many years.
He attracted international attention in 2008 and 2009 for outspoken articles he wrote each
week in the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper.
Nkambule specialised in criticising Swazi Royalty and the traditionalists who supported the
King.
Nkambule, who had formerly been Health and Social Welfare Minister appointed by the
King, was hauled in by Swaziland’s state police and threatened with torture if he continued to
criticise the King. He was later dropped from his traditional regiment, threatened with
banishment from his homeland, and his family was threatened because he refused to be
silenced.
In January 2009, he told the Times he had been taken in by state police. ‘They questioned me
over the articles I have been writing. I was also warned that the articles were now taking a
subversive slant and cautioned me that I was now skating on thin ice.’
The Times reported, ‘He said they impressed upon him that the articles were no longer just a
column but were starting to hit on the authorities and could incite people to revolt against the
head of state [the King] and this was beginning to pose a security threat.’
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‘Nkambule said the officers informed him that as much as the country had a new constitution,
there were still laws that could be used against him, which were enacted before independence
and they had very serious consequences.’
In April 2009, the Times dropped his column without notice.
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Swaziland chapter reported at the time that
the Times’ Managing Editor Martin Dlamini denied he was under any pressure from state
authorities. Dlamini said Nkambule’s column had simply been affected by the routine
changes the newspaper was making with regards to content.
The ban on Nkambule came in the same week that the Times was forced to make an abject
apology to King Mswati after publishing an essentially correct report that he had purchased
up to 20 armoured cars for the use of himself and his wives.
After he was dropped by the Times, Nkambule published his own online blog.
See also
‘Times’ drops Swaziland dissident
Swaziland dissident attacks King
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8. WOMEN
Swaziland Govt withdraws bid to overturn High Court on married women’s rights
6 October 2019
The Government of Swaziland / eSwatini has withdrawn a legal appeal to fight a court ruling
that allowed married women equal rights to their husbands over assets.
The High Court had struck down provisions in the Marriage Act which gave men control
over their wives and there assets. It said the common law doctrine of ‘marital power’
offended women’s constitutional rights to dignity and equality.
Swaziland is ruled by King Mswati III, the last absolute monarch in sub-Saharan Africa, and
is a deeply conservative society. The King has himself taken at least 15 wives. In Swazi
culture women are considered to be children and are ruled by their fathers, husbands or other
male family members.
Attorney General Sifiso Mashampu Khumalo said in a statement that a new marriage bill was
being drafted and he hoped to ‘fast-track’ it.
The withdrawal of the appeal means that the judgment of the High Court stands and women
married through civil rites and in community of property will no longer have to seek consent
from their husbands when buying or selling property.
See also
Swaziland High Court rules married women equal under the law to their husbands
Swaziland has highest rate of cervical cancer in world

8 October 2019
Swaziland / eSwatini has the highest rate of cervical cancer in the world, a new report
reveals.
The cancer affects the neck of the womb in women. The top 20 countries in the list reported
from Global Cancer Observatory, which is owned by the International Agency for Research
on Cancer (IARC), are in Africa.
Swaziland has a rate of 75.3 per 100,000 people in a mathematical measurement based on
age. Second was Malawi with 72.9.
There are a number of causes of cervical cancer and these can include diet, nutrition, smoking
tobacco and the physical activity a woman takes. Early sexual experience and a relatively
high number of sexual partners increase the risk and severity of infection and may be seen as
indirect causes of cervical cancer, the reported stated.
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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cervical cancer is the fourth most
frequent cancer in women in the world with an estimated 570,000 new cases in 2018.
Approximately 90 percent of deaths from cervical cancer occurred in low- and middle-
income countries.
WHO stated, ‘The high mortality rate from cervical cancer globally could be reduced through
a comprehensive approach that includes prevention, early diagnosis, effective screening and
treatment programmes. There are currently vaccines that protect against common cancer-
causing types of human papilloma virus and can significantly reduce the risk of cervical
cancer.’
According to WHO data there were 380 new cases of cervical cancer and 238 deaths reported
in Swaziland in 2018. Cervical cancer topped the list of cancers in the kingdom. It amounted
to 36.1 percent of all cancer deaths in Swaziland.
Women in Swaziland are particularly vulnerable because the public health service is in
meltdown as the government, which is not elected but handpicked by absolute monarch King
Mswati III, has run the economy into the ground.
In July 2019, it was reported cancer patients and other seriously ill people in were being
denied life-saving treatment because the government had not paid its bills to hospitals.
At least E66 million (US$4.6 million) was owed through the government-funded Phalala
Fund that pays for Swazi people to travel to neighbouring South Africa for treatment. Some
of the unpaid bills dated back to 2013.
See also
Swaziland cancer patients refused treatment because Govt. has not paid hospital bills
Nurses angry as Swaziland Govt ignores health crisis
Religious zealots imprison two Swaziland women in home for seven years while
husbands found for them
22 October 2019
Two women in their thirties, described as ‘virgins’ have been locked away in their remote
home in Swaziland (eSwatini) for the past seven years and will remain imprisoned until
husbands are found for them – in the name of religion.
Hleziphi, aged 34, and Ncobile Mphaphu, aged 32, of KaShewula, in Mnyamatsini, are
members of the Shembe Nazareth Church, which is a combination of Zulu culture and Old
Testament Christianity.
Phiwase Phungwayo, the Times of eSwatini reporter who discovered the two women, wrote,
‘One of the women was said to have been crippled from staying indoors for such a long
time.’
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The Times spoke to the women’s mother Josephine who confirmed the two were virgins. The
Times reported, ‘According to the mother, a voice appeared to them through a dream from
their God. She claims that it informed the women to seclude from the world and serve Him
until the right time for them to become wives, a time which till today, had not been revealed.’
The Times was denied access to the women for an interview. ‘This, according to Josephine,
was an abomination and was strictly against the Shembe culture,’ it reported.
It added, ‘When explaining the women’s confinement, the mother says it is called kugoma,
meaning a sacred time for women to set apart from the world and be confined in a room until
their God appeared to them in a dream to inform them when to return to the world. She says
this is done by women who are 20 and above.’
It quoted the mother saying, ‘They stay in their room and are not allowed to do anything
except to pray and communicate with our god.’
The mother told the Times that church elderly women who are also virgins would arrange for
men who were seeking wives to meet with the virgin girls. ‘The mother articulated that the
men who were interested in taking a wife would then indicate which woman he was
interested in and it was up to the woman if she also approved of the man.’
The mother said the Shembe religion was ‘observant and obedient of the eSwatini [Swazi]
traditional customs’.
The Times spoke to Shembe Nazareth Church senior member Qedusizi Ndlovu who said the
women’s culture was ‘bizarre and unacceptable in this religion’. He said, ‘There is no such
law in the Shembe culture since its establishment in the country in 1926.’
The case highlights the position of women in Swaziland where by tradition they are
considered to be owned by their fathers or their husbands.
Women remain oppressed in Swaziland and a main reason for this is King Mswati III who
rules as an absolute monarch, according to report on women in the kingdom published in
2016.
ACTSA (Action for Southern Africa) reported that despite claims that Swaziland was a
modern country, ‘the reality is, despite pledges and commitments, women continue to suffer
discrimination, are treated as inferior to men, and are denied rights.’
ACTSA added, ‘The King has demonstrated he is unwilling to change the status quo and
promotes multiple aspects of the patriarchal society.’
In a briefing paper called Women’s Rights in Swaziland ACTSA said, ‘Swaziland has a
deeply patriarchal society, where polygamy and violence against women are normalised,
deeply unequal cultural and religious norms, and a male monarch who is unwilling to make
any change. All this contributes towards the daily discrimination faced by women.’
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In March 2018 the European Union in Swaziland began funding a three-year project called
Supporting Women Empowerment & Equality in Swaziland (SWEES) to advocate for and
support women’s rights in the kingdom.
In September 2018 a report published by Afrobarometer found women’s rights continued to

be ‘a challenging issue’ in Swaziland.
‘Violence and abuse are a major development concern in eSwatini profoundly affecting
women and children,’ the report stated.
About one in three women experienced some form of sexual violence as a child, and one in
four experienced other forms of physical violence as a child.
See also
Woman, 36, in Swaziland beaten and ordered to leave home because she is not
married
Doubts over survey result that suggests attitudes on wife-beating improving in

Swaziland
29 October 2019
Only five in 100 people surveyed in Swaziland (eSwatini) said wife-beating was ‘sometimes’
or ‘always justified.’
The results suggest that attitudes are improving in the kingdom where in a 2015 survey four
in ten married women in Swaziland said their husbands had the right to beat them.
In the new study Afrobarometer surveyed 34 countries in Africa. Swaziland was among the
best in the survey. The average result across the countries was 28 percent. Full results of the
survey are still to be published.
The survey result runs counter to the experience of women in Swaziland. A total of 2,068
cases of domestic violence were recorded in Swaziland between August 2018 and March
2019. There were also 430 cases of rape reported.
In traditional culture in Swaziland women are owned by their men (husbands or fathers). In
the 2015 survey called the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey Comparative Report a
number reasons for wife-beating were given by women which included; ‘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’.
The APA news agency reported at the time, ‘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.”’
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In June 2008 it was reported that the National Democratic and Health Survey found that 40
percent of men in Swaziland said it was all right to beat women. The same year, the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) found that the status of some women in Swaziland was so
low that they were practically starved at meal times, because men folk ate first and if there
was not enough food for everyone, the women went without.
In 2013 a 317-page document called The Indigenous Law and Custom of the Kingdom of
Swaziland (2013) was presented to King Mswati III who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch. It said that under Swazi Law and Custom a husband can
legally rape his wife or his lover. Under Chapter 7, which addresses offences (emacala) in
Swaziland, rape is said to be committed only if the woman forced is not the man’s wife or
lover.
In October 2017 four of six married women interviewed on the streets of Mbabane by the
Swazi News said their husbands had the right to rape them. It reported some wives said their
husbands deserved sex whenever they wanted.
It is not known how man husbands force themselves on their wives but recorded figures on
rape have shown Swaziland to have the fourth highest rate of rape in the world. In 2015, a
report from a US organisation ABCNewspoint stated there were 77.5 registered cases of rape
among 100,000 people.
See also
Swazi culture and wife beating
Customary law lets husbands rape wives
Swaziland Senator Princess Phumelele says woman have duty to give husbands sex on
demand
23 November 2019
A member of parliament and member of the Royal Family in Swaziland (eSwatini) Senator
Princess Phumelele said women had a duty to allow their husbands to have sex with them and
they should not refuse.
She also criticised parliament for passing the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence
(SODV) Act in 2018.
The eSwatini Observer (formerly Swazi Observer) reported, ‘She said it was wrong for
women to be allowed to refuse their spouses conjugal rights yet it was their responsibility to
do so.’
It added, ‘She said she wondered how the Act was passed by Parliament because some of the
legislators were against it, seeing that they cause more violence as it would be difficult for
men to accept that their wives would sometimes refuse to help them sexually.’
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The Observer reported she said if wives wanted to be sexually satisfied, the husbands had to
be responsible for that satisfaction. If any of the parties wanted sexual satisfaction, there
should be no reason for the other party to refuse.
Later, Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) Director Xolani Hlatjwako said,
‘Women have the right to say no in any circumstance, even if they’re married. We had
advocated for the inclusion of marital rape in the SODV for this very reason: so that it may be
known that women are not objects for men’s sexual pleasure.’
She told the Observer, ‘Princess Phumelele, for someone in her position, owes the nation an
apology and should retract her statement.’
The Princess, along with all other Senators in Swaziland, is not elected but appointed by King
Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
In April 2018 Princess Phumelele told a consultative meeting with the Senate Deputy Prime
Minister’s office portfolio committee that married women who did not want to be raped by
their husbands should avoid sleeping in the bedroom.
The Swazi Observer, reported at the time that the Princess, ‘said in the event a wife was not
in the mood to engage in sexual activities they should not sleep in the same room as their
husbands so that they don’t find themselves in a tricky situation.
‘She said long ago Swazi women would go back home in the event they were faced with such
problems in their marital home.’
The newspaper reported her saying, ‘Do not allow him to touch or play with you because he
might think you are playing hard to get.’
In traditional Swazi culture women are treated as children who are owned by their menfolk
(usually their husbands or fathers.) They have no legal rights.
In October 2017, four in six married women interviewed by a newspaper in Swaziland said
their husbands had the right to rape them. The Swazi News reported some wives said their
husbands deserved sex whenever they wanted.
See also
Princess's ‘solution’ to marital rape
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9. PROFILE MARIO MASUKU
I met the real Super Mario

Kenworthy News Media, 18 November 2019
Peter Kenworthy meets Mario Masuku
I cannot claim to have met Nelson Mandela. Or Steve Biko. Or Patrice Lumumba. Or
Thomas Sankara. But I have met Mario Masuku – the former leader of Swaziland’s biggest
democratic movement, PUDEMO.
Super Mario Bros. is one of the world’s most popular arcade and computer games – a game
that my sons still love to play in newer versions. A game where the hero – Super Mario – has
to endure all manner of dangers in trying to defeat the main villain or antagonist King Koopa
– a large turtle who rules over the mushroom kingdom, has kidnapped Princess Peach, can
breathe fire and uses black magic.
The Super Mario character first appeared in 1983 – the same year that Mario Masuku helped
form The People’s United Democratic Movement, to try and ensure that liberation in
Swaziland would lead to democracy, not the absolute monarchy of King Mswati that
Swaziland had become and still is.
While I have never seen the real Mario literally jump on his enemies, like his computer
namesake, he has nevertheless been incredibly important as an ongoing catalyst for the
liberation movement of Swaziland – always bearing the hardships that come with being the
leader of a liberation movement with calm dignity.
I have seen this myself, when I had met Mario through my work for the Danish solidarity
Movement Afrika Kontakt (the former Danish Anti-Apartheid movement, now called Global
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Aktion) and through the party-to-party project between the Danish Red-Green Alliance party
and PUDEMO.
Democracy and dictatorship

The first time I really heard of Mario Masuku was in March 2010. I was part of the Afrika
Kontakt delegation in the Danish parliament who received a democracy award from the
former Danish Finance Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs (and future speaker of the
Danish parliament and future President of the United Nations General Assembly), Mogens
Lykketoft, on behalf on Masuku.
Mario could not be present, but sent a speech, where he said that he accepted the prize on
behalf of all Swazis who fight and hope for democracy, stability and social justice.
I got to meet Mario in person for the first time in September 2010, where we presented him
with the physical manifestation of the prize – a gilded megaphone. We talked about the
connection between the struggle for democracy in apartheid-South Africa and in Swaziland,
and how “Swaziland will be liberated by its own citizens, but aided by solidarity
organisations in the way that South Africa won her freedom aided by the anti-apartheid
movement,” as he put it.
Before me and my colleagues left, we were given a little sample of the “hospitality” that the
Swazi regime usually reserves for PUDEMO members and others who demand democracy,
when we were detained, beaten, interrogated and threatened by Swazi police, who claimed
that our organization were aiding and abetting a “terrorist” organization, PUDEMO.
A taste of democracy
In November 2012, representatives of the Red-Green Alliance met with Mario Masuku and
the leadership of PUDEMO and outlined the prospects for a partnership sponsored by the
Danish Institute of Parties and Democracy (DIPD) – a government-funded institute that
“support[s] political parties and multi-party systems in selected developing countries.”
In June 2013 Mario and I met with Mogens Lykketoft, who was now speaker of the Danish
parliament for lunch in his office.
“I was very pleased to be able to meet Mogens Lykketoft,” Masuku told me at the time.
“Swaziland is famous for all the wrong things. For having the highest aids-prevalence in the
world, for nearly 70% of the population having to live on under 1$ a day, and for being the
country in the world that spends most on the military per capita, even though we have no
external enemies.”
In November, I was lucky to be the person in charge of Mario Masuku’s visit to Denmark
through the DIPD-project. Here we followed the Danish Municipal elections in my own
municipality, Gladsaxe, where we talked to the Mayor and other members of the City Council
and followed the elections closely – amongst other things looking in on the counting of the
ballots and talking to civil servants and voters.
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“I am surprised that Danish political parties are always looking for consensus. The ownership
and respect for the process by the Danish people shows – why can’t we learn from that. We
come from the old British political system where we are always contesting,” Mario told me.
“The problem of comparing Denmark and Swaziland is that Denmark is a democracy and
Swaziland is a dictatorship. We cannot copy-paste all from the Danish system,” he added.
Released into the ‘big prison’

In August 2014 Mario Masuku was yet again imprisoned by King Mswati’s dictatorial
regime, together with Maxwell Dlamini, who was Secretary General of PUDEMO’s youth
league, SWAYOCO, at the time. This time on charges of terrorism for having shouted “Viva
PUDEMO” at a union rally on May Day. I helped run a campaign for his release in Denmark.
In October Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs Martin Lidegaard told the Danish Foreign
Affairs Committee that Denmark has continuously raised the question of political freedom
with Swaziland.
“The trial of Mario Masuku and Maxwell Dlamini was brought up during the recently held
political consultations between the EU and Swaziland on the 2nd and 3rd of October
regarding the Cotonou Agreement, at the request of the Danish Ambassador,” Lidegaard said.
During the meeting, the Danish ambassador urged Swaziland to comply with the demands of
the ongoing AGOA-negotiations, which should include the adaption of laws such as
Swaziland’s Suppression of Terrorism Act, a bill that Amnesty International has called
“inherently repressive”.
Hundreds of unions, parties, politicians and individuals from all over the world signed a
petition to demand the release of Mario Masuku and Maxwell Dlamini, including the
International Trade Union Confederation, British trade union federation UNISON and the
African National Congress. In July 2015 they were finally released “into the big prison that is
Swaziland,” as Masuku put it.
Conquers the kingdom

I have met with Mario every time I have visited Swaziland and stayed in touch with him
when back home, on occasion interviewing him over the telephone for articles on matters
such as the talks about talks with the regime or Swaziland assuming the chairmanship of
SADC.
I have never met two of my heroes – Steve Biko and Nelson Mandela. But I believe myself to
have been fortunate to have met and interacted with Mario Masuku.
A leader who has been manhandled by police, had his house raided in front of his children,
been put under house arrest, charged with terrorism, detained and jailed in harsh and
unbecoming conditions detrimental to his health – so much so that he calls prison “my second
home”. Simply for peacefully demanding democracy. But also a man who has always acted
in a calm and respectful manner that becomes a true leader.
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In the end of the Super Mario game, Mario saves Princess Peach and the Mushroom
Kingdom from King Koopa, as he conquers the eight worlds of the Mushroom Kingdom by
going to the castle in each to defeat a minion of King Koopa.
Last year Mario Masuku stepped down as leader of PUDEMO, and Mlungisi Makhanya took
his place. But I hope that Mario Masuku, through his decades-long battle for democracy in
Swaziland, has helped set the scene for something similar in the kingdom of Swaziland.
See also
PUDEMO leader defies bail conditions
Release of leaders ‘changes nothing’
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10. INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD ROONEY

Interview with Swazi Media Commentary publisher Richard Rooney
15 December 2019
Lingashoni, eSwatini Institute of Alternative Ideas, interviews Richard Rooney, publisher of

the human rights blog Swazi Media Commentary
Many people have known your work but very few seem to recall your connection to
Swaziland. I know, for example, that you taught journalism for years at the then
University of Swaziland and tried to introduce a degree program and all the challenges
that came with that. Take us back a bit, what were the challenges working at the
University in Swaziland and improving the academic content of the journalism
department specifically?
I was the founding head of the department of Journalism and Mass Communications. I had
been the acting head of the English Language and Literature Department, which included a
journalism diploma programme. We de-linked JMC from English and created a stand-alone
department within the Humanities Faculty. By the time I left we had created the Bachelor
degree programme in JMC but it had not been introduced. It took several more years before
this happened – and by that time I had left the university.
The challenges were many. UNISWA had (and still has) a problem with capacity. That means
taken as a whole the staff (administration and academic) have little experience working
outside of Swaziland. Many of the lecturers, for instance, went to school in Swaziland and
then studied at UNISWA. This meant they had no experience or knowledge or how things
might be done differently. Many of the academics had low-level academic qualifications. Of
course, there were / are individuals who had more experience, but they are not allowed to
show initiative and so are unable to make changes.
I left at the end of my fixed-term contract because I could see that even if I worked for
another 10 years at UNISWA, nothing would change.
The students were also a challenge. There was a problem of the English language. University
students had poor fluency in both written and oral English and the students’ lack of
competency in the English language was the biggest challenge at UNISWA.
At UNISWA, as well as a lack of language skills I found there were a number of

characteristics of journalism students that make educating them as journalists difficult.
Generally, they had poor reporting and interviewing skills, a low commitment to their
studies, next to no knowledge of Swaziland outside of their immediate environment and slight
knowledge of the world beyond the kingdom’s borders.
They did not read for enjoyment (and only reluctantly for their studies) and would only
undertake class work if it lead to academic credit. This last point made it especially difficult
to motivate students to practice to improve their journalistic skills.
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Especially problematic for journalism students was that they had next to no exposure to a
range and variety of magazines, newspapers, television and radio. This was in part due to the
small size of the Swazi media industry, but it also reflected their reluctance even to engage
with media that was available within Swaziland.
You obviously were teaching journalism in a country where the media space is almost
exclusively owned and controlled by the king/government. Did this present specific
challenges as a lecturer and how were you able to overcome them?
I come from a background of human rights and I was very well aware of the situation in
Swaziland before I arrived. In many countries with similar human rights issues to Swaziland
the universities are centres of resistance to the undemocratic regimes. UNISWA was not like
that, except for one or two individuals.
The political situation might have been challenging but I took the personal decision to
advocate for human rights and media freedom etc. I was well into my forties when I joined
UNISWA and had a long career in universities and journalism behind me. I considered that
the worst they could do to me was expel me from the country. If they did that it would make
little difference to me personally. I had a home in England and I could get another job.
As it happened I left when my contract expired. Contrary to reports from my enemies I was
not sacked, nor did UNISWA refuse to renew my contract. I gave ample notice of my intention
to leave and the Administration asked me to reconsider and to stay. However, I knew (as I
say in Q1) that staying would achieve very little.
During your time in Swaziland the administration of the University itself came to
resemble the administration of the country in more ways than one. Was this not stifling
enough as academics and what were the problems of teaching in an institution mirrored
in the same manner as the state is ran?
The most obvious problem at UNISWA is that it is ‘micro-managed’ – that means no

individual can take initiative and everything one does is checked and double checked. There
is a blame culture and people protect their own position, right up to the Vice-Chancellor.
This means it is safer to leave things as they are. One example from my time was after
students took their examinations every single mark given for students’ work by a lecturer was
checked and agreed (or not) by an external examiner from a university outside
UNISWA. Then – even though it had already taken about a week for the external examiners
to do their work – every single mark was checked once again by the university Senate.
The result of that is dispiriting for lecturers. It shows the Administration doesn’t trust them to
do even the most basic of their work. It is just one aspect of the lecturer’s work. Multiply that
by all the other work the lecturer does you can see that it just grinds them down. Why bother
to show initiative?
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The UNISWA Administration were poor communicators (to students and staff). They
preferred to place paid adverts in the local papers telling what was going on and what
decisions they had taken rather than actually telling people (through a meeting, for example).
This was particular the case during the many times students boycotted classes in protest.
Do you feel there is enough intellectual rigour at the University of Swaziland or

academics have cowered into silence and no longer use the academic space to challenge
reactionary policies of the government? What can academics do to expand the frontiers
of knowledge using the power of institutional autonomy?
The obvious problem at UNISWA in my time (and it hasn’t changed much since) is that most
of the programmes taught to students are at the diploma level. There were few bachelor
degrees, and I can’t remember any graduate masters degrees being taught. There were
definitely no Ph.D doctoral programmes.
What that means is that UNISWA was not (still is not) a UNIVERSITY. In other countries it
would be called a technical college (or tertiary college). Most of the academic staff
themselves have relatively low-level academic qualifications and are not themselves trained
in high-level research, for example. Perhaps, UNISWA could tell us how many lecturers have
Ph.D doctorates. I don’t know that academics were ‘cowered’ into silence. I think they were
mostly unaware of what university academics were supposed to do.
For things to improve requires a root-and-branch change at the university. It needs an

Administration that recognizes it has a problem and then it needs a plan to improve the
quality of the staff. That’s not going to happen.
You make an interesting observation that in other countries the University would be
some kind of a college. Would you mind expanding on this and give us your take on the
infrastructure capacity of the university to meet global University standards, the quality
of the course and importantly how the lack of PhD courses hampers the University
academic standing.
We must remember that Swaziland is a developing country with particular needs and the
university and schools and colleges more generally should support these needs. This means
teaching around agriculture, science, engineering and technology. At UNISWA so many
students are on law or commerce programmes. That is an irony because Swaziland has a tiny
formal economy and there is little or no ‘rule of law’ in the kingdom.
I won’t give my personal opinion on the problem because a publication from the World Bank
written by Mmantsetsa Marope called The Education System in Swaziland, analyses the
situation so well. It was published in 2010 but nothing like it has been published since and it
is still relevant to the situation today in Swaziland. The report revealed that UNISWA was
placed 7,321st among all universities in the world (and 84th among universities in Africa) in
the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities. This is based on the amount of research
published by academics at the university.
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The World Bank published report stated that UNISWA’s core mandate is generally accepted
by the university and government as producing people with knowledge and skills to benefit
the national economy.
‘In reality this purpose seems to have progressively received less attention as the focus seems
to have shifted to providing young Swazis university qualifications regardless of their
relevance to the economy and to overall national development,’ the report concluded.
The report said UNISWA produced its own strategic plans to show where it saw its priorities,
but the link between these plans and national development ‘is at best obscure’. There was no
firm connection between ‘the national development agenda and university study, research
and community development programs’.
The management of the university was out of touch with the needs of the kingdom, the World
Bank stated. UNISWA has King Mswati as its Chancellor and he directly appoints the chair
of the university council. The council governs the university and oversees its administration,
is dominated by people from the public service and has very limited representation of
organisations and industries that could be expected to employ the university’s graduates.
The appointment of council members was not necessarily ‘merit-based’. ‘As such it lacked
balance between expertise and experience of the members and the most important sectors of
the economy,’ the World Bank published report stated.
Courses offered at the university were limited to undergraduate levels of study with less than
1 percent of students in graduate programs (in 2007) except for those in the post-graduate
certificates in education.
‘Therefore, UNISWA does not produce the level of knowledge workers who could spearhead
research and who could foster research and development partnerships with industry,’ the
report stated.
UNISWA was mainly a ‘teaching university’ that did not do much for producing graduates
with ‘high-level research and analytical skills’.
UNISWA also excluded children who were poor and from rural areas and because of this
could be ‘reproducing social inequalities and cementing the current social class structure.
‘The fact that gifted children from poor families have little or no access to higher education
is not just a personal loss to them and their families; it is an unaffordable wastage of the
county’s potential human capital base and its associated development impact,’ the World
Bank published report stated.
‘The vast majority of university students comes from rich urban areas, and relatively few
from more remote rural areas. Since secondary schools in remote, rural areas tend to be
considerably weaker than schools in urban areas, it is difficult even for talented children, to
qualify for university education.’
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In summary, UNISWA lacked relevance to the needs of the kingdom. The World Bank
published report noted there ‘seems to be no formal processes for placing the university
[UNISWA] at the center of the national development dialogue’. In plain English that means
the university and the government don’t plan together for the kingdom’s needs.
The report also analysed what it called the education, training and skills development sector
(ETSDS) (that is preschool, schools, colleges and universities). It found it was inadequate to
supply people capable of working in a modern economy, especially where skills in technology
and innovation were needed.
‘The current ETSDS is not sufficient to support national development aspirations and goals,
accelerated and shared growth, and global competitiveness,’ the report stated. Among the
key weaknesses in the education sector are low attendance at schools and colleges,
inequalities of access and inefficient use of resources.
The report went on, ‘Access is limited across all levels of the ETSDS. Current levels of access
are inadequate to supply the right threshold and mix of skills required to meet national and
regional labor market demands, to support accelerated and shared growth, and to make
Swaziland globally competitive. Access is particularly low from the secondary level upwards,
the very levels which are proven to be essential for the supply of knowledge workers
required’
While at the University it was always rocked by student protests. Did you feel those
protests achieved anything and if not why?
Clearly, nothing has changed or there would be no need for continued protests. Students
protest about the same thing year after year: allowances and resources. Once the allowances
are paid the protests stop: until the next semester. I have never seen any student-led
campaign calling for an overhaul of the way the university is organised so that it can teach
them properly. Perhaps that tells us something about the mentality of the students: they are
only concerned with their own short-term interests.
One of the successes of the Swazi Media blog is not so much that it provided a digital
archive for the happenings in the country in the last ten or more years but that it
inspired a lot of online activism that surfaced long suppressed voices. However, those
blogs and internet presence seem to have disappeared. What do you think accounts for
this dearth of internet presence of alternative voices in Swaziland?
There are many webpages and blogs about Swaziland and there are also lots of Facebook
pages. In my opinion the issue with many is that they are very ‘emotional’ – they will, for
example, sound off against the King or whatever, but contain very few facts. This means that
readers LEARN very little from reading these posts. What Swazi Media Commentary does is
to give information (and commentary based on that information) in support of human rights
in Swaziland.
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You have worked in different countries. Can you share what is the one thing that you
found distinctly different about Swaziland with regards how the University is managed
and importantly the content taught?
I wrote above (Q4) about the issues with UNISWA. Of course, there are other universities
across the world (especially the developing world) which face similar issues of capacity.
UNISWA might not be unique in this but the fact that it has the absolute monarch as its
Chancellor demonstrates that it is part of the political establishment and will not challenge
the power structure in the kingdom
Your blog is read extensively and is used a source of news and information on
Swaziland. Is there a particular style that you use in your articles that ensures that even
a first time reader about Swaziland understand what is happening in the kingdom or
they need to read back to a lot of your previous posts to get a picture of the happenings
in the kingdom?
I always assume the reader is not an expert and even if they read the blog often they will not
remember details of what has been written before. I often repeat information already
published in previous posts.
Other tips:
Keep the writing simple. Short sentences. Lots of space on the page.
Base commentary on information / facts. There is no value in simply abusing the King for
taking resources from the poor: demonstrate how he does it. Remind people constantly that
he wears a watch worth US$1.5 million, a suit beaded with diamonds, he has two private jets,
13 palaces, fleets of BMW and Rolls-Royce cars. He and his family spend millions on lavish
foreign trips. Then talk about the seven in ten of his people who live in abject poverty, the
children who have died because of lack of cheap medicines (e.g. for diarrhoea.) Make the
connections between the king’s wealth and the people’s poverty.
Repetition. Always refer to Swaziland as a ‘kingdom’, not a country or nation. The word
‘kingdom’ suggests it is run by a monarch and is not a democracy.
Repetition. As much as possible refer to King Mswati III as, ‘an absolute monarch’ or ‘sub-
Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch’. That phrase shows Swaziland is not a democracy.
Use ‘hot links’ within posts to direct the reader to the source of the information so if they
wish they can read more.
Give two or three ‘See alsos’ at the end, which are links to other posts on the same or similar
topic – these can give context.
Have you ever been threatened in any way for the work you do? I ask this because in
the past government has accused you of spreading propaganda?
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When I was in Swaziland I had a long-standing invitation from the US Embassy that should I
be out and about (driving on the highway, for instance) and feel that I was being followed or
in some way in danger, I should drive immediately to the US compound for sanctuary. (I am
a UK citizen, but the UK did not have an embassy or such representation in Swaziland). I get
a lot of abuse online. I don’t share information about my personal life to make it more
difficult for enemies to keep tabs on me.
You have watched from a safe distance this battle between the pro-democracy
movement and the government rage on for years. Most observers are generally harsh on
the prodemocracy movement for not being effective enough to push the government to
change. What most commentators miss is that Swaziland is a small country and you
cannot expect thousands of Swazis in the streets like you normally see in countries with
bigger populations. And the spatial distribution of Swazis is such that most are in rural
areas and very difficult to mobilise into joining protests. This coupled with the fact that
the state has a tight control of the society it means it will be a long while before we see
the Egypt uprising type of numbers on the streets. Given this, what do you think has
been the weaknesses of the pro-democracy government both internally and
internationally?
Swaziland is a feudal state. That means that the King has power over his subjects day-to-day
lives. He does this through chiefs who have power to allocate land, jobs and local resources.
Chiefs can also literally decide life-and-death as they are usually involved in deciding who
gets international food aid. If a person steps out of line he / she and their family face ruin,
exile and possible starvation. Many schools and churches also support the King and will tell
people he is sent by God. And who would want to fight the will of God?
Pro-democracy groups in Swaziland are banned under the Suppression of Terrorism Act and
all political parties are banned from taking part in the national election. This makes it
difficult to organize. If parties were allowed people could more easily get together to discuss
the situation in Swaziland, to identify what needs to change and to put forward a programme
on how to make these changes. Without this ability to organize there is little chance of
developing and testing ideas. We see this all the time in Swaziland.
A least two things have to happen. People have to understand their position and why they are
poor (Swaziland is considered a ‘middle-income’ country and poverty is driven by the fact
that wealth is not distributed) and they have to find ways to change that situation.
Second, political parties must be un-banned. Then the parties can organize properly and
attract the brightest people who can build their capacities through organization. People
should be allowed to elect parties based on their economic, education, social etc.
programmes. The party that gets most support should form the government. The party
(parties) that did not should form a ‘shadow government’ that would continually monitor the
government and hold it to account. It would be waiting in the wings to form the next
government if the people so decide at the next election.
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The Swazi state is very repressive than it is officially acknowledged. Most of activists do
not get media coverage because the local press is tightly controlled and their stories are
not juicy enough for South African press. South African media prefers to report things
that relate to the king. How can alternative media be developed so Swazis can tell their
own stories and build a movement for change?
The best ‘alternative media’ is word of mouth. Tell one another what’s going on. Exchange
experiences. Let people realise that they are not alone in their difficulties. Together discuss
what you personally can do to change things. Build a movement from the ground up. Social
media can assist later. For example, by sharing practical information – where a meeting is to
be held. The place for a demonstration etc.
There is a lot of ‘feel good’ effect that social media has presented to many activists.
There is a growing view that venting out on social media will change Swaziland. How
can activists translate this important online presence with real on the ground
organizing?
I might have answered this in my answer to question 11. Venting out on social media will
NOT change a thing. But, it can be helpful in letting people know that they are not alone. I
suspect the LGBTI social media is very important for this.
Social media often times creates a false picture of the state of resistance in the country.
We saw this with the April 12 uprising that became a damp squib and recently with the
purchase of the king’s cars social media outrage. The media gets hooked into the social
media outrage and only to be disappointed when they travel to cover the impending
uprising in Swaziland. What are the pitfalls of reading too much on social media?
There are no pitfalls. Every little helps. But if you want to change the government you have to
work on the ground. I suspect the big problem with the April 12 Revolution was that it existed
only on social media. This was unlike the so-called Arab Spring that inspired it. There
activists were working politically on the ground for a long time before and social media kept
people informed of what was going on.
Was there a specific idea that sparked the idea of the blog and how has it grown over
the years?
Yes, the clue is in the title: Swazi Media Commentary. The blog started as a teaching tool for
my students at UNISWA. All the books on journalism in the university library (and there
weren’t many) were published in the US or UK and related to the experience of doing
journalism in those countries. They had very little relevance to Swaziland. I set up the blog so
I could upload examples from the Swazi media of good and bad practice. Those posts are still
on the blog if anyone wants to read them.
Shortly after I launched the blog I was commenting on the media coverage of a textile strike
in Swaziland when it became evident to me that the blog was being read by people outside of
my class and outside UNISWA. I was asked by the Swaziland Solidarity Network if I would
share my posts on their email forum (this was, I think, before Facebook took off). I did this
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and very soon the character of the blog grew to become about human rights generally and
not just media.
I cannot tell you how much it has grown because I just don’t know. The posts appear on
swazimedia.blogspot.com and are then copied onto my Facebook pages. They are then
shared across Facebook (I don’t know how often).
All Africa <allafrica.com> a news aggregator asked for permission to copy my posts. It is a
global news organization, specializing in stories from Africa. My posts appear on its website
and any number of websites copy posts from All Africa.
Posts have been cited in many publications from mainstream newspaper to the World Bank,
the US State Dept, Human Rights Watch and Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. This is
in addition to academic work in refereed journals.
My posts are also regularly included in the weekly Swaziland Newsletter distributed by email
free-of-charge by Africa Contact <<SAK-Swazinewsletter-subscribe@yahoogroups.co.uk>>
I am regularly contacted by journalists working for international media seeking background

information on Swaziland.
Lastly, you surely must miss a few things about our country. What are the good things
you miss home about the people or even the country as a whole?
Parts of Swaziland are very beautiful. That is the main reason tourists visit (that and the fact
it is very easy to get to from South Africa which was their main destination). However, we
cannot forget that it is in the most beautiful areas of Swaziland that the harshest poverty
exists.
See also
A decade of news and views
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/07/a-decade-of-news-and-views.html
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11. AND THE REST …

Five starve to death in Swaziland as drought and maize restrictions bite
26 November 2019
Five elderly women in the Nsalitje area of Swaziland (eSwatini) have starved to death
and many more are said to be quietly being killed by hunger.
An ongoing draught and restrictions on importing cheap mealie maize from neighbouring
South Africa are being blamed.
One resident told the Times of eSwatini, ‘We are dying silently here while the government is
only concerned with protecting local produce, but not the lives of people who can’t afford
local prices of mealie meal. People are dying and others are flocking the local clinics with
ailments associated with hunger.’
The newspaper quoted a nutritionist saying, ‘I have investigated the cases of the five elderly
women, and the indication is that they died of starvation. I discovered that these women
stayed alone and only relied on neighbours to get them bags of mealie meal whenever the
residents set out to South Africa to make purchases.’
The nutritionist said victims might die from as little as three weeks or as long as two months
of starvation, depending on circumstances.
Local Headman Sipho Matse told the newspaper they died of hunger, ‘simply because they
couldn’t import enough mealie meal from the neighbouring South African town of Pongola.
That is where most residents living closer to the southern borderline source mealie meal.’
He said the five women had tried to get mealie maize from South Africa but had it seized by
border officials because of a restriction on the amount that could be imported from the
country.
Matse said most people in the area relied on subsistence farming but crops had failed in the
drought. People had been forced to travel to nearby South Africa to buy maize at affordable
prices.
In July 2019 a report stated more than 200,000 people which is one in five of the rural
population were experiencing severe food shortages and required urgent humanitarian
assistance.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) snapshot for the period up to March
2020 stated, ‘In comparison with last year, the situation has deteriorated.’ It added, ‘This
deterioration can be attributed to the anticipated drought, which led to farmers choosing not
to plant their fields, reducing casual labour opportunities and food availability, with one-fifth
of households depleting their assets or engaging in crisis or emergency coping strategies to
mitigate moderate to large food gaps.
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‘Between October 2019 and March 2020, around 232,000 people (25 percent of the rural
population) are estimated that they will likely experience severe acute food insecurity.’
In a previous report the World Food Program (WFP) said it had fallen more than US$9
million short in its fundraising to help ease the hunger crisis gripping Swaziland. That
amounted to only 47 percent of the US$17.4 million it hoped to raise.
WFP gave no reason for its shortfall in funding but there have been reports in recent years
that international donors are concerned about the lavish lifestyle of King Mswati III, who
rules Swaziland as an absolute monarch, and his family.
Swaziland is designated a ‘middle income’ country by the World Bank based on the
Kingdom’s national income. The problem in Swaziland is that this income is not evenly
distributed among the population. The King takes 25 percent of all mining royalties and
controls the profits of the conglomerate Tibiyo TakaNgwane. Officially he keeps these
monies ‘in trust’ for the Swazi nation, but in reality much of it goes to fund his own lifestyle.
He has two private airplanes, at least 13 palaces and fleets of top-of-the-range cars. At his
50th birthday in 2018 he wore a watch worth US$1.6 million and a suit beaded with diamonds
that weighed 6 kg. Days earlier he had taken delivery of his second private jet. This one, an
Airbus A340, cost US$13.2 to purchase but with VIP upgrades was estimated to have cost
US$30 million.
Earlier this month (November 2019) he bought himself and his wives 15 luxury Rolls-Royce
cars, estimated to have cost US$6 million.
A few days later Swaziland took delivery of a fleet of 84 BMW cars and 42 BMW
motorbikes, which were reportedly for ‘escort duties’. The cost of these has not been
revealed.
See also
Oxfam names Swaziland most unequal country in Africa on personal income
No let up on poverty in Swaziland as absolute King makes public display of his vast
wealth
Lavish spending leads to food aid cut
More than half surveyed in Swaziland against legalising the growing of cannabis
30 October 2019
More than half the people surveyed in Swaziland (eSwatini) said they were against legalising
the growing of cannabis (known locally as dagga).
They also said they would not report a person if they found them growing or selling the drug.
At least two companies based in the United States have expressed serious interest in
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operating growing farms and processing plants for medical cannabis and industrial hemp in
Swaziland.
The Swazi Government in a statement on its website said ‘in anticipating significant
economic and medical benefit from the legalization of cannabis for medical and scientific
use,’ it was ‘working on an enabling legislative environment for this purpose’.
Swaziland is famous for its Swazi Gold dagga but growing the crop is illegal in the kingdom.
Cannabis (also known as marijuana) also has non-intoxicating forms (known as hemp) that
can be used to make fabrics, ropes, papers, and oils, among other uses.
Afrobarometer, a non-partisan research network across Africa, interviewed 1,200 adults in

Swaziland. Results suggested a majority (57 percent) of those interviewed ‘disagree’ or
‘strongly disagree’ with the idea of broadly legalising the cultivation of cannabis as a way to
create economic opportunity for people. Four in 10 respondents (40 percent) favoured
legalisation. The survey asked about legalisation of cannabis cultivation in general and did
not explore views on legalising specific aspects of the cannabis industry, such as medical
marijuana.
Support for legalising cultivation is somewhat higher – though still a minority view – among
urban residents (47 percent), younger respondents (45 percent of 18- to 35-year-olds), and
those with secondary (42 percent) or post-secondary (43 percent) education. Respondents’
socio-economic level makes little difference on this issue.
More than six in 10 respondents (63 percent) believe that legalisation of cultivation would be
harmful to the kingdom.
Afrobarometer reported people in Swaziland were asked what they considered the most
important problems their government should address. ‘Their top priorities are unemployment
(cited by 42 percent of respondents) and poverty (22 percent).
‘While the cannabis industry’s potential as a source of jobs, income, and tax revenues has not
persuaded most citizens that marijuana cultivation should be legalised, support for such a
move is somewhat higher than average among respondents who are not employed and
looking for work (44 percent), those who see the country’s economic situation as “fairly bad”
or “very bad” (43 percent), and those who think the government is performing poorly on
creating jobs (44 percent) and improving living standards of the poor (44 percent).’
The report added despite the opposition to legalising cultivation, most of those surveyed said
they would not report people to the authorities for cultivating or selling marijuana. Even
people outside the family would be safe from being reported, according to more than three-
quarters of respondents (76 percent).
Swaziland soldiers reportedly beat pregnant woman in latest case of assault on innocent
civilians
85
7 November 2019
Soldiers in Swaziland (eSwatini) have again been accused of beating and humiliating
innocent civilians.
The latest incidents were reported to have happened at Nsubane in the southeast of the
kingdom near the border with South Africa. A pregnant woman was slapped and thrown to
the ground by two soldiers in one of the incidents, the Times of eSwatini reported on
Wednesday (6 November 2019).
It said a 29-year-old woman was walking in the street when she was stopped by a man in
civilian clothes who demanded to look her bag. He said he was a soldier and had a right to
search her.
The Times reported she said, ‘He then grabbed the bag but I held on to it. He was trying to
pull the bag but I did not loosen my grip. Eventually, he called another man to assist him and
before I knew it there were two men wrestling with me over the bag.’
The Times added, ‘She said after the man had thoroughly searched the bag they dropped it
down and then slapped her several times.
‘She said they accused her of disrespecting them.
‘She was slapped and kicked several times before the men left her sprawling on the ground.’
The Times said later she went to the Nsubane army camp to report the matter and was again
assaulted. ‘She said she was slapped several times and further pulled by the hair.’
In a separate incident also at Nsubane a 36-year-old woman said she was assaulted and
dragged on the ground by soldiers. She told the Times a neighbour had told her that her 10-
year-old son and younger brother had been taken to the Nsubane army camp. She went to
investigate and soldiers told her to leave.
The Times reported, ‘She pleaded with them not to assault her 10-year-old son.’
She told the newspaper, ‘As I was pleading with them they started assaulting me. They
slapped me several times and further kicked me all over the body. Another one was hurling
all sorts of insults at me.’
She said as she was leaving the camp another soldier stopped her and ordered her to go back
inside. ‘Fearing for her life,’ the Times reported, she refused. She said, ‘He grabbed me and
dragged me on the ground.’
Police are investigating both incidents.
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There is a long history of army assaults on civilians in Swaziland. In March 2019 the High
Court ruled the army, known officially as the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF),
should pay E70,000 damages to a man it tortured.
High Court Principal Judge Qinisile Mabuza also criticised the kingdom’s police for not
investigating alleged assaults on civilians by members of the army.
The case followed an incident at Vuvulane in the Lubombo region in October 2003 when
soldiers attacked Themba Maziya and kicked him with heavy boots, punched him with fists
and immersed him in a canal full of water and assaulted him with an electric cable. Soldiers
had accused him of stealing an Army vehicle.
The High Court was told Maziya was assaulted all over the body and the head. As a result he
suffered temporary loss of memory, he had scars all over the body and severe trauma.
This was not the only time UEDF forces had been accused of assault. In October 2018
soldiers were said to have tortured farmers who crossed the border with South Africa at
Dwalile to retrieve their straying cattle.
Residents told the Sunday Observer newspaper in Swaziland at the time they were abused
each time they crossed a collapsed fence dividing the two countries to collect their livestock,
which often strayed into South Africa.
The newspaper reported the farmers said members of the UEDF ‘would dip them in a nearby
swamp’ in their clothes.
It added, ‘They are also made to do frog jumps, rolled on the ground and some are assaulted
and kicked by the soldiers. Most of the abuse lasts for over an hour and had left some of the
farmers sick.’
In a separate case in June 2018 three soldiers were charged with assault for burying a man
alive after they accused him of stealing a phone from them at Mbekelweni.
In December 2017 soldiers were accused of routinely sexually assaulting women as they
crossed border posts with South Africa. The Observer on Saturday reported at the time, ‘The
army troops have been accused by women of abusing their powers by touching them
inappropriately as they lay their hands on their buttocks just to allow to cross either to South
Africa or into Swaziland.
‘Some women when being searched for illegal goods alleged that they are touched almost
everywhere by the male army officers and these informal crossings.’
The newspaper said the inappropriate behaviour took place ‘almost every day’ around the
Ngwenya informal crossing.
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In July 2017 soldiers reportedly forced a bus-load of passengers to strip naked after it crossed
the Mhlumeni Border Gate into Mozambique. Local media reported it happened all the time.
The Times of Swaziland reported they were ordered to strip ‘stark naked’ as part of a ‘routine
body search’. The newspaper said the passengers had been on vacation in Mozambique.
In June 2017 it was reported women at the informal crossing situated next to the Mananga
Border Gate with South Africa were made to remove their underwear so soldiers could
inspect their private parts with a mirror. The Swazi Army said it happened all the time.
Soldiers were said to be searching for ‘illegal objects’ using a mirror similar to that used to
inspect the underside of cars.
Once the practice became public knowledge, the Army said it would continue to strip people
and if people did not like it they should stop crossing the border.
In September 2015, the Swazi Parliament heard that soldiers beat up old ladies so badly they
had to be taken to their homes in wheelbarrows. Member of Parliament Titus Thwala said
that the women were among the local residents who were regularly beaten by soldiers at
informal crossing points between Swaziland and South Africa.
See also
Army tortures recruitment cheats
Army sexual assaults at border posts
Soldiers inspect woman’s private parts
Rapes double in three months in Swaziland, violent crime on steady increase

29 November 2019
The number of rapes reported in Swaziland (eSwatini) more than doubled in a three-month
period. Violent crime is on a steady increase and house breaking and theft have also risen,
according to an official report just published.
The number of rapes rose from 111 cases to 241 cases, the Royal Eswatini Police Service
(REPS) Performance Report for the second quarter ending 30 September 2019 stated.
The report added there had also been 27 murders and 34 attempted murders.
The statistics contradict the message often voiced by absolute monarch King Mswati III that
Swaziland is a ‘peaceful’ kingdom.
The eSwatini News (formerly Swazi News) reported, ‘Violent crime is on a steady increase in
the country as communities have to grapple with murder and armed robberies each day.
House breaking and theft has also increased rapidly.’
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The REPS report stated armed robbery had also doubled from 36 in the previous reporting
period to 50. House breaking and robberies rose from 1,420 to 1,430.
A separate report released in March 2019 from the United States Overseas Security Advisory
Council stated, ‘There is serious risk from crime in Mbabane. Although criminals consider
Mbabane and Manzini prime grounds for operation due to the number of people, businesses,
and affluent areas, the rate of crime reported in small towns and rural areas continues to
increase.’
The report is published annually to guide US diplomats working in Swaziland. It warned,

‘Urban areas are particularly dangerous at night; do not interpret the presence of pedestrians
as an indication of a secure/safe environment.
‘Residential burglary and petty theft are the most commonly reported crimes, occurring at all
locations regardless of time. Criminals are generally interested in electronic devices and cash.
‘Most break-ins occur at homes without security guards and/or centrally monitored home
alarm systems. Perimeter walls, security guards, window grilles, and centrally monitored
alarm systems supported by security response teams are essential to ensure the safety of
residents and homes.
‘Although residential guard dogs commonly serve as a deterrent, they should not be a
residence’s only line of defense. The general modus operandi of robbers is to target
residences or businesses that have little/no security measures in place.
‘Criminals usually brandish edged weapons (e.g. knives or machetes), but the use of firearms
has steadily increased in the past few years. While criminals generally rely on the threat of
force to commit crimes, they will resort to physical, to include deadly, force if victims resist.
While the murder rate remains lower than some African countries, Eswatini experiences
violent deaths on a frequent basis; some have been particularly gruesome. Victims have been
decapitated, with body parts mutilated or removed.’
See also
More crime fears in Swaziland
Swaziland a world hotspot for crime
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ABOUT THE EDITOR

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 edits a weekly email newsletter with news from and about Swaziland, compiled in
collaboration with Africa Contact, Denmark (www.afrika.dk) and sent to all with an interest
in Swaziland - free of charge. To subscribe mail to: SAK-Swazinewsletter-
subscribe@yahoogroups.co.uk
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OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Swaziland: Striving for Freedom Vol. 35 July to Sept 2019 is available free of charge here
Police in Swaziland attacked striking public servants with live ammunition, rubber bullets,
teargas and water cannon as a long-running dispute over pay dragged on. The police
behaviour has become typical in the kingdom ruled by King Mswati III as an absolute
monarch. The number of injured was initially estimated as 15, but that more than doubled as
more information became available. Separate from this there were new fears that police had a
‘shoot-to-kill’ policy after three men who escaped from a correctional facility were gunned
down.
These were some of the main events in the period July to September 2019 and contained in
Swaziland: Striving for Freedom, volume 35.
The kingdom continues in financial meltdown, with health and educational services crippled.
Schools and hospitals have run out of supplies and staff have been sacked and other
vacancies left unfilled. Up to 200 teachers had reportedly died from stress-related illness over
the past two years as a result. Cancer patients have been refused treatment because the
government has not paid hospital bills. At least 11 children died of diarrhoea because of drug
shortages.
Elsewhere, Lisa Peterson, United States Ambassador to Swaziland renewed her call for the
Royal Decree that keeps King Mswati in power as an absolute monarch to be scrapped.
Oxfam, the international anti-poverty charity, named Swaziland as the country with most
income inequality in Africa. Human Rights Watch reported restrictions on freedom of
association and assembly continued in Swaziland although the kingdom had signed the
African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance in January.
An extensive survey revealed LGBTI people in Swaziland suffer mental health issues and
many have attempted suicide because of the way they are discriminated against in the
kingdom.
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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom Vol. 34 April to June 2019 is available free of charge
here
Public services throughout Swaziland are close to meltdown as the government, handpicked
by absolute monarch King Mswati III, fails to get a grip on the economy. Health services
have been especially hit over the past three months with reports that people have died as
medicines run out because the government did not paid suppliers. Drugs for HIV are in short
supply, even though the kingdom has the highest rate of infection in the world. Patients in
public hospitals have also gone unfed.
These are some of the reports that have appeared on the Swazi Media Commentary website in
the second quarter of 2019 and are contained in this compilation, Swaziland: Striving for
Freedom Vol 34. Also included: the International Trade Union Confederation placed
Swaziland near the bottom of countries across the world for workers’ rights. It said in the past
year ‘police brutality reached unprecedented levels’ and ‘security forces fired live
ammunition at protesting workers’. Elsewhere, public service unions marched on the
government demanding cost-of-living salary increases.
The absolute monarch King Mswati maintained his grip on power by appointing 28 members
of his family to the kingdom’s committees and boards, including 10 princes and princesses to
the 23-member Liqoqo, a supreme traditional advisory body which is also known as the
Swazi National Council Standing Committee. This was in addition to the eight members of
his Royal Family he appointed to the Senate and six to the House of Assembly last year.
Meanwhile, the United States in its annual report on human rights in Swaziland found there
was no appetite to investigate human rights abuses or corruption. Swaziland was controlled
by the King and ‘political power remained largely vested with the king and his traditional
advisors,’ the report, stated.
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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom Vol. 33 January to March 2019 is available free of
charge here
The gap between rich and poor is widening and the kingdom faces ‘an unprecedented
economic crisis’: these were two of the main concerns of Finance Minister Neal Rijkenberg
in his national budget for Swaziland where the ‘economic outlook remains subdued’. He went
on to threaten to cut public service jobs if workers did not fall into line and accept his
programme to reduce debts.
Meanwhile, the Auditor General Timothy Matsebula in his annual report stated the finances
of the Government were in such a mess that billions of emalangeni could not be accounted
for.
Public service across Swaziland are in freefall with hospitals and clinics short of vital drugs.
Schools are unable to feed vulnerable children. All because the government has not paid
suppliers.
These were some of the major themes from Swaziland over the first three months of 2019 and
published in Swaziland: Striving for Freedom: volume 33, the latest quarterly compilation
from the pages of Swazi Media Commentary.
The international spotlight has been shone on Swaziland, where King Mswati III rules as sub-
Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. The kingdom continues to be riddled with
corruption, according to Transparency International. Freedom House once again declared
Swaziland ‘not free’ in its annual Freedom in the World Index.
Closer to home, the Law Society of Swaziland Secretary Thulani Maseko criticised recent
appointments of judges, saying there was no transparency in the choices and the Swazi
Constitution was ignored.
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Swaziland Striving for Freedom Vol 32 October to December 2018 is available free of
charge here
King Mswati III demonstrated how powerful he is as the absolute monarch of Swaziland /
eSwatini by ignoring provisions in the constitution when he selected a Prime Minister and
other members of parliament following the September 2018 election. He also appointed eight
members of his Royal Family to the kingdom’s Senate and six to the House of Assembly.
Full results of the elections, which were widely recognised outside the kingdom to be
illegitimate because political parties are banned from taking part, have still not been released.
There were also reports of bribery and other voting irregularities.
These were some of the stories that appeared on the Swazi Media Commentary website in the
final three months of 2018.
Swaziland faces a period of continued unrest because the elections were unable to change
anything, according to global analysts Fitch Solutions. Risks to stability in the kingdom are
growing, it said. The Government – handpicked by King Mswati – continued to lurch from
one financial crisis to another and pensions were not paid to the elderly.
On a more positive note a church in Swaziland openly welcomed LGBTI people but
discrimination against this group of people remains rife. A ground-breaking documentary on
life as an LGBTI person in Swaziland was released on YouTube and focussed on the first
ever Pride event that took place in June 2018.
Workers continued to be oppressed and riot police invade a hospital during peaceful nurses’
protest. Police were sent into schools to invigilate exams during teachers’ pay dispute. A
conference revealed four in ten sex workers in Swaziland had been raped by uniformed police
officers.
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Swaziland Striving for Freedom Vol 31 July to September 2018 is available free of
charge here
Police in Swaziland / Eswatini turned the city of Manzini into a warzone when they attacked
a legal protest by workers demanding pay improvements. It was one of a number of police
attacks on legal demonstrations in which bullets, stun-grenades, water cannon and teargas
were fired. A video of an indiscriminate attack by police on defenceless people went viral on
the Internet. The police violence was condemned globally.
Police also fired gunshots, grenades and rubber bullets during Swaziland’s election as voters
protested against what they believed was malpractice. The election was largely recognised
outside the kingdom to be undemocratic. Political parties are banned from taking part and at
its conclusion King Mswati III the absolute monarch in Swaziland appointed six members of
the Royal Family to sit in the House of Assembly. No members of the Swazi Senate are
appointed by the people. The election was riddled with reports of bribery, vote-rigging, and
violence.
These are some of the reports in this edition of Swaziland: Striving for Freedom which
includes reports from Swazi Media Commentary published July to September 2018. Among
others are the financial meltdown of the Government with health and education services
failing. There were reports of hunger and deaths as a result of the government’s inability to
pay its suppliers. Meanwhile, King Mswati and his family continue to spend lavishly on
themselves. Barnabas Dlamini, a stanch ally of the ruling elite who was recognised globally
as a serial abuser of human rights in Swaziland, died after a long illness.
It was also revealed in a once-secret CIA report that the revered King Sobhuza II supported
the white-ruled Apartheid government in South Africa because he was afraid that change
there would encourage people to press for political reform in his own kingdom.
95
Swaziland: Striving for Freedom Vol. 30: April to June 2018 is available free of charge
here
Swaziland might never be the same again. King Mswati III demonstrated his absolute power
by renaming his kingdom Eswatini. He did this during the so-called 50-50 Celebrations to
mark his own 50th birthday and the half-century of Swaziland’s independence from Great
Britain. The King also made headlines when he wore a watch worth $1.6 million and a suit
beaded with diamonds at his birthday party. His lavish spending is notorious; days earlier he
took delivery of his second private jet, this one costing about $30 million after upgrades.
These were some of the stories published by Swazi Media Commentary over the second
quarter of 2018 and published in this Swaziland: Striving for Freedom Volume 30. While the
King and the Royal Family continued to spend millions on themselves the kingdom’s
economy was in freefall with the government admitting it was broke. Suppliers remained
unpaid and public services ground to a halt. Hospitals were without medicines and
schoolchildren went hungry as food supplies dried up.
Registration for the national elections to take place in September descended into chaos with
reports of inefficiency and corruption. The election board’s claim that 90 percent of the
eligible population signed up to vote was met with scepticism. Political parties are banned
from taking part in the election which is widely regarded outside of Swaziland as bogus. King
Mswati chooses the Prime Minister and Government ministers and no members of the Senate
are elected by the people.
Swaziland saw its first ever LGBTI Pride parade in June. Unwittingly it demonstrated how
conservative and backward Swaziland is. Newspapers took the opportunity to demonise
LGBTI people but despite this the event proved a success.
Laws in Swaziland have been used by the State as weapons against human rights defenders, a
major investigation of the kingdom by the International Commission of Jurists revealed.
Separately, the United Kingdom reported it was to undertake an investigation into human
rights abuses in Swaziland and in its annual report on the kingdom the United States
highlighted, ‘The most significant human rights issues included: arbitrary interference with
privacy and home; restrictions on freedoms of speech, assembly, and association; denial of
citizens’ ability to choose their government in free and fair elections; institutional lack of
accountability in cases involving rape and violence against women; criminalization of same-
sex sexual conduct, although rarely enforced; trafficking in persons; restrictions on worker
rights; and child labor.’
96
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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

As seen through the pages of Swazi Media Commentary

This will be followed on Saturday by a public gathering in Manzini.

A former government minister in Swaziland (eSwatini) is in hiding from police after he

Democracy leaders detained by Swaziland police as illegal march halted

Police question Swaziland political leader amid fears of treason charge

He was accompanied by his lawyer Thulani Rudolf Maseko.

He said police confiscated Nkambule’s cellphone.

Swaziland police in mass raids on homes of democracy activists, some detained

Some were detained by police for interrogation.

Movement (PUDEMO), Mphandlana Shongwe, a member of the National Executive

It reported a press conference given by Royal Eswatini Police Service National

It happened during a demonstration organised by the recently-formed Political Party

The banner the police have banned

2. KING MSWATI III

Swaziland King investigates possible purchase of military arms while at Russian

The Swazi Government wanted to buy equipment worth US$60 million.

The King also has 13 palaces.

The Rolls-Royce cars. Picture: Vukile Khanyile

The Swazi Observer reports on the King’s birthday gifts in 2018

This happened a week after he took delivery of 15 Rolls-Royce cars.

Front page of the Sowetan newspaper

Threat to censor U.S. Ambassador to Swaziland after criticism of King’s lavish

Authorities in Swaziland (eSwatini) want to censor future public speeches by the US

Lisa Peterson, US Ambassador to Swaziland (eSwatini)

Ambassador Peterson has previously criticised the absolute monarchy in Swaziland. In an

Later a US Embassy spokesperson said, Ambassador Peterson’s remarks were guided by

In an interview with The Nation, a monthly independent magazine in Swaziland, Peterson

Ambassador Peterson had previously criticised the absolute monarchy in Swaziland. In an

Public sector strikers peacefully march in Manzini: Picture source Facebook

Later, in a statement posted on Facebook, the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland

The Swaziland Solidarity Network, a group banned in Swaziland because of its

Swaziland police brutality under attack from international workers’ group

ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow said in a statement on Tuesday (8 October

Norwegians protest against Swaziland police shooting

Norwegian union confederation protests police brutality against striking workers in

Protestors in Swaziland during the strike. Pictured from Facebook

In its annual Freedom in the World-report, independent watchdog organisation Freedom

Schoolteachers have been especially targeted, according to union sources.

Police used teargas, rubber bullets and water cannon on strikers.

In September 2017 police in Swaziland disguised themselves as news reporters at a march of

It is legal in certain circumstances to tap phones in Swaziland. The Suppression of Terrorism

Swaziland workers to march and petition against police brutality

Community police in Swaziland have a long record of illegal beatings.

In 2011 community police in Kwaluseni reportedly threatened to murder democracy activist

Three community policemen in Swaziland appeared in court charged with murdering a

They reportedly called Manzini police who took Mhlanga away.

The murder allegedly happened in February 2014.

Swaziland students boycott classes as Govt breaks promise to pay allowances

Phephile Sifundza, aged 20, a student, was shot in the leg.

The assault was most commonly committed by a boyfriend.

Sixty percent of participants reported experiencing an attempted or completed sexual assault

‘Moreover, we found that approximately 38 percent of women at the UNESWA experienced

6. GOVT FINANCIAL CRISIS

Broke Swaziland Govt wants to borrow another E1bn to complete unnecessary

This contradicts a statement by Finance Minister Neal Rijkenberg who as recently as

In June 2019, he told newspaper editors in the kingdom, ‘Government is working on

Princess Sikhanyiso, the Minister of Information, Communication and Technology in

It added, ‘Whosoever attacks journalists in line of duty, stands accused of violating

In April 2009, the Times dropped his column without notice.

Swaziland has highest rate of cervical cancer in world

In September 2018 a report published by Afrobarometer found women’s rights continued to

Doubts over survey result that suggests attitudes on wife-beating improving in