Swaziland Striving For Freedom Vol 35 July To Sept 2019

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

Vol. 35. July – September 2019
Compiled by
Richard Rooney
SWAZILAND: STRIVING FOR FREEDOM
CONTENTS
Introduction 2
1 Public servants’ strike 3
2 Police violence 8
3 Hunger 15
4 Govt. financial crisis 18
5 Schools 36
6 Students 39
7 Bheki Dlamini 42
8 Human trafficking 44
9 International reports 47
10 Rule of law 53
11 Absolute monarchy 55
12 LGBTI 59
13 Media freedom 62
14 Women 65
15 And the rest … 74
About the editor 80
Previous publications 81
1
INTRODUCTION
Police in Swaziland (eSwatini) 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 of the compilations of reports posted on the
Swazi Media Commentary website
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.
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.
2
1 PUBLIC SERVANTS’ STRIKE

Swaziland Industrial Court paves way for public servants to strike legally
5 August 2019
The Industrial Court in Swaziland has ruled that public service workers must make a new
application before they can legally strike.
Unions have been in dispute with government over cost of living salary rises. A planned
strike in January 2019 was halted because the Government of absolute monarch King Mswati
III said it was political and threatened the national interest.
In Swaziland political parties are banned from taking part in elections and groups advocating
for democracy are outlawed under the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
Four public service unions calling themselves the Public Sector Associations (PSA) had
joined forces to strike. They were the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union
(NAPSAWU), Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), Swaziland Nurses
Association (SNA) and the Swaziland Government Accountants Personnel (SNAGAP).
Unions and government are in dispute over cost of living adjustments (COLA) for the year
2017-2018. The Government says it cannot afford to pay and offered a zero percent increase.
The result was a deadlock and the matter could not be resolved at the Conciliation Mediation
and Arbitration Commission (CMAC).
Ahead of the intended strike the unions issued a press statement that criticised the
government for increasing the budget for state security: the Army, Police and Correctional
Services. And for increasing recruitment for these services, while decreasing recruitment in
other areas such as education, health and public services.
They also called upon every concerned Swazi ‘from all walks of life’ to support the strike.
They also extended their claim for COLA to include the year 2018-2019.
The Attorney-General for the Swazi Government argued this statement was outside the scope
of the pay dispute and made the strike a political one. It was against the national interest to
allow the strike to go ahead.
The Industrial Court ruled, ‘There is no doubt in our minds that a threat to shut down clinics,
health centres, hospitals and transport will have or is likely to have the effect of endangering
the lives of part of the population at the very least.’
The court said members of the Swaziland Nurses Association were not allowed by law to
strike because they were engaged in an essential service.
The Court ruled, ‘With regard to the facts of this matter the main issue of the strike is the
COLA dispute which is a legitimate demand of the PSA’s. The [Ministry of Labour and
Social Security] themselves have admitted that the dispute exists only because they are
unable to pay same due to the fiscal challenges the Government faces.’
It added, ‘We cannot say that the proposed strike is one of a purely political nature.’
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It also said that the unions claim for COLA in 2018-2019 had not been included in the
original dispute that had been to arbitration and could not be considered.
The Court decided, ‘The strike action cannot be allowed to continue in its present form even
if the matter now included in the statement is excised and the employees who are part of
essential services are excluded. In our view, the Respondents [the unions] would require to
issue fresh notices in order to achieve the legal requirements for protected strike.’
See also
Swaziland public service unions call national strike to march on government
Industrial Court stops Swaziland public servants strike at last minute
Swaziland public servants prepare for pay strike amid fears of renewed police
violence against them
Swaziland public servants set new strike date in long-running pay dispute
9 August 2019
Public service unions in Swaziland / eSwatini are set to strike on 16 September 2019, if they
can get permission of the courts to do so.
Swaziland is ruled by absolute monarch King Mswati III and is not a democracy and
industrial action can be stopped by the Industrial Court.
The unions are in a long-running dispute about pay increases to cover the rise in the cost of
living. They had planned the strike last year and again in January 2019 but the Industrial
Court ruled that it was ‘political’ because the strike-call referred to the government’s bad
handling of the economy.
he government says it cannot afford to pay increases. Last month the Industrial Court
confirmed the strike was illegal but also noted in its judgement that a strike that was called
only for the purposes of gaining increased wages was not.
At a meeting on Tuesday (6 August 2019), four unions united as the Public Sector
Associations (PSA), decided on the date. They were the National Public Service and Allied
Workers Union (NAPSAWU), Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT),
Swaziland Nurses Association (SNA) and the Swaziland Government Accountants Personnel
(SNAGAP).
After the meeting SNAT Secretary General Sikelela Dlamini, told the Times of Swaziland the
PSA would be guided by the Industrial Court ruling and prepare and issue new notices for the
strike action slated for September 16, 2019.
The unions are also planning a series of other actions in the lead up to the strike.
The newspaper added, ‘Dlamini then highlighted why they resolved to engage in the
proposed industrial action. He said seemingly, government was not willing to reimburse them
the 14.5 percent which had been eroded by inflation rate from their salaries during the
2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years. He said in 2017/18 financial year, the erosion, was 7.85
percent while in the 2018/19 year it stood at 6.55 percent.’
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Public servants across Swaziland set to strike over pay

22 September 2019
Public servants across Swaziland / eSwatini are set to strike for three days starting Monday
(23 September 2019) in a long-running campaign over pay.
Workers want a 7.8 percent cost-of-living adjustments but the government says it is broke
and cannot pay anything.
The standoff has seen a number of marches on government in recent days in which petitions
were delivered to ministries. Petitions were also delivered to regional administration offices
and regional education offices across the kingdom which is ruled by King Mswati III as an
absolute monarch.
The unions involved under the umbrella of the Public Sector Associations (PSA) include the
Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), Swaziland National Association of
Civil Servants (SNACS), Swaziland Nurses Association (SNA), and Swaziland National
Association of Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP).
The nurses cannot take part in the strike as they are considered an essential service under
Swazi law.
Public servants have not been awarded a Cost of Living Adjustment for the past three years.
Unions say prices have risen by 19.9 percent in that time.
Swaziland police fire rubber bullets and teargas injuring 15 during national strike
26 September 2019
Police in Swaziland / eSwatini fired rubber bullets and tear gas at striking public service
workers, injuring at least 15.
It was the latest police violence at public protests in the undemocratic kingdom ruled by King
Mswati III as an absolute monarch.
Public sector workers were on the final day of a three-day strike for a cost-of-living wage
increase.
The violence happened at Mbabane after what local media called ‘a long day of peaceful
protest’. Workers protested across the kingdom.
Police opened fire at workers near the Mbabane Government Hospital on Wednesday (25
September 2019), the Swazi Observer reported.
The 15 injured workers were treated at the hospital.
Among the shot protesters was a woman teacher who was hit multiple times in the back and
leg. She had been in the back of a car that was carrying trade union leaders.
The Observer reported, ‘The emotional teacher blamed the police for shooting at them saying
there was no need to open fire to an unarmed group of protesters.’
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It added most of the workers who were injured were women and among them were three who
were hurt while escaping from the police shots.
‘One teacher who was interviewed said she was trying to take cover from the police shots,
but she fell to the ground and when she got up, it was when she got hit by the rubber bullet,’
the newspaper reported.
In the past police fired live bullets, rubber bullets and teargas at workers and demonstrators
who had been legally protesting. In September 2018 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’.
Armed police had been deployed across Swaziland. Videos and photographs of brutal police
attacks were uploaded on social media. The Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) in a
statement said the videos showed ‘unlawful police actions’.
It added, ‘Several workers were wounded after police fired stun grenades to disperse the
crowd in Manzini. These police officers then unleashed a wave of assaults against striking
workers in an effort to quell the protests.’
The Swaziland Human Rights Network UK in a statement said, ‘The violent attack on
peacefully demonstrating TUCOSWA [Trades Union Congress of Swaziland] members is
reprehensible as it was a violation of their constitutional right to freedom of assembly and
expression.’
It added, ‘The Eswatini government has turned the country into a violent police state where
the security services have been turned into tools of suppression to protect the interests of not
just the government but the regime of King Mswati III.
‘The routine use of firearms against unarmed and peaceful demonstrators marks a dangerous
and violent policy by the Eswatini government and we call for the immediate prosecution of
those involved in the senseless brutality against workers.’
That strike came after a series of protests and rallies which saw police violence in attempts to
suppress the protestors. Police shot and wounded a schoolteacher at a vigil protesting their
salaries in late August. Nurses in the kingdom’s capital city of Mbabane were tasered during
a pay protest.
See also
Police Turn Swaziland City Into ‘Warzone’ as National Strike Enters Second Day
Widespread Condemnation of Swaziland Police Brutal Attacks on Workers
6
Scenes from the public servants’ march in Mbabane, sourced from Facebook
7
2 POLICE VIOLENCE
New ‘shoot-to-kill’ fear as Swaziland police gun down three suspects as they flee
4 July 2019
Police in Swaziland / eSwatini have been criticised for shooting dead three men after setting
fire to the building they were in in what appears to be another case of ‘shoot-to-kill’.
The three men were reported in local media to have escaped from Big Bend Correctional
Facility. Police were told they were hiding in a rondavel in a homestead at Manyeveni, near
Mpaka.
The Times of Swaziland reported a source saying there was an exchange of gunfire. It added,
‘The officers reportedly doused the rondavel with petrol and then set it alight. This forced the
three men out of the rondavel and that is how they got shot, narrated the source.’
A source told the Swazi Observer, ‘One of the suspects jumped out and tried to run for it and
did not heed calls to surrender. He was shot and killed in the process.’
The Times said, ‘People who visited the scene after the shooting told this publication that the
homestead resembled a war zone.’
In an editorial comment, the Times criticised the police action in setting fire to the rondavel
and said, ‘surely they could have apprehended the suspects without killing them’.
There is evidence that police in Swaziland routinely ‘shoot-to-kill’ suspects. In July 2018 at
least 30 officers shot and killed a man as he fled after they had stormed his home at
Matsebula.
In August 2017 Siboniso Brian Mdluli, aged 22, who police wanted in connection with armed
robbery, was reportedly killed at point blank range in ‘cowboy style.’ His family demanded
an inquiry saying Mdluli was assassinated by trigger happy police officers for no apparent
reason.
In November 2015 police shot a man at close range after he overturned rubbish bins and then
ran away from them. The Times of Swaziland, reported at the time that a 21-year-old man had
been suspected of throwing rubbish in the road and pelting vehicles with stones. The
newspaper said, ‘he was shot by police at close range after refusing to board their vehicle’.
A plain-clothed policeman shot an unarmed man in the back killing him while on a public bus
in February 2014. The man had allegedly stolen some copper wire before boarding the bus,
travelling from Siteki to Manzini. The Times Sunday newspaper reported at the time the
driver of the bus Majahonke Zikalala said, ‘the man was attempting to force his way out of
the bus, the police officer shot him in the back, near the spine… the man fell on the floor
after which he was handcuffed while he bled’. He died of his injuries at the scene.
In March 2013 Swaziland police shot a man dead in front of his 11-year-old child as he held
his hands up in an attempt to surrender to them. Thokozani Mngometulu, aged 31, was killed
as he got out of his car at his homestead in Dlakadla, in the Shiselweni region. Thokozani’s
family, who also witnessed the killing, said he was shot in the pelvis at close range by a
police officer.
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In June 2012 a serial rapist suspect Bhekinkhosi Masina, popularly known as Scarface, was
shot by police as they cornered him for arrest. Police said they only shot him in the thigh and
he unexpectedly died of his injuries. The Times of Swaziland newspaper later revealed he had
been shot six times, including in the head and back.
In July 2012 a mentally ill man, Mduduzi Mngometulu, aged 34, was shot seven times by
police and died of his injuries. He had four holes in his stomach, one in the leg and two bullet
wounds on the left side of his chest.
These are not isolated incidents in Swaziland where police across the kingdom have a
growing record of killing or maiming suspects before arrest. The cases have largely gone
unreported outside of the kingdom itself.
In one example, police executed a suspect Thabani Mafutha Dlamini at Nkwalini in Hlatikulu
in the presence of his colleagues and home boys in what local media called ‘cowboy style’.
The Swazi Observer newspaper reported the incident in December 2011 saying, ‘Police had
previously warned the mother of the dead man to “budget for funeral expenses” as they
intended to remove him. He was said to be on a police “wanted list”’. Dlamini was unarmed.
In a separate case in February 2011 a Swazi policeman shot Mbongeni Masuku, described in
media as a Form IV pupil, in the head in what was later described as ‘an execution-style
killing’. The killing happened outside a bar in Matsapha. Masuku’s uncle Sigayoyo
Maphanga said Mbongeni had been dragged out of his car by police. He told the Swazi
Observer, a policeman whom he named, ‘shot my nephew at the back of the left ear and he
fell on the ground with blood oozing from his mouth and ears. We were all shocked and
angered by such brutality from police officers.’
In May 2011 Mathende Matfonsi was shot dead by police while he was attending a field of
dagga (marijuana) inside the remote forests of Lomahasha near the border with Mozambique.
His family accused the police of ‘cold-blooded murder’. Matfonsi was shot dead at
Ebhandeni, the same area where Nkosinathi Khathwane had previously been shot dead by
soldiers at night.
In March 2010 police shot a man as he was trying to surrender to them. This time the victim,
Mncedisi Mamba, did not die. His mother Thoko Gamedze said Mamba had his hands up and
was surrendering to police, but they shot him anyway.
See also
Police killing, family demand answers
‘Police execute man cowboy style’
Police shoot surrendering man
Swazi police ‘murder’ suspect
Police ‘execute’ suspect in street
Police shoot and kill mentally ill man
Police ‘shot accused rapist in head’
9
Swaziland police deny they shot woman with a stray bullet at music concert
8 July 2019
A nineteen-year-old woman was shot and hospitalised after Swaziland (eSwatini) riot police
opened fired during a disturbance at a music concert.
The bullet lodged close to her heart and she had to be transferred to hospital in South Africa
because local medics did not have the expertise to treat her.
It happened at the Epic Gig at Mavuso Trade Centre, Manzini.
The Swazi Observer reported hooligans threw bottles to the stage and vandalised property
after lights went off on stage. ‘This forced police to call for the riot squad, which came fully
armed with riot gear, including teargas canisters and rubber bullets,’ the newspaper reported.
‘Police tried to disperse the crowd using rubber bullets and teargas canisters. At that moment
some people were injured by the rubber bullets.’
The woman was hit by a bullet from live ammunition.
The Observer on Saturday later reported, ‘The parents of the young girl have been left with
so many unanswered questions on what happened to their daughter as they alleged that the
police have not briefed them about the incident. Unconfirmed reports were that the teen had
been shot by the police during the skirmish.’
Police denied that the bullet was fired by one of their officers, but an independent
investigation has not taken place.
Swaziland police fire live ammunition as children protest about witchcraft at their
school
16 July 2019
Police in Swaziland / eSwatini fired live ammunition as school pupils protested against a staff
member they accused of using witchcraft.
They also used water cannon and fired stun grenades and rubber bullets during the protest
that lasted about four hours. The pupils had pelted police officers with stones and blocked the
road with burning car tyres and broken school furniture.
It happened at Dvokolwako High School on Monday (15 July 2019). The Times of Swaziland
reported, ‘The pupils were baying for the staff member’s blood on allegations of witchcraft.’
The Swazi Observer reported the accused staff member was said to be responsible for the
death of four pupils and three teachers since 2013.
The Times reported, ‘The Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) officers came armed to
the teeth and they brought along a water cannon, which was used to disperse the rioting
pupils.
‘Amid all that tear gas canisters, rubber bullets, stun grenades and live rounds of ammunition
flew in the air while the pupils who were rioting ran helter-skelter.’
10
It added Pupils had boycotted morning assembly and the school authorities called the police
who came ‘to ensure peace and order, to drive the pupils out of the school’.
The Observer reported, ‘The situation went out of hand when police officers arrived at the
school. Witnesses said after the pupils were sent home, the police arrived and chased after
some pupils who were singing and dancing outside the school premises. After the police
chased after them, it is said others were left behind and they started to hurl stones and pelted
the windows.’
This was not the first time that police in Swaziland attacked children at their school. In May
2019 police fired rubber bullets and teargas at pupils at Mhubhe High School at Ngculwini
when they protested about sexual abuse on them by a teacher.
In March 2014 police armed with batons attacked pupils at Mbabane Central High School
and detained about 100 of them when they boycotted classes after they were denied the
opportunity to take part in sporting activities by their school. The school said they suspended
sporting activities because too many students were failing exams and needed to focus more
on their studies.
In June 2013 police fired live bullets when children boycotted classes in protest against
alleged corruption at Mhubhe High School in Ngculwini. Gunshots were fired at the pupils
after police drove them away from the school, but they tried to return.
In March 2011 police reportedly assaulted pupils of Mbukwane High School after the
children took part in a demonstration. The Observer reported at the time police went to the
homes of the pupils, took them to the police station where they were interrogated ‘before
being beaten up’.
In the same year, 12 schoolchildren at Kubongeni High School, accused of being leaders in a
class boycott, were beaten up by police officers with batons, in their own school, in front of
the school’s principal. The pupils were called individually into the school’s staffroom where
the police officers and their principal were. Pupils said they were then assaulted with batons
and fists.
Local media reported the school became suspicious that the pupils were about to organise
another boycott, so the police were called.
See also
Swaziland police fire rubber bullets at schoolchildren protesting sexual abuse by
teacher
Police shoot as children protest
Swazi police assault school kids
Pupil leaders beaten by police
11
Man dies after ‘heavy assault’ by Swaziland police

1 August 2019
A man in Swaziland / eSwatini has died in hospital nearly two months after allegedly being
heavily assaulted by police. It is the latest report among many of police assault in the
kingdom.
Sebenele ‘Bebe’ Mbuyisa, aged 29, from Mhlatane, had reportedly been beaten by two
officers.
The Times of Swaziland reported Mbuyisa’s family said police had accused him of trying to
steal copper. His cousin Lucky Malinga told the newspaper, ‘They heavily assaulted him with
kicks, fists and the barrel of a rifle all over his body until he was unconscious.’
The Times added the police then put Mbuyisa’s body in a van and dumped him at an open
field about 30 kilometres away.
Hours later a passer-by found him and other police took him to hospital.
There are many cases of police assault in Swaziland. In January 2019 Mbabane magistrate
Sindisile Zwane spoke out about the increasing number of suspects who appeared in court
with bruises claiming they have been assaulted by police.
She said police should be able to question people without beating them up.
She made her comments during a trial of Jules Tsabedze who was charged with obstructing
two police officers.
This was not the first time a magistrate in Swaziland had made a public rebuke of police. In
March 2018 Principal Magistrate at Manzini David Khumalo told police they must not beat
suspects after a man appeared in court with injuries all over his body.
The Swazi Observer reported at the time, ‘The Principal Magistrate warned that accused
persons are citizens of the country and they have rights too. He said they have a right to assist
police with investigations but they cannot be forced to do that by being assaulted.’
Blessing Bakhe Maseko, aged 22, of Madonsa, informed the court through his attorney that
he was heavily assaulted with a sjambok [whip] while inside police cells.
There have been many allegations of police assault in recent times. In November 2018 it was
reported a man from Mangwaneni was left close to death after being allegedly assaulted by
two officers at a police station. He suffered severe internal bleeding, heart seizures, the
swelling of his kidneys and nerve damage on both his arms and legs.
In September 2018 four women were reportedly beaten with sjamboks and pipes and scalded
with boiling water at Siteki police station. Two of them needed hospital treatment for burns
and blisters. They were accused of stealing from shops.
In March 2017 a man accused of multiple murders told Manzini Magistrates’ Court he was
tortured by police for 11 days to force him to confess. He said he was suffocated with a tube
and assaulted all over his body, resulting in many serious injuries. The alleged attack was
said to have taken place at Lobamba Police Station.
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In January 2017 local media reported police forced a 13-year-old boy to remove his trousers
and flogged him at Ngwenya police station with a sjambok, to make him confess to stealing a
mobile phone.
See also
‘Horror tale of Swazi police torture’
Police ‘brutally assault’ workers
More police torture in Swaziland
Swaziland police hold and ‘torture’ students after protest march on Govt ministry
16 August 2019
Student leaders in Swaziland / eSwatini say police detained and tortured seven students after
a protest march in the capital, Mbabane. Three others were injured and needed hospital
treatment.
The march was believed to be the first time that three of the kingdom’s universities had come
together for a single protest.
They marched on Thursday (15 August 2019) to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security
to deliver a petition regarding the payment of allowances, scholarships for all admitted first
year students and involvement of students in decision-making.
In a statement released on social media the Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS)
said, ‘After the delivery on the way to the bus rank students and police clashed due to a minor
misunderstanding and all hell broke loose as the police started bashing students with their
batons.
‘Students ran helter-skelter around town and in the process dozens were injured with three
being rushed to the Mbabane Government Hospital. Seven students were detained for over
four hours and tortured, assaulted and humiliated.’
The marching students came from the University of Eswatini, Limkokwing University of
Creative Technology and the Eswatini Christian Medical University.
There is an ongoing dispute between students and the government in Swaziland over the
payment of scholarships and allowances that cover fees, living expenses and items such as
books. In May 2017, SNUS launched a campaign for scholarships for all. Students want all
students admitted to higher learning institutions to have scholarships, regardless of the
programme they are doing or the institution they are in.
See also
In full public view, on hand and knees student begs Swaziland King for scholarship
Swaziland students sell themselves for sex because scholarships have not been paid
13
Swaziland police fire teargas into classroom packed with children

30 September 2019
Police in Swaziland /eSwatini fired a canister of teargas into a primary school classroom
packed with children.
It happened when police attacked striking workers in Malkerns.
Children at St. Andrew’s Primary were taken to Mankayane Government Hospital for
treatment.
Police fired teargas, water cannon and live bullets during a strike of kombi (bus) drivers and
conductors on Friday (27 September 2019). It was the second time in three days that police
had fired teargas at striking workers.
The workers blocked roads in the small town, the Observer on Saturday newspaper in
Swaziland reported. It said the workers were only armed with stones and bottles. ‘Armed
police officers charged in firing some shots and teargas canisters,’ it reported. Some of the
workers entered the school during the violence.
The protest was over the continuing arrest for traffic offences of public transport drivers
servicing the Malkerns route. ‘To them, the rate at which they were time and again found to
be on the wrong side of the traffic laws was an orchestrated move aimed at victimising them,’
the Observer reported.
Two days earlier, 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 at Mbabane after what local media called ‘a long day of
peaceful protest’. Workers had been protesting across the kingdom.
See also
Swaziland police fire rubber bullets and teargas injuring 15 during national strike
Police turn Swaziland city into ‘warzone’ as national strike enters second day
Widespread condemnation of Swaziland police brutal attacks on workers
14
3 HUNGER
One in five of Swaziland’s rural population need urgent humanitarian assistance
against hunger
3 July 2019
More than 200,000 people in Swaziland / eSwatini which is one in five of the rural
population are experiencing severe food shortages and require urgent humanitarian
assistance, a report published on Tuesday (2 July 2019) stated.
And, hunger has got worse since last year. There are about 157,000 people in a ‘crisis
situation’ and another 47,000 in an ‘emergency situation’.
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.
‘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.’
It stated that even if rains are better in the coming year, it is likely that ‘households will run
out of food stocks before the end of the year’.
IPC is a multi-partner initiative for improving food security and nutrition analysis and
decision-making. It includes the Swaziland government, Red Cross and World Food
Program.
World Food Program falls short in fundraising as hunger grips Swaziland and King
spends lavishly on himself
1 July 2019
The World Food Program has fallen more than US$9 million short in its fundraising to help
ease the hunger crisis gripping Swaziland / eSwatini.
That amounts to only 47 percent of the US$17.4 million it hoped to raise, the WFP ‘resource
situation’ report for June 2019 states.
In a separate briefing for May 2019 WFP says ‘an estimated 22 percent of the population [of
1.1 million] has been food insecure in the past ten years’.
It adds, ‘Chronic malnutrition is a main concern in Eswatini: stunting affects 26 percent of
children under the age of five.’
WFP provides social safety nets for 55,000 young orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) of
pre-primary school age across the kingdom at neighbourhood care points through access to
food and basic social services.
15
WFP reports, ‘Seventy percent of the rural population live below the national poverty line
and 25 percent are extremely poor. Eswatini has a very high HIV prevalence, affecting 26
percent of the population between the ages of 15-49. Life expectancy is 49 years, and 45
percent of children are orphaned or vulnerable.’
In May 2017 the WFP estimated 350,000 people of Swaziland’s population – more than one
in three – needed food assistance.
WFP gives 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.
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 E2.8
billion in local Swazi currency).
In May 2018 Lucky Ndlovu, the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office Director of Children
Services, revealed that neighbourhood care points that feed the hungry across Swaziland were
short of food because donations were drying up.
The Sunday Observer reported Ndlovu saying, ‘There is a lack of support from those who
used to supply the food. Most of the support was from international donors who are now
focussing on other countries which are not classified as middle income countries.’
He added, donors believed Swaziland had enough money but it was not being directed
towards the poor.
‘Government must come up with programmes that are pro-poor because the international
community is now not willing to support us,’ he said.
In 2018 Afrika Kontakt (Africa Contact), a Danish NGO, reported European Union
taxpayers’ money was being used to finance the lavish lifestyle of Swaziland’s royal family
through money donated to develop the kingdom’s sugar industry. The report called The
European Union in Swaziland: In support of an Authoritarian King? said since the King
controlled much of this industry, EU money ‘benefits the Royal Family greatly’ and
undermines democratic forces in Swaziland.
The Afrika Kontakt report stated, ‘By continuing to support these sectors, without raising
demands from the Swazi Government to prioritize its citizens’ well-being over the lavish
16
lifestyle of its monarch, it is essentially EU taxpayers’ money that finances the lavish
spending of the monarchy.’
A separate report written by Klaus Stig Kristensen and published by Afrika Kontakt in 2017
stated that in Swaziland almost 6 percent of the national budget was spent on the Royal
Family while only 3.3 percent was spent on agriculture, ‘the engine that is supposed to pull
the rural population out of poverty’.
In July 2016 Lisa Peterson, United States Ambassador to Swaziland, warned Swaziland
might not receive further food aid from her country because of the Swazi King’s ‘lavish
spending’ on holidays. She was responding after it was revealed that at least three of King
Mswati III’s wives had been on holiday in Orlando, Florida – with an entourage of more than
100.
The cost of this holiday was equivalent to the drought relief that the US was then providing to
the drought-stricken kingdom – E14 million (US$1 million).
News24 in South Africa reported Peterson saying 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.’
See also
King takes US$10m from iron mine
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
17
4 GOVT FINANCIAL CRISIS
Health and education collapsing in eSwatini

12 September 2019
A government directive preventing departments from hiring or creating new posts is leaving
them understaffed and overworked to the point that children aren’t being taught and people
are dying.
By Magnificent Mndebele, New Frame
The cash-strapped Kingdom of eSwatini [Swaziland] has attempted to be “cost effective” by
issuing a directive to all ministries and departments that “all vacant posts including creation
of new posts and promotions across government be frozen”, according to circular no. 3 of
2018, which had to be implemented from 1 August last year, writes Magnificent Mndebele.
In a nutshell, the circular meant that if a government employee dies, resigns, retires or is
transferred, vacant posts will simply not be filled. Civil servants have described the decision
as “suicide”. The heavily indebted and understaffed departments of health and education
were hit hardest by the directive and have since collapsed as they “no longer serve their
purpose of existence”.
Too little state funding
Previously, parents of learners in eSwatini had to pay school fees from primary to secondary
school, and sometimes up to tertiary level. In 2010, the government announced that parents
will no longer pay for primary education. According to the eSwatini Ministry of Education
and Training, there are 12 560 teachers in 600 primary schools with an enrolment of 239 793
learners. When free education was implemented, the enrolment of learners from grade 1 to 7
jumped to 242 037 from 230 242 the previous year.
The government spends between R650 and R725 a year for each learner. Parents only pay for
secondary education. The state takes care of orphaned and vulnerable children in secondary
schools through grants paid to the schools. But parents who can afford it pay between R3 400
and R8 000 in school fees whereas the government pays R1 905 to R2 500 for orphaned and
vulnerable learners between grades 8 and 12.
The money received from the government “is a mini-skirt, and usually finishes around
October”, says Siphasha Dlamini-Madonsela, 52, a school administrator at Sigcaweni High
School, which is heavily dependent on the grants for orphaned and vulnerable learners. Her
school has 217 pupils, the majority of whom fall into this category. Only 20 of the school’s
learners have parents who can afford to pay school fees, but they aren’t always able to pay on
time.
Primary and secondary schools are now struggling to pay their operational costs. This has led
to thousands of children from impoverished backgrounds being robbed of a better future as
schools have turned into “daycare centres instead of educational institutions”.
Dlamini-Madonsela says that since schools have started running out of money, some teachers
are expected to teach as well as scout for donations so the schools can continue to function.
18
“Most of the time we improvise. We’ve been turned into beggars because we go to
businesspeople to ask for donations,” Dlamini-Madonsela says. “You are committing suicide
if you keep a nation uneducated. You are saying there’s no future in the country if you don’t
invest in education of the citizens.”
Swaziland National Association of Teachers secretary general Sikelela Dlamini says some
schools can no longer pay for the basics, such as electricity bills, and that support staff such
as librarians, secretaries and cooks have not been paid since the start of the year.
“In terms of improvement and maintenance of the physical schools, it means there can be a
broken window and it will remain so the whole year because the teacher has to prioritise
between the structure and the imminent needs of a learner,” Dlamini says. “There are kids
who normally have their first and last meal at school. This means that the teacher has to make
sure there’s food to be eaten by the kids. The situation is bad.”
Teachers and other stakeholders worry that the quality of education in the country has
dwindled significantly.
“Swaziland was ranked as one of the highest in terms of education, but now it’s not. The rich
teach their children outside the country. But the painful part is that the average citizens’
children are forced to stay here because they can’t afford to take their children to other
countries where the quality of education is high,” says Dlamini-Madonsela.
Aside from permanently employed educators, Dlamini says only a third of the 4 000
contracted teachers in eSwatini have had their contracts renewed since the freezing of
government posts. This has resulted in a shortage of teachers for some learners since the
beginning of the year, despite being expected to start writing trial exams in September.
Dlamini says there are more than 100 teachers in the country that need debt counselling and
psychological help because their salaries, as civil servants, have not been adjusted for the past
three years despite an inflation hike of 20% in the country over that period. “The effects are
far-reaching and negative on both learners and teachers … It is dangerous to keep a sick
teacher at school,” Dlamini says, commenting that ill educators are forced to continue
working because schools are understaffed.
The teachers in need of psychological aid are suffering a double blow as they, along with
others in eSwatini who are critically ill, cannot rely on health centres and hospitals in the
country as they have become “slaughter houses” instead of lifesaving medical institutions.
Shortage of medications
There are five heavily understaffed government hospitals and six health centres in eSwatini,
which have to accommodate a population of about 1.3 million people.
At the Nhlangano Health Centre, about 130km from the capital city of Mbabane, there are
three crucial and frequently used antibiotic medications that haven’t been available for the
past two months. These injected medications include ceftriaxone, which is used to treat a
wide range of bacterial infections, the cloxacillin injection is commonly used to treat
infections of the skin, bone, heart valves, blood and lungs, and the amoxicillin injection is for
treating ailments such as pneumonia, bronchitis, tonsillitis and ear infections.
19
Other medications that have been out of stock include a broad-spectrum antibiotic called
fortified penicillin, plaster of Paris used to mould plaster casts to immobilise broken bones
and catheters for draining urine from the bladder.
“There was a woman who was crying that she can’t hold herself as urine was burning her
bladder. We told her we can’t help her because we don’t have catheters of all sizes at the
centre,” says one Nhlangano Health Centre nurse who spoke to New Frame on condition of
anonymity.
It’s not only medication and injections that are unavailable, sometimes there is no food for
patients as the hospital kitchens have not received funds to buy ingredients. Additionally, the
cooks contracted by the government haven’t been paid since October last year. In June, the
administrator of the Nhlangano Health Centre had to buy food for the patients over a
weekend from his own pocket after the cooks ran out of supplies.
The situation at the Mbabane Government Hospital, one of the biggest referral hospitals in
the country, is equally menacing. Late in November and again in June, the hospital
experienced patient food shortages for two weeks. In August, there was a shortage of simple
things such as requisition forms, which patients have to sign before X-rays can be done,
prescription notepads and several vital medications.
According to senior staff at the hospital, the government has been redirecting medication
from rural health centres to the Mbabane hospital to try and prevent people in the city from
noticing that there is a shortage.
Health workers in the country say the government has prohibited them from disclosing the
direness of the situation to patients. “You are caught in a dilemma, to tell the truth or a lie. If
you tell the truth, you might find yourself losing your job. But because you took an oath to
save lives, you then tell that person the truth. If you see that this person can afford, we tell
them in confidence that in order to get healed, get such and such medication,” says one of the
senior staff members at the hospital.
Understaffed nurses and doctors
Apart from the shortage of medications, the challenging working conditions and being
understaffed contributes to the inability of medical professionals in the country to effectively
attend to patients. At the Nhlangano Health Centre, at least seven staff members have left
since 2017 and only one person has been hired, says the nurse from the facility.
In 2016, a maternity ward was completed at the Nhlangano centre that needed at least 44 staff
members to run it. To date, it hasn’t been opened. In February, eSwatini Minister of Health
Lizzy Nkosi came to the centre to command the hospital staff to open the ward despite being
notified that this wasn’t possible owing to the shortage of staff.
Mbabane Government Hospital is similarly affected by understaffing issues. Since June, there
has been a vacant sonographer post for someone who specialises in the use of ultrasonic
imaging devices to produce diagnostic images and scans. The sonographer who left the
hospital specialised in examining and diagnosing pregnant women, by ultrasound, and vital
organ conditions.
20
“She was being overworked and she ended up resigning as she’d attend to about 800 patients
per month,” says the senior staff member at the hospital, adding that pregnant women who
have to undergo ultrasound examination are transferred to the Mankayane Government
Hospital 57km away, where they are put on a three-month waiting list.
“If the ultrasound examination is required for urgent purposes due to a life-threatening
illness, there is a high chance that she will lose her life even if she’d have survived,” says the
senior staff member. “It’s more frustrating and so depressing to see someone die knowing
very well you’d have saved that life. [Not so long ago] there was a shortage of oxygen, and
we lost a baby.”
The Mbabane Government Hospital’s outpatient department has one medical doctor and two
interns who attend to about 400 patients daily. “The doctor is not coping. It’s become that
instead of thoroughly diagnosing a patient, you are pushing to finish the queue because if you
take 10 minutes on one client, the ones waiting outside will start complaining,” says the
senior staff member.
Hospitals have become ‘slaughter houses’
The shortage of staff and medication has led to a high rate of fatalities. In a year, the
Mbabane Government Hospital loses two infants on average in the first month after birth,
which is “a serious concern”. But in June, the hospital lost 10 infants in this timeframe to
neonatal sepsis, a bacterial infection of the blood affecting babies up to 28 days old. This
level of fatalities has never before been recorded in the history of the hospital. Every month,
the hospital contributes directly to the deaths of at least 100 patients, says the senior staff
member.
In June, at least four older patients died because of the shortage of hypertension medication at
the Nhlangano Health Centre. In July, 66 children were diagnosed with diarrhoea and six of
them died. “A lot of under-five children are dying, yoh!” says the nurse from the health
centre.
“The health system has collapsed. If you’re no longer doing your purpose of existence, you
are dead. We save lives. But now we can’t save lives, why we are still existing?” asks the
senior staff member from Mbabane.
This article was first published by New Frame on 12 September 2019
https://www.newframe.com/health-and-education-collapsing-in-eswatini/
EDUCATION
Schools crisis in Swaziland as broke Govt. stops recruiting teachers

15 July 2019
More than six in ten schools in Swaziland / eSwatini do not have enough teachers because of
government financial cutbacks, the Eswatini Principals Association (EPA) President
Welcome Mhlanga said.
21
Hiring of teachers has been frozen and if the problems is not solved soon, some schools will
‘collapse’ he said.
Schools are also suffering because government has not paid the Free Primary Education
(FPE) grant, something it is required to do under the kingdom’s constitution. It also has not
paid special grants for orphaned and vulnerable (OVC) children.
The Swazi Observer reported, ‘He said the freezing of recruitments is one of the thorny issues
that are troubling schools. He stated that over 60 percent of schools in the country do not
have enough teachers.
‘The shortage of teachers compromises the completion of the syllabus, as well as the quality
of results that the country will produce.
‘“If these challenges are not solved on time, schools will collapse,” he said.’
The Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) plans to march on government on
Thursday (18 July 2019) to deliver a petition calling for more teachers to be hired. SNAT
says that examinations are due to start in less than two months but many children have not
been taught because of the shortage.
Public services across Swaziland are grinding to a halt because the government is broke. The
government is not elected by the people but handpicked by King Mswati III who rules as an
absolute monarch.
At the end of June 2019 public service unions said they would only work three days a week
unless a long-running claim for cost-of-living wage increases was agreed.
Government needs to find E151.9 million (US$11 million) for the primary schools across the
kingdom to fund FPE. There are about 650 primary schools in Swaziland. The Swazi
Constitution requires that all children in the kingdom receive free primary education. For
eight years until last year the European Union had paid about E140 million a year toward the
cost of FPE.
Initially, the EU said it would fund FPE for all primary school pupils until 2016. After the
initial period elapsed the financial support was extended until the end of 2018.
There are about 330,000 pupils at school in Swaziland, including about 240,000 at primary
schools. The government pays a minimum of E560 per pupil for primary pupils.
At the end of 2018 the Ministry of Education and Training had to pay more than E40 million
to cover the cost of sending police and prison wardens into schools to invigilate examinations
while teachers were in dispute.
See also
Chaos and confusion across Swaziland as new school year starts
Armed Police Deployed in Schools Across Swaziland to Ensure Exams Take Place
During Teacher Pay Dispute
Swaziland teachers want U.S. to tell absolute monarch to stop wasting public money
on himself
22
Swaziland children forced to work as groundsmen as Govt delays funding their school
17 July 2019
Pupils in Swaziland / eSwatini are being forced to work as groundsmen at their primary
school because the government has not paid grants it owes.
The children at Vulamehlo pick up paper, cut grass and sweep the school yard. The work
used to be down by a groundsman but he lost his job because the school could not pay him.
This is because like other schools across the kingdom it has not received free primary
education (FPE) grants from the government.
Vulamehlo is also not serving meals to the pupils as the school did not have funds to pay
school staff, deputy headteacher Cynthia Dlamini told the Times of Swaziland.
She said, ‘We have not received FPE grants yet and this has resulted in our groundsman
leaving the school as we have failed to pay him. In the meantime, pupils perform the duties of
the groundsman.’
Public services across Swaziland, where King Mswati III rules as an absolute monarch, are in
meltdown. The Swazi Government, which is not elected but handpicked by the King is broke
and owes suppliers about E3 billion (US$215 million).
More than six in ten schools in Swaziland do not have enough teachers because of
Welcome Mhlanga has said.
Government needs to find E151.9 million for the primary schools across the kingdom to fund
FPE. There are about 650 primary schools in Swaziland. The Swazi Constitution requires that
all children in the kingdom receive free primary education. There are about 330,000 pupils at
school in Swaziland, including about 240,000 at primary schools.
Schoolchildren across Swaziland have been going hungry because the government has not
paid suppliers for food under the zondle programme feeding scheme. This has been the case
for more than a year. In the past schools have been forced to close because of the shortages.
Swaziland schools run out supplies, exams threatened, as govt financial meltdown bites
20 July 2019
The writing of examinations across Swaziland / eSwatini is under threat because the
government has not handed over grants to schools and they cannot pay for simple supplies
such as paper. Electricity has been cut because of unpaid bills. There is also a long-running
shortages of teachers.
Teachers and school principals marched on the Ministry of Education and Training and
Cabinet offices to deliver a petition calling for funding to be paid.
The Swaziland Association of Schools Administrators (SASA), the Swaziland National
Association of Teachers (SNAT) with the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA)
and National Public Services and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) took part on Thursday
(18 July 2019).
23
SASA’s Chairperson Samkelo Dlamini said government had not paid money to schools and
there were no resources to run them. The Swazi Observer reported, ‘He said the Examination
Council had released the examination timetable and pupils were expected to go for exams,
yet there are no teachers or teaching material. “We wish to put it on record that, your failure
to finance education at primary school level and paying for those learners who are orphaned
and vulnerable at high schools have rendered the schools becoming day care centres as
opposed to institutions that should offer formal education,” Dlamini said.’
Public services across Swaziland, where King Mswati III rules as an absolute monarch, are in
meltdown. The Swazi Government, which is not elected but handpicked by the King is broke
and owes suppliers about E3 billion (US$215 million).
Welcome Mhlanga has said.
Schools across Swaziland in chaos as failing Govt runs out of cash

23 July 2019
Swaziland / eSwatini Minister of Education and Training Lady Howard-Mabuza met school
principals as education in the kingdom crumbles through lack of funding.
The Swazi 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.
The Minister said that plans for building new schools had been put on hold and hiring of
teaching staff was frozen.
Welcome Mhlanga had previously said.
Howard-Mabuza said the government was broke and could not afford to finance education.
The problem is not new as the government, appointed by King Mswati III the absolute
monarch in Swaziland, has run the economy into the ground over many years. Public services
across the kingdom, including health, education and policing are crumbling. The government
owes its suppliers about E3 billion (US$215 million).
On Thursday (18 July 2019) teachers and school principals marched on government to
present a petition calling for urgent action.
Despite the financial crisis, King Mswati continues to live lavishly. 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.
24
About seven in ten of the estimated 1.2 million population live in abject poverty with
incomes less than the equivalent of US$2 per day.
Up to 200 Swaziland teachers ‘die of stress’ as schools meltdown due to economic crisis
10 September 2019
Close to 200 teachers died of stress-related illness in Swaziland / eSwatini over two years.
Four teachers a week were being buried and another 100 were said to presently suffering.
This was because of the pressure teachers were forced to work under because of the
economic meltdown in the kingdom.
The Swaziland News, an online publication, revealed the statistics after an investigation. It
said close to 200 teachers died in the two years up March 2019. The Swaziland National
Association of Teachers (SNAT) said it buried four teachers a week who died of stress-
related illness. SNAT also said more than 100 teachers that it knew of were seeking
psychological help because of stress. The newspaper reported that the cause of the stress was
mainly the working conditions teachers faced. They were poorly paid and overworked
because there were so many unfilled teacher vacancies and they lacked resources.
A source told the newspaper, ‘We are the most frustrated professionals in the country yet
parents and government expect good results. Another thing, the government wants all
children in primary schools to pass, even those who fail, we are told to promote them to the
next class, it’s a huge crisis. When a teacher dies, those who remained behind are loaded with
extra duties as government has frozen hiring.’
Themba Masuku, the Swazi Deputy Prime Minister, said, ‘The economic situation is really
bad.’ He said teachers’ leaders and the Ministry of Education and Training should meet to
prioritise spending.
Sikelela Dlamini, Secretary-General of SNAT, said, ‘The DPM is talking “nonsense” by
saying we must consult the Education Ministry to find solutions on these issues, he knows
that the Ministry has no capacity to resolve these challenges. We can engage the Education
Ministry, but nothing will change, it is the central government that should prioritize
education.’
The problem is not new as the government, appointed by King Mswati III the absolute
monarch in Swaziland, has run the economy into the ground over many years. Public services
across the kingdom, including health, education and policing are crumbling. The government
owes its suppliers about E3 billion (US$215 million). Protests from teachers and civil
servants have taken place across the kingdom because government has refused to fund cost-
of-living salary adjustments. It says it does not have the money.
Sikelela Dlamini told the Swaziland News, ‘When it’s time to address issues affecting civil
servants, government always claim there is no money but it’s always available for royalty.’
25
The King and his extended family live lavish lifestyles. 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.
About seven in ten of the estimated 1.2 million population of Swaziland live in abject poverty
with incomes less than the equivalent of US$2 per day.
This week, Welcome Mhlanga, President of the Eswatini Principals Association (EPA), told
the Times of eSwatini (formerly Times of Swaziland), ‘Most schools have not been paid their
grants – free primary education (FPE) and orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs) – which
are funded by government.’ He warned teaching materials would not be available ahead of
examinations.
In July 2019, Minister of Education and Training Lady Howard-Mabuza met school
principals. The government had not paid schools fees and support staff were sacked as a
result. Teaching supplies ran out and in some schools pupils had been without a teacher for
more than a year.
The Minister said that plans for building new schools had been put on hold and hiring of
teaching staff was frozen.
More than six in ten schools in Swaziland did not have enough teachers because of
government financial cutbacks, Welcome Mhlanga had previously said.
Howard-Mabuza said the government was broke and could not afford to finance education.
HEALTH
Food collection points set up in Swaziland as hospital patients unfed after Govt fails to
pay suppliers
5 July 2019
Collection points have been set up across Mbabane, the Swaziland / eSwatini capital, to
collect donations to feed hospital patients left hungry after the government failed to pay food
suppliers.
It is the latest development in the financial crisis that is striking the kingdom ruled by
absolute monarch, King Mswati III.
Patients in hospitals across Swaziland are going unfed, medicines of all sorts have run out,
and hospital equipment has broken down. The government which is not elected but
handpicked by the King is broke and has not paid suppliers. Other public services, including
schools are also hit.
26
Food banks organised by members of the public working as the ‘Emergency Disaster
Network’ have set up collection points for donations at various points across the city for
patients at the Mbabane Government Hospital. Food items, ranging from bags of beans, rice,
chicken portions and sugar have been collected, the Swazi Observer reported. Cash donations
have also been made.
The health crisis has been growing in recent years. The Observer reported Health Minister,
Lizzy Nkosi, ‘has explained that some of the shortages were as a result of suppliers cutting
supply because of outstanding payments, which runs into millions of Emalangeni’.
It was reported in June 2019 that the food shortage had also hit two other public hospitals,
Hlatikhulu Government Hospital and Nhlangano Health Centre, both in the Shiselweni
Region.
The food problem is one of many facing the health service in Swaziland which is caused by
the government’s inability to pay suppliers. There are shortages of many drugs across the
kingdom. Local media reported in the past that many people, including children, have died as
a result.
It is not only a problem of drugs. Hospital equipment, including at intensive-care units at
Mbabane Government Hospital, has also not been maintained and cannot be used.
In June 2018 it was revealed there were only 12 working public ambulances in the whole of
Swaziland because the government failed to maintain them. It had bought no new ambulances
since 2013.
See also
Swaziland hospital crisis: govt not paid bills so patients only eat bread
HIV drugs not available across Swaziland as health crisis deepens
Swaziland health crisis getting worse as budgets cut. Rural areas most affected
Swaziland cancer patients refused treatment because Govt. has not paid hospital bills
9 July 2019
Seriously ill people, including cancer patients, in Swaziland / eSwatini are being denied life-
saving treatment because the government had not paid its bills to hospitals.
At least E66 million (US$4.6 million) is 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 date back to 2013.
The objective of the Phalala Fund is to assist deserving Swazi citizens who would otherwise
not have access to specialist medical care to get it either, within Swaziland or ‘in special
circumstances’ outside the kingdom.
The size of the debt was revealed by Phalala Fund Administrator Thabsile Dlamini, following
media reports in Swaziland that cancer patient were not being assisted by the fund.
27
The Swazi Observer reported that the E66 million owed was not the only debt, that included
unpaid bills for optical treatment.
In 2017, the Swazi Government owed E170 million through the Phalala Fund. In March 2018
South African health institutions stopped giving medical assistance because of the unpaid
bills and more than 100 people were immediately denied treatment.
The Phalala Fund has been riddled with incompetence and corruption for many years. Many
times in the past South Africa stopped taking patients because of unpaid bills. For example,
in 2014 a Ministry of Health’s Senate Portfolio Committee Report said E40 million was
unpaid and patients were being refused treatment.
In November 2014, the Accountant General Phestecia Nxumalo reported that the Phalala
Fund had been defrauded of E9 million because single bills had been paid multiple times.
As long ago as 2006 a report published by the World Bank recommended sweeping reforms
to the funding scheme, but these have not taken place.
The report said ‘only a tiny segment’ of the Swazi population benefitted from the large
medical subsidy the government paid. It said there were no cost-effective guidelines so the
fund could be used on patients who were too sick to benefit from treatment.
Also, fees and other prices were not negotiated before treatment and were ‘completely
supplier-determined’.
The report concluded the Phalala Fund provided a ‘blank cheque’ for South African doctors
and hospitals: whatever amount they asked was paid by Government, ‘since it has no
recourse but to pay up.’
It also said that management of the funds were poor and it was easy to mistakenly pay bills
more than once ‘due to multiple reminder billings’.
The report recommended that as far as possible medical care should take place within
Swaziland rather than outside using both public and private health facilities and investment
should be made to make this happen.
Nurses angry as Swaziland Govt ignores health crisis

28 July 2019
Nurses in Swaziland / eSwatini are angry that the government has ignored their petition
calling for urgent action to fix the kingdom’s broke health system.
One of their leaders, Swaziland Nurses Association President Bheki Mamba, said conditions
were getting worse and ‘patients were now dying before their very eyes’.
Patients in hospitals are being left unfed, medicines of all descriptions have run out, broken
equipment is not repaired and nurses and other public servants have not been paid cost-of-
living salary increases.
28
The Swazi Government which is not elected but handpicked by absolute monarch King
Mswati III is broke and owes suppliers E3 billion (US$215 million). Many have refused to do
further business until bills are paid.
Workers marched on government on 21 June 2019 to deliver a petition calling for it to
prioritise the hiring of nurses and for the health service to be adequately funded. It gave the
government one month to act and threatened to ‘render the health sector unworkable’ if it did
not act.
Mamba told the Swazi Observer “Up to now, we have not received any invite to discuss the
situation as the PS [Principal Secretary] promised when we gave him the petition. Similarly
the prime minister’s office has not responded, which is a clear indication that they don’t take
the health situation seriously.’
He added, ‘Patients simply starve to death from lack of food. They can’t take any medication
without having eaten.’
Local media reported in the past that many people, including children, have died as a result of
medicine shortages.
The Observer added, ‘Nurses sent a strong warning, promising to do all they can within their
power to expose the real situation to the world; to report government’s failure to address a
problem of crippling drug shortages.
‘The nurses have vowed to come all out and beg the international community for assistance,
including with money, just to save the health system.’
The Observer reported, ‘The nurses said the ministry lied to the nation, saying it was sending
drugs and supplies yet it was only sending allegedly expired nevirapine drugs for new-borns
and Panados.
Ministry of Health Communications Officer Nomfundo Dlamini said the ministry had now
scheduled a meeting with the nurses’ association.
The health crisis has been getting worse over recent years. Patients in public hospitals across
the kingdom are not being fed properly because suppliers refuse to deliver food until they are
paid by government. Points have been set up across Mbabane, the Swaziland capital, to
collect food donations from the public to feed hospital patients.
The food problem is one of many facing the health service. There are shortages of many
drugs across the kingdom. Last month (June 2019) it was reported drugs to treat HIV
infection were not available in most hospitals and clinics across Swaziland which has the
highest rate of HIV infection in the world. As of 2017, 27 percent of the population, or
210,000 people, were infected.
Other drugs in short supply include those for sexual transmitted infections, epilepsy,
hypertension and diabetes. Cancer patients are also being left untreated.
It is not only a problem of drugs. Hospital equipment, including at intensive-care units at
Mbabane Government Hospital, has also not been maintained and cannot be used.
29
since 2013.
Six children die as diarrhoea once again strikes Swaziland

7 August 2019
Six children died from diarrhoea in four days in Swaziland / eSwatini and about another
1,000 others have been treated for the infection caused by the rota virus, a senior official said
on Monday.
Deaths from this preventable disease occur in the kingdom every year. But the government,
ruled by King Mswati III as the last absolute monarch in sub-Saharan Africa, is broke and
continually fails to tackle to problem.
The latest round of deaths was announced by Director of Health Services Vusi Magagula on
Monday (5 August 2019), the APA news agency reported.
‘These fatal cases are a result of delayed treatment,’ he said. The deaths occurred at two
health centres in the south of the kingdom.
Out of the 1,000 children aged five years and below, most were admitted to hospital.
In Swaziland diarrhoea is rated among the top three causes of mortality especially amongst
children under five years of age. In the worst case in recent years in 2014 at least 40 children
died during an outbreak. Hundreds were hospitalised and more than 3,000 cases were
recorded.
In 2014 the World Bank estimated 17.6 percent of children aged under five suffered from
diarrhoea in a two week period it surveyed.
Diarrhoea is a preventable disease. It is a bowel infection often caused by contaminated water
or food. According to the website of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, a 25-
pack of one dose vials of rotavirus vaccine to immunise against diarrhoea costs US70.49
(E1,050) at commercial rates. Typically a child needs two doses to be immunised.
APA reported the Swaziland Ministry of Health was downplaying the latest cases claiming it
did not amount to an ‘outbreak’.
Swaziland is broke and public services are grinding to a halt. All kinds of medicines are in
short supply in public hospitals and clinics because the government has failed to pay
suppliers. Nursing posts and other vacancies remain unfilled as part of a government policy
to cut its wages bill. At least 400 qualified nurses are unemployed, Dr Vusi Magagula
recently told a meeting of pensioners in Mbabane.
Seven in ten of Swaziland’s estimated 1.3 million population live in abject poverty with
incomes less than the equivalent of US$2 per day. The King has 13 palaces. He also owns
fleets of top-of-the range Mercedes and BMW cars. His family regularly travel the world on
shopping trips spending millions of dollars each time.
30
The King wore a watch worth US$1.6 million and a suit beaded with diamonds weighing 6
kg, at his 50th birthday party. Days earlier he took delivery of his second private jet, a A340
Airbus, that after VIP upgrades reportedly cost US$30 million. He received E15 million
(US$1.2 million) in cheques, a gold dining room suite and a gold lounge suite among his
birthday gifts.
See also
Swaziland nurses picket, drugs run out, lives put at risk as government fails to pay
suppliers
Medicine shortage: five die
Swazi King parties while children die
Number of child deaths from diarrhoea in Swaziland rises

26 August 2019
The number of children known to have died in the current outbreak of diarrhoea in Swaziland
/ eSwatini has risen to 11, the charity WaterAid reported.
This was revealed at a workshop on hygiene held at Pigg’s Peak.
WaterAid Eswatini Research Manager Ncamiso Mhlanga said the main contribution to these
deaths were poor sanitation methods, mainly at home or day care centres where these
children stay.
Swazi Director of Health Services Vusi Magagula reported in early August 2019 that six
children had died over a period of four days and about another 1,000 others had been treated
for the infection caused by the rota virus.
Swaziland confirms health services in meltdown as Govt has not paid suppliers
20 August 2019
The Ministry of Health in Swaziland / eSwatini has confirmed the extent of the crisis in
public hospitals and clinics due to the economic meltdown.
Drugs have run out and there are shortages of nurses, midwives and other health
professionals. Fuel frequently runs out and ambulances and other vehicles have broken down.
Among the major challenges faced by the ministry are a shortage of drugs, delayed payment
of service providers, frequent shortages of fuel, the breakdown of transport and shortages in
human resources.
The information was contained in the ministry’s first quarter performance report delivered to
the Swazi parliament.
Part of the report states, ‘While most patients were negatively affected, highly impacted
patients were those on psychiatric medication, which stocked out for longer periods and those
taking anti-hypertensive treatment. The main cause for stock-outs is failure to pay suppliers
on time due to the fiscal challenges facing the government.’
31
The government which is not elected but chosen by absolute monarch King Mswati III owes
about E3 billion (US$340 million) to suppliers across all public services, including schools.
The report said that within the health sector most facilities had been negatively affected by
the delayed payment and subsequent withdrawal of services by service providers. This
included catering, security, servicing of medical equipment, immunisation, external referrals,
cleaning materials and protective supplies.
‘This has negatively affected the provision of health services, thus reducing the quality of
patient stay at facilities,’ the report added.
The report stated there were a total of 179 vacant positions at the end of March 2019;
including 19 medical or dental officers, 77 nurses or midwives and 83 allied health
professionals, administrative and support staff. At least 400 qualified nurses were
unemployed, Director of Health Services Dr Vusi Magagula recently told a meeting of
pensioners in Mbabane.
The crisis has been deepening for a number of years. At least six children were reported to
have died from diarrhoea earlier this month (August 2019). Drugs to treat them were
unavailable.
Collection points have been set up across Mbabane, the Swaziland capital, to collect
donations to feed hospital patients left hungry after the government failed to pay food
suppliers. Food banks organised by members of the public working as the ‘Emergency
Disaster Network’ have set up collection points for donations at various points across the city
for patients at the Mbabane Government Hospital. Food items, ranging from bags of beans,
rice, chicken portions and sugar have been collected, the Swazi Observer reported. Cash
donations have also been made. Food shortages had also hit two other public hospitals,
Hlatikhulu Government Hospital and Nhlangano Health Centre, both in the Shiselweni
Region.
Swaziland town running out of burial space as health crisis intensifies

23 September 2019
So many people are dying of AIDS-related illness that one town in Swaziland / eSwatini is
running out of burial space, an online newspaper reported.
The shortage of medicines for many illnesses caused by the government financial crisis is
being blamed for some of the increase in deaths.
The Swaziland News reported the municipality of Nhlangano is struggling to meet the
demand for new graves.
Apollo Maphalala, Nhlangano Town Council chief executive officer, said graves were being
dug in readiness for expected deaths. ‘In Swazi culture this is not allowed, however we
prepare the graves to accommodate the demand. We are aware of the drug shortages that
might have resulted to the demand, but to us this is just providing a service,’ he said.
Mandla Sibandze, a Nhlangano town councillor, told the newspaper, ‘Many people are dying
these days and as the town council, we are running short of a burial space. I may not be sure
32
of the real causes of the deaths but most of them are related to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and
cancer.’
The newspaper reported, ‘It has been confirmed that the Nhlangano Town Council charged
E500 (US$33) for burial space and business has been booming since the health crisis erupted
resulting in government failure to provide sufficient drugs in hospitals thus causing more
deaths.’
Dr Simon Zwane, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, told
the newspaper Swaziland had a shortage of drugs in hospitals including ARVs for people
living with HIV. He also said the number of people falling sick in the kingdom was
increasing.
‘The number of diabetic people and those suffering from hypertension has increased; it is
difficult to even give you an accurate number as it keeps on increasing. We are also faced
with shortage of ARVs as you have seen that our government has a cash flow problem.’
Suppliers have been left unpaid. It is estimated the Swazi Government owes them about E3
billion. There are shortages in health, education and other public services.
The Swaziland News interviewed a local woman Sophie Maziya who said senior citizens
were most affected by the medicine shortages. ‘As senior citizens above the age of 60, we are
expected to receive free medical treatment, however that doesn’t help us in any way because
there are no drugs in hospitals. When I visited the hospital recently I was informed that there
were no drugs for diabetes, I had to buy from the pharmacy. A friend of mine who was
diabetic died early this year, she was neglected by her children and couldn’t afford to buy the
diabetics medication from the pharmacy.’
The financial crisis in the kingdom ruled by King Mswati III as an absolute monarch has been
continuing for years. 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.
Part of the report stated, ‘While most patients were negatively affected, highly impacted
patients were those on psychiatric medication, which stocked out for longer periods and those
taking anti-hypertensive treatment. The main cause for stock-outs is failure to pay suppliers
on time due to the fiscal challenges facing the government.’
since 2013.
33
POLICE
Police in Swaziland walk to crime scenes because Govt. can’t afford to buy cars
10 July 2019
Some police officers in Swaziland / eSwatini are forced to walk to crime scenes because the
government has not paid for cars.
A police spokesperson said the shortage of cars and other equipment was because of the
kingdom’s continuing economic crisis.
A police post was opened at Ngudzeni about a year ago but it still does not have a vehicle, the
Times of Swaziland reported. It said, ‘Officers stationed at the police post are forced to either
walk to crime scenes or to wait for a day or so in order to get the lone vehicle that was
allocated to the nearby Dumako Police Post.’
The Times reported a source, ‘made the example of a recent murder incident where the area’s
community police were asked to keep watch over a corpse for the whole night because the
police had no vehicle to attend to the crime scene.’
It added, ‘Even the suspect in the gruesome murder was conveyed to the police post by a
local motorist, using his own vehicle.’
Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati told
the newspaper the police force faced challenges, ‘which she attributed to government’s
obtaining economic crisis’.
Ngudzeni is not the only area in Swaziland, where King Mswati III rules as an absolute
monarch, where police are without vehicles. In August 2018 it was reported police in the
Siteki area were forced to walk or hitch-hike to crime and accident scenes because the
government had not paid for fuel or vehicle repairs. Traffic officers used their personal
vehicles to mount road blocks.
In May 2018 it was reported that Swaziland was so short of resources that police were unable
to secure voter registration centres in the runup to national elections and do their routine work
at the same time. Police officers were said to have been left stranded at registration centres in
the evenings because there were no vehicles available to take them home.
Police were unable to respond when a five-year-old was abducted and raped because they
were on election duty, according to the Swazi Observer at the time. It said a toddler was with
her mother at Mahlalini, an area in the outskirts of Nhlangano, when a man grabbed her and
disappeared into a thicket where he raped her.
Swaziland is broke and seven in ten of Swaziland’s estimated 1.3 million population live in
abject poverty with incomes less than the equivalent of US$2 per day. King Mswati has 13
palaces, two private jets and fleets of top-of-the-range BMW and Mercedes cars.
The King 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. Days earlier he took delivery of his second private
jet, a A340 Airbus, that after VIP upgrades reportedly cost US$30 million. He received E15
34
million (US$1.2 million) in cheques, a gold dining room suite and a gold lounge suite among
his birthday gifts.
See also
Gap between rich and poor in Swaziland continues to grow, Finance Minister reports
35
5 SCHOOLS
Beating banned in Swaziland schools, but ‘no law’ to prosecute teachers who do
22 August 2019
There is confusion in Swaziland / eSwatini about whether the use of corporal punishment in
schools is illegal even though the government issued a directive banning it.
This emerged at Manzini when a prosecutor refused to take a teacher to court because no
‘legal instrument’ existed.
The case reported by the Times of Swaziland involved a pupil from St Theresa’s Primary
School. She and others had been caned and she needed medical treatment. Police were
informed and they made a case to go ahead to the magistrates’ court.
The legal prosecutor’s office refused to take it forward. The newspaper reported this was,
‘because there was no legal instrument which confirms that corporal punishment was
abolished in schools in the country’.
It added, ‘without the instrument which states that corporal punishment was abolished, there
was nothing they could do’. The prosecutor did not deny that the pupils had been beaten.
In 2015 a directive was issued from Swaziland’s Ministry of Education and Training (MoET)
stating that corporal punishment was banned in schools. Phineas Magagula, Minister of
Education and Training, warned that teachers who beat pupils should be reported to the
ministry so that they could be disciplined. The ban was restated in the National Education and
Training Sector Policy in 2018.
A number of teachers have been reported to police for beating children since the directive
was first issued. As recently as June 2019 a teacher at Gilgal Primary School was arrested
after allegedly whipping a 10-year-old boy who needed treatment at a health centre for his
injuries. The teacher, Thulile Fortunate Mhlanga, aged 39, was charged under the Children
Protection and Welfare Act.
In November 2017 a male teacher at Lozitha High School was arrested and charged for
allegedly beating an 18-year-old female pupil on the buttocks with a pipe because she had not
had her hair cut as instructed by the school. In Swaziland an 18-year-old is legally an adult.
In June 2016 the school principal at the Herefords High School was reported to police after
allegedly giving a 20-year-old female student nine strokes of the cane on the buttocks.
In September 2015 the Times reported a 17-year-old school pupil died after allegedly being
beaten at school. The pupil reportedly had a seizure.
In March 2015 a primary school teacher at the Florence Christian Academy was charged with
causing grievous bodily harm after allegedly giving 200 strokes of the cane to a 12-year-old
pupil on her buttocks and all over her body.
36
In 2005 The International Save the Children Alliance published research into Swazi
children’s experiences of corporal punishment. Children reported being subjected to corporal
punishment at school due to making a noise or talking in class, coming late to school, not
completing work, not doing work correctly, failing tests, wearing incorrect uniform items,
dropping litter, losing books or leaving them at home.
In 2011, Swaziland was told by the United Nations Human Rights Periodic Review held in
Geneva it should stop using corporal punishment in schools, because it violated the rights of
children.
See also
Swaziland police investigate report children illegally beaten to encourage them to do
well in exams
Swaziland teacher arrested after boy, 10, beaten for defiance, needed medical
treatment
Head teacher charged in beating case
Swazi Govt sued over school beating
Teachers beat boys on naked buttocks
Swaziland schoolteacher beats mothers for their children’s misbehaviour

6 August 2019
When pupils at a school in Swaziland / eSwatini failed to show up to receive a caning a

teacher beat their mothers instead.
It happened at the small rural community of Mavalela, near Big Bend.
A community meeting was told that the school’s administration forced the women to take
punishment on behalf of their children.
The Times of Swaziland reported one woman said a senior teacher threatened to expel her
children from the school if she did not allow herself to be beaten.
She said, ‘The pupils had finished writing their exams and then decided not to report for
school. The school’s administration saw this as a violation of the school rules and she ruled
that the pupils would be punished when they return to collect their academic reports.’
The Times added for those pupils who had not come to school on that day, the teacher forced
parents to take the punishment of their behalf. Several women were beaten on the hand.
The newspaper reported the women did not report the assault to the police because they did
not think they would be taken seriously.
One woman told the Times she did not feel embarrassed by the incident at the time as there
were other women who were also beaten.
Corporal punishment in schools was banned in 2015 but it continues to be routinely used
across the kingdom.
37
The Mavalela case is not the only one reported in Swaziland of adults being beaten by
schoolteachers.
In 2011 it was reported the school principal at Elangeni High School regularly gave out
public floggings to adults who dated girls from his school.
The men were forced to attend in front of the entire school, lie down on a bench and receive a
whipping. The girls were also flogged. The principal told the Weekend Observer newspaper
at the time that if in the usual course of events his pupils were subjected to corporal
punishment, why shouldn’t the adults? He said he had flogged many men over a period of
time.
The ages of the pupils involved were not disclosed, but in Swaziland it is common for people
to still be attending school in their late teens and twenties.
38
6 STUDENTS
Swaziland college principal reveals role abortions play in lives of his students
21 August 2019
The principal of a teacher training college in Swaziland / eSwatini said at least 50 of his
students had abortions in the space of a year.
Ngwane Teachers College Principal Dr Amos Mahlalela addressed students at the college at
an assembly.
Later, interviewed by the Observer on Sunday newspaper in Swaziland he said the college in
the Shiselweni region did not know where the students obtained the medication used to
terminate pregnancies.
If a student becomes pregnant while studying at the college she is required to leave and not
return until after the baby is born.
According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, abortion is
prohibited in Swaziland except in cases of necessity but there is disagreement about what
constitutes a case of necessity.
‘The majority position of commentators is that a case of necessity exists only when an abortion
is performed to save the life of the pregnant woman. However, it is possible that a case of
necessity need not be so serious and that an abortion could be performed in cases of serious
threat to both physical and mental health, foetal defect and rape. There is no case law on this
issue in Swaziland,’ the report stated.
The Swazi Constitution provides that abortion might be allowed on medical or therapeutic
grounds, including where a doctor certifies that continued pregnancy will endanger the life or
constitute a serious threat to the physical health of the woman; continued pregnancy will
constitute a serious threat to the mental health of the woman; there is serious risk that the
child will suffer from physical or mental defect of such a nature that the child will be
irreparably seriously handicapped.
However, no law exists to put the constitutional provisions into effect.
Because abortions are illegal in Swaziland it is difficult to say accurately how many are
performed in the kingdom. However, in August 2018 the Times of Swaziland reported that
every month nurses at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital in Manzini attended
more than 100 cases of young women who had committed illegal abortions.
See also
Death of Swaziland schoolgirl after illegal abortion highlights suffering of women in
kingdom
U.S. halts funding to Swaziland NGO as anti-abortion policy bites
39
Limkokwing University, Swaziland, asks High Court to force end to class boycott
23 August 2019
Limkokwing, the private university in Swaziland / eSwatini favoured by the kingdom’s

absolute monarch, has petitioned the High Court to force boycotting students back to class.
An urgent application was filed on Thursday (22 August 2019) to stop the boycott that has
been running for much of the past week.
Students are protesting against a number of issues, including the payment of allowances,
scholarships for all admitted first year students and involvement of students in decision-
making. Last week with students from the public University of Eswatini (formerly UNISWA)
and Eswatini Christian Medical University they marched on the Ministry of Labour and
Social Security to deliver a petition outlining their grievances.
The university in its High Court submission said there had been clashes between police and
students on university premises. ‘Violence is likely to continue and escalate,’ it stated.
The Limkokwing University of Creative Technology was launched in Swaziland only after
an intervention by King Mswati. In June 2011, it emerged that the university’s founder Tan
Sri Dato Lim Kok Wing had a meeting with King Mswati and convinced him that Swaziland
needed a new university.
He persuaded the King that sub-degree courses in such subjects as graphic designing, tv &
film production, architectural technology, advertising, creative multimedia, information
technology, event management, business information technology, journalism and media,
public relations and business management, would help Swaziland, which is mainly an
agricultural society, to prosper.
Once the King gave his support nobody in his kingdom stood in its way. Limkokwing started
in Swaziland illegally because an Act of Parliament was needed to set up a university, but
Limkokwing was allowed to start without parliament’s approval.
In 2013, the university awarded King Mswati an honorary doctorate in ‘human capital
development.’
Limkokwing, part of an international group of campuses, has been controversial since it
opened in Swaziland in 2011. Students and education commentators have highlighted the
poor quality of courses, staff and resources.
Limkokwing was chosen by King Mswati to house his University of Transformation to take
students from across the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region. The
King became chair of SADC in August 2016 when he pledged the university would be
operating by August 2017. Nothing substantial happened and the plan remains stalled.
Swaziland university closed indefinitely as student protests continue

27 August 2019
The University of eSwatini (formerly University of Swaziland) has closed indefinitely and
sent students home after protests across its three campuses.
40
Students are engaged in an ongoing protest over allowances which have been cut in recent
years and are now not being paid fully at the beginning of semesters.
Students across Swaziland which is ruled by absolute monarch King Mswati III have been
protesting the issue in the three weeks since classes started for the academic year. They also
want scholarships to be given to all people who want them and qualify. Many of the present
first year students have registered at the university but have not been granted scholarships.
Students are also angry that they were not consulted over changes.
The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the King, reported students vandalised
property, started fires and blocked roads.
See also
Swaziland police hold and ‘torture’ students after protest march on Govt ministry
Striking Swaziland students win victory in dispute with government

12 September 2019
University and college students in Swaziland / eSwatini won a victory over government,
forcing it to double their personal allowances.
All tertiary institutions in the kingdom where King Mswati III rules as an absolute monarch
were closed after students protests, including strikes, local media reported.
The dispute had been going on for a number of years. Students are also campaigning for
scholarships to be made available for all who qualify and want them. There are also concerns
about resources. These issues have not been resolved.
The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, reported government
would raise the E800 personal allowance per month to E1,690. This covers accommodation,
food, transport and other personal allowances. The government had said it was broke and
could not afford to pay.
Public services across the kingdom, including health, education and policing are crumbling.
The government owes its suppliers about E3 billion (US$215 million). Public servants are
due to hold a national strike in a long-running campaign to get cost-of-living salary
adjustments.
Ministry of Labour and Social Security Principal Secretary Thulani Mkhaliphi said this year
government supported about 13,000 students through the Students Study Loan Scheme.
41
7 BHEKI DLAMINI
Swaziland democracy activist finally able to vote

Kenworthy News Media, 9 September 9 2019
Bheki Dlamini
Bheki Dlamini had to flee his native Swaziland because he fought for democracy. Monday he
voted for the first time – in Norway, where he lives in exile.
– Casting my vote got me thinking. This is my first ever vote and it is happening in a foreign
land. In my homeland, Swaziland, I’ve never voted – simply because we don’t have
multiparty elections. The elections in Norway serve as a source of strength in pursuit of
freedom and democracy at home, says Swazi political activist, Bheki Dlaimini.
Political parties have been banned in Swaziland since 1973, and Dlamini had to flee the
country after having been tortured and imprisoned by the regime for his role as a leading
activist in Swaziland’s democratic movement.
– I have engaged myself in the fight for a free and democratic political space in Swaziland. A
struggle that has been marked by permanent scars in my body, inflicted by Swaziland’s
security forces, hence my vote here in Norway, Bheki Dlamini says.
Dlamini is humbled by the opportunity to influence the politics of the municipality in Bergen,
where he has spent the last four years, he adds.
The election laws of Norway allow foreigners who have lived in the country for three years to
vote in local elections, even though they have not attained Norwegian citizenship.
The largest political party in the Norwegian parliament, the Norwegian Labour Party,
Arbeiderpartiet, criticised the absolute monarchy of Swaziland in a resolution presented at its
national congress in April.
– Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) is one of the world’s last absolute monarchies. King Mswati
has almost absolute power. While the population of Eswatini suffers from partial extreme
42
poverty, the king lives an extravagant life of luxury. Swaziland has the highest rate of HIV-
Aids-infection per capita. But treating those who are infected or preventing further spread of
the disease is not a priority, a statement from the congress read.
Royal selections
Swaziland held national elections in September of last year. Voters in Swaziland elected 59
of Swaziland’s 69 members of the country’s House of Assembly at national elections.
Absolute monarch King Mswati III picks the remaining ten, as well as most of the Senate, the
Prime Minister and the Cabinet. Political parties were barred from participating in the
elections.
In its annual Freedom in the World-report, independent watchdog organisation Freedom
House gives Swaziland its lowest score of seven in regard to political rights. The report
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”.
In a poll conducted in 2015 by pan-African independent research institute Afrobarometer,
only a third of the population saw Swaziland’s political system as democratic and only 28
percent were fairly or very satisfied with how democracy works in Swaziland (down from 36
percent in 2013).
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”.
Bheki Dlamini has a degree in Public Administration at the University of Bergen. He is a

former President of the Swaziland Youth Congress and former Vice President of the
International Union of Socialist Youth. The Swazi police’s torture of him by way of “severe
beatings and suffocation torture” was mentioned in Amnesty International’s 2011 Annual
Report.
See also
Land is Power in Swaziland: Amnesty International Report Highlights Forced
Evictions
New research on Swazi democracy
43
8 HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Swaziland falls short on eliminating human trafficking, but is making efforts, says new
report
30 July 2019
The Government of Swaziland / eSwatini does not does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of people trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so,
according to the latest annual report from the United States State Department.
The report covered the year 2018. ‘Poor performance by leadership personnel at the anti-
trafficking secretariat remained the principal obstacle to progress on trafficking during much
of the reporting period,’ the report stated.
The government shelved a long-pending draft bill to amend the 2009 People Trafficking and
People Smuggling (Prohibition) Act, as it determined it would have created expensive new
bureaucratic structures.
However, the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act came into force in
August 2018 which included provisions for people trafficking. The Act provides for penalties
of up to 20 years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to E100,000 (US$6,970), or both, for the
commercial sexual exploitation of an adult and, up to 25 years’ imprisonment with no option
of a fine if the offense involved a child.
The report stated the government investigated more than 2,000 cases under the SODV Act,
although it was unclear how many included potential trafficking crimes. The government did
not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees
complicit in human trafficking offenses.
The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. It finalized a new, five-year national
action plan. The task force for the Prevention of People Trafficking and People Smuggling
was re-established in January 2017 after a four-month lapse and met regularly in 2018 and
early 2019.
The report stated, ‘As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic
and foreign victims in Eswatini, and traffickers exploit victims from Eswatini abroad. Swati
trafficking victims come primarily from poor communities with high HIV/AIDS prevalence
rates.
‘Traffickers exploit Swati girls, particularly orphans, in sex trafficking and domestic
servitude, primarily in Eswatini and South Africa. Traffickers force Swati boys and foreign
children to labor in agriculture, including cattle herding, and market vending within the
country.
‘Mozambican boys migrate to Eswatini for work washing cars, herding livestock, and
portering; traffickers exploit some in forced labor. Traffickers use Eswatini as a transit
country to transport foreign victims to South Africa for forced labor.
44
‘Traffickers reportedly force Mozambican women into prostitution in Eswatini, or transport

them through Eswatini to South Africa. Some traffickers force Swati into commercial sex in
South Africa after voluntarily migrating in search of work.
‘Reports suggest labor brokers fraudulently recruit and charge excessive fees to Swati
nationals for work in South African mines—means often used to facilitate trafficking crimes.
Swati men in border communities are recruited for forced labor in South Africa’s timber
industry.’
King Mswati III, the absolute monarch of Swaziland, was himself named in a global report
on modern slavery in 2018 for forcing his subjects to weed his fields.
His supporters say the work is done in the name of culture but others say if they do not work
for the King they are punished.
The Global Slavery Index 2018 said there was evidence that the practice of kuhlehla
continued, ‘where the community is forced to render services or work for the King or local
chiefs’.
The report estimated there were 12,000 people in Swaziland in modern slavery. This number
increased from 1,302 people in 2013 and 6,700 people in 2014. The numbers for 2018 may
have been distorted by changes in the way victims were counted.
The report stated modern slavery, ‘refers to situations of exploitation that a person cannot
refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, deception and / or abuse of power’.
This was not the first time King Mswati was named in a report on modern slavery or human
trafficking. The annual Trafficking in Persons Report for 2017 from the United States State
Department said, ‘Swazis are culturally expected to participate in the seasonal weeding and
harvesting of the King’s fields and those who may refuse are subject to coercion through
threats and intimidation by their chiefs.’
Seven in ten people in Swaziland live in abject poverty earning less than the equivalent of
$US2 per day. They can be forced to work under the Swazi Administration Order, No. 6 of
1998 which makes it a duty of Swazis to obey orders and participate in compulsory works;
participation is enforceable with severe penalties for those who refuse.
See also
Swaziland’s King Mswati named as offender in global report on modern slavery
Swazi Govt misleads on child labour
Kids forced to weed King’s fields
Victims of human trafficking in Swaziland on hunger strike as protest against police

detention
4 August 2019
Three victims of human trafficking in Swaziland / eSwatini who are being kept against their
will at a police station in Mbabane have started a hunger strike demanding they be released.
45
Earlier, they had been under the protection of the kingdom’s human trafficking secretariat but
a senior officer threatened to shoot them.
The news comes after Swaziland was found not to meet minimum international standards in
the elimination of human trafficking.
The three middle-aged men from Bangladeshi had been working in Swaziland for three years
and were employed at a business run by a fellow national, the Sunday Observer newspaper
reported.
They were discovered on 26 June 2019 when police raided the business. They were then sent
to a half-way house. The Observer reported, ‘What has frustrated the three is the conditions
they have endured for the duration of their stay at the halfway house and alleged threats by a
senior official of the secretariat who is said to have threatened to shoot the Bangladeshi.’
It added, ‘According to a source, they were shocked and feared for their lives when they were
threatened last Saturday [27 July 2019] by the officer, in the presence of a police officer who
is supposed to protect them.’
It added, ‘They were subsequently moved to the care of the police, where they have said that
they have had enough of the bad living conditions such as sleeping on the floor, without any
necessities and proper meals.’ Their phones have also been taken away.
The newspaper added the men started a hunger strike on Tuesday, ‘as they stated that they
should be released or let to die from hunger’ rather than be kept under the government’s
watch.
The Government of Swaziland was found not to fully meet the minimum standards for the
elimination of people trafficking, according to the latest annual report from the United States
State Department.
The report covered the year 2018. ‘Poor performance by leadership personnel at the anti-
trafficking secretariat remained the principal obstacle to progress on trafficking during much
of the reporting period,’ the report stated.
The government shelved a long-pending draft bill to amend the 2009 People Trafficking and
People Smuggling (Prohibition) Act, as it determined it would have created expensive new
bureaucratic structures.
The report stated, ‘As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic
and foreign victims in Eswatini, and traffickers exploit victims from Eswatini abroad. Swati
trafficking victims come primarily from poor communities with high HIV/AIDS prevalence
rates.’
Another report, the Global Slavery Index 2018, estimated there were 12,000 people in
Swaziland in modern slavery. The report stated modern slavery, ‘refers to situations of
exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion,
deception and / or abuse of power’.
46
9 INTERNATIONAL REPORTS
Nearly one in four in Swaziland believe Prime Minister is corrupt, Transparency
International reports
12 July 2019
Nearly one in four people (24 percent) surveyed in Swaziland / eSwatini believe their Prime
Minister is corrupt, according to a report from Transparency International.
Nearly one in three (32 percent) think government officials are corrupt. Just over half (51
percent) think corruption increased in the previous 12 months.
Although the results show corruption is high in Swaziland the survey suggests that people
think the situation has improved since 2015. Of those surveyed, 58 percent said the
government was doing a ‘good’ job fighting corruption.
Nearly one in five (17 percent) users of public services reported they had paid a bribe in the
past 12 months: 21 percent said they had paid a bribe to get an ID card; 10 percent said they
had bribed the police.
The results were published on Thursday (11 July 2019) in the Global Corruption Barometer
(GCB) – Africa survey, a collaboration between Afrobarometer and Transparency
International. It followed a report in January 2019 in which Transparency International
scored Swaziland 38 out of a possible 100 in its Corruption Perceptions Index for 2018. In
this scale zero was ‘highly corrupt’ and 100 ‘very clean’. The index ranks countries by their
perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople.
In May 2019, the US State Department in its annual review of human rights in Swaziland
found there was a widespread public perception of corruption in the executive and legislative
branches of government and a consensus that the government ‘did little to combat it’.
It added, ‘There were widespread reports of immigration and customs officials seeking bribes
to issue government documents such as visas and resident permits. In March police raided the
Department of Immigration, where they confiscated files and arrested and charged two senior
immigration officers. The government filed charges against one of the senior officers based
on allegations she had processed applications for travel documents for foreign nationals who
were not present in, and had never visited, the country.’
It added, ‘Credible reports continued that a person’s relationship with government officials
influenced the awarding of government contracts; the appointment, employment, and
promotion of officials; recruitment into the security services; and school admissions.
Authorities rarely took action on reported incidents of nepotism.’
In June 2017, the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) reported the kingdom,
was riddled with corruption in both private and public places.
It said, ‘The results of grand corruption are there for all to see in the ever increasing wealth of
high-level civil servants and officers of state.’
47
Swaziland is ruled by King Mswati III as an absolute monarch. Political parties are banned
from taking part in elections and the King appoints the Prime Minister and government
ministers, as well as senior judges and civil servants.
See also
Swaziland Auditor General fears fraud as govt pensions paid to the deceased
New drive against corruption in Swaziland leaves out King Mswati, the biggest drain
on the public purse
Human Rights Watch adds to criticism of Swaziland’s freedom abuses

18 July 2019
Another human rights group has criticised the Swaziland / eSwatini state for restricting
freedom of association and assembly. Swaziland is ruled by King Mswati III as an absolute
monarch.
Human Rights Watch in a report detailing events during 2018 stated, ‘Restrictions on
freedom of association and assembly continued in 2018. Although Eswatini signed the
African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance in January, the government has
not taken steps to ratify and implement the charter.
‘A few days before the September elections, public sector workers, including teachers and
nurses under the umbrella of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA),
embarked on protests over salaries across the country. Police responded in a heavy-handed
manner, beating and injuring protesters in Manzini.
‘Earlier in June, police injured at least four workers protesting alleged corruption in
government. These incidents occurred despite the new Police Service Act of 2018 that
provides that “the police shall respect and protect human dignity and human rights,” and that
“police officers are prohibited from inflicting or tolerating any act of torture or cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment.”’
Human Rights Watch also reported, ‘King Mswati holds supreme executive power over the
parliament and judiciary by virtue of a 1973 state of emergency decree. The country’s courts
have upheld the legality of the decree. This is contrary to the 2005 constitution, which in
accordance with the 2007 African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance,
provides for three separate organs of government—the executive, legislature, and
judiciary. The prime minister theoretically holds executive authority, but in reality, King
Mswati exercises supreme executive power and also controls the judiciary.
‘The 2005 constitution provides for equality before the law, but also elevates the king above
the law. In 2018, in an apparent exercise of his absolute executive powers, the king renamed
the country without parliamentary approval or the requisite constitutional change.
‘The Sedition and Subversive Activities Act, which restricts freedom of expression through
criminalizing alleged seditious publications and the use of alleged seditious words, such as
those which “may excite disaffection” against the king, remained in force in 2018. In
February, then-Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini said that a newspaper, Swaziland Shopping,
48
was shut because it criticized the government. Its editor, Zweli Martin Dlamini fled the
country in January after allegedly receiving death threats for implicating King Mswati in a
corruption case.’
Human rights violations in Swaziland have been well documented. Recently, the United
States Department of State in its annual review of the kingdom, highlighted ‘human rights
issues’ across a wide range of areas which included, ‘restrictions on political participation,
corruption, rape and violence against women linked in part to government inaction,
criminalization of same-sex sexual conduct, although rarely enforced, and child labor’.
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’.
See also
No appetite by Swaziland to investigate human rights abuses, corruption: U.S. report
Swaziland public services in meltdown and corruption goes unchecked: new report
surveys the kingdom
Amnesty says Swazi Govt failing to help people forcibly evicted from their homes a year
ago
29 August 2019
The Government of Swaziland / eSwatini has failed to help the hundreds of people who were
forcibly evicted from their homes a year ago, Amnesty International reported.
‘Despite Amnesty International having raised the alarm over forced evictions that left
hundreds of people homeless, the eSwatini government has not taken any steps to provide
reparations, including alternative housing, to the victims of this human rights violation,’
Muleya Mwananyanda, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Southern Africa said on
Thursday (29 August 2019).
Mwananyanda added, ‘Many of the communities who are facing notices of eviction have
stopped planning for their future and they are devastated by the prospect of finding
themselves on the streets. To wilfully ignore their suffering and distress is simply
unacceptable.’
Those who have been forcibly evicted and others who remain at risk of forced evictions are
mainly subsistence farmers. ‘The forced evictions not only impact their right to adequate
housing but also their livelihoods, thus pushing them deeper into poverty,’ Amnesty said.
49
In a report in 2018, Amnesty International revealed that many Swazis were vulnerable to
forced evictions because they lacked security of tenure, due to the kingdom’s ‘deeply flawed’
land governance system.
Most of the land is Swazi Nation Land, held in ‘trust’ by the absolute monarch King Mswati
III. He has power to allocate it to individuals or families through his chiefs. The remainder of
the land is title-deed land, owned by private entities or the government.
Amnesty International found that at least four communities, Sigombeni, Madonsa,
Mbondzela and Vuvulane, were at risk of imminent eviction from their farming land and their
homes.
Amnesty reported, ‘In Sigombeni, at least seven homesteads comprising 75 adults and 29
children are at risk of imminent eviction after the Central Farm Dwellers Tribunal ruled on 27
March 2018 that they should vacate portion 1 of Farm 246 in the Manzini region. The farm
owner does not want people to live on the farm anymore. The affected families told Amnesty
International that they would lose at least 17 graves on their land if they were finally
removed.’
One woman told Amnesty, ‘We are pensioners. We don’t have money. [The government]
should at least compensate us and give us money. It’s not only us affected [there are other
communities affected]. We don’t want to go.’
In Madonsa, more than 200 people from approximately 58 families are facing eviction from
land claimed by a parastatal authority.
In Mbondzela, approximately 100 people, are at risk of being evicted from title-deed land.
The residents have appealed to the Minister of Natural Resources and Energy who has
referred the matter back to the Central Farm Dwellers Tribunal for reconsideration.
In Vuvulane at least 16 families remain at risk of eviction.
In the past few years, hundreds of people have been affected by forced evictions in
Swaziland. Most of the evictions were carried out in the absence of adequate notice, genuine
consultation and without adequate compensation, in violation of international law, Amnesty
said.
In May 2019, hundreds of people marched at Malkerns to protest the forced eviction of
people who had been left homeless and destitute. The march was jointly organised by a
variety of civil society organisations. The Times Sunday, reported at the time one of the
evicted people said, ‘We eat from the bins as we do not have homes and cannot practice
farming.’
See also
Evicted farmers take on Swaziland absolute monarch to get their land back
Bulldozers move in to evict families
Homes destroyed for King’s vanity project
50
Oxfam names Swaziland most unequal country in Africa on personal income

11 September 2019
Oxfam, the international anti-poverty charity, has named Swaziland / eSwatini as the country
with most income inequality in Africa.
In a report called A Tale of Two Continents: Fighting Inequality in Africa it measured
people with top incomes and compared them with those with the least.
Oxfam reported, ‘The most unequal country in the region, Swaziland, is home to one
billionaire, Nathan Kirsh, who is estimated to have US$4.9bn. If he worked in one of the
restaurants that his wholesale company supplies on a worker’s minimum wage, it would take
him 5.7 million years to earn his current level of wealth.’ The annual minimum wage in
Swaziland is US$848 (or about E12,000 in the local Swazi currency), Oxfam reported.
The new report is one of many about poverty in Swaziland in recent years. In August 2018 a
report published by the World Bank stated, ‘Poverty, inequality and unemployment are the
primary development challenges which have remained stubborn and difficult to address.’
It said, ‘Based on the international poverty lines of US$1.9 and US$3.2 a day, it is estimated
that 38 percent of the Swazi population [estimated at 1.2 million] lives in extreme poverty
and a total of 60.3 percent is poor overall. These estimates represent a relatively small
improvement from the 2009 finding that 42.0 percent were subsisting below the US$1.9 a day
line and 64.4 percent were below the US$3.2 a day line.
‘In general, children, the elderly, the unemployed as well as female-headed and single-headed
households are disproportionately represented among the poor.’
In December 2018 a report published by Afrobarometer suggested poverty in Swaziland got
worse over the previous three years.
More than half the people interviewed reported going without enough food and without the
medical care they needed.
The numbers going without food was 56 percent (up from 51 percent from a similar survey
taken in 2015). Those going without medical care was 53 percent (up from 33 percent).
In 2017, Oxfam itself published a report called Starting With People, a human economy
approach to inclusive growth in Africa which also detailed the differences in countries
between the top most earners and those at the bottom. It stated the Swazi government, which
is handpicked by King Mswati, who rules as an absolute monarch, ‘failed to put measures in
place to tackle inequality, with poor scores for social spending and progressive taxation, and
a poor record on labour rights’.
King Mswati III has a reputation for lavish spending. He has at least 13 palaces, two private
jets 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.
In 2017 the international website Business Insider reported he had a net worth of US$200
million (about E2.8 billion).
51
10 RULE OF LAW
Swaziland Chief Justice says kingdom under siege by ‘treasonous’ political elites
13 August 2019
The Chief Justice of Swaziland / eSwatini Bheki Maphalala said the Judicial Service
Commission (JSC) was under siege from a political elite that he called ‘treasonous’.
He said it was so powerful it had taken the constitutional powers of key institutions of state.
It was undermining and interfering with the constitutional mandate of the JSC, he said. The
judges of the superior courts (Supreme and High Courts) and the specialist tribunals are
appointed by the King on the advice of the JSC and magistrates are appointed by the JSC.
Swaziland is not a democracy and is ruled by King Mswati III as an absolute monarch. The
King appoints the Chief Justice and all members of the JSC. The Chief Justice also chairs the
JSC. The Swazi Constitution of 2005 confirms the King’s position as absolute monarch.
Maphalala made his statement at the High Court on Monday (12 August 2019) during the
swearing in of new members of the JSC.
The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the King, reported Maphalala said, ‘The
Judicial Service Commission is under siege from a strong powerful and dangerous political
elite which is currently occupying our political space.’
The newspaper reported, ‘Maphalala said the existence of the political elite constitutes a
serious threat to the political and economic stability of this country together with its
international relations and peaceful coexistence.
‘“The Constitution is the supreme law of this land and the Nation has the right and duty to
uphold and defend this Constitution,” the Chief Justice said.
‘He warned that any person who suspends, overthrows, abrogates or attempts to do so is
guilty of the offence of treason.’
The Observer reported, ‘Maphalala reminded the JSC members that their responsibility is to
serve the King and the nation with honesty, dignity and integrity.’
International observers have in the past said that the JSC cannot be regarded as independent.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in a 2018 report on human rights violations in
Swaziland stated, ‘ Although the financial and administrative independence of the judiciary is
guaranteed by section 142 of the Constitution, it is notable that the King appoints all
members of the JSC. There is thus a perception that the composition of the JSC strongly
favours Royalty, compromising its independence and, by logical extension, compromising
the independence of the judiciary.’
The ICJ noted, ‘The rule of law is weak in Swaziland, and the country has a long history of
disregard for the independence of the Judiciary, and violations of human rights, including the
right to a fair trial.’
The ICJ recommended as a first step the Constitution be reviewed to guarantee the
independence of the JSC by allowing for an open, transparent and accountable appointment
52
process under section 173(4) of the Constitution. The Constitution should be amended so that
the members of the JSC cover a wide spectrum of Swazi society, not only royal appointees, it
stated.
See also
Renewed criticism that rule of law in Swaziland is ignored as new judges appointed
Jurists: deep flaws in legal system
Swazi judicial crisis: King’s word is law
Spotlight on absence of rule of law in Swaziland

14 August 2019
Bheki Maphalala, the Chief Justice of Swaziland / eSwatini, has accused a group he calls a
‘political elite’ of undermining the kingdom’s judges. He has not named these people but has
called them traitors.
His remarks have drawn attention to the small undemocratic southern African kingdom which
is ruled by King Mswati III as an absolute monarch. Political parties are banned from taking
part in elections. No members of the 30-seat Senate are elected by the people and the King
chooses 10 of the 69 members of the House of Assembly. The King also appoints the Chief
Justice, top judges and senior civil servants.
Groups that advocate for multi-party democracy have been banned under the Suppression of
Terrorism Act.
Human rights campaigners have been drawing attention to the absence of the rule of law in
the kingdom for many years. Chief among these is the International Commission of Jurists
(ICJ) which has published a number of reports. The ICJ is composed of 60 eminent judges
and lawyers from all regions of the world.
The rule of law is a principle in governance which means that all people – including those in
authority – are subject to the law. Under this principle the law is supreme, setting out
acceptable limits for behaviour and safeguarding against abuse of power.
In 2015 the ICJ stated the King stood in the way of the kingdom having independent judges.
In a submission to the United Nation’s Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the
Universal Periodic Review of Swaziland, it called for an overhaul of laws and regulations in
Swaziland to take power away from the King.
The ICJ stated, ‘The judges’ appointment process continues to pose a threat to judicial
independence and impartiality. The Constitution of Swaziland provides that the judges are
appointed by the King after consultation with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
‘The King has the ultimate and final say in respect of the appointments to the bench.’
The ICJ also noted that King Mswati was personally immune from the law. It stated that in
2011, ‘the then Chief Justice Ramodibedi issued a Practice Directive ordering the non-
registration of lawsuits that challenge the King “directly or indirectly”, effectively barring
53
access to justice in any case against corporations, companies, trust or any entities in which
the King owns shares or has an interest.’
In a separate report in 2016 the ICJ said the kingdom’s constitution needed to be changed to
bring it in line, ‘with regional and universal international law and standards, in particular on
the separation of powers and respect for judicial independence’.
It added, ‘Swaziland’s constitution, while providing for judicial independence in principle,
does not contain the necessary safeguards to guarantee it. Overall, the legislative and
regulatory framework falls short of international law and standards, including African
regional standards.’
In 2018 the ICJ stated laws in Swaziland had been used by the State as weapons against
human rights defenders. ‘There is a growing perception that the law, in particular the law of
sedition, defamation, public order and anti-terrorism is systematically used to target human
rights defenders (HRDs) and legitimate pro-democracy campaigners.’
It stated, ‘As far back as 1990, the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act 1938 (SSA) and
the King’s 1973 Proclamation to the Nation were used against HRDs and legitimate pro-
democracy campaigners. Leaders of the pro-democracy banned political opposition, the
Peoples’ United Democratic Movement, were charged and tried for high treason for having
convened a meeting to discuss the political problems in the country,’ it stated in a report
called Achieving Justice for Gross Human Rights Violations in Swaziland - Key
Challenges.
It is not only the ICJ that has raised concerns. In January 2019 Law Society of Swaziland
Secretary Thulani Maseko criticised then-recent appointments of judges in the kingdom
saying there was no transparency in the choices and the Swazi Constitution was ignored.
Maseko said five appointments to the kingdom’s High Court and Industrial Court
‘undermined the integrity, independence and accountability of the judiciary’. He said the
appointing process had to be fair, transparent and competitive in line with Section 173 (4) of
the constitution which also states appointments should be made on the basis of suitable
qualifications, competence and relevant experience.
He said, ‘If these appointments were done in an open, transparent and competitive way, it
would be clear that some of the appointees would not [have] passed the standard of integrity
required of the judicial office.’
He added the appointments put the judiciary and the entire justice system into disrepute and
undermined the rule of law.
Richard Rooney
54
11 ABSOLUTE MONARCHY
Swaziland’s U.S. Ambassador renews call to scrap decree that keeps king absolute
monarch
2 July 2019
Lisa Peterson, United States Ambassador to Swaziland / eSwatini, has renewed her call for
the Royal Decree that keeps King Mswati III in power as an absolute monarch to be
scrapped.
She said that failure to unequivocally revoke the 1973 proclamation created uncertainty and
hindered development in the kingdom.
She was speaking at an event to mark the US Independence Day which falls on 4 July. She
also renewed her call for political parties to be allowed to operate and contest elections.
On 12 April 1973 King Sobhuza II proclaimed a Royal Decree after he objected to his
subjects electing members of a political party that was not under his control. He tore up the
kingdom’s constitution that had been in place since Swaziland gained independence from
Britain in 1968. Even though Swaziland adopted a new constitution in 2006, the kingdom,
now ruled by King Mswati, remains an absolute monarchy.
In his decree King Sobhuza announced, ‘I have assumed supreme power in the Kingdom of
Swaziland and that all Legislative, Executive and Judicial power is vested in myself.’
Swaziland holds national elections but the people are only allowed to choose 59 members of
the House of Assembly, the King appoints another 10. No members of the Swazi Senate are
elected by the people, the King appoints 20 and the House elects 10. The King appoints the
Prime Minister and cabinet ministers, as well as senior judges and civil servants.
Immediately following the most recent election in 2018, the King appointed eight members
of his Royal Family to the kingdom’s Senate and six to the House of Assembly. Later, in
April 2019, he appointed 28 members of his family to various committees and boards in the
kingdom, 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 group rules on matters relating to Swazi traditional law and customs.
King Mswati also appointed seven members of his family to the 17-member Ludzidzini
Council, a group of senior traditionalists centred around the King’s Ludzidzini Palace. The
Ludzidzini governor is also known as the traditional prime minister and has more status in the
kingdom than Ambrose Dlamini the man King Mswati appointed Prime Minister to lead the
cabinet the King also hand-picked.
Ambassador Peterson has called for the Royal Decree to be scrapped before. Last year she
wrote an article that was published in both of Swaziland two national newspapers saying,
‘Former Minister of Justice Edgar Hillary went to Geneva in 2017 and told the United
Nations Human Rights Commission that the 1973 Decree had been repealed by the
Constitution. If this can be said to the outside world, why can it not be explicitly stated to the
Swati nation? And if the Decree has truly been repealed, why do officials act as if it is still in
place?’
55
She wrote in favour of political parties, ‘[P]arties are critical to enabling individuals to join
forces around common issues and pool their resources – intellectual, financial and
organizational – to advance policies and candidates they believe will best serve their
communities. In this moment of severe financial adversity, emaSwati need such collective
community advocacy more than ever. It is time to start a dialogue on this issue and plot a way
forward.’
Peterson is not alone in advocating for political parties in Swaziland. In 2013 the EU which is
a major donor of aid to Swaziland told King Mswati he must allow political parties to operate
in his kingdom as it was important that international principles of democracy were upheld in
Swaziland.
In October 2012, the United Kingdom also called for political parties to be un-banned in
Swaziland.
See also
Anniversary of day Swaziland stopped being a democracy and became absolute
monarchy approaches
U.S. Ambassador supports parties
Swazis want democracy - survey
EU tells King: ‘free parties’
Protest at Swaziland border calls for isolation of absolute monarch

28 July 2019
Picture sourced from Facebook
Members of a dozen organisations picketed the South African side of the Swaziland border to
call for the kingdom’s absolute monarch King Mswati III to be isolated.
They want democracy in Swaziland where political parties cannot contest elections and
groups that campaign for freedom are banned under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. The
56
King chooses the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers as well as top judges and civil
servants.
The picket on Friday (26 July 2019) was led by the Congress of South African Trade Unions
(COSATU) in KwaZulu-Natal. In a statement it called on all progressive forces to agitate for
the economic and political isolation of the Mswati government. It said, ‘This campaign needs
to be strengthened and intensified so that the exploited and oppressed people of Swaziland
can be freed from the shackles of the Mswati regime.
‘Contrary to its false claims of peace and order in Swaziland, the regime is continuing to
expose the people of Swaziland to serious sufferings and exploitation. The State is paralysed
and the country is on the verge of collapse.
‘The people are dying because of the failing health system, children and women are raped,
workers are striking and protesting for wage increases, taxes have escalated exorbitantly;
university students are targeted and the judiciary is centralised by the individuals.
‘There is no quality healthcare programme, the education system remains untransformed, and
the media freedom is non-existent.’
Among those participating in the picket at the Golela / Lavumisa Border were the Trade
Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) and two groups banned in Swaziland: the
People’s United Democratic Movement (TUCOSWA) and the Swaziland Solidarity Network
(SSN).
See also
COSATU to help evicted Swaziland sugar cane farmers regain control of land
Swaziland Communists say they are developing a campaign of ‘armed struggle’ to

topple King
29 July 2019
The Communist Party in Swaziland is launching a campaign including sabotage and armed
struggle to topple the absolute monarch King Mswati III.
It said, ‘At an appropriate time, the regime and media in Swaziland must be notified of the
intention to launch armed struggle. It should be made aware that the demand for Democracy
Now! will be backed up by violent action.’
The party has been running a peaceful campaign for nearly 10 years calling for the unbanning
of political parties, for freedom of assembly and media, and for free and fair elections, but
said this was not bringing results.
It said, ‘The response has simply been more oppression.’
In Swaziland (renamed eSwatini by the King) under a system of government called
Tinkhundla, political parties cannot take part in elections and groups advocating for
democracy (including the Communist Party) are banned under the Suppression of Terrorism
Act. The King appoints the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers as well as top judges and
civil servants.
57
In a new statement issued by the Communist Party Central Committee (CC) called ‘Towards
a framework for developing armed struggle,’ it said the party’s campaign must be stepped up.
The statement circulated on social media said, ‘We do not want to negotiate with the
monarchy: it must abdicate and make way for democratic change under an interim
administration.
‘We are under no illusion that, given the many years in which we have been calling for
freedom and democracy, the regime will embrace democracy and freedom for our people.
The regime must be forced to give up power!’
It added, ‘A sabotage campaign would be the most appropriate means of doing this.
‘We are not in a position to wage warfare; terrorism is counter-productive; all-out or even
elements of revolutionary war is unfeasible in our situation.
‘We must also consider the scale of existing struggle in Swaziland, the small size of our
country and very small population, the small number and size of urban areas, and so on.’
It said the campaign aimed to prevent the King’s rule from functioning normally by
disrupting power and communications. It also wanted to deter tourism and businesses from
outside the kingdom, while also impeding the functioning of the Swazi sugar industry and
other industries.
It said, ‘In all cases the target must be infrastructure, not individuals.
‘Threats and intimidation aimed at individuals amount to thuggish behaviour and must be
avoided. An exception is when we aim to prevent top officials in the government, police,
army from carrying out their work.
‘It should not as far as possible aim to prevent our people going about their work and
everyday lives.’ It added, ‘We would never target schools or other places of learning,
hospitals etc. – though such soft sabotage targets might appear easy.
‘The targets of sabotage should in every case be linked to the state and Tinkhundla system’s
capacity to function; to disrupting the scope for the government, monarchy, police, army,
civil service to function.
‘Particular attention should be given to disrupting government / monarchic digital
communications through cyber warfare. This requires special expertise and assistance that
must be worked out. We need to seek assistance from outside the country for this, possibly
from friendly states.’
It said details of the means and forms of sabotage would be worked out by a small secretariat
seconded from the Communist Party’s CC. ‘Secrecy is crucial, but the support of the CC and
(trusted) membership must be secured.’
It said, ‘At an appropriate time, the regime and media in Swaziland must be notified of the
intention to launch armed struggle. It should be made aware that the demand for Democracy
Now! will be backed up by violent action.’
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12 LGBTI
LGBTI discrimination in Swaziland leads to big mental health issues, report finds
8 August 2019
LGBTI people in Swaziland / eSwatini suffer mental health issues and many have attempted
suicide because of the way they are discriminated against in the kingdom.
This has prompted the authors of the first study of its kind to call for same-sex activity to be
decriminalised in Swaziland. They also call for legal reform to abolish laws which contribute
to stigma, prejudice and discrimination against sexual and gender minority people living in
the kingdom, including men who have sex with men and women who have sex with women.
The report written by two academics and the Southern and East African Research Collective
on Health was based on interviews with 104 LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and
intersex) people in Swaziland. The Rock of Hope, a community based organization that
supports the needs and advocates for the rights of LGBTI people in Swaziland, helped in
compiling the report.
Swaziland is a deeply conservative kingdom ruled by the absolute monarch King Mswati III.
The King has in the past described homosexuality as ‘satanic’ In May 2016 four
organisations jointly reported to the United Nations about LGBTI discrimination in
Swaziland. Part of their report stated, ‘LGBT[I]s are discriminated and condemned openly by
society. This is manifest in negative statements uttered by influential people in society e.g.,
religious, traditional and political leaders. Traditionalists and conservative Christians view
LGBT[I]s as against Swazi tradition and religion. There have been several incidents where
traditionalists and religious leaders have issued negative statements about lesbians.’
The new study found evidence of serious human rights violations against Swazi people who
are LGBTI. The report concluded they suffer ‘social exclusion, marginalisation and stigma’
because they are seen as being different from the rest of the population.
This ‘has a negative impact on the mental health and wellbeing of people who identify as
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex’.
The report stated its findings ‘demonstrate the urgent need for mental health services that are
affirming of sexual and gender diversity and are provided without sexual orientation and
gender identity-related stigma, prejudice and discrimination. It is clear that affirming and
non-judgmental mental healthcare services for sexual and gender minority people are at least
as important as HIV-related health services. This is not just to improve mental health and
wellbeing, but also to support efforts to decrease the vulnerability to HIV.’
Researchers looked separately at the experience of lesbians, gay men and bi-sexuals in
Swaziland.
Lesbian participants in the study had some of the poorest health outcomes. More than half the
sample were classified as depressed (63 percent), and one in four (24 percent) showed signs
of moderate or severe anxiety. Lesbian participants had high use of drugs (27 percent) and
alcohol (67 percent), much higher than available data on women in the general Swazi
population. Four out of five (83 percent) said that they had been verbally harassed for their
59
sexual orientation or gender identity, and over half had experienced physical violence and
sexual violence (51 percent each). More than one in four had experienced sexual or physical
violence by an intimate partner (29 percent and 29 percent respectively).
With gay men in the sample, more than half were classified as depressed (51 percent), and
one in eight showed signs of moderate or severe anxiety (13 percent). Two in five (39
percent) had attempted suicide in their lifetime, and one in eight (12 percent) in the past year.
Half used alcohol in a harmful way (50 percent), and 13 percent used other drugs in a harmful
way. Four out of five (84 percent) said that they had been verbally harassed for their sexual
orientation or gender identity, over half (64 percent) had experienced physical violence, and
almost half (49 percent) had experienced sexual violence in their lifetime. Almost half had
experienced physical violence by an intimate partner, and one in four had experienced sexual
violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime (46 percent and 26 percent, respectively).
Overall, bisexual participants in the study tended to have better health outcomes than lesbian
and gay participants. One in seven bisexual participants had signs of depression (14 percent),
and 5 percent showed signs of moderate or severe anxiety. One in five (19 percent) had
attempted suicide in their lifetime. More than half (59 percent) used alcohol at a level that
might be harmful to their health, and one in seven (14 percent) used other drugs in a harmful
way. One third (32 percent) used tobacco. Two in three (64 percent) said that they had been
verbally harassed for their sexual orientation or gender identity, more than half (55 percent)
had experienced physical violence, and half (50 percent) had experienced sexual violence.
One in four had experienced sexual or physical violence by an intimate partner (24 percent
and 24 percent respectively).
See also
LGBT Pride film shows what it’s like to live with prejudice and ignorance in
Swaziland
Swaziland LGBTI group cannot be registered because ‘Constitution does not protect
against discrimination’
16 September 2019
The newly-formed group the Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities (ESGM) failed in its
attempt to become the first LGBTI group to be officially registered in Swaziland / eSwatini.
The group advocates for rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in
the kingdom where sexual acts between men are illegal.
In a letter to the group’s lawyer rejecting an application for registration, Registrar of
Companies Msebe Malinga said it was clear that that discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation and sex was not protected by the kingdom’s Constitution nor in domestic laws.
‘It will be inappropriate for the registrar of companies to register an entity whose objectives
are not provided for in the Constitution or any legislation,’ part of the letter read.
Swaziland is a deeply conservative kingdom ruled by the absolute monarch King Mswati III.
The King has in the past described homosexuality as ‘satanic’.
60
Malinga added, ‘The Companies Act is not relevant legal authority to address the objectives
of the Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities.’
ESGM has a number of objectives including to advance the protection of the rights of LGBTI
people in Swaziland and reduce harm that affect their wellbeing based upon sexual
orientation and gender identity.
The rejection came shortly after the publication of a report that LGBTI people in Swaziland
suffered mental health issues and many had attempted suicide because of the way they were
discriminated against in the kingdom.
The study found evidence of serious human rights violations against Swazi people who were
LGBTI. The report concluded they suffered ‘social exclusion, marginalisation and stigma’
because they were seen as being different from the rest of the population.
The report written by two academics and the Southern and East African Research Collective
on Health called for same-sex activity to be decriminalised in Swaziland. It also called for
legal reform to abolish laws which contribute to stigma, prejudice and discrimination against
sexual and gender minority people living in the kingdom, including men who have sex with
men and women who have sex with women.
61
13 MEDIA FREEDOM
Making media freedom in Swaziland is more than a dream
19 August 2019
New Frame. Words: Magnificent Mndebele Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee

Magazine editor Bheki Makhubu, in spite of harassment from King Mswati III and his
cronies, is undeterred in his bid to expose the regime’s wrongdoings.
Bheki Makhubu, editor of 'The Nation' magazine

The role of dissenting journalists in eSwatini (formerly Swaziland) is more crucial than ever
before. But the grimy reality is that critical journalists left in Africa’s last absolute monarchy
are rare to find. Bheki Makhubu, an editor of eSwatini’s monthly political magazine The
Nation, is one of the few remaining in the landlocked country who isn’t scared to speak out.
“I’ve always understood that the media by its nature calls out authority and it protects the
public interest,” he says. “I think by nature of human existence, people in authority need to be
monitored and called to account, because otherwise, they tend to forget why they are there
and sometimes they are not aware of what they are supposed to do; we need to remind them
of their functions.”
To call authorities to account in eSwatini is, however, almost an impossible task because of
the regime’s repressive laws towards dissidents. “This country is run by bullies,” Makhubu
says at his magazine’s offices in the country’s capital, Mbabane. He frequently publishes
critical stories against King Mswati III and his stooges. While working for the Times of
Swaziland, the country’s oldest newspaper, Makhubu once wrote that the king is a
“businessman”, a remark that forced him to issue an apology to the ruler after the paper was
put under immense pressure.
On 17 March 2014, Makhubu and activist and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko were
jailed for 15 months for criticising eSwatini’s former chief justice Michael Ramodibedi. This
was after a government vehicle inspector whose job it is to check whether government cars
are authorised to be on the road requested authorisation from a chauffeur driving a judge in a
62
government vehicle. Both the judge and chauffeur allegedly refused, resulting in the
impounding of their car.
No one should be denied representation
“Ramodibedi had [the inspector] arrested and charged with contempt of court,” Makhubu
says, adding that the inspector had requested legal representation at court which Ramodibedi
allegedly denied. “I then wrote an article saying that whatever power Ramodibedi might
have, he does not have the power to deny anybody the right to legal representation,”
Makhubu explains. For this, he and Maseko were thrown into jail.
Makhubu says these are tactics employed to deter journalists from assuming a watchdog role.
“When I walked out of that prison, almost to this day they don’t know what to do with me. I
almost got complete freedom,” he says.
It’s not only journalists who interrogate officials’ actions who are deterred from pursuing
what’s truly in the public interest. Makhubu says citizens of eSwatini are also barred from
practising their sacrosanct rights – to debate issues directly affecting them.
“EmaSwati might say they are not oppressed because the king is there to take care of those he
can take care of,” he says. “All we have to do is be on his downside. I find it utterly
disgusting. As emaSwati we are not some kind of [ethnic group] lost somewhere in medieval
times without any consciousness. People in this country are highly educated but they don’t
like it to be known what they know, because they don’t know who they might offend.”
Grammar rules and fear of authority
Making an example of how an appetite for debate in eSwatini has been lost, Makhubu
highlights how grammatically incorrect the word Eswatini is. It’s what appears on
government letterheads, describing the country itself. He explains that the “s” should be
capitalised regardless of any context as it represents a group of people. However, only the “e”
in the word is capitalised, which ought to be so only in the beginning of a sentence.
“I’ve challenged a few experts on the isiSwati language as to why the ‘s’ is [lower case],” he
says. “Nobody wants to answer. In a vibrant society, those people who know better would
have stood up. But you might do that and question this guy in authority who does not know
better than you, he might make your life miserable and victimise you. People are scared of
that and I think that’s the saddest thing that has happened at eSwatini.”
Makhubu says the fear to speak out and to challenge the regime has escalated to the point that
there’s a naturalised perception that the country only belongs to the king. “Politics over the
years has tended to shift towards making everybody believe that [the country] is a real estate
belonging to the king and we are simply squatters on somebody’s land. And in fact, even
those who paddle that point do it for political reasons, because they know it’s not true. They
say it because it’s good for the king’s ego. Unfortunately, this is done at the cost of others,”
he says.
One particular case that demonstrates how far the king’s iron-fisted hand could go to
compromise the rights of others is his “unthinkable act” almost two decades ago, which
remains a “sore point to emaSwati.” In July 2000, the king forced two chiefs to surrender
63
their chieftaincy status so that his older brother, Prince Maguga, could assume a chieftaincy
role in both villages which are about 25km apart.
The king does what he likes
The chiefs did not cede to the order which led to the king issuing an order through the
Ministry of Home Affairs to evict them along with their supporters. The chiefs and some of
their supporters are still living in exile in South Africa. The king “exercised authority he did
not have. Those who advised the king were trying to assert this untruth that he can do as he
likes when he likes,” Makhubu says, adding, “The king’s powers are in the main constrained
by Swazi laws and customs. He cannot act outside customary law on matters touching culture
and tradition.”
The media has a role to challenge this perception and “to tell emaSwati that their rights are
not dependent on anybody’s wishes.” However, since constructive debates are muzzled and
those deemed dissidents are threatened with jail, the media is unable to effectively play its
watchdog role. It’s only through Makhubu’s political magazine, with a circulation of about
5 000 copies, that he tries to push back the narratives of the establishment.
“As a [member of the] media, I don’t see myself as a political activist. I’m a journalist and I
do what I do to expose the wrongs. I am not trying to lead any revolution. This freedom that I
seem to have alone, sort of has made me say, ‘let me continue doing what I do. Perhaps
people will be inspired by it,’” Makhubu says. But if the citizens are not inspired enough to
take action, “I write to record it to history, to say to the people who will be living in
Swaziland in 3019, that there were people who saw [the wrongs] and spoke about [them].”
This article was first published by New Frame.
https://www.newframe.com/making-media-freedom-in-eswatini-is-more-than-a-dream/
See also
Journalists ‘scared to do their jobs’
Journalists in Swaziland endure year of harassment as they try to do their jobs
Journalists jailed to deter others
64
14 WOMEN
Swaziland MP calls for action against women wearing ‘skimpy clothes’ to church
25 July 2019
A member of parliament in Swaziland / eSwatini called on the Ministry of Home Affairs to

speak out against women who wear ‘skimpy clothes’ to church. He said they sometimes
disturbed pastors when they preached the Word of God.
Vulimpompi Nhleko, the MP for Nkwene, in the conservative kingdom ruled by absolute
monarch King Mswati III, said the women would sexually arouse males in churches.
He was speaking during a debate in the House of Assembly. The Swazi Observer reported,
‘He said some women were commended for having beautiful bodies and then decide to show
off those bodies, which would then cause mayhem in the church. Nhleko urged the home
affairs ministry to guard against that.’
The newspaper added, ‘The ladies’ tendencies, according to MP Nhleko, would sometimes
disturb pastors when they preached the Word of God.’
The Observer reported, ‘Minister of Home Affairs Princess Lindiwe stated that it was
important for people to wear decently in churches.’
Women across Swaziland constantly face verbal and physical attacks over the clothes they
wear. In late 2012 Swaziland Police announced that women found wearing a mini-skirt in
public would be arrested and face a fine or imprisonment. Swazi Police official spokesperson
Wendy Hleta told the Times Sunday newspaper that it would only take one complaint for a
woman in a mini-skirt to be arrested. She said police would use a law dating from 1889.
She was commenting after police stopped a march by women protesting at the harassment
they received from men when they wore mini-skirts or other clothes such as low-cut jeans or
crop tops that displayed their stomachs. The men wanted them to wear clothes they
considered more appropriate to Swazi tradition.
In the course of the interview Hleta said that men might be tempted to rape women who wore
skimpy clothes.
By coincidence around the same date the Times of Swaziland published a letter from a
woman who recounted a trip she and her female friend made to Manzini police station to
report a crime. She was wearing a miniskirt and her friend shorts.
She said five male officers verbally attacked them. Among the comments made by the police
officers were, ‘You b******, go and get dressed or remove yourselves from our presence.
‘Can’t you hear that we are telling you to go and dress appropriately first? Or have you come
to solicit here? This is not a prostitution site.’ And , ‘Go before we do you harm.’
In a separate case, at the national election in 2013 Mana Mavimbela, aged 18, drew
international attention when she tried to have herself nominated to stand in the primary
election for the House of Assembly. The official presiding officer, employed by the Elections
and Boundaries Commission, refused to allow her to do so because she was dressed in jeans.
65
Mavimbela was not the only woman discriminated against at the nominations because she
was wearing pants. Fakazile Luhlanga of Ndvwabangeni in the Mhlangatane constituency
was also not allowed permission to nominate a candidate as she was wearing cargo pants.
Local media reported Luhlanga saying she was told that she was dressed like a man and
would be a bad influence to the community members as they would want to emulate her.
Some chiefs across Swaziland imposed a ban on women wearing trousers, shorts or mini-
skirts at nomination centres. Chief Petros Dvuba of Mpolonjeni in Mbabane, the kingdom’s
capital, said people who would be going to the nominations should dress properly and show
respect as it was King Mswati’s exercise. He told local media, ‘Even those who have relaxed
hair should cover their heads when going to that place.’
In a separate incident away from the election, Nhlonipho Nkamane Mkhatswa, chief of
Lwandle in Manzini, the main commercial city in Swaziland, reportedly stripped a woman of
her clothing in the middle of a street in full view of the public because she was wearing
trousers.
Also, three women in Dvokolwako in Swaziland were summoned by ‘traditional authorities’
for wearing trousers after elders in the area had banned them. One woman said someone
reported her after she was spotted wearing jeans as she was walking to the shops. Another
woman was said to be wearing pants at her home when she was charged.
See also
Woman in pants banned from election
Chief makes woman in pants strip
Call to declare murders of women and children in Swaziland a national emergency

10 August 2019
66
Campaigners in Swaziland / eSwatini want the increase in murders of women and children to
be declared a national emergency.
The number of victims is increasing and ‘has reached alarming proportions’, they say.
People from across all sectors of civil society marched through Manzini, the main
commercial city of Swaziland / eSwatini, to draw attention to killing of women and children
in the kingdom.
It was organised by Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) and included participants
from the Council of Swaziland Churches (CSC), Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse
(SWAGAA), World Vision, Kwakha Indvodza (KI), Swaziland National Association of
Teachers (SNAT), Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), Swaziland Union of
Students (SNUS), Swaziland Rural Women’s Assembly (SRWA), SOS Children’s Village
and Coalition of Informal Economy Associations of Swaziland (CIEAS).
In a statement WLSA said, ‘This march was triggered by the fact that over the past few
months, we have been reading reports of women and children being murdered by their
husbands/partners and fathers, respectively. With the Sexual Offences and Domestic
Violence (SODV) Act having been passed into law, the question on many people’s minds is
why the violence and killings are continuing despite the harsh sentences that the Act
prescribes.
‘It would appear that the violence is increasing rather than decreasing and this trend is
worrying to say the least. Many are placing the blame of the “increase” on the enactment of
the SODV Act, though they are unable to explain why they arrive at this supposition.’
It added, ‘The prevalence of violence has reached alarming proportions and the country needs
to declare it an emergency. Perhaps there is a need to address it in the same manner as the
HIV pandemic was addressed, and design programmes specifically for this. Resources should
be availed to drive the programmes for their effectiveness.’
WLSA added, ‘There is a very alarming component to the latest murders that people seem
not to notice. These killings are not carried out in impulse or in the heat of the moment; what
could be called crimes of passion. The latest killings have been premeditated by the
perpetrator; this is evident from the choice of weapon that the perpetrator uses. The use of
guns, poison and even drowning shows that there was some planning that took place before
the crime was committed. So we then come back to the question of why the perpetrator opted
for murder than another solution.
‘This question is particularly relevant when taking into account that some of these murders
are committed in the presence of other people, with no attempt to hide the evidence or to
evade prosecution.’
The call for action echoes one made by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in
September 2018. It said it would support the kingdom’s government and make gender-based
violence (GBV) a national crisis. UNFPA’s Officer In Charge Margaret Thwala-Tembe told a
workshop that marginalised and vulnerable groups such as persons living with disabilities and
LGBTI should be included.
67
In December 2018 Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku said, ‘Government recognises the
need to eradicate violence especially gender-based Violence at all levels for better quality of
life for the country. GBV calls for political commitment from the policy makers, executive
and the judiciary.’
Photograph of the march sourced from Facebook
See also
Rise in gender-based violence
Swaziland MP calls for arrest of pregnant teenagers so they can be ‘corrected’

12 August 2019
A member of parliament in Swaziland / eSwatini Michael Masuku called for teenagers who
become pregnant to be arrested so they can be corrected and learn from their mistakes.
The Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku said that it was crucial to evaluate if the
teenagers fell pregnant willingly or were abused, before considering enacting a law that
would criminalise teenage pregnancy.
The submission was made at a workshop of members of parliament.
The Times of Swaziland reported Michael Masuku said, ‘Teenage pregnancy should be a
punishable offence to reduce its escalating rate in the country.’
It added, ‘Masuku suggested that there should be a law that stipulates an age when girls who
are found pregnant should be arrested for a year so that they may be corrected and learn from
their mistakes.
‘The MP said teenage pregnancy should be made a punishable offence, just like offences
under the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act.’
The newspaper added, ‘In this way, the MP stated that minor girls would refrain from having
early sexual intercourse, which ultimately led to pregnancies and school dropouts.’
The Times reported, ‘Responding, DPM Themba Masuku highlighted that it was crucial to
evaluate if the teenagers fell pregnant willingly or were abused, before considering enacting a
law that would criminalise teenage pregnancy.’
In Swaziland, the law states that the age of consent for sexual intercourse is 18. The SODV
that came into effect in 2018 makes it a crime to have sex with someone under that age. It
states that a person under 18 is ‘incapable in law of appreciating the nature of the sexual act’.
Therefore, in law, the criminal in such cases is the man and not the woman.
Teenage pregnancy in Swaziland has been a concern for many years. The Ministry of Sports,
Culture, and Youth Affairs in the Swaziland State of the Youth Report 2015, stated that in
2007, teenage pregnancy was at 24 percent and over the years it has not shown much decline
despite attempts at education and other interventions.
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The report stated, ‘Pregnancy among girls less than 18 years of age has a number of negative
consequences. It violates the rights of girls and can pose life-threatening consequences.’
It added, ‘Early pregnancy can have lasting negative effects in terms of sexual and
reproductive health for young women and it poses high development costs for communities,
particularly in perpetuating the cycle of poverty.’
In 2014, 16.7 percent of women between 20-24 had at least one live birth before 18 years of
age.’
Young people in Swaziland begin engaging in sexual activity at an early age. The average
age at first intercourse in Swaziland is 16 years for girls and 18 years for boys. Delaying first
sexual intercourse is strongly linked with more years of education in young women, and a
reduced risk to HIV exposure and early pregnancy.
The MPs workshop was told that 1,046 girls had dropped out of school due to teenage
pregnancy. The DPM’s Office presently has a campaign to reduce pre-teen, teenage and post-
teenage pregnancies by 50 per cent by 2023.
See also
School criticised for pregnancy tests
Schoolgirls ‘give sex for food’
Disabled women in Swaziland fear nurses trying to force them to be sterilised

28 August 2019
Women with disabilities in Swaziland / eSwatini say they fear nurses are trying to force them
to be sterilised so they cannot have babies.
According to the Swazi Observer, ‘health practitioners coerce them into removing their uterus
as they are told that they were incapable of mothering children because of their disabilities’.
It published an account from a woman, aged 25, who uses a wheelchair and was in labour.
‘One nurse at first wanted to know how I was going to mother the baby because I myself
needed to be taken care of,’ she said.
She added, ‘I felt like I was being stripped naked. The conversation turned serious when I
was told to consider being made sterile before I leave the hospital.’
The newspaper said, ‘After having refused to be made sterile and fearing not being capable of
having any more children, one nurse made remarks to the effect that next time she returned,
there would be no negotiations.’
The Observer reported Disabled Women of Swaziland Director Buyi Masuku said she knew
of individual experiences of some women with disabilities when being attended to in public
health institutions.
The newspaper said many parents had their disabled daughters sterilised to avoid unwanted
pregnancies.
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Human Rights Commissioner Sabelo Masuku told the newspaper this was a shocking gross
violation of human rights and one of a kind the commission had never dealt with before.
People with physical or mental challenges are often mistreated in Swaziland. In March 2019
it was reported a 17-year-old girl with deformed feet who had never been able to walk was
forced by her family to live in a shack like a dog. The family said they had tried to
accommodate her in the house but she would frequently soil herself if there was no one
around to assist her.
In 2017 Autism Swaziland Director Tryphinah Mvubu said people with autism were often
excluded from social services because their parents kept them away from the public in fear of
embarrassment.
The Swazi Observer newspaper at the time reported her saying, ‘Some parents refuse to
accept children with this condition as this disorder is considered to be a bad omen, hence they
are locked in the house day in and day out so they cannot be seen by members of the
community. They are so stigmatised to an extent that in some cases they are not even counted
as members of the family.’
It is not only autistic children who are hidden. In July 2016, it was reported in local media
that two disabled orphan children in Swaziland had been concealed from the world after a
government official told their family it would harm the image of the kingdom if people knew
of their condition. It was reported that the two children aged 16 and eight might be suffering
from polio. It was said they had not walked since they were born and had shrunk muscles and
could only crawl. They both cannot talk.
The abandonment of the children was one of many examples of poor treatment of people with
disabilities in Swaziland.
A report published by SINTEF Technology and Society, Global Health and Welfare in 2011
that studied living conditions among people with disabilities in Swaziland, found, ‘There is a
general belief that those who have a disability are bewitched or inflicted by bad spirits.
‘Many believe that being around people with disabilities can bring bad luck. As a result,
many people with disabilities are hidden in their homesteads and are not given an opportunity
to participate and contribute to society.’
It also found that people with disabilities had been abandoned by the Swazi Government. The
report stated, ‘The absence of any comprehensive laws and policies to address people with
disabilities’ access to equal opportunities reflect a lack of political will and a failure to
recognize disability as a human right issue contributes to the devaluing and dehumanising of
people with disabilities.
‘People with disabilities have the same rights as able-bodied people and they are entitled to
enjoy all citizenry rights.’
See also
Hidden sick kids: UNICEF responds
Disabled people ‘treated like animals’
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Swaziland Constitutional Court to rule on marriage law that gives husband total
control over wife
24 July 2019
The High Court in Swaziland / eSwatini has been asked to rule that the Marriage Act is
unconstitutional because it discriminates against women.
The Act allows that if the marriage is under civil law a husband has the decisive say in all
matters and the wife has no legal rights and cannot independently administer property, sign
contracts or conduct legal proceedings.
The case was brought by Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA). The High Court,
sitting as a Constitutional Court, was told the Marriage Act dated from 1964 but the
Swaziland Constitution of 2005 included a Bill of Rights. WLSA said the Marriage Act was
now unconstitutional.
WLSA also said the Swazi Government had signed treaties advocating for gender equality
and women’s rights but had failed to implement them. Swaziland agreed in 2004 to be bound
by the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW) – the key international treaty on women’s human rights.
The court will announce a judgment at a date to be set.
Discrimination against women in Swaziland has been reported for many years. Amnesty
International in a submission to the United Nations Periodic Review of Human Rights in
2011 stated the Constitution guaranteed women the right to equal treatment with men, a right
that ‘shall include equal opportunities in political, economic and social activities’ (Section 28
(1)).
However other provisions of the Constitution fell short of international human rights
standards. For example, Section 15(1) that prohibited discrimination on various grounds did
not include marital status.
Amnesty said women’s right to equality in the cultural sphere was also inadequately
protected by the provision guaranteeing that ‘a woman shall not be compelled to undergo or
uphold any custom to which she is in conscience opposed’(Section 28(3)). Amnesty said,
‘This formulation places an undue burden on the individual woman, whereas international
human rights law stipulates that it is the responsibility of the state to prohibit and condemn all
forms of harmful practices which negatively affect women. Furthermore, girls and young
women are not sufficiently protected under the law from forced or early marriages.
‘As a consequence of the slow pace of law reform, women remain unprotected by the law and
continue to face forms of discrimination permitted by domestic law. The delays cannot be
blamed on a lack of resources since the government has been provided with various forms of
practical support for this process as it pertains to women’s rights by the European Union and
United Nations agencies.’
Swaziland, ruled by King Mswati III as an absolute monarch, is a deeply conservative
kingdom. 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.’
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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.’
See also
Woman, 36, in Swaziland beaten and ordered to leave home because she is not
married
Swaziland High Court rules married women equal under the law to their husbands
30 August 2019
A law in Swaziland / eSwatini that relegates married women to the legal status of minors
under the guardianship of their husbands has been ruled unconstitutional by the kingdom’s
High Court.
The High Court of eSwatini ruled on Friday (30 August 2019) that the common law doctrine
of marital power offended women’s constitutional rights to dignity and equality.
Marital power refers to the archaic common law doctrine that a husband has the ultimate right
to decide over his wife and the matrimonial property. The doctrine of marital power means
that a married woman cannot deal with the marital assets without the knowledge and consent
of her husband, yet her husband can do so without seeking and obtaining her
approval. Under the doctrine, a wife cannot conclude contracts without her husband’s
permission, she cannot represent herself in civil suits, and she cannot administer property, the
Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) said in a review of the case.
SALC reported the court struck down sections 24 and 25 of the Marriage Act to the extent
that it provided that marriages were governed by common law ‘unless both parties to the
marriage are African in which case… the marital power of the husband and proprietary rights
of the spouses shall be governed by Swazi law and custom.’
SALC said, ‘Relying on recent judgments by the Botswana and India courts relating to the
criminalisation of sexual orientation, the eSwatini High Court emphasised that dignity is an
essential element of respect and honour and being subjected to marital power and minority
status denies women their right to dignity.’
Colani Hlatjwayo, Executive Director of Women and Law Southern Africa-Swaziland, said,
‘The effect of the judgment is that the common law doctrine of marital power is declared
unconstitutional, and that all spouses married in terms of the Marriage Act in community of
property have equal capacity to administer the marital property. As such, this case is an
important step towards marriage equality in eSwatini.’
Swaziland, ruled by King Mswati III as an absolute monarch, is a deeply conservative
kingdom. In 2016 ACTSA (Action for Southern Africa) reported that despite claims that
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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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15 AND THE REST …

Swaziland MP accuses phone company MTN of bugging callers
31 July 2019
A member of parliament in Swaziland / eSwatini has accused mobile phone company MTN
of listening in on customers.
It is not the first time the company has been accused of doing this.
Robert Magongo, the Motshane MP, told the House of Assembly MTN staffers listened on to
their conversations. He said there was no privacy. He called on the Minister of Information,
Communication and Technology Princess Sikhanyiso, to take ‘serious action’ on the matter.
The Times of Swaziland reported, ‘He said he would be forced to move a motion calling for
the closure of MTN if they continued with this behaviour.’ MTN is one of only two mobile
phone operators in the kingdom.
The minister is expected to respond within a week. Princess Sikhanyiso was appointed to the
job by her father who rules Swaziland as the last absolute monarch in sub-Saharan Africa.
In June 2017 some senior politicians in Swaziland said they feared their phones were being
tapped. The Sunday Observer reported at the time, ‘House of Assembly Speaker Themba
Msibi, when interviewed about the possibility of hearing devices and phones being tapped,
said, “I too have concerns as at times calls sound hollow, making one suspect that a third
party could be listening in.”’
Minister of Economic Planning Prince Hlangusemphi said he had heard rumours with nothing
official and concrete to substantiate them.
The newspaper reported, ‘Minister of Natural Resources Jabulile Mashwama said rumours of
bugging have been around since time immemorial.’
In July 2013 the Times of Swaziland newspaper reported the Lobamba MP Majahodvwa
Khumalo said his cellphone had been bugged ever since he started being ‘vocal against some
people’.
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.
When the Act came into law in 2008 Attorney General Majahenkhaba Dlamini said that
anyone who criticised the government could be considered a terrorist sympathiser.
In 2011, a journalist working in Swaziland for the AFP international news agency reported on
her blog that her phone calls were being listened in to.
In August 2011 Wikileaks published a cable from the US Embassy in Swaziland that revealed
the Swazi Government had tried to get MTN, then the only mobile phone provider in the
kingdom, to use its network for ‘surveillance on political dissidents’.
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Tebogo Mogapi, the MTN chief executive officer (CEO) in Swaziland, refused to comply
and later did not have his work permit renewed and so had to leave the kingdom, the cable
said.
See also
‘Observer’ hides king’s MTN links
PM share dividends under scrutiny
MTN ‘keeps Swazi King in its pocket’
Swazi election – sponsored by MTN
US decries King on MTN deal
Workers in Swaziland locked into their factory and ‘forced to work into the night’
2 August 2019
A member of parliament in Swaziland / eSwatini has called for an investigation after workers
were locked into their factory by their bosses and forced to work into the night.
It happened at Africa Chicks, a Poultry and Egg producing company at Ngwenya in the
Hhohho region.
The workers, many women, were made to stay at work because a delivery of eggs from
neighbouring South Africa had not arrived by the time they were due to finish at 5 p.m. The
truck eventually arrived at 9 p.m. and they worked ‘under duress’ sorting eggs until 11.30
p.m.
The Swazi Observer reported, ‘It is alleged that superiors indirectly hinted that if anyone left
against the order to remain within the premises would face the music.’
It added, ‘After 5 p.m. the premises’ gates were locked, meaning no one could either enter or
leave the premises unless authorised to do so.’
The Observer said the 20 workers stayed at work ‘out of fear’. As a result many of the
women were unable to collect their children from a day care centre.
No one at the factory was available for comment. Motshane Member of Parliament Robert
Magongo said the matter was reported to him and he went to engage the authorities at the
farm.
Magongo said should he find that the allegations were true he would take the matter up
because he could not allow Emaswati to suffer at the hands of their employer.
Swaziland, which is ruled by absolute monarch King Mswati III, has one of the worst records
in the world for workers’ rights, according to a report from the International Trade Union
Confederation. 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
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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’.
Armed police had been deployed across Swaziland. Videos and photographs of brutal police
attacks were uploaded on social media. The Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) in a
statement said the videos showed ‘unlawful police actions’.
It added, ‘Several workers were wounded after police fired stun grenades to disperse the
crowd in Manzini. These police officers then unleashed a wave of assaults against striking
workers in an effort to quell the protests.’
Human rights are severely curtailed in Swaziland where political parties are banned from
taking part in elections and opponents of the King are charged under a number of laws,
including the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
See also
Swaziland police fire gunshots during textiles dispute, third attack on workers in a
week
UK solidarity with Swazi workers
Swaziland Deputy Prime Minister tells poor people stop having children
3 August 2019
The Deputy Prime Minister of Swaziland / eSwatini Themba Masuku has said poor people
should stop having children because the kingdom cannot afford to support them.
The DPM’s office is responsible for child welfare among other issues.
Masuku told the Swaziland News, an online newspaper, that the Swazi government could not
fulfil its obligations to the poor.
He told the newspaper, ‘The major problem we face as a country is that eMaswati [Swazi
people] are having more and more children. Why do you have more children if you do not
have the resources to look after those children? You can marry 10 wives but make sure all
those wives are well looked after. Once we are able to manage the population, we could be a
rich state. The government does not have a policy that talks about orphans.’
The Deputy Prime Minister, who was not elected but appointed to his post by King Mswati
III the absolute monarch of Swaziland, said thousands of children in Swaziland were in need
of food aid and other basic necessities of life and government had no financial muscle to meet
their everyday needs.
The Swaziland News quoted him saying, ‘We have thousands of needy children today. The
sad thing is that the parents of these children are not all dead. Some are still alive and poor,
but they keep on producing more children every day. My advice to all eMaswati is that they
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must have a reasonable number of children. You can have one or two children. As long as
you can love and maintain those children.’
According to figures in the CIA Factbook there are about 374,000 children aged 14 or under
in Swaziland. In a report in August 2018 the World Food Program said 45 percent of children
in Swaziland were orphaned or vulnerable. Chronic malnutrition was a main concern and
stunting affected 26 percent of children under the age of five.
Seven in ten of the estimated 1.3 million population live in abject poverty with incomes less
than the equivalent of US$2 per day. The global charity Oxfam named Swaziland as the most
unequal country in the world in a report that detailed the differences in countries between the
top most earners and those at the bottom.
See also
Fraud at Swazi Deputy PM’s office
Swaziland State wants activist who tried to prosecute absolute monarch to take mental
tests
15 August 2019
State prosecutors in Swaziland / eSwatini want to have a political activist who tried to have
absolute monarch King Mswati III prosecuted by the High Court on embezzlement and other
alleged crimes taken away for mental evaluation.
Goodwill Sibiya took out papers in January 2019 and had them accepted by police before he
took them to the High Court. He was arrested and charged under the Suppression of
Terrorism and Sedition and Subversive Activities acts.
Now, media in Swaziland are reporting that an application has been made for Sibiya to be
forced to undertake psychiatric tests. A case in the High Court against Sibiya has already
started.
He is charged on two counts. In the first, he is alleged to have professed to be a member the
People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) and the Communist Party of Swaziland
which are banned under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. He is also charged with being a
member of the South African Economic Freedom Guerrillas.
In the second count, Sibiya is alleged to have unlawfully attested to an affidavit containing
‘falsehoods’ with the intention to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection
against the King in breach of the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act.
Media in Swaziland are not reporting the contents of that affidavit. In his legal statement
Sibiya called for the King to be charged for the ‘embezzlement of states funds’ through his
use of money generated by Tibiyo Taka Ngwane, a conglomerate of businesses that is
controlled by the King on behalf of the Swazi people; mining royalties and income from
MTN the mobile phone company.
In a list of accusations, Sibiya said the King stripped the powers of two chiefs to the benefit
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of his brother Prince Maguga. The King forcefully grabbed young girls to be his wives and
the King appointed Barnabas Dlamini as Prime Minister in contravention of the constitution,
‘so that he can meet his own greedy interest’.
The statement made at the Nhlangano police station was dated 21 January 2019. Sibiya
attempted to file the document at the High Court on 21 May 2019, but was stopped by staff
members who then informed the police.
Police raided Sibiya’s home with a warrant searching for documents that brought ‘hatred to
and incited dissatisfaction against the King’. Sibiya was arrested.
In Swaziland, King Mswati rules as an absolute monarch, political parties are banned from
taking part in elections and he chooses the prime minister and government members. He is
immune from any prosecution under s11 of the Swaziland Constitution.
Opposition to the King is crushed by use of the Suppression of Terrorism Act and the
Sedition and Subversive Activities Act. Both Acts have been used to stop advocates for
democratic reform.
In September 2016, the Swaziland High Court ruled parts of the two Acts were
unconstitutional. The Government appealed the case to the Supreme Court and it has yet to be
heard.
See also
Swaziland fails human rights test
Swaziland quizzed on terror law
Only half the people eligible to vote in Swaziland election did so

24 September 2019
Only half of the people eligible to vote at the national election in Swaziland / eSwatini in
2018 did so, official figures reveal.
A year after the election the full results of each individual constituency (known as
tinkhundla) have not been publicly released. However, global figures on voting have been
released by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).
Swaziland is ruled by King Mswati III as an absolute monarch. Political parties are banned
from taking part in elections and the people are only allowed to select 59 of 69 seats in the
House of Assembly. No members of the 30-strong Swazi Senate are elected by the people.
The statistics released show that 330,791 voted in the final round of elections (known as the
secondary election). The EBC said that 650,000 people were eligible to vote. This meant only
50.8 percent of those eligible to vote did so.
The population of Swaziland is about 1.2 million.
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The EBC stated that of the 650,000 people eligible, 546,784 people registered to vote. This
meant that 215,993 people (nearly four in ten) who registered to vote did not do so in the
secondary election.
The turnout in the election is important as voting is the only way people in Swaziland have of
demonstrate their support (or lack of it) for the political system. In 1973, King Sobhuza II
tore up the constitution, banned political parties and began to rule by decree. Although a new
constitution came into effect in 2006, little has changed and King Sobhuza’s son King
Mswati III continues to rule as an absolute monarch. Political opposition is banned in
Swaziland and those who campaign for democracy are charged under the Suppression of
Terrorism Act.
The secondary election was marred by accusations of bribery, vote-rigging and other
malpractice. There were also outbreaks of violence. Police fired gunshots, stun grenades and
rubber bullets as voters at Sigwe protested against completed ballot papers being taken away
from a polling centre. In Ndzingeni polling stations voters were dispersed using teargas
during counting as voters threatened to enter the polling station where counting was taking
place. APA news agency reported outbursts of violence started as early as noon time on
election day and intensified in the evening when the counting of votes was about to resume.
Following the election the King appointed Ambrose Dlamini as Prime Minister and a cabinet
of ministers in contravention of the Swaziland Constitution. He also appointed six members
of his Royal Family to the House of Assembly and eight more to the Senate.
In a report on the election, the United Nations Human Rights Committee stated the
‘legitimacy and credibility’ of the election was ‘significantly hampered’ because political
parties were banned. The King had ‘excessive powers’ in the appointment of the
Government, Parliament and the judiciary, it stated.
It added, ‘The legitimacy and credibility of the elections was significantly hampered by the
design of the electoral mechanisms as a culture of political pluralism is lacking. There is
no freedom of genuine and pluralistic political debate, political parties are unable to register,
contest elections, field candidates or otherwise participate in the formation of a Government.’
See also
Violence, corruption, vote-buying reported in Swaziland election. Journalists barred
from entering counting centres
Swaziland (Eswatini) Election 2018: Links to Information and Analysis From Swazi
Media Commentary
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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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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom Vol. 34 April to June 2019 is available free of charge
here
Public services throughout Swaziland / eSwatini 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 April to June 2019. 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.
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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.’
85
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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

As seen through the pages of Swazi Media Commentary

1 PUBLIC SERVANTS’ STRIKE

Public servants across Swaziland set to strike over pay

Man dies after ‘heavy assault’ by Swaziland police

Swaziland police fire teargas into classroom packed with children

4 GOVT FINANCIAL CRISIS

Health and education collapsing in eSwatini

Schools crisis in Swaziland as broke Govt. stops recruiting teachers

Schools across Swaziland in chaos as failing Govt runs out of cash

Nurses angry as Swaziland Govt ignores health crisis

Six children die as diarrhoea once again strikes Swaziland

Number of child deaths from diarrhoea in Swaziland rises

Swaziland town running out of burial space as health crisis intensifies

Swaziland schoolteacher beats mothers for their children’s misbehaviour

When pupils at a school in Swaziland / eSwatini failed to show up to receive a caning a

Limkokwing, the private university in Swaziland / eSwatini favoured by the kingdom’s

Swaziland university closed indefinitely as student protests continue

Striking Swaziland students win victory in dispute with government

Swaziland democracy activist finally able to vote

Bheki Dlamini has a degree in Public Administration at the University of Bergen. He is a

‘Traffickers reportedly force Mozambican women into prostitution in Eswatini, or transport

Victims of human trafficking in Swaziland on hunger strike as protest against police

Human Rights Watch adds to criticism of Swaziland’s freedom abuses

Oxfam names Swaziland most unequal country in Africa on personal income

Spotlight on absence of rule of law in Swaziland

Protest at Swaziland border calls for isolation of absolute monarch

Picture sourced from Facebook

Swaziland Communists say they are developing a campaign of ‘armed struggle’ to

New Frame. Words: Magnificent Mndebele Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee

Bheki Makhubu, editor of 'The Nation' magazine

A member of parliament in Swaziland / eSwatini called on the Ministry of Home Affairs to

Call to declare murders of women and children in Swaziland a national emergency

Swaziland MP calls for arrest of pregnant teenagers so they can be ‘corrected’

Disabled women in Swaziland fear nurses trying to force them to be sterilised

15 AND THE REST …

Only half the people eligible to vote in Swaziland election did so

ABOUT THE EDITOR

He holds a Ph.D in Communication from the University of Westminster, London, UK.

Swazi Media Commentary

Containing information and commentary in

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