Swaziland:

Striving for
Freedom
As seen through the pages of
Swazi Media Commentary,
compiled by Richard Rooney

Vol 24: October to December 2016

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

CONTENTS

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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Introduction
Asians and Muslims
Drought
Governance
Education
Students
Human Rights
Industrial Relations
Media
Trade
Treasury Department
Other Publications from Swazi Media Commentary
Occasional Paper Series
Previous Editions

2
3
8
10
12
15
21
23
26
31
32
36
37
38

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

INTRODCTION
People of Asian origin in Swaziland have been under constant attack in the kingdom. It began
when all Asians were denied the opportunity to enter Swaziland and continued with a special
parliamentary sub-committee designed to investigate the extent to which Asians had entered
the kingdom illegally. Countless claims were made about a threat and the Swazi Director of
Public Prosecutions said most Asians were terrorists. No evidence to support the assertion
was given.
These stories dominated the news in the final three months of 2016 and are among this
collection of items from Swazi Media Commentary from October to December 2016 inclusive.
Also, in the final quarter of the year the Times of Swaziland, the kingdoms only independent
daily newspaper reported that the Swaziland Government Treasury Department bank accounts
had a shortfall of E5.1 billion (US$360 million), raising the possibility of widespread
corruption. The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan
Africas last absolute monarch, ran a story denying the allegation.
Swazi Media Commentary website has no physical base and is completely independent of any
political faction and receives no income from any individual or organisation. People who
contribute ideas or write for it do so as volunteers and receive no payment.
Swazi Media Commentary is published online updated regularly.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

1 ASIANS AND MUSLIMS

Verbal assaults on Swazilands Asians
6 October 2016
The belief that many Swazi people have of themselves as friendly and peaceful people took a
battering on Wednesday (5 October 2016) at a parliamentary select committee hearing on
Asians.
The kingdoms only two daily newspapers gave vivid accounts of xenophobia, ignorance and
hatred.
The Swazi Observer, the newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africas
last absolute monarch, posed the question, Is Swaziland home to 200,000 Asians?
It should have known the answer was, No, since that number would account for around one in
six of the entire population.
The Observer reported that speakers at the committee claimed, In no time, foreigners would
take over control of the economic and political life of Swaziland.
They said that Asians aimed to occupy the country. They said the Asians wanted to convert
people to become Muslims.
The Observer reported, To make their alleged take-over of the country very easy, the Asian
people flooding the country are now reportedly marrying Swazi wives.
The newspaper said the committee had been formed to, probe the influx of foreign nationals
into the country, in particular those of Asian origin.
The newspaper added, The parliamentary committee, which is chaired by Zombodze Emuva
MP Titus Thwala, was elected after a motion that raised, among other things, concern that
Asians were flooding the country amid suspicions of corruption.
The Swazi Ministry of Home Affairs has suspended issuing entry permits to Swaziland for
Asian nationals.
The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, reported, The
general concern by the speakers was that the Asians had one mission, which was to take over
the country and convert all Swazi nationals to the Muslim religion.
The newspapers took no opportunity to qualify the claims with facts or context and presented
the statements as if they were true.
Muslims in Swaziland often feel under attack. In September 2016 it was reported that
undercover police regularly attended prayer meetings as mosques, because Muslims were
perceived as people who wanted to perpetuate violence.
In July 2016, the editor of the Times Sunday made a concerted attack on Asians in the
kingdom, declaring them to be cheats and scoundrels.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

Following Swazilands decision to ban all Asian people from entering the kingdom a group of
12 Asians were evicted from their home at Mgazini and banished from the area simply because
they are Asian.
They had rented a homestead from a local resident, but were later ordered out of the area by
the areas chiefs representative Indvuna Xolani Vilakati. The Indvuna or headman reportedly
did not meet with the Asians, but only heard of their presence in the area.

Swazi Kings paper attacks Asians

19 October 2016
The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by Swazilands absolute monarch King
Mswati III, is running a campaign of misinformation against Asians in the kingdom.
It has now claimed that 600,000 people in Swaziland are of Asian origin (14 October 2016). A
website called countrymeters that constantly updates statistics recorded Swazilands total
population on Wednesday (19 October 2016) as 1,312,881.
That would mean that about 45 percent of the entire Swazi population were of Asian origin. In
fact, every reputable source shows that 97 percent of Swazi people are African. The sources
include the CIA factbook and indexmundi.
The Observer reported on 14 October 2016 that a parliamentary committee set up to investigate
Asians in the kingdom was told Asian people had occupied, every available space in the urban
areas.
The newspaper did not name the source of this statement.
For more than a week, the Observer has been publishing stories denigrating Asian people. Most
of them do not give facts to support accusations made and rarely are the accusers identified.
In this way the Observer has reported as if fact that 90 percent of shops in the kingdom are
owned by Asian people (14 October 2016). It said, in Manzini, the main commercial city in
Swaziland, almost the entire city is reportedly in the hands of the Indians (14 October 2016).
An Asian landlord, who owns one-room flats in the outskirts of Siteki town, is alleged to have
banned his tenants from bringing visitors to the flats (19 October 2016).
Asian people are rushing to acquire Swazi Nation Land to open up small businesses (15
October 2016).
Wealthy Asian businessmen are evicting Swazis in massive scales in the areas of Manzini (17
October 2016).
Asians are associating themselves with the Swazi Royal Family because it would secure their
investments (17 October 2016).
On Monday (17 October 2016) the newspaper reported, Efforts by Her Majesty the
Indlovukazi [Queen Mother] to liberate women from the grinding poverty are allegedly being

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

frustrated by the influx of Asians into the country. It said this was because Asian people were
taking up business space everywhere.
The constant trashing of Asian people runs against Swazi journalists own code of ethics. It
amounts to hate speech. The Swaziland National Association of Journalists in Article 13 of its
code states, Hate speech. (Journalists shall avoid by all means the publication of speech that
might promote hatred, spite and conflict amongst the Swazi or any other nation.)
The National Union of Journalists (UK) goes further. In its guidelines on reporting race it states,
The NUJ believes the methods and lies of the racists should be publicly and vigorously
exposed.
The NUJ believes that newspapers and magazines should not originate material which
encourages discrimination on grounds of race or colour, as expressed in the NUJ's rule book
and code of conduct.
The NUJ believes that editors should ensure that coverage of race stories should be placed in
a balanced context.

Anti-Asian feelings spreading

26 October 2016
Traditional authorities in the Ngcina Chiefdom in Swaziland have ordered a man to close his
business and leave the area because he is Asian.
The move is the latest in a number of anti-Asian incidents in the kingdom where King
Mswati III rules as sub-Sharan Africas last absolute monarch.
The man started his grocery business in September 2016, when he leased a shop from a Swazi
national on Swazi Nation Land.
The Times of Swaziland reported on Monday (24 October 2016) that the man was told by locals
that foreigners were not allowed to operate businesses on such land.
Moni Matsenjwa, a Swazi national who rented out the shop, told the newspaper that
businesspeople of Asian origin were operating many shops in rural areas around the Lubombo
region. He saw no reason not to lease the shop to an Asian person.
Matsenjwa said he was disappointed when the authorities unanimously objected to the deal and
ordered the Asian man to shut down.
He said the authorities said they did not want Asians in the area. He said his attempts to explain
himself were rejected.
Headman at Ngcina Chiefdom Abraham Magagula confirmed to the newspaper that traditional
authorities in the area ordered the Asian businessman to shut down his business and leave the
area.
Asian people have been in the spotlight since the Swazi Parliament suspended issuing entry
permits to all Asian people to stop them from entering Swaziland in August 2016.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

Following that decision, a group of Asian people were evicted from their home at Mgazini and
banished from the area simply because they were Asian.
Swazi Police terrorise Muslims
24 November 2016
Muslim visitors to Swaziland say they were terrorised by local police.
The Imam of Ezulwini Islamic Centre, Feroz Ismail, said guests had visited the kingdom from
across Africa for a graduation and Jasla Ceremony.
The Times of Swaziland newspaper on Wednesday (23 November 2016) reported him saying
the guests, were abused while in the country. They informed me that they were terrorised by
the police while visiting some tourist attraction areas including the glass and candle factory.
He said police demanded that the visitors produce their passports and other documents required
for visitors to be in the country.
The Times reported Ismail saying, They were ferried in police vehicles to their hotel rooms as
the officers demanded that they immediately produce documents which proved that they were
in the country legally.
This is not the first time police have been heavy-handed with Muslims. In September 2016, it
was reported undercover police were infiltrating Muslim mosques to attend Friday prayers.
The Times, the only independent daily newspaper in the overwhelmingly Christian kingdom,
reported that police were suspected of monitoring the Muslim community.
There has been increased tension in Swaziland as a parliamentary select committee has been
investigating Asians in the belief that many are in the kingdom illegally.
Swazi DPP calls Asians terrorists
28 November 2016
Swazilands Director of Public Prosecutions Nkosinathi Maseko has said, most nationals of
Asian origin were associated with terrorist activities.
The Observer on Saturday (26 November 2016) reported he told this to a parliamentary select
committee set up to investigate what the newspaper called an influx of illegal immigrants into
the kingdom.
The newspaper reported Maseko had said, it was public information that most nationals of
Asian origin were associated with terrorist activities; and their continued entry illegally put the
country and its citizens at high risk of being a nucleus for terrorist activities.
Maseko and the Observer gave no evidence to support this.
The newspaper reported, Maseko said it was possible that even the huge sums of money being
invested in the country by those who paraded as businessmen were proceeds of illicit activities.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

The Observer added Maseko told the committee, The country is under siege, and it is very
scary.
It added, His greatest fear is that these people are multiplying in great numbers.

See also
ASIANS EVICTED FROM HOME
ALL ASIANS BANNED FROM SWAZILAND
RACISM IN SWAZILANDS TIMES SUNDAY

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

2 DROUGHT
Swazi King buys jet, U.S. feeds hungry
31 October 2016
The United States is to provide US$6.35m in drought relief. That is just US$1m short of the
US$7.3m the Swazi Government is paying as a deposit this year for a private jet for King
Mswati III.
Swaziland declared a national emergency in February 2016 and called for international aid to
help feed 300,000 people affected by a prolonged drought.
In April 2016, the Swazi Government agreed to spend E96m (US$7.3m) on a deposit for an
Airbus A340-300 that will eventually cost E200m to buy. There are also expected to be
additional costs for upgrades to the interior.
King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch, already has
a private jet, but he considers it too small. The King is continually criticised outside of
Swaziland for his lavish spending. He has at least 13 palaces, a fleet of top-of-the-range
Mercedes and BMW cars and at least one Rolls Royce.
Meanwhile, this week it was reported by Swaziland Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth
Affairs that 756,000 out of 1.2 million Swazis currently live below the international poverty
line of US$1 or E13 a day.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide food, seeds,
hay and potable water to more than 50,000 people across four regions in Swaziland.

See also
KING BUYS JET, U.N. FUNDS DROUGHT RELIEF
WILL SWAZI KING CUT HIS SPENDING?

Schoolgirls give sex for food

22 November 2016
Primary schoolgirls in Swaziland are falling pregnant because they are forced to have sex with
older men for food.
The Swazi Observer newspaper reported on Thursday (17 November 2016), a worrying
number of pupils at Bekezela Primary School in Lubulini were said to have fallen pregnant
this year, due to the poverty levels which are said to have been worsened by the El Ninoinduced drought.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

The newspaper reported Bongile Ngubeni, who is the welfare teacher at the school, saying they
were currently facing numerous challenges which have come as results of the drought.
The newspaper reported, Ngubeni said the school has since the beginning of the year been
recording cases of pregnancy amongst the children, especially those in the higher grades. She
highlighted that these children were said to have mainly been impregnated by older men who
would promise them food and other necessities.
Ngubeni said according to their assessment, most of these children stay alone while their
parents are away in search for employment opportunities to sustain their families.

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

3 GOVERNANCE
Government slow to give information
14 October 2016
Swazilands foremost media freedom pressure group has called on the Swazi Government to
implement a Freedom of Information Act.
It came after a survey revealed that Swazilands Government and agencies did not give
information transparently.
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Swaziland chapter has released its annual
report on open and secretive public institutions in Swaziland.
MISA concluded, Swaziland needs to accelerate the process of passing the Freedom of
Information and Protection of Privacy Draft Bill of 2007 into law.
The report was based on field research and website analyses that considered how transparent
government departments and agencies were.
MISA reported that the 2016 report, in a similar vein to previous editions, offered some good
signs but overall the picture was less than flattering.
In recognition of its good practice, the Swaziland Communications Commission was awarded
with the golden key for being the most open institution from the eight institutions that were
surveyed.
Coming in last place was the Central Statistics Office, which was awarded the golden padlock
for being the most secretive of the institutions that were looked at.
MISA recommended Swaziland should adopt a Freedom of Information Bill which provided
for access to information, openness, transparency and accountability. It added the Official
Secrets Act of 1968 should be repealed because it curtailed freedom of information.
Voters snub Swazi elections
17 October 2016
Only four in ten of the people entitled to vote in Swazilands national election did so. The
percentage turnout was lower than the previous election in 2008.
The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) has just released figures from the 2013
election, three years after the vote took place.
The ECB reported than 251,278 people voted from the 414,704 who registered. In 2013, the
ECB reported that about 600,000 Swazis were entitled to register. That means that only 41.8
percent of those entitled to vote did so in 2013.
The low turnout casts doubts on claims by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africas last absolute
monarch, that his subjects support what he calls his kingdoms unique democracy.

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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

Political parties are not allowed to take part in elections and most of the political groupings in
Swaziland that advocate for democracy have been banned under the Kings Suppression of
Terrorism Act.
The Swazi people are only allowed to select 55 of the 65 members of the House of Assembly,
the other 10 are appointed by the King. None of the 30 members of the Swaziland Senate are
elected by the people: the King appoints 20 members and the other 10 are appointed by the
House of Assembly.
Neither the House of Assembly nor the Senate are independent of the King, who can, and does,
overrule decisions he does not like.
The people do not elect the government; the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers are
handpicked by the King.
Immediately before the national election in September 2013, King Mswati announced that the
political system in Swaziland that had until then been called tinkhundla would in future be
known as Monarchical Democracy. He said this would be a partnership between himself and
the people.
The supporters of King Mswati saw the election as a way for the Swazi people to endorse the
Kings version of democracy. At the same time prodemocracy groups urged people to boycott
the election.
The 2013 vote compares to the 47.4 percent of people entitled to vote in the previous election
in 2008 who actually did so. At that election 189,559 people of the 400,000 entitled to vote did
so.
It is impossible to tell whether the low turnout in the 2013 election was in support of the boycott
call by prodemocracy advocates. It could easily have been because ordinary Swazi people saw
no point in voting as it would change nothing in their lives.
The power wielded by King Mswati was criticised by two independent international groups
which observed the Swazi election in 2013. Both the African Union and the Commonwealth
Observer Mission suggested the kingdoms constitution should be reviewed to allow political
parties to contest elections.
The Commonwealth Observer Mission added that, The presence of the monarch in the
structure of everyday political life inevitably associates the institution of the monarchy with
politics, a situation that runs counter to the development that the re-establishment of the
Parliament and the devolution of executive authority into the hands of elected officials.

See also
PM TELLS MPs THEIR DUTY IS TO KING
KING APPOINTS SIX OF HIS FAMILY TO SENATE
AU WANTS REVIEW OF SWAZI CONSTITUTION

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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

4 EDUCATION
University lecturers not qualified
11 October 2016
Students at the university in Swaziland where King Mswati III said he would set up a
university of transformation for the whole SADC region have protested to the Swazi
Government that its lecturers are not qualified to teach.
The students from Limkokwing University of Creative Technology delivered a petition to the
Speaker of the House of Assembly. They also complained about lack of chairs and desks in
classrooms.
Limkokwing has been under fire in the past about the quality of its courses and its teaching
facilities. According to its website, Limkokwing in Swaziland only offers associate degrees
which are at a level below Bachelor degrees and in many institutions are known as diplomas.
The Swazi Observer newspaper reported on Monday (10 October 2016) that each Swazi
student pays E8,000 (US$577) a year for tuition. The government adds an additional E33,700
as accommodation and meal allowance and E9,000 as a book allowance.
When King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch,
took over the chair of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) at the end of
August 2016, he announced that within one year he would create a university of
transformation. He said it would be housed at Limkokwing.
In June 2012, Bandile Mkhonta, Head of Human Resource for Limkokwing in Mbabane,
Swaziland, told local media that of 53 professional staff at the university; only one had a
Ph.D doctorate. A Ph.D is usually considered by universities to be the minimum qualification
required to be given the rank of senior lecturer.
The Swazi Observer reported Mkhonta saying Limkokwing had fewer Ph.Ds because it was a
non-conventional university whose curriculum was mainly based on practice than theory.
Limkokwing in Swaziland had no staff at professor rank and no record of conducting
scholarly research.
MPs probe university standards
18 October 2016
The university in Swaziland that King Mswati III says will host his new University of
Transformation is to be investigated by members of parliament after students complained
lecturers were unqualified and equipment was lacking.
Limkokwing University of Creative Technology will be investigated by a five-strong
parliamentary select committee after students delivered a petition of grievances.

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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

Students have been boycotting classes and last week police reportedly fired guns on
protestors, injuring four people.
The Times of Swaziland, the kingdoms only independent daily newspaper reported on Friday
(14 October 2016) that one of the main complaints was the lack of experienced and qualified
lecturers.
The newspaper quoted Zombodze Emuva MP Titus Thwala saying Limkokwing students had
complained that some of their lecturers had only graduated last year and in the following
academic year were hired by the university.
The newspaper added, Thwala also said the committee needed to investigate if it was true
that some lectures were held outside the school campus, under a tree, because there was a
shortage of classrooms.
He also highlighted that some of the students did not have chairs or desks and computers.
He said some students were forced to behave like bus conductors and had to take notes while
standing.
In August 2016, King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africas last absolute
monarch, became Chair of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). He
announced that within a year he would create a University of Transformation and that it
would be housed at Limkokwing.
Probe into teaching at Kings university
1 December 2016
A Swaziland parliamentary committee has ordered an investigation into the standard of
qualifications held by academic staff at the university King Mswati III wants to host his
proposed University of Transformation.
Students had petitioned the Swazi Government saying many lecturers only held Bachelor
degrees and had just themselves qualified from the university.
Limkokwing has been at the centre of continuing protests from students about standards of
teaching and equipment since the university opened in 2011. According to its website,
Limkokwing in Swaziland only offers associate degrees which are at a level below
Bachelor degrees and in many institutions are known as diplomas.
The Swazi Observer reported on Monday (28 November 2016) that a parliamentary select
committee said the Ministry of Educations Higher Education Council, should within 14
days, revisit the issue of qualifications of the academic staff of the university and make
necessary recommendations, particularly if indeed it would be confirmed the university
engaged its former students to work as lecturers instead of teaching assistants or tutors.
In August 2016, King Mswati, the absolute monarch in Swaziland and chair of the Southern
African Development Community (SADC), announced he intended to start a University of
Transformation for the entire SADC region within twelve months and that it should be

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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

housed at Limkokwing, a private university in the Swazi capital Mbabane, with its base in
Malaysia.

See also
KINGS NEW UNWORKABLE UNIVERSITY
POLICE FIRE GUNSHOTS AT STUDENTS
NEW SWAZI UNIVERSITY SUBSTANDARD
KING FELL FOR BOGUS UNIVERSITY
LIMKOKWING UNIVERSITY IS ILLEGAL

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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

5 STUDENTS
Police fire gunshots at students
13 October 2016
Police fired gunshots at protesting students at the university in Swaziland that is set to house
King Mswati IIIs proposed SADC University of Transformation.
At least four students had serious injuries, according to the Times of Swaziland, the kingdoms
only independent daily newspaper.
It happened on Wednesday (12 October 2016) at Limkokwing University of Creative
Technology at Sidwashini. Students had been protesting about the poor quality of teaching at
the university and inferior facilities.
The Times reported, According to eyewitnesses, about 200 students screamed and ran helterskelter after police from the Operational Support Service Unit (OSSU) fired at least six shots
in attempt to disperse the protesting students who were barred from coming within 100 metres
of the university gate by the High Court.
It added, The protesting students ran like headless chickens at the first sound of gunshots.
Some of them are said to have ran across the MR3 highway, forcing oncoming traffic to stop
haphazardly.
The Times reported, The riot police are said to have fired the shots after the resilient students
marched towards the universitys gate, while chanting political songs and slogans.
The students were armed with only one baton and several sticks.
Limkokwing is at the centre of controversy as students have petitioned the Swazi Government
saying that lecturers at the university are not qualified to teach.
In August 2016, King Mswati, the absolute monarch in Swaziland, became Chair of the
Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). He said within one year he would create
a University of Transformation and it would be housed at Limkokwing.

See also
UNIVERSITY LECTURERS NOT QUALIFIED
KINGS NEW UNWORKABLE UNIVERSITY

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Swazilands Black Wednesday
30 November 2016
Students at the University of Swaziland did not this year mark the anniversary of the campus
invasion by armed soldiers known as Black Wednesday.
According to the Swazi Observer, a commemoration was called off at the last minute because
present-day students were protesting that colleagues had been barred from taking examinations
because school fees had not been paid.
It would be a pity if these events stopped people remembering the events of 14 November 1990.
It happened during what the Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency called a rebellion that
became a seminal event that signalled a new generation's political consciousness. It was, IPS
said, a dawning political awareness born from a confluence of historical forces then sweeping
the world and the Southern African region.
The IPS report said armed soldiers pushed police aside and forced students out of the library
where they had barricaded themselves.
The day began as a disorganised demonstration against campus issues such as poor food but
soon turned into demands for democratic reforms in Swaziland's government.
The IPS report quoted Manzini lawyer Lindiwe Khumalo-Matse, a university student at the
time, saying, The reason why soldiers were called in was because government saw our protest
as a political uprising.
Khumalo-Matse is further quoted by IPS, This was because of the involvement of Sabelo
Dlamini, who was a member of the People's United Democratic movement (PUDEMO). Sabelo
was prominent in the Students Representative Council, he said.
In 1990, one of the Swazi Governments most draconian measures, a 60-Day Detention Law,
was still in force, permitting authorities to lock up anyone they saw as a threat to public order.
All political protestors were designated as such threats.
The violence that ensued after soldiers swept through campus has been a sensitive subject with
government ever since. A commission of enquiry had its report secreted away for years, with
a bowdlerized version finally released to the public in 1997.
Two students who were seriously injured sued government for damages, and their cases were
settled out of court.
IPS reported that not only was the traditional leaderships fear of democracy revealed on Black
Wednesday, but also a proletariat attitude of resentment, displayed by the soldiers, was shown
against the educated student elite. The military's code name for the university invasion was
Operation Tinfundiswa (educated ones).
It was a time of wild rumours, recalled Khumalo-Matse. We heard that government feared
we would burn down the library, which belied common sense because we were inside and
would have incinerated ourselves.

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The army officials in charge gave students a five-minute warning, and then unleashed what one
onlooker later told an investigating committee was a military riot against civilians.
Students were beaten as they emerged from the library to escape teargas canisters hurled
through windows, and had to run a gauntlet of soldiers. Other soldiers chased students until
they cornered them along fences. As they beat students with batons, the soldiers informed them
they were being punished.
People in Swaziland were shocked by the brutality. Particularly offensive was one newspaper
photo depicting a young woman carried out of the library between soldiers like a slaughtered
pig, according to a letter writer to the Times of Swaziland.
Following the events, Michael Prosser, a professor from the United States who was working at
the University of Swaziland at the time, posted a personal eye-witness account online. This is
what he wrote.
BLOODY WEDNESDAY IN SWAZILAND
November 14, 1990, Bloody Wednesday in Swaziland still lingers as a most important
moment in my life. It was the only day that I thought I surely might die. I was a Fulbright
Professor at the University of Swaziland in south east Africa that year.
University students began boycotting classes on November 12 in protest of a lack of faculty
lecturers, poor food conditions, and the suspension of a popular young sociology lecturer for
promoting democracy in Swaziland.
Early on November 12, all 1 600 university students held a protest meeting and boycotted all
classes. At noon, they dumped their plastic wrapped lunches at the administration office door.
The Swazi radio, and tv stations, Swazilands newspapers gave extensive coverage to the
dumping of the lunches. Many Swazis were subsistence farmers who often went to bed hungry;
thus this student decision reflected very badly on them. All students received a University
notice demanding the end of their class boycott on November 13. They decided to continue it.
The University Council demanded their return to classes on November 14, or be considered in
defiance of the twenty-three-year-old King Mswati III.
Another student meeting on November 14 continued the boycott. About 500 students
peacefully barricaded themselves in the two-storey university library. Several hundred students
left campus or stayed in their student hostel area. At about 5pm, armed Swazi soldiers entered
the high fenced campus.
A university official drove through the campus announcing the immediate campus closure.
Five young women rushed to me and asked for emergency protection in my home. I took them
there immediately.
A fifteen-hour rain and thunderstorm had just begun. The young women were quite terrified.
The young soldiers broke into the library and the student hostels, dragging students out, beating
both men and women with their night sticks on their arms and legs, and forcing them to run a
gauntlet toward the front gate while the soldiers gave them sharp blows.

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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

The soldiers taunted the students: Well beat the English out of you. They were especially
vicious toward the women. The soldiers had been stationed that day at the high school next
door to the campus and drank lots of beer before they attacked the campus, making them even
more violent than otherwise so likely.
A neighbor warned us that at 10pm, soldiers would search our houses and arrest any students
found there or on campus. Two Canadian families and I, in a caravan of three autos, took 11
frightened Swazi students in the three cars to the front gate to take them to safety.
With a gun pointed the first drivers cheek, he got permission from the guard to leave the
campus with the students. In the swirling rain, lightening, and thunderstorm, we took the
students to safe shelters. When we returned to campus late in the evening, two soldiers were
posted all night in the back and in the front of our houses.
With some students, I drove to the nearby hospital where more than 120 students had received
emergency treatment. We visited more than a dozen badly injured students. We learned that
soldiers possibly had injured as many as 300-400 and had killed perhaps as many as two-four
students.
The Swazi radio and tv stations gave no information about what had happened after the students
had dumped their food. However, the two Swazi newspapers did give the event considerable
coverage over several weeks. They also printed many letters to the editor decrying the incident
and called for a national judicial enquiry. Reuters News Agency and the South African press
gave it some coverage.
Amnesty International cited it in their 1991 Annual Review. The University remained closed
for two months, reopening on January 14. A national judicial enquiry, more heavily critical of
the student boycott than the hostile military response, began on March 14, 1991 and ended on
May 14. The enquiry panel never released any details to the public.
The print media called the incident Black Wednesday but my students and I attempted to have
the newspapers rename it Bloody Wednesday since so much innocent student blood had been
shed.
I always recall that day as my worst and best day in Swaziland when much evil occurred but
many good people at the campus, the hospital, and nearby clinics generously helped the
students. Do these former African students, now in their thirties, still remember that day? I
assume so. I certainly always do.

State violence against students

2 December 2016
The recent passing of the 26th anniversary of Black Wednesday when troops invaded a campus
of the University of Swaziland reminds us that little has changed in the kingdom ruled by King
Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch.
Police, troops and security forces continue to take the attitude of attack first, ask questions
later when dealing with student grievances.

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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

As recently as October 2016, police fired gunshots at protesting students at Limkokwing
University of Creative Technology at Sidwashini. At least four students had serious injuries,
according to the Times of Swaziland, the kingdoms only independent daily newspaper.
Students had been protesting about the poor quality of teaching at the university and inferior
facilities.
The Times reported, According to eyewitnesses, about 200 students screamed and ran helterskelter after police from the Operational Support Service Unit (OSSU) fired at least six shots
in attempt to disperse the protesting students who were barred from coming within 100 metres
of the university gate by the High Court.
In February 2016 at the University of Swaziland Kwaluseni campus Swazi security forces
attacked students by driving an armoured troop carrier at speed into a crowd, injuring one so
badly her back was broken.
The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom reported, a
Royal Swaziland Police (RSP) Operational Services Unit (OSSU) casspir drove at high speed
into a group of about 2,000 students, who, when they realised that the vehicle was not stopping,
ran in all directions.
Students at the university had been protesting and boycotting classes to protest about delays in
registration.
Police and security forces in Swaziland routinely violently attack students when they engage
in protest.
In November 2013, police raided dormitories and dragged students from their rooms. Later
they beat up the students at local police stations. Students had wanted the start of examinations
postponed. Armed police stood guard outside examination halls as the UNISWA
Administration attempted to hold the exams.
A report published today in UNISWA Today, a student on-line newspaper site, said, Three
hours from now students were supposed to sit for their first examination paper. As this report
is written, the S-block has become a jail since students cant leave the residence. Anyone who
is leaving his dormitory is being captured. Police have even started raiding the dormitories, the
intention is unknown.
In a separate report UNISWA Today said a university warden at the UNISWA Luyengo Campus
allowed officers of the Swaziland state security force OSSU to raid all dormitory rooms and to
sjambock all students who are found having squatted in others rooms.
Student Representative Council (SRC) Vice President Anthony Mthembu, writing on UNISWA
Today said, The operation started at 23.30hrs and ended at about 3am. He also ordered that all
SRC members be arrested as they are ring leaders. To ensure that he gave them our room
numbers and a master key.
They arrived at my room at around 01.30 and tried opening my door but couldnt since I had
inserted my key inside and fully twisted it. They threatened to camp outside my room and asked
me where Max [Maxwell Dlamini, SRC President] is.

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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

I resisted to which they threw teargas in my room, that I resisted too, but they tried to break in
and my roommate opened. The squabble lasted for about 45 minutes. Upon opening they
clapped me and alleged that there are petrol bombs in my room.
They searched all my suitcases, CPU and monitor cartons, cabinets, washing basket and
anything you can think of. They even came to an extent of mistaking a wireless mouse for a
bomb.
Students were then taken to police stations for questioning.
In a separate case in August 2012, two students were shot in the head at close range with rubber
bullets, during a dispute about the number of scholarships awarded by the government. Reports
from the Centre for Human Rights and Development, Swaziland, said several other students
were injured by police batons and kicks.
In February 2012, police fired teargas at students from Swaziland College of Technology
(SCOT) who boycotted classes after the Swazi Government did not pay them their allowances.
In November 2011, armed police attacked students at the recently-opened private Limkokwing
University. The Swazi Observer said Limkokwing students reported that police attacked them
unprovoked as they were not armed.
The newspaper added, During a visit to the institution about 10 armed officers were found
standing guard by the gate. The Observer said police fired as they tried to disperse the
students.
In January 2010, Swaziland Police reportedly fired bullets at protesting university students,
injuring two of them. They denied it and said they only fired teargas. Students from UNISWA
had attempted to march through the kingdoms capital, Mbabane, to call for an increase in their
allowances.

See also
STUDENTS UNDER SIEGE BY ARMED POLICE
POLICE FLEE ROOMS AS POLICE ATTACK
BOYCOTTING STUDENTS CLOSE UNIVERSITY
POLICE SHOOT TWO STUDENTS IN HEAD
ARMED POLICE STOP STUDENTS PROTEST
SWAZILAND STUDENT UNREST SPREADS
STUDENTS UNDER FIRE FROM POLICE
SWAZI STUDENTS BEATEN TO PULP
SWAZILAND POLICE SHOOT STUDENTS

20

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

6 HUMAN RIGHTS
More men victims of gender abuse
26 October 2016
More Swazi men are seeking help from a gender-based-violence NGO.
Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) reported that in August 2016, 60 men
attended its clinics. This compared to 86 women during the same time.
Local media reported SWAGAA Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Mcolisi Dlamini, saying
the number of men seeking help from the organisation was on the increase.
The Swazi Observer reported on Tuesday (25 October 2016) that 26 clients reported nonabuse cases such as personal issues and were not relating to sexual or physical abuse.
Dlamini told the newspaper that relatives were the main perpetrators of violence. These
included parents, children, cousins, in-laws, uncles, aunts and step-parents.
He said, Home continues to be the predominant place where most of the reported abuse cases
took place. This could be the survivors or perpetrators home that shows most of the abuse is
brought by people who stay with and are known to the survivor.

See also
SWAZI CULTURE AND WIFE BEATING

Four in ten youth unemployed

27 October 2016
More than four in ten Swazi youth are unemployed, new figures show.
That makes 280,000, or 42.6 percent, of the 668,000 people who are aged between 18 and 24.
The statistics also show that 756,000 out of 1.2 million Swazis currently live below the
international poverty line of US$1 or E13 a day.
The figures were contained in a report released by the Swaziland Ministry of Sports, Culture
and youth affairs. Excerpts of the report were given at a workshop at Piggs Peak Hotel on
Monday (24 October 2016).

See also
SWAZIS CAMP OUT TO BEG KING FOR JOBS
SWAZIS AMONG HUNGRIEST IN THE WORLD
THOUSAND PEOPLE IN JAIL FOR BEING POOR

21

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

Sex violence national disaster
28 October 2016
One in three females in Swaziland is at risk of sexual violence as a child, an NGO leader
reported.
Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) Director Cebile Manzini told media,
The fact that one in three females are at risk of experiencing sexual violence before they turn
18 years old means that gender-based-violence (GBV) in Swaziland is a national disaster.
Manzini said GBV in Swaziland had reached disaster proportions.
Manzini told media on Tuesday (25 October 2016), No human being should live their lives
fearing they might be violated. The dignity, respect for integrity, assurance of safety, protection
and justice must be upheld by the state.
Manzini said without new legislation, GBV in the kingdom would persist and offenders
continue to go unpunished.
Sexual abuse of children in Swaziland is not new. Swazi police said there were nearly 1,000
cases of child sex abuse reported between January 2014 and May 2015.
Swazi culture condones sex abuse of children, especially young girls, and there is little
evidence that this is going to change.
Child rapists often blame women for their action.
The State of the Swaziland Population report in 2009 revealed that women who sexually
starve their husbands were considered responsible for the growing sexual abuse of children.
Men who were interviewed during the making of the report said they salivate over children
wearing skimpy dresses because their wives refused them sexual intercourse.

See also
SEX-STARVED SWAZI MEN RAPE CHILDREN

22

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

7 INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Swazi Police Chief snubs union
25 November 2016
Swazilands National Police Commissioner Isaac Magagula has reacted angrily to a request
from the Police Staff Association that its executive committee be recognised.
The Associations executive was elected on 13 July 2016, but so far has not been acknowledged
by the Swazi police chief.
Magagula took exception that Staff Association President Isaac Kaire Lukhele had spoken to
the Swazi Observer newspaper about the matter.
The Observer reported on Wednesday (24 November 2016), The National Commissioner has
since decided to remind Kaire and his executive to be careful in the manner they make public
statements.
The newspaper quoted Magagula saying, The language being used makes us suspect this is
not the association we expected to be formed but seemingly they are using unionist language.
Their tone is unacceptable and they should be careful on that. Again, it is a Police Staff
Association and not just a police association and it needs to be corrected.
The newspaper reported, Magagula also said there was no way his office or the national
executive would be put under pressure so as to recognise the Police Staff Association.
There have been attempts in the past to form a trade union for police officers. The Swaziland
Police Union was declared illegal by the Swazi Supreme Court in 2009.
At the time, Secretary General of the Union, Khanyakwezwe Mhlanga had written to the then
Commissioner of Police Edgar Hillary and asked for recognition as a bargaining body of the
police. Hillary refused and insisted that the Police Staff Association was the only authentic
bargaining group for the police.

See also
JUDGE BACKS SWAZI POLICE UNION
SWAZI POLICE REFUSE TO ARREST COLLEAGUES
SWAZI POLICE ATTACK ON VIDEO

Swazi health officers strike threat

12 October 2016
Environmental health officers in Swaziland are threatening to strike if they do not get a salary
review and increased overtime payments.

23

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

About 20 officers from across Swaziland delivered a petition to the Ministry of Health
demanding a salary review and 25 percent overtime.
Secretary of the Swaziland Environmental Health Association (SEHA) Milton Lokothwayo
listed the grievances for the workers, which included shortages of staff, accommodation and
transport. The Observer on Saturday newspaper reported him saying officers often had to do
the work of support staff.
The union gave the Swazi Government 14 days to address their concerns, failing which they
would withhold their services.
Swazi nurses ready to strike
21 October 2016
Nurses in Swaziland gave the Government a seven-day strike ultimatum on Wednesday (19
October 2016) as they protested for more jobs to be created.
The Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) said there was about one nurse for every
1,000 people in Swaziland when the World Health Organisation recommended the figure
should be five.
SWADU delivered a petition to the Prime Ministers Office. SWADNU President Bheki
Mamba told local media that if government did not respond to the demands the association
would shut down hospitals and clinics.
The Times of Swaziland reported Mamba saying there was a gross shortage of nurses in the
country and the nurses had to put up with long hours.
The petition read in part, On shortage of nurses, the government of Swaziland must improve
the number of skilled nurses from the 1:1000 ratio to at least 5:1000 as per the recommendation
of the World Health Organisation.
Government must immediately create posts for nurses to curb the shortage in the medium run.
It should also reduce the vacancy rate of the established posts to zero by employing all nurses
who have just qualified as we are of the view that there are no supplies constrains in nursing in
the country.
Last week, Environmental health officers in Swaziland threatened to strike if they did not get
a salary review and increased overtime payments.

Unpaid nurses and staff strike

27 October 2016
Nurses and support staff at a major hospital in Swaziland walked off work on Wednesday (26
October 2016) because they had not been paid.
It happened at Good Shepherd Hospital in Siteki.
Management blamed the Swazi Government which had not passed on money for salaries.

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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

Nurses and support staff resolved to stay away from wards pending payment. Senior staff,
supervisors and doctors had to take care of patients. Last month (September 2016), salaries
were also delayed and the workers were paid after taking similar strike action.

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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

8 MEDIA
Self-censorship at Times newspaper
10 November 2016
The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, censored itself
heavily in a report about exploitation of sugar workers to deflect criticism away from the
absolute monarch King Mswati III.
This trend of misinformation has been continuing at the newspaper for years.
The Times said on Monday (7 November 2016), The new International Trade Union
Confederation (ITUC) report is called Swazi gold.
In fact, the report was called, King Mswatis gold: Workers rights and land confiscation
in Swazilands sugar sector.
The Times reported that ITUC said many companies made big profits from sugar. The
newspaper added, Sugar cane production has brought about more human suffering than
development in Swaziland. Many people have been evicted and the general conditions in the
sugar industry are atrocious.
Not once did the Times report that the blame for the problem was put squarely on King Mswati.
The Times did not report the opening sentences of the ITUC report that said, On 12 April 1973,
King Sobhuza II decreed a national state of emergency thereby assuming total control over all
aspects of Swazi public life. Political parties were banned and political activism was
criminalised. Though the state of emergency was lifted in 2005, little has changed. The royal
family has used Tibiyo Taka Ngwane, established in 1968 as a development fund, as the means
to control the Swazi economy and to amass a large fortune.
Tibiyo Taka Ngwane controls the sugar industry in Swaziland.
The ITUC report added, The King is the sole trustee of Tibiyo and the fund is immune from
all judicial review. As such, Tibiyo is able to compete unfairly in the economy, undermining
local business and discouraging much-needed foreign investment (FDI).
It added, However, for workers employed in the sugar industry, the sector has no such lustre;
instead, workers live in extreme poverty despite long hours and hard work generating wealth
for the King. Trade union activities are highly repressed, and laws such as the Sedition and
Subversive Activities Act, 1938, Public Order Act of 1963 and the Suppression of Terrorism
Act of 2008 are used to suppress trade union activity.
This is not the first time newspapers in Swaziland have censored themselves in order to shield
their readers from criticism about King Mswati. The Swazi Observer group of newspapers is
owned by Tibiyo Taka Ngwane, and thereby the King. It was described by the Media Institute
of Southern Africa in a report on press freedom in Swaziland as a pure propaganda machine
for the royal family.
It is impossible to know how much censorship and self-censorship takes place in Swaziland
because it is hidden. Occasionally, newspapers are found out.

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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

In January 2014, CNN reported about US President Barack Obamas criticism of Swaziland
and its King. Obama was speaking at the tribute to the life of Nelson Mandela.
The Times was reporting a commentary written by Frida Ghitis and published online by CNN,
the international cable news channel. The newspaper reported that Ghitis said Freedom House,
an international human rights organisation, described Swaziland as a failed state.
But, that is not what Ghitis actually wrote. She said Freedom House called Swaziland a failed
feudal state, which is something quite different. By deliberately changing the sense of the
statement, the Times deflected the criticism away from the King.
The newspaper also did not report that Ghitis also referred in her article to, dictators and their
right-hand men who were present at the tribute to Mandela.
Ghitis wrote, but the Times did not report, It included the likes of Swaziland Prime Minister
[Barnabas] Sibusiso Dlamini, representing the small kingdom described by Freedom House as
a failed feudal state, where the king uses photos of beautiful girls to attract tourists,
distracting outsiders from Swaziland's shocking realities of oppression, abject poverty, hunger
and disease.
In March 2013, the Times Sunday, the Times of Swaziland companion newspaper, distorted a
report from what it called the reputable Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in South Africa
about Swazilands parliamentary election that was due in 2013.
It reported ISS saying that there could be violence around the time of the election, as a result
of public dissatisfaction, stemming particularly from among other things, governments
unsatisfactory activity in the year 2012.
The Times Sunday reported, It said such had worsened and had also been exacerbated by the
governments failure to heed demands from the unions for reduced expenditure and a pro-poor
budget.
But, in fact, what the ISS report, called Swazilands non-party political system and the 2013
Tinkhundla elections, actually said was, Public dissatisfaction in 2012 has been exacerbated
by the governments failure to heed demands from the unions for reduced royal expenditure
and a pro-poor budget. The Times deliberately censored the word royal to distort the meaning
of the sentence.
The previous month in February 2013, the Times of Swaziland newspaper once again misled
its readers by misrepresenting a report from KPMG Services Proprietary Limited on the
kingdom by international business consultants that criticised King Mswati for the political
crisis that had stagnated the economy and said protesters were calling for the King to give up
his power as an absolute monarch.
The report said that if banned political parties were allowed to contest that years national
election and they won a majority of seats, it is possible that the King would respond by
revoking the constitution and trying to rule by decree.

27

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

The Times reported that international consultants had issued a gloomy report on the
kingdoms prospects from 2012 to 2016. According to the newspaper, KPMG predicted
prodemocracy protests would take place in Swaziland over the coming year.
This is what the Times reported KPMG saying, Although the protests have been sparked by
the fiscal crisis, they reflect a range of deeper-rooted issues: the mismanagement of public
money and governments stubborn resistance to calls for democratic reform.
But, this is what KPMG actually said, Although the protests have been sparked by the fiscal
crisis, they reflect a range of deeper-rooted issues: the extravagance of the royals and the
political elite, the mismanagement of public money and the governments stubborn resistance
to calls for democratic reform.
Top of the list for the reasons behind protests in Swaziland were, according to KPMG, the
extravagance of the royals.
Again, in October 2012, the Times Sunday distorted a story about UK Prime Minister David
Cameron and freedom and democracy in the kingdom, to deflect criticism away from the King.
The newspaper carried a report saying that Cameron had responded to a petition from the Swazi
Vigil, a prodemocracy group in the UK.
According to the Times Sunday, the petition read in part, Exiled Swazis and supporters urge
you to put pressure on (the Swazi government) to allow political freedom, freedom of the press,
rule of law, respect for women and affordable AIDS drugs in Swaziland.
The newspaper inserted the words the Swazi government into the petition to make it seem
that it was Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini and his cabinet that was being criticised.
In fact, the petition sent to Cameron in May 2012 actually read, Petition to the British
Government: Exiled Swazis and supporters urge you to put pressure on absolute monarch King
Mswati III to allow political freedom, freedom of the press, rule of law, respect for women and
affordable AIDs drugs in Swaziland.
The Swazi Vigil made it very clear that it was criticising absolute monarch King Mswati III.
In September 2011, the Times censored itself when it reported on a US Embassy cable that said
King Mswati III was advised by dishonest and uneducated people.
The newspaper was reporting on a cable sent by Earl Irvine, US Ambassador to Swaziland, in
December 2009 and leaked by whistleblowing website Wikileaks.
The cable reported Irvine saying he was told by Prince David, a half brother of King Mswati,
who was also a former Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, that because of the
dishonest and uneducated people around him the King received bad advice.
But, what the Times did not report was the criticism Prince David made about King Mswati
himself. Prince David in effect called the King a liar and said that the international community
should not trust him.
The cable from Irvine said, Prince David emphasized that what the King says to foreign leaders
cannot be relied upon, because he always deflects and temporizes to bring pressure off himself.

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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

The Times of Swaziland is scared of King Mswati and knows that is it criticises the monarch
he will close it down. In April 2007, the Times Sunday published a minor criticism of King
Mswati, sourced from an international news agency. The king went ballistic and told the Times
publisher Paul Loffler he would close the paper down unless people responsible for the
publication at the paper were sacked and the newspaper published an abject apology to the
king. These things were done.
The Times Sunday and other media in Swaziland constantly mislead their readers and audiences
about how King Mswati is viewed outside his kingdom. In May 2012, there was widespread
criticism against King Mswatis invitation to join a lunch in London to mark the Diamond
Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth IIs reign.
There were street demonstrations in London against the King and prodemocracy campaigners
drew attention to the lack of freedoms in Swaziland and the lavish lifestyle the King enjoyed,
while seven in ten of his subjects languished in absolute poverty, earning less than US$2 a day.
Inkhosikati LaMbikiza one of the kings 13 wives who accompanied him to the lunch wore
shoes costing 995 (US$1,559), the equivalent of more than three years income for 70 percent
of Swazi people. The total cost of the Kings trip was estimated to be at least US$794,500.
The Times Sunday, reported at the time that Inkhosikati LaMbikiza had rave reviews from
the Daily Mail newspaper in London for her dress sense, but omitted to say the same newspaper
also reported, Guests from controversial regimes include Swazilands King Mswati III, who
has been accused of living an obscenely lavish lifestyle while many of his people starve.
There was similar criticism a year earlier in April 2011 when King Mswati went to the wedding
of Prince William and Kate Middleton. The Times newspaper in South Africa reported at the
time, The controversial absolute monarch, whose country is ranked among the poorest in the
world, spent much of this week playing hide-and-seek with prodemocracy demonstrators
tailing him across London. The King was forced to change his hotel to avoid pickets.
The Swazi media failed to report any of this, but did say that King Mswati had been welcomed
by business people in the UK.

See also
HUMAN SUFFERING AND SWAZI SUGAR
KING EXPLOITS SUGAR WORKERS
PAPER DISTORTS STORY TO PROTECT KING
TIMES MISLEADS ON KINGS LONDON VISIT

29

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

Political bar in Swazi Broadcast Bill
23 November 2016
People in Swaziland who are affiliated to any political group will not be granted radio or
television broadcasting licences in a proposed law.
Swaziland is controlled by King Mswati III who is sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch.
Broadcasting and newspapers in the kingdom are already heavily restricted. Political parties
are not allowed to contest elections and those that advocate for democracy are in effect banned
in Swaziland.
The Swaziland Broadcasting Bill was discussed by stakeholders at a workshop organised by
the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology at the Royal Swazi Sun
Convention Centre.
The Principal Secretary to the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology,
Sikelela Dlamini, said the definition of what was meant by political group would be included
in the Bill, before it was tabled to parliament.
The move is not unexpected. At present, nearly all broadcasting in Swaziland is state
controlled. Swaziland Broadcasting and Information Service (SBIS) oversees state radio
stations. The only independent radio is Voice of the Church, a Christian station that does not
carry news.
There are only two TV stations in the kingdom, the state-controlled Swazi TV and the
independent Channel S, which has a publicly-stated policy of supporting King Mswati.
Most people in Swaziland get their news and information from radio. Newspapers hardly
penetrate rural areas where more than 70 percent of the population lives and television is too
expensive for most people.
Currently, broadcasters in Swaziland serve the interests of the ruling elites and not those of the
people. No criticism is allowed on the airwaves of the status quo in Swaziland. Any criticism
of the ruling elite is seen as non-Swazi. The Prime Minister of the day is editor-in-chief of
the Swazi broadcasting and can decide what goes on the air and what does not.
There are only two daily newspapers in Swaziland, One, the Swazi Observer, is in effect owned
by King Mswati. It was described by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) in a report
on media freedom in the kingdom as, a pure propaganda machine for the royal family.

See also
SWAZI BROADCASTING WILL NOT BE FREED

30

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

9 TRADE
Limited support from E.U. on trade
13 October 2016
More than four in ten Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) did not support
Swazilands inclusion in a trade partnership deal.
European Union Ambassador to Swaziland Nicola Bellomo said many MEPs wanted
Swaziland excluded because of human rights violations.
In a recent vote, 417 MEPs endorsed Swazilands inclusion in the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) European Union (EU) Economic Partnership Agreement.
However, 216 MEPs voted against and a further 118 abstained from voting.
Bellomo told the Sunday Observer (9 October 2016), a newspaper in Swaziland in effect owned
by King Mswati III, that those who wanted the kingdom to be excluded cited human rights
violations. He gave the jailing of the Nation magazine editor Bheki Makhubu and Human rights
lawyer Thulani Maseko on sedition charges as examples.
The Observer reported the EU ambassador said this should be a wake-up call to Swaziland.
The new trade agreement opens SADC goods to the European markets duty free.
In May 2015, the European Parliament voted for the release of all political prisoners in
Swaziland and called for the kingdom, where King Mswati rules as sub-Saharan Africas last
absolute monarch, to be monitored for its human rights record.
A statement issued by the European Parliament said, Parliament considers the imprisonment
of political activists and the banning of trade unions to be in clear contravention of
commitments made by Swaziland under the Cotonou Agreement to respect democracy, the rule
of law and human rights, and also under the sustainable development chapter of the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) Economic Partnership Agreement, for which
Parliaments support will depend on respect for the commitments made.
The resolution was passed by 579 votes to six, with 58 abstentions.
In January 2015, the United States withdrew Swazilands trading benefits under the Africa
Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA) after the kingdom refused to accept democratic change.

See also
GOVT ACCUSES E.U. OF POLITICAL RAPE
ECONOMY SLUMP AFTER TRADE SANCTIONS

31

Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

10 TREASURY DEPARTMENT
Billions missing in Treasury banks
17 November 2016
The Swaziland Government Treasury Department bank accounts have a shortfall of E5.1
billion (US$360 million).
Independent auditors fear there may have been fraud, misappropriation and embezzlement.
A forensic report undertaken by Kobla Quashie Consultants found the shortfall between what
was in the bank accounts and other financial records.
The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom where King
Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch, reported that, this has put
the spotlight on wholly unacceptable banking reconciliation systems at the Treasury
Department.
The newspaper quoted Kobla Quashie saying, It should be stated that the amounts noted as
differences are so significant that it renders the annual treasury accounts submitted to
Parliament and other government agencies inaccurate and misleading.
It added that the suspected reconciliation was done for the sake of administrative
convenience and had created doubt over the entire process, but has also opened a window
for fraud, misappropriation and embezzlement.
Call to probe Treasury Department
22 November 2016
Trade unionists in Swaziland have called for an official inquiry after it was revealed that
E5.1billion (US$360 million) was unaccounted for in Treasury Department bank accounts.
The Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) called on the Swazi Prime Minister
Barnabas Dlamini to launch an inquiry headed by a judicial officer of national repute or a
judicial inquiry.
The missing E5.1 billion was highlighted during an audit of the Accountant Generals office
by Kobla Quashie and Associates. The independent auditors feared there may have been
fraud, misappropriation and embezzlement.
TUCOSWA Secretary General Vincent Ncongwane in a statement said, Failure to address
this matter will leave us with no option but to call for a national shutdown in order that the
due importance and urgency of the matter is appreciated.
TUCOSWA estimated the missing funds amounted to more than 35 percent of the national
budget of Swaziland.

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The following was taken from the Swazi Observer newspaper dated 24 November 2016. It did
not appear online. The Swazi Observer is in effect owned by King Mswati III, Swazilands
absolute monarch. In the past it has been described by the Media Institute of Southern Africa
(MISA) in a report on media freedom in the kingdom as, a pure propaganda machine for the
royal family.

What E5.1 billion fraud? - Govt

Swazi observer 24 November 2016
We wish to clarify that there is nowhere in the draft report compiled by Kobla Quashie and
Associates where there is mention of any embezzlement of funds nor fraud amounting to E5.1
billion or any misappropriation nor missing funds totaling E5.1 billion.
THE ministry of finance is disputing reports there is embezzlement of funds or fraud amounting
to E5.1 billion at the office of the accountant generals office.
This transpired in a joint press statement issued by the ministry of finance and Kobla Quashie
and Associates to clear the dubious report yesterday.
Following the publication of a series of articles on the above mentioned subject matter in the
Times of Swaziland of the 12th, 14th, 17th and 21stNovember 2016, the ministry of finance
and the audit firm appointed to undertake the audit of the office of the accountant general,
Kobla Quashie and Associates, would like to clear some misinterpretations surrounding the
forensic report of this audit exercise, states the statement.
Funds
The statement points out that the report was misquoted. It states that the report is still in draft
form and remains confidential pending clearance by Cabinet.
We wish to clarify that there is nowhere in the draft report compiled by Kobla Quashie and
Associates where there is mention of any embezzlement of funds nor fraud amounting to E5.1
billion or any misappropriation nor missing funds totaling E5.1 billion.
It is on these grounds that we feel the publication was not only incorrect but very misleading
by insinuating there is suspected fraud of E5.1 billion, it said.
The statement further clarified that what the draft report mentioned was there is lack of
reconciliation of the accounts, a need for the reconciliation of the accounts and that the
Government of Swaziland should entrust certain accountants to carry out the reconciliation so
as to have accurate accounts.
To the stakeholders and partners of the Government of Swaziland, we wish to convey our
sincere apologies and sadness for publication of such misleading information and regret any
inconvenience caused in this regard, the statement said.
The articles cited a number of irregularities in some accounts in the report. It outlined that the
report shows significant differences in reconciliation. The article states that the report noted an

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unexplained difference of E85 294 660.05 on the general account, an unexplained difference
of E4 759 411 052.80 in the salaries account, an unexplained
difference of E19 186 560.23 on the development fund, an unexplained difference of E18 141
649.67 community development fund, an unexplained difference of E8 899 382.13 on the
regional development fund, an unexplained difference of E7 128 196.03 again on the Regional
Development Fund, an unexplained difference of E741 456.37 on the Tinkhundla
Empowerment Fund and an unexplained difference of E606 750.91, again on the Tinkhundla
Empowerment Fund.
It further cited an unexplained difference of E99 098 899.94 on the Strategic Oil Reserve Fund,
an unexplained difference of E3 843 984. 36 on the Disaster Relief Fund account, an
unexplained difference of E6 255 890.46 again on the Disaster Relief Fund, an unexplained
difference of E6 056.77 on the Sibhimbi Fund, an unexplained difference of E1 559 934.77 on
the Resettlement Fund account, an unexplained difference of E104 231.32 again on the
Resettlement Fund account.
It also stated that there was an unexplained difference of E74 186 315.52 on the Ordinary Call
Account, an unexplained difference of E57 397 949.17 on the 17 cashiers account.
The article stated that the P.M.U account had no bank reconciliation but only bank statement
transactions were provided.

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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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

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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

Publications from Swazi Media Commentary available online free-of-charge

BOOKS

2013. The beginning of the End? 2012, a year in the struggle for democracy in
Swaziland
This compilation of newsletters from Africa Contact in collaboration with Swazi Media
Commentary contains an assortment of news, analysis and comment covering the campaign
for freedom in Swaziland throughout 2012. These include the Global Action for Democracy
held in September; campaigns for democracy spearheaded by trade unions and students and
the continuing struggle for rights for women, children, gays and minority groups.

2012. The End of the Beginning? 2011, a year in the struggle for freedom in Swaziland
This book looks at activities in the freedom movement in 2011. It starts with a section on the
unsuccessful April 12 Uprising followed by separate chapters looking at events in each month
of 2011, including the Global Week of Action held in September. They also highlight the
numerous violations of rights suffered by the poor, by children, by women and by sexual
minorities, among others, in the kingdom.

2011. Voices Unheard: Media Freedom and Censorship in Swaziland.

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

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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

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

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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

SWAZILAND: STRIVING FOR FREEDOM
PREVIOUS EDITIONS

Volume 13: Jan 2014 to March 2014, is available free of charge here
Volume 14: April to June 2014, is available free of charge here
Volume 15: July to September 2014, is available free of charge here
Volume 16: October to December 2014, is available free of charge here
Volume 17: January to March 2015, is available free of charge here
Volume 18: April to June 2015, is available free of charge here
Volume 19: July to September 2015 is available free of charge here.
Volume 20: October to December 2015 is available free of charge here.
Volume 21: January to March 2016 is available free of charge here.
Volume 22: April to June 2016 is available free of charge here.
Volume 23: July to September 2016 is available free of charge here.
OTHER VOLUMES
Volume 1, Jan 2013, is available free of charge here.
Volume 2, Feb 2013, is available free of charge here.
Volume 3, March 2013, is available free of charge here.
Volume 4, April 2013, is available free of charge here.
Volume 5, May 2013, is available free of charge here.
Volume 6, June 2013, is available free of charge here.
Volume 7, July 2013, is available free of charge here.
Volume 8, August 2013, is available free of charge here.
Volume 9, September 2013, is available free of charge here
Volume 10, October 2013, is available free of charge here
Volume 11, November 2013, is available free of charge here
Volume 12, December 2013, is available free of charge here

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Swaziland: Striving for Freedom

Swazi Media Commentary

Containing information and
commentary about human rights in
Swaziland
Click Here

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