Swaziland Home of Africa's Forgotten Despot

From yesterdays Morningstar



"If you were asked what you knew about Swaziland, what would be your response? What do you know about this small country of less than a million people located between Mozambique and South Africa?


As the Scottish Trades Union Congress delegate on a recent ACTSA visit to southern Africa, I had little knowledge of Swaziland.

What I saw in this beautiful country shocked and saddened me. Seventeen years after the overthrow of apartheid, another people in southern Africa are suffering under a brutal tyranny, relatively unnoticed by the world.

Swaziland is an absolute monarchy that has been ruled by King Mswati (pictured) since 1986.

The Forbes Rich List named him in the top 15 of the world's richest royals, with a personal fortune that is in excess of $100 million, enabling him to provide palaces and new BMWs for his 14 wives.

Three-quarters of the country's land is effectively owned by the king and administered by the local chiefs. With the government handpicked, the parliament has increased the king's budget by 60 per cent in the last two years.

According to the US government about "40 per cent of the government's workforce is allocated to security."

In stark contrast two-thirds of the people survive on less than $1.25 a day.

Swaziland has the world's highest HIV rate and half the population dies before 40.

Perhaps the saddest statistic is that one in 12 of all Swazi are orphaned children.

This is compounded by the growing economic crisis. The government is threatening to cut 7,000 jobs, pushing thousands deeper into poverty, while spending increases on the king and his friends.

The bedfellow of this poverty is political tyranny. Swaziland has the unenviable achievement of having a worse record on political rights than Zimbabwe.

Political parties are banned and it has endured a state of emergency since 1973.

Opponents of the regime are often arrested, tortured or even murdered as the main opposition is declared "terrorist" under the repressive Suppression of Terrorism Act.

Swazi NUS president Maxwell Dlamini and Musa Ngebuni of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) are still behind bars awaiting trial following their arrest before protests held in April.

Women are subjected to horrendous levels of gender-based violence.

A 2009 survey revealed that almost a third of women and girls aged 13 to 24 had experienced sexual violence before their 18th birthday.

The law provides no protection for women from domestic violence or rape by their husbands.

The laws governing marriage ensure that women are treated as second-class citizens. Married women are denied the right to own property and widows are unable to inherit property if they are forced from their homes by their husband's relatives.

However, the people of Swaziland have continued to struggle for democracy.

The trade unions, despite their leaders being regularly arrested and harassed, have held regular strikes and protests.

Women and students have formed groups to campaign for democracy and rights and an underground pro-democracy party Pudemo was formed in 1983.

Despite constant harassment, including the arrest of one leader, Sipho Jele, who died in custody in May 2010 imprisoned for wearing a protest T-shirt, they have grown in strength.

In 2008 King Mswati held lavish celebrations costing millions of dollars to mark his 40th birthday and 40 years of independence, but the people of Swaziland responded by organising the country's biggest pro-democracy protests with 10,000 crowding the streets of the Manzini and reassembling in the capital Mbabane the next day.

The pro-democracy movement in Swaziland has called for smart sanctions, including the denial of international travel for the royal family and their lackeys, a ban on investment in companies controlled by the regime and an embargo on military sales to Swaziland.

Until now the devastating situation in Swaziland has largely gone unnoticed by the international community, but gradually more and more voices across the world are beginning to speak out.

Swaziland needs our solidarity now. The voices of the Swazi people's struggle must be heard as Swaziland is still the land of the forgotten despot.

While there we listened, humbled, as student leaders told us of the daily danger of death or imprisonment, but they left us in no doubt that they will continue to fight until Swaziland is free.

The international labour movement must support them in their continuing struggle for political and economic freedom.

In solidarity we must advance to strengthen the trade union and pro-democracy movements building upon partnerships and projects that have raised the profile and capacity-building of trade unions and civil society in Swaziland to bring about change.

Action for Southern Africa, the successor organisation to the British Anti-Apartheid Movement, is one of the few organisations campaigning for democracy and rights in solidarity with the people of Swaziland. If you want to get involved in supporting the fight for democracy in Swaziland contact ACTSA www.actsa.org"

Still its not all bad for local Swazi's as the above article mentions the police are
a good employer with 40% of the state workforce being in blue uniform and as we can see from the pictures below that the money in policing is if nothing else well spent.






I know I sound like a broken record sometimes but thank Christ for the Morning Star. The only time outside of blogs and the Star I've ever heard of Swaziland was a BBC documentary about Southern African snakes (Black Mamba's if your curious).

There is some good news,the "Arab spring" also inspired many non Arab Africans to rise up in many countries, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Malawi, and Swaziland amongst many others.

A petition on Change.org for the realise of National Union of Students President Maxwell Dlamini.
http://www.change.org/petitions/office-of-king-mswati-iii-release-political-prisoner-president-of-swazilands-nus-maxwell-dlamini#

And the E-mail section of ACTSA to the high commissioner (Swaziland is still a Commonwealth member nation despite having a worse record on political freedoms and human rights then Fiji (Membership suspended) and Zimbabwe (kicked out) which to me seems an odd omission not many people know too much about Swaziland but you'd think the men in the suits at the Commonwealth office would be aware of what goes on in a member state, and doesn't Swaziland's continued membership make the tough stance taken against Fiji and Zimbabwe and give some creditability to Robert Mugabe's claims that he and his nation are the victims of a "Neo-colonialist plot" to break his proud patriotic African regime? Surely the last thing the Commonwealth wants to do is make Mugabe look like a victim or to be seen as biased against Independent Africans?

Spot the Difference time, ones a harsh tyrant undeserving of civilised company, the others and long term friend and ally who never put a foot wrong, but which is which?


You know what makes this omission evening more galling is that its not even a case were two nations are at odds and we have to pick either the lesser evil or at least the most pragmatic option. Swaziland is one of the few nations to stick to Zimbabwe through thick and thin.

"President Mugabe praised the king’s visit, saying that it was “rare and historic”, while also mentioning that it was wonderful that the king could, “associate with ordinary people”. This is the first time that a royal has visited a farm in Zimbabwe, according to the president.

The two leaders have vowed to support each other, and have promised to work together in the future to benefit their nations."

Fortunately though the dissident networks in both nations also share a close relationship.

"We cannot leave out the Global Zimbabwe Forum who, have continued to ensure that Comrade Solomon Sox Chikohwero represents them among the throngs of pro-democracy Swazis in the streets of Mbabane, Manzini, Nhlangano, Siteki, etc."


In fact why don't we write to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Email is here info@humanrightsinitiative.org, and ask what if anything there actually doing in regards to Swaziland.