Swaziland

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is shocked and disappointed at the announcement from the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) that the SA government has guaranteed a R2.4 billion loan from the SARB to the Central Bank of Swaziland.

COSATU remains firmly opposed to any loan which will bail out the cruel dictatorship of King Mswati III, and leave his corrupt, anti-democratic regime in power.

The King and his elite must take full responsibility for the economic crisis. Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan refers to the lack of fiscal and broader public sector reforms, and the budget shortfall which the government cannot finance. But he fails to acknowledge that this crisis has arisen because of the looting of the economy by the royal family and a small elite so they can maintain their luxurious lifestyle, while the cost of this crisis has fallen on the shoulders of the workers and the poor.

The minister’s statement mentions some very vague conditions to the loan, but they come nowhere close to the demands being made by the people of Swaziland for democracy, human rights and an end to the parasitic monarchy.

It merely talks of “broadening the dialogue process to include all stakeholders and citizens”, “agreeing on milestones and timeframes:”, “allowing the parties to the Swazi dialogue to determine appropriate reforms” and “agreeing to ensure that the above processes take place in a conducive environment that is open and enjoys legitimacy among the people of Swaziland and the region.”

These are the same conditions agreed in 2004 when the governments of South Africa and Swaziland signed a Joint Bilateral Agreement, yet seven years later Swaziland remains a dictatorship, where human rights are ruthlessly suppressed!

Even worse, Pravin Gordhan states that “the government of SA aligns its financial support and conditions to those of the IMF, the World Bank and the African Development Bank”. Yet recently the Swazi government made a commitment to the IMF to cut 7,000 jobs in the public sector to help ease its possibilities for securing a loan from them.

As always with loans from such capitalist financial institutions, it is the workers and the poor who must pay the price for their rulers’ profligacy.

So long as there are no strict conditions to compel the regime to concede democratic reforms and to share the country’s wealth among the people, the loan will simply be used to perpetuate the status quo. Mswati’s lavish lifestyle and the royal family’s extravagance, impunity and lack of accountability will continue unabated, while the conditions of misery for the majority get even worse.

There should be no bail-out for a regime which has plunged the country into the mess it finds itself in today and which is still to account to the Swazi people why the economy has collapsed in a country so well endowed naturally. Any bail-out should have been conditional upon a democratic transformation and rebuilding of the economy under a democratic, transparent and accountable process.

At present the people of Swaziland live under a state of emergency that bans political parties and outlaws all forms of political activity, including people’s rights and freedoms to organise, associate and speak on issues affecting the country and their lives. Only members of the royal family and their friends have rights in Swaziland; the rest of the people are objects of royal slavery and economic exploitation by the tinkhundla system.

We support the demands of the people of Swaziland - the workers, women, youth and rural landless masses, and the political movements and churches. Through mass action and organised resistance, they have openly declared their untiring commitment to a society based on respect for human dignity, democracy and social justice.

For their commitment to these noble ideals, they have become victims of extreme police brutality and torture, state violence and persecution by agents of royal rule. They have been arrested, forced into exile, thrown out of their land of birth, lost their jobs and means of livelihood, and denied opportunities in every way possible.

COSATU supports the call by the Swazi progressive forces to intensify their struggle on the ground and stand ready to offer solidarity in action. We call, on all democracy-loving people are called upon to stand up and join the march to a new, democratic Swaziland. Our demands, which are not separate from the demands of the struggling people of Swaziland, are:

• A democratically elected National Constitutional Forum
• Unbanning of political parties
• Unconditional release of all political prisoners and the return of all exiles
• Immediate removal of all laws that prohibit free political activities and ban the rights to associate, organise and speak freely.

There must be no bail out from South Africa until all these demands have been met!

Patrick Craven
National Spokesperson
Congress of South African Trade Unions
1-5 Leyds Cnr Biccard Streets
Braamfontein
2017

P O Box 1019
Johannesburg
South Africa
Tel: 011 339 4911/24
Fax: 011 339 5080 / 6940
Mobile: 082 821 7456
E-mail: patrick@cosatu.org.za

For more about COSATU, refer to www.cosatu.org.za.

To view other NGO press releases, refer to www.ngopulse.org/group/home-page/pressreleases.

Three Swaziland-based NGOs in the country have appealed to the South African government to look at a number of things before granting a bailout to that country.

In a press statement, the Swaziland Democratic Front, Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations and the Coordinating Assembly of Non-Governmental Organisations, the NGOs appealed to SA not to consider the desperate request of the government of Swaziland for financial bailout.

They argue that under the Tinkhundla system of governance, which parades itself as a traditional and cultural based system of governance, 60 percent of the national revenue is spent on 20 percent of the population.

They further state that corruption is wide-spread, adding that the country’s finance minister estimates that E80 million is stolen from government coffers every month.

To read the article titled, “Do not grant loan to Swaziland – local NGOs,” click here.

The government of King Mswati III of Swaziland is accusing NGOs and foreign diplomats of consorting with ‘the enemy’.
 
Public Works Minister, Nthutuko Dlamini, has been quoted as saying that, “We say people should disassociate themselves from the banned political parties - or whatever you call them - then we find some of you, Your Excellencies, sitting and having dinner with these people."
 
Dlamini told the diplomats that countries should not provide financial assistance to NGOs that have anti-government agendas, but should instead make those donations directly to the government.
 
To read the article titled, “NGOs accused of being with 'the enemy',” click here.

The Swazi Trade Union Movement is undertaking Global Days of Action on 16 and 17 November to raise awareness and demand for human rights and justice for the people of Swaziland. CIVICUS extends its whole-hearted support to Swazi civil society in this endeavour and remains deeply concerned about the freedom of civil society in the country.

“Swaziland is Africa’s last absolute monarchy and the government’s tight control and frequent crackdowns on opposition parties and pro-democracy movements are unacceptable in today’s world,” said Ingrid Srinath, Secretary General of CIVICUS. “It is high time the government accepts the legitimate aspirations of the people of Swaziland to enjoy democratic rights.”

The space for civil society to freely express, associate and assemble remains constrained in Swaziland.  Statements in the press on 19 October by Swazi Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini outlined his intentions to propose legislation to force columnists to request prior permission before publishing comments that criticise the government. The Prime Minister stated that columnists write pieces that are harmful to the image of the country and that they receive compensation from foreign sources with interests in Swaziland. The Prime Minister’s statement insinuates that newspaper pieces which are critical of the government will be censored before they are published.

Enactment of such a law will breach freedom of expression guarantees in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the country’s own Constitution. Moreover, it would repudiate the aims and objectives of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Commonwealth, of which Swaziland is a member.

“CIVICUS remains deeply concerned about the censorship of the press in Swaziland and the frequent government crackdowns on pro-democracy demonstrations organised by civil society groups,” says David Kode, Policy Officer at CIVICUS. “The Swazi security forces have used the Suppression of Terrorism Act, enacted in November 2008, to justify the use of force and intimidation in suppressing dissent, including demonstrations.”

In September 2010, security forces disrupted pro-democracy demonstrations, detaining and releasing some activists without charge and deporting foreign human rights activists and trade unionists in the country to show solidarity with Swazi civil society. The government approved these actions, claiming that intimidation and torture are tools for government use to suppress opposition to the state and those acting on behalf of foreign forces.

CIVICUS urges the Swazi government to respect the rights of the people of Swaziland to express democratic dissent and demand the reform of authoritarian institutions.

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation is a global movement of civil society with members and partners in over a hundred countries.  The Civil Society Watch (CSW) Project of CIVICUS tracks threats to civil society freedoms of expression, association and assembly across the world.  In 2009, CSW tracked threats to civil society in over 75 countries around the globe.

For more information please contact CIVICUS:

Jessica Hume
Communications Manager
Tel: +27 11 833 5959
Mobile: +27 82 768 0250
E-mail: jessica.hume@civicus.org

David Kode
Policy Officer
Tel: +27 11 833 5959
Mobile: +27 73 775 8649
E-mail: david.kode@civicus.org