Swaziland@Newsletter 63
Published by Africa Contact (Denmark)

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colony. People of Swaziland. Images of power. Women of the land.
Children. Men of the land. The struggle for democracy. Images of a
democratic movement.
_____________________________

1. The case of Swaziland. For AU Commission on Human and People?s
Rights 44th session to be held in Swaziland from 7-22 May, 2008.

2. Commonwealth in bed with the Swazi government: PUDEMO. Lucky
Lukhele, 5 May 2008.

3. Memorandum from the South African Progressive Forces for
international solidarity.

4. Migrant mineworkers seek to invest in SD. By Teetee Zwane. The
Swazi Observer, May 5, 2008.

5. Swaziland Army prepares for war. Swazi Media Commentary 4 May 2008.

6. Police and warders may bargain. Sabelo Mamba. The Swazi Observer,
April 30, 2008.

7. Why no outcry over Swazi crisis? Luther Lebelo, Letters, Business
Day, Johannesburg, 30 April 2008.

8. Without the King on Tour. Media Commentary 29 April 2008.

9. Swaziland Coalition calls for Elections and Boundaries Commission
to resign.

10. The business of AIDS. Sex and sensibility. The Economist, May 1st 2008.
_____________________________________

1. The case of Swaziland

As presented to the SADC Civil Society Conference on the 30 April,
2008 in Johannesburg, as part of preparing for the AU Commission on
Human and Peoples Rights 44th session to be held in Swaziland from
07-22 May, 2008.

Bongani Masuku, COSATU International Relations Secretary

Background

- Swaziland as a British protectorate and a surrogate regime in the making.

- The position of Swaziland in the global economy; supplier of raw
material and consumer of finished goods like all former colonies and
third world economies.

- Size of country: 17 000km with a population of about 1, 2m
people, located on the eastern part of the southern tip of Africa,
sandwiched between South Africa and Mozambique.

Why Swaziland is a crisis:

- Political system founded on the basis of royal parasitism and brutal
rule as core pillars of the ruling system; lacking in legitimacy,
stability and progress

- Character and essence of the tinkhundla system: Royal hegemony and
institutionalized aristocratic power. Duality of the state:
Semi-feudal characteristics: traditional system. Neo-colonial
characteristics: Westminster system

- Socio-economic indicators points to a humanitarian disaster;
HIV/AIDS figures estimated at around 38.2%, poverty levels point to
about 75% of people living in conditions of desperation.

Historic evolution of the tinkhundla system:

- Pre-independence era: introduction of capitalist relations through
colonial dispossession.

- The meaning of independence: a client regime assumes power to
supervise conditions of neo-colonial elitism.

- Post-independence architecture: a neo-colonial and semi-feudal
surrogate regime. No change in the accumulation structure and patterns
of ownership, but the integration of a royal minority to act as
gatekeepers of the process of parasitic accumulation through managing
the state as an instrument of capital accumulation for the ruling
class. In essence, the royal bourgeoisification process takes shape.


The structure of Swazi economy and society:

- Exporter of primary commodities, largely sugar and some
agro-products, whose market access and ability to sustain their GDP
value levels is at stake in this era of global neo-liberal crisis.
This is in addition to the relatively small mining base and services
sector.

- About 5% of the population control about 95% of the economy and 95%
of the population share only 5% of the country?s production.

- The economy is characterized by extreme inequalities, massive
poverty and increasing social desperation, with the resultant social
crisis of increasing crime levels, rape and women abuse,
inaccessibility of the majority to health and education facilities.

- Royal parasitism has bled the country?s economy into
non-performance and near total collapse.

- The tinkhundla system has run out of ideas, hence the naked
political bankruptcy to change the situation from the current crisis
point to one of recovery and sustained progress.

The political and constitutional crisis and the imperative of an
effective global solidarity movement

- The monarchy created a pseudo-constitutional process on realization
that its legitimacy was undergoing a serious test, and went to the
extent of trying to co-opt elements within the progressive movement to
cover for the daylight fraud.

- This process, exclusively controlled, designed and driven by the
royal family produced the current constitution which has been rejected
by all progressive forces, PUDEMO in particular.

- The so-called elections this year are meant to be based on this
indisputably fraudulent constitutional process, hence the broad
rejection.

- PUDEMO and the broad progressive forces united under the banner of
the Swaziland United Democratic Front have proclaimed it in clear
terms that only a multiparty elections would deliver and would be
worthy of participation. The days of rendering some amount of
legitimacy to discredited royal projects is over.

- The political climate in the country continue to militate against
legitimate political activities and the rights of the people to assert
and determine their future through transparent, accountable and
democratic participation in the affairs of their country.

- COSATU and the broad progressive movement in South Africa have
consistently demonstrated their determination to intensify their
support for the oppressed and struggling people of Swaziland, working
together with other genuine comrades all over the world, such as in
Denmark, Netherlands and Britain.

- We need to redesign and build an effective global solidarity
movement to raise international awareness, focus and support for the
Swazi people.

- COSATU shall be hosting a Conference on Zimbabwe and Swaziland at
the beginning of August this year, as part of our own effort to
continue raising the banner of democracy for the sister peoples of
these two countries, the cousins in arms against their own people.

- We are pleased to hear that May day shall be held jointly by all
the federations and unions of Swaziland, a giant step towards the
unity of workers. We pledge to support such noble efforts, for only
through the unity of workers can the struggle of the Swazi people be
won.

- We also are encouraged by the initiative towards a United
Democratic Front in Swaziland, involving all progressive forces ranged
against the tinkhundla regime. These are the sort of initiatives that
will encourage and inspire all of us to do more in supporting the
Swazi people?s struggle.

- With these examples, the Swazi people have set a challenge for all
of us to consolidate an even more stronger, better organized and
highly effective global solidarity movement on the issue of Swaziland.
The Zimbabwean solidarity movement have proven that such a movement is
a possibility and fundamental necessity for a sustained and meaningful
global movement in struggle.

The African Commission on Human and People?s Rights must stop
massaging the Mswati regime:

- It is important to also note the adoption of 8th ordinary session
of the Assembly of Heads of states and Government of the African
Union, held in Addis Ababa, Ethopia of the African Charter on
Democracy, Elections and Governance, popularly known as the Democracy
Charter on the 30th January, 2007.

- We further note that Commissioner Faith Pansy Tlakula, has been
assigned by the AU to be responsible for monitoring the human rights
situations of Swaziland, Namibia, Zambia and the Gambia, just like
there are other commissioners dealing with other country groups.

- The relevance of the African Commission to ordinary people on the
continent will only be determined by the extent to which it asserts
itself and the issues affecting our people without apology.

- The African people?s aspirations for democracy and dignity cannot
be held ransom by a few despots who must be the determining factor of
what it means to be African in an era of the renaissance of our continent.

- The session to be held in Swaziland this May should not be one of
those usual ones where there is a lot of general talk and no
substantive engagement of value to the affected people.

- We must build an Africa-wide movement for human rights demanding
firmer action by state actors in order to make the work of the
commission more effective and meaningful to the victims and the world
community of democracy-loving peoples.

- I attended one of the sessions of this commission in 2003 and must
state immediately that I was never impressed, not only by the state
actors of the commission, but also what is supposed to be civil
society itself, many of whom had become apologists of state
institutions.

____________________________

2. Commonwealth in bed with the Swazi government - PUDEMO. Lucky
Lukhele, 5 May 2008.

The Peoples United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) has blamed the
Commonwealth for the problems associated with the Swaziland
constitution. Swaziland is a member of the Commonwealth.

Addressing May Day celebrations at Simunye, PUDEMO President, Mario
Masuku, said the Commonwealth was "in bed with the Swaziland
government" because it legitimised the "flawed" Swazi constitution.
Masuku said it was "disappointing that such an organisation would
agree with the government that the document was well prepared although
certain important stakeholders had misgivings about it".

"The time has come for Swaziland not to be dictated to by
international organisations and start charting their own
destinations," said Masuku, urging workers not to go to the polls in
Swaziland this year.

He said the country had "gone against a lot of international
conventions regarding elections, to which it was signatory".

He also lambasted the Swazi state for the 40/40 double celebrations
meant to celebrate King Mswati III's birthday and that country's 40th
independence.

Masuku: "What are we celebrating? Are we celebrating the poverty and
HIV that is killing this nation? I say let them continue with their
illegitimate election and I promise you that one day when a legitimate
government is in power, there would be a Truth and Reconciliation
Commission where they would be called to answer to their sins".

He urged the workers to stay united, saying nobody could defeat an
opponent on his own. He said that the government did not care
about its workers "save for amassing riches while the workers
languished in poverty in their one roomed flats".

Masuku described the governments as ?"uncaring", recalling a trip made
by Enterprise and Employment Minister Lutfo Dlamini, to Taiwan to
negotiate with textile owners during the textile workers strike in
Swaziland. He said it "defeated logic for the minister to rush to
Taiwan alone and claim to be representing the workers".

____________________________

3. Memorandum from the South African Progressive Forces for
international solidarity.

Libération Afrique, redaction@..., 7 March 2008.


Memorandum from the South African Progressive Forces for international
solidarity, gathered on the 7th day of March 2008 at the Embassy of
Swaziland in support of freedom and democracy in Swaziland, Zimbabwe,
Kenya and for the restoration of civilian political rule in
Myanmar/Burma.


We the people of South Africa, gathered under the banner of the
International Solidarity Forum, led principally by the Congress of
South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist
Party, supported in this action by the Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum in
South Africa, the Swaziland Solidarity Network, the Young Communists
League, the South African NGO Coalition, Free Burma Campaign, End
Occupation Campaign, Western Sahara Solidarity Forum, the
Anti-Privatisation Forum, South African Social Movements and
progressive South African civil society organisations that include
youth, women, labour, faith based institutions, human rights
organisations and student formations that are engaged in the promotion
of principled solidarity, peace, democracy and the respect for human
rights.


We are gathered today with comrades and friends, the working class and
the poor, struggling under the harsh social, political and economic
conditions imposed on the populations of these African countries by
the repressive and corrupt political elite of Zimbabwe, the repressive
Royal dictatorship of Swaziland, the expediency of the Kenyan
political leadership, the horrors of the Myanmar military junta in
Burma, weak and ineffective SADC and AU institutions and the indolence
of the South African Department of Home Affairs and the police.

Together we have marched from the Union Buildings in Pretoria to
assert loudly and clearly to the diplomatic representatives of Kenya,
Swaziland and Zimbabwe that enough is enough. Democracy is supposed to
enable the expression of the will of the majority. It is one of the
few mechanisms by which leaders must be held accountable. Yet you and
your governments are subverting and repressing these systems.

In the context of our background of solidarity and internationalism,
supported by many countries in Africa and throughout the world, in our
struggle against a brutal system of apartheid, we demonstrate our
internationalism and our deep seated anger at your enslavement of
people in your countries.

On this the 7th day of March 2008 we amplify the voices of progressive
forces from across the region, throughout the continent and from
around the world. We demand that these voices be heard.

Since 1973, Swaziland political parties remain banned. The struggle
for the basic democratic political environment, for credible, free and
fair, election continues. Much of this is the result of the
willingness with which the Swazi King has led the country to become a
greedy part of the imperialist predatory system. A system which
ignores the fundamental rights of the people to freedom, democracy and
dignity associated with their demands. The repression in Swaziland
cannot be justified under any circumstances. It is carried out to
defend a system based on the rule by a wealthy royal elite and its
networks, using the vicious suppression of human rights. Obscene
wealth for a few in the midst of extreme poverty and rising rates of
HIV/AIDS infections and deaths remain unchecked.

We are aware of your royal government plans, to hold a farcical
elections in 2008, in pursuit of the legitimation of your obsolete
political agendas, to maintain the status quo. We jointly pronounce
with the people of Swaziland, the wide repudiation of these banana
republic elections. These elections are neither meant for the people
to demonstrate their collective demands through a participatory
democratic process, nor will they reflect in any way, the will of the
people of Swaziland.

The well documented intensifying repression that is being used against
the people of Swaziland, indicate that the challenges in Swaziland
will not be resolved through a deeply flawed and the veneer of façade
highly criticised election process.

The extent to which African leadership are held accountable for their
actions and to which SADC and the African Union are able to assert a
progressive agenda will set precedents that will have far reaching
implications for regional security and the general credibility of
African institutions.

There is still an opportunity in Zimbabwe to show clearly that Robert
Mugabe has been the spoiler in this process, the evidence is there.
There is still an opportunity for SADC to demand that Swaziland
respect the democratic culture of the region.

We therefore demand that your government:

- Unbans all political parties, release political prisoners and allow
the freedom and tolerance of expression of different political
opinions, with free access to the media, judiciary, security and other
state institutions

- Initiates a serious national political process of dialogue and
negotiations with the liberation movement PUDEMO and other stakeholders

- Allow the return to Swaziland of all exiles and to create conducive
climate for the repatriation and participation in the governance
affairs and reconstruction of the country

- Allow a democratic national constituent assembly to a new
constitution in conditions of democratic and free participation

- An end to the planned farcical national elections, and the
channelling of those rare resources to poverty eradication and
tackling of the scourge of HIV/AIDS

- The institution of free multiparty electoral contest on the basis
of universally acclaimed democratic norms and principles

- Institute a dispensation for the separation of powers between the
executive, the judiciary and the legislative state functions

- Initiate constitutional, political, economic and social
transformation processes that fundamentally change the power relations
within your countries and alleviates the catastrophic poverty situation

We urge your government should respond to these demands within 10 days
of the handing of the memorandum.

7 March 2008
_____________________________


4. Migrant mineworkers seek to invest in SD. By Teetee Zwane. The
Swazi Observer, May 5, 2008.


Miners working in South Africa will be engaging in talks with
SwaziBank on investment opportunities available to them in the country.

Swaziland Migrant Mineworkers Association President Bongani Mdluli
said for a long time mine workers have been undermined in the country
and it was time for them to stand up and explore opportunities to
develop themselves economically.

"Miners have become sophisticated and have investment ideas which need
funding," he said during the Friends of Swaziland family and
professional networking luncheon at High Commissioner Muntu Mswane's
residence in Pretoria on Thursday.

He said in the past, the miners had made individual investments
through assistance from FINCORP, adding that now they wanted to invest
collectively as an association, hence the talks with SwaziBank.

"We want to expand now, so we're looking into other funding
opportunities. We want to do this because we have realised that nobody
is encouraging mineworkers to develop and this is important so as to
ensure that they have something to fall back on when the time comes
for them to return home," said Mdluli.

"The association has membership of over 20 000 miners and if we are
able to invest in Swaziland, we could make a lot of difference both
for our benefit and our country's economy."

He stated that they had established a committee that would facilitate
networking opportunities that would gain them access to more funding.

Mdluli said presently, mineworkers were cheated of thousands of
emalangeni in terms of medical compensation, pension and other
benefits due to them because they were ignorant of these. He said the
association was currently working on ways to ensure that members and
their families were duly compensated.

SwaziBank Managing Director Stanley Matsebula said the bank was more
than happy to exchange ideas and explore available investment
opportunities with the miners.

He said there were plenty of opportunities in the country, waiting for
Swazis with the required capacity to take advantage, further
commending the miners for taking the initiative to do so.

"We want every Swazi to realise that whether you're working in SA, USA
or anywhere else, to grow you must have assets. You need to go back
home and invest, so let's partner together to achieve that," he said.
"That way, you'd be creating assets and wealth for yourself and even
if you start with E500, it's a start."

Meanwhile, the day's master of ceremonies, author Elias Masilela added
that there really was a need for Swazis living in SA to think of ways
in which they could give back to their country.

"We need to think about what to put back to society, how we can help
the world," he said, adding "and we can only do that in a sustainable
way if we're grounded professionally."

_____________________________

5. SWAZILAND ARMY 'PREPARES FOR WAR'
Swazi Media Commentary 4 May 2008 www.swazimedia.blogspot.com)

This is an obviously question to ask after news emerged yesterday
(Saturday 3 May 2008) that the Swaziland Government is to purchase
'hundreds of guns and millions of ammunition', as well as 'security
gadgets'.

The Swazi News reported yesterday that a total of E25 million (about
3.5 million US Dollars) is to be spent on the equipment.

The official line is that assault rifles worth E1 million, pistols
worth E500,000, bullets worth E14 million and E5 million of 'security
gadgets' such as mine detectors are needed to protect the eight heads
of state and other overseas' dignities who are expected to attend
Swaziland's 40/40 celebrations in September 2008. (The celebrations
are to mark the 40th birthday of King Mswati III and the 40th
anniversary of Swaziland's independence from Britain, both of which
occur in 2008).

It only takes a moment to see that the amount of equipment to be
purchased is far in excess of that needed to protect 'dignitaries' for
a couple of days during a double birthday celebration. Why on earth
does the army need millions of bullets to protect a small number of
people?

And, from whom exactly does the army think it is protecting the dignitaries?

An army would only purchase millions of bullets if it were about to go
to war. And whom is Swaziland going to fight? There are no external
enemies of Swaziland at the moment, so one can only assume that the
bullets will be stockpiled for future use, possibly even to use
against Swazis. There are fewer than one million people living in
Swaziland so there will be enough bullets to go round, with some left
over.

The news of the army purchases comes just as the army started to
deploy troops all over Swaziland in what it described as an attempt to
cut down on crime in the kingdom and round up illegal items such as
guns, weapons, cars and smuggled goods.

There is a heightened level of mistrust in the kingdom at the moment
regarding the ruling elite. The deployment of the army against its own
people is just one fear. The unconstitutional way in which an
Elections and Boundaries Commission was selected to oversee the
national election expected in November 2008 has also raised suspicions
that the election will not be free and fair.

The Swazi News refused to divulge full details of the arms purchase
although it claims to have them. The newspaper said it would not
publish details 'as it's a national security matter'.

Actually, it is not a security matter; it is a matter of public
interest. It is clear to anyone who stops to think for a moment that
the amount of weaponry that the army is too much simply for
'protection of dignities'.

The Swazi government is telling lies about this purchase and the media
need to expose those lies now - before it is too late.

Link
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2008/05/swaziland-army-prepares-for-war.html

____________________________


6. Police and warders may bargain. Sabelo Mamba. The Swazi Observer,
April 30, 2008.

High Court Judge Qinisile Mabuza has ruled that police officers and
prison warders are entitled to collective bargaining and representation.

The judge, handing down her dissenting verdict yesterday in an
application in which the police and warders want to be lawfully
registered as unions to bargain on behalf of its members, said to this
end they need not form or join a trade union. She explained that the
right to collective bargaining and representation was not prohibited
by the Police Act and Prisons Act. "To enable the applicants
(Swaziland Police Union and Swaziland Correctional Services Union) to
freely pursue this aspect of their rights this court would have to
declare Section 3 (b) and (c) of the Industrial Relations Act No. 1 of
2000 is inconsistent with the Constitution and invalid", she ruled.
She observed that there was no legal constraint or prohibition on the
High Court from so doing.

Justice Mabuza said this would enable the applicants to pursue
measures within the Industrial Relations Act, which would regulate the
relations between them and their employer - the government. "This
would also be commensurate with Section 4 (1) (e) of the Industrial
Relations Act, which provides for the protection of the right to
collective bargaining", she said.

An earlier judgement handed down by Judges Mbutfo Mamba and Jacobus
Annandale dismissed the application brought by the police and warders.
They, however, made an observation that perhaps, as a starting point,
consideration should be given to allow members of the Disciplined
Forces to form and join and be members of a trade union of their
choice without the right to go on strike.

Justice Mamba, who read the judgement, said they believed that such
was the current position in England regarding prison officers.

Appearing for government was former Deputy Attorney General Mzwandile
Fakudze and Mndeni Vilakati while private attorneys Thulani Maseko and
Paul Shilubane were representing the unions. Cited as respondents were
Police Commissioner Edgar Hillary, Correctional Services Commissioner
Mnguni Simelane, Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Prince
David, Labour Commissioner Jinnoh Nkhambule, Attorney General
Majahenkhaba Dlamini and Enterprise and Employment Minister Lutfo
Dlamini.

Yesterday, Justice Mabuza said there was no doubt that the police and
members of the Correctional Services needed a strong and effective
body to negotiate better living standards and terms and conditions of
service.

"During December 2006, the current Prime Minister, Mr AT Dlamini
toured police stations countrywide", she recalled.

"He also inspected the living conditions of the police. His tour was
reported widely in the print media and electronic media.

The living conditions were appalling and shocking to say the least.
"It is in the public interest that these security forces who serve the
public should have access to decent living conditions, fair terms and
conditions of service and adequate remuneration".

_________________________________

7. Why no outcry over Swazi crisis? Luther Lebelo, Letters, Business
Day, Johannesburg, 30 April 2008.


Listening to people from Swaziland calling for assistance from both
President Thabo Mbeki and the Southern African Development Community,
I find myself asking why it is that they have not received
international attention while the people of Zimbabwe have.

Unlike Zimbabwe, in Swaziland there is no such thing as democracy
whereby leaders are chosen through democratic process, and there are
no labour rights. The people have no right to organise themselves and
demonstrate their dissatisfaction with their leaders. If they do, they
are brutally suppressed by the military. The leaders have no
obligation to account to the masses as the masses have no right to
remove them.

The country depends solely on donors and much of the budget is spent
on maintaining the monarch. The majorities of the people lives in dire
poverty and are ravaged by AIDS with no executive to protect them.
When King Mswati spends millions in donations on his many lavish
parties and too many wives, nothing is said.

In Zimbabwe, with all the difficulties and the so-called crisis, the
people can vote for another leader. They can demonstrate, the workers
can organise.

Why is Mugabe demonised yet nothing is said by the international
community about the fact that there is no democracy in Swaziland? Is
it because, unlike Robert Mugabe, King Mswati continues to preserve
white privilege and interests?

Should there not be calls for pressure to be put on Mswati to introduce
democratic processes since Swaziland remains the only country in
Africa where no political executive exists?

From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/opinion.aspx?ID=BD4A758748

_____________________________________________

8. Without the King on Tour. Media Commentary 29 April 2008.
www.swazimedia.blogspot.com

The quite possibly seditious documentary "Without the King" is now
freely circulating in Swaziland.

'Pirated' copies of the DVD have been winging their way around the
kingdom and I have received reports of it being watched in every major
urban area in Swaziland.

According to the documentary's own publicity, Without the King
'captures the birth of a nation's revolution'. Personally, I suspect
the 'revolution' is some way off yet, but the DVD does show scenes
where ordinary people in Swaziland talk about their dissatisfaction
with the ruling elite - including King Mswati III.

Swazi media are not allowed to voice such sentiments - and it is not
really safe for ordinary people to say them out loud in most places in
Swaziland.

I hear there have been some discussions in the main cities of Mbabane
and Manzini about showing the documentary at a public venue. People
are quite understandably scared to do this for fear of what might
happen either at the showing itself (police in Swaziland are brutal
when it comes to dealing with dissent) or what might happen after the
event to the person or organisation that allowed the showing to take
place.

All this is in great contrast to North America where Without the King
is showing in public cinemas across the continent. It is also
receiving interesting reviews in newspapers and on the Internet.

I picked up this review on the Internet from someone called Kam
Williams at News Blaze.


'King Mswati III is a benevolent despot ruling the tiny African nation
of Swaziland with a velvet-gloved iron fist. This last absolute
monarch on the continent governs just about the only sub-Saharan
country somehow untouched by civil war or ethnic cleansing over the
last 30 years. In contrast to such war-torn lands as Uganda, Rwanda,
Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone and The Sudan, Swaziland has enjoyed a
relatively peaceful existence.

'This, despite the fact that its citizens have a 42% AIDS rate and the
world's lowest life expectancy at 31. Plus, most of the population has
to survive on about 63 cents a day, and are thus very dependent on
donations from international charities just to survive.

'Meanwhile, the royal family lives in the lap of luxury, starting with
the king. He has 14 wives, and picks another new one to add to his
harem from the 75,000 topless young virgins participating in the
annual Reed Dance, a weeklong celebration of chastity.

'He also owns 7 palaces, a fleet of luxury cars, the media and sugar
industries, and most of the developed real estate. Plus, he has $45
billion stashed away in a Swiss bank for safekeeping. Political
parties are banned in Swaziland, so the miserable plight of the people
isn't about to change any time soon in the absence of a revolution.

'Besides Mswati, the film focuses on the decadent behaviour of his
spoiled-rotten eldest child, an airhead attending college in
California. Well aware of the exploitation of her father's subjects,
this future queen sarcastically appraises the situation shortly before
the curtain comes down, vaguely promising to make some changes while
rolling her eyes.'

But, of the recent crop of reviews, Bruce Bennett, writing in the New
York Sun, is the most overtly political.

'The king's insistence on upholding venerable tribal customs at the
expense of modernization is revealed to be a social perversion
allowing tyranny, ignorance, and cruelty. "The mind fractures at the
thought of it," one U.N. health advocate says. Footage of Swazi
citizens preparing meals scavenged from landfills and slaking their
thirst from muddy ponds takes its toll in Without the King, and as the
film examines the grotesque disparity in wealth between ruler and
ruled, the heart starts to crack, too.

'But U.N. observers and film viewers, like the members of the royal
family themselves, can afford the luxury of sentiment. King Mswati's
subjects, however, cannot, and among the bracing non-fiction
disclosures that Without the King makes is precisely where terrorists
and freedom fighters come from and just how narrow the semantic line
is between the two. "I don't want to die for the struggle," says one
emaciated would-be assassin. "I want to kill for the struggle."
Nearing the end of the approximately three decades that he'll remain
alive, the man has literally nothing to lose either way.'

Link http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2008/04/without-swazi-king-reviews.html

__________________________________

9. Swaziland Coalition calls for Elections and Boundaries Commission
to Resign.
Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations <sccco@...>
2008/4/27.

The Swazi Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations is bewildered by
the stunning lack of respect for civil rights already evident in the
Elections and Boundaries Commission. We have previously commented on
the unconstitutional nature of the make up of the Commission saying
that with these commissioners in place it cannot be independent, it
does not have the legal experience and knowledge necessary and the use
of people that were or are public officials is against the letter and
the spirit of the constitution and international guidelines on proper
election management.

The Board was set up on 10 March and in its first six weeks of
operation has already trampled on our Constitution and our rights to
due Legal Process, an independent judiciary, Freedom of Speech,
Freedom of the Press and good practice in interpreting Statutory Law.

So far it has banned reporters from public meetings solely because it
does not like the way they report, how very thin-skinned from people
who are constitutionally supposed to show 'demonstrable competence in
the conduct of public affairs. A competent authority would
understand the role, nature and workings of the press and get its
message across - professionally.

It has said that our Freedom of Assembly extends to football teams but
not political parties. It made this 'unique' pronouncement without
hearing any party's opinion and more importantly ignoring the fact
that the matter is due to be heard at the high court and so is sub
judice. This shows that they are prepared to pre-empt our courts and
ignore Swazi Citizens' constitutional rights to a fair hearing and to
administrative justice ? not exactly commendable in an adjudicating
authority. These actions do not give the Coalition confidence in the
Commission's ability to judge properly and fairly when there are
disputes around our upcoming elections.

Much has been made of the former Deputy Attorney General's
professional qualifications and the government's opinion that his
advice will be the legal bedrock on which the commission can stand.
This is most worrying since this is the self same 'legal eagle' who
imagines that the Commission's constitutional duty to 'facilitate
civic or voter education' gives it the right to curtail our Freedoms
of Speech and of Assembly that are in the Constitution. Its recent
pathetic attempt to ban anyone other than it from providing civic
education is not only repugnant to those of us who respect
constitutionalism and human rights but shows the true nature of the
Commission's attitude to those rights ? it doesn't know or it doesn't
care.

We have seen in Zimbabwe and in Kenya how non-independent, unqualified
and biased Election and Boundaries Commissions can be manipulated to
bend to the will of the powerful and the corrupt. The violence that
erupts is an inevitable consequence of vote stealing and election
rigging. We will not stand idly by and allow this to happen in
Swaziland. An Election and Boundaries Commission is supposed to
protect our votes and to make each one count as much as possible.
This Commission already has shown a blatant disregard for other
fundamental human rights, how can it be trusted with the most
fundamental of all the democratic rights - our right to vote? In
light of this litany of errors of judgement, law and professionalism,
we call on the Commissioners to do the honourable thing and resign en
masse.

In the mean time, the Coalition will continue with its programme of
Civic and Voter Education and it will defend its right to do so
robustly. Any interference with this programme will be taken as an
attack on Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Assembly and the
perpetrators will personally find themselves answering to a judge.

The Coalition exists to promote democracy and human rights in
Swaziland. The Swazi Constitution is very new and it will take time
for all of us (including the government and the traditional
authorities) to get used to this new way of doing things and of
emaSwati having rights not permissions. While these rights are being
ignored, attacked and generally not respected by the government and
those in authority, the Coalition must, and it will, speak out and
take action - it is our duty.

Statement issued by Right Reverend Meshack Mabuza, Chairperson of
Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations.
______________________

10. The business of AIDS. Sex and sensibility. The Economist, May 1st 2008.

MORE than 2m people die from AIDS every year and as many get infected
with HIV. Despite grand programmes to roll out anti-retroviral drugs
that keep the infected alive, and billions spent by foreign donors and
the governments of the worst-affected countries, AIDS is likely to
cause one in six deaths in Africa by 2015.

Why is this so, when most people know how it is spread? AIDS has not
been around long, but the science is thoroughly understood, as are the
most effective public-health interventions. Get people to cut down on
risky sex and stop drug injectors sharing infected needles and you
will achieve wonders. In rich countries the prospect of the general
population succumbing to AIDS is now almost nil. Even in much of the
poor world it has been contained. Thailand nipped the epidemic in the
bud when brothel owners were threatened with closure if prostitutes
failed to use condoms with clients. In China and India, where
activists long feared an explosion, prevalence rates have been kept low.

Africa is the exception. This is particularly true of the
English-speaking countries, especially in the east and south. In
Swaziland over 40% of the adult population has HIV; life expectancy in
Botswana will soon be down to the mid-20s on average. Explaining why
Africa has suffered most is controversial, however, as that means
talking frankly about sex.

Both these books do that. The short guide by Alan Whiteside, professor
of HIV/AIDS at South Africa's University of KwaZulu-Natal, is packed
with statistics and handy explanations of the science. Rightly he
focuses on Africa and helps to dispel some myths, such as the claim
that poverty somehow spreads AIDS. He notes that relatively rich
Botswana and South Africa are worse hit than poorer Senegal; within
countries, the well-off are often more likely to be infected than the
poor. He suggests looking at social and cultural matters: where male
circumcision is the norm prevalence rates are lower (the foreskin
offers an easy way for HIV to enter the body).

Elizabeth Pisani's book packs a greater punch. There may be one
breathless description too many of hanging around with transvestite
prostitutes in Indonesia, but the epidemiologist and ex-AIDS
consultant's colourful anecdotes generally serve her cause well. Most
welcome is her desire to challenge taboos. She thinks that a
widespread emphasis on patients' rights may have done unintended harm.
Drumming into patients' minds the "right" to keep their infected
status private "even from sexual partners" may have encouraged stigma
around the disease and thus its spread. In countries such as Cuba,
where there is more compulsion in getting people tested for HIV, the
epidemic has been contained. She also argues that much money is
frittered on conferences, pointless interventions (for example to
encourage abstinence), paying NGOs to repeat the same studies and
hangers-on in the AIDS "mafia".

Ms Pisani is at her best when talking about sex, which does most to
explain why Africa is hit so hard. In parts of the continent it is
common to have concurrent sexual partners, which lets the virus move
quickly between a "web" of hosts (especially as people are most
infectious to others soon after becoming infected with HIV). If serial
monogamy is the norm, even if individuals have many partners over
time, the virus is trapped within relationships and gets around
slowly. Where it is common for older men to have younger girlfriends
the virus swaps generations and is likely to hit young women
especially, as in Africa.

Such sexual patterns make it harder to fight the plague, but not
impossible. In Uganda people were warned of the risks of HIV and
encouraged to use condoms and be sexually faithful. That helped reduce
the impact of AIDS (although recent trends are less encouraging).
Political, religious and local leaders have done little elsewhere in
Africa. Some, such as South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, preferred
disseminating untruths about the disease and how it should be treated.
Where strong leadership could have had the greatest impact its absence
is most keenly felt.

____________

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