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Mario Masuku: The historical and current political situation in
Swaziland: Cand what remains to be done

Abridged from a paper presented at the Zimbabwe-Swaziland Solidarity
Conference, organised by COSATU, at the St. George Hotel, South
Africa, August 10?11, 2008.



On behalf of the fighting people of Swaziland, dear comrades, please
receive warm and fraternal greetings from the oppressed masses of our
country. Our country stands on the brink of disaster, a catastrophe
that has become accepted by some as beyond redemption, for its
magnitude runs deeper than the source of the mighty volcanic eruptions.

This revolutionary gathering is a fitting tribute to the great work
and contribution of our assassinated stalwart, leader and outstanding
cadre of PUDEMO, the late Dr Gabriel T. Mkhumane. From where I am, I
can already see where he could be seated, were he among us today, a
seat that is still not occupied, for few among us would dare fit the
shoes of such a great legend.

The more things change, the more they remain the same, words of wisdom
have always echoed. Since 1973, so many things have happened to the
lives of the people of Swaziland, but all those things have not
changed the quality of life of the people for the better.

We do not seek to speak narrowly on behalf of our selves, but to
acknowledge the massive contribution we have made together as
progressive forces in our country, including all our comrades from
Swaziland present here today.

We also appreciate unreservedly the support from our South African
comrades, particularly from the Alliance [African National Congress,
South African Communist Party, Congress of South African Trade
Unions], who have done all in their power to raise the issue of
Swaziland, much to the annoyance of certain forces who believe that
Swaziland should still belong to some 17th century archive or
political museum, as a source of tourist attractions and academic
interests for European anthropologists keen on studying how 17th
century Africa looked, a classical example of backwardness and
primitive social relations of the worst order, with no regard for
human dignity, of women in particular.

Since the first march and blockade against the Swazi regime, we have
made great strides, but have also suffered setbacks and this moment
provides a great space for deeper reflection on all these for a
renewed push forward.

Should it not be of interest to all of us that in our region we have a
country that has evaded the powerful media screens, the academic
freedom train of political scientists and all the world?s watchdogs
who should be ashamed of their witting or unwitting silence and
failure to uncover more than 35 years of legalised political fraud in
the name of Swazi culture and tradition.

But why should a fast-evolving world of information super highways and
governance systems on a global scale afford to tolerate the longest
state of emergency in the region, and most probably on the continent
as a whole. These are the questions we should pose to our governments,
multilateral institutions of governance in our region and continent,
as well as beyond. But even more uncomfortably, we must also pose them
to ourselves. Should we be pardoned, for we did not know, or we did
not see or we just choose silence, for it is golden sometimes and more
convenient than the sacrifice that comes with challenging things?

Background to the crisis in Swaziland

Swaziland was a British colony until 1968 when an arrangement of
convenience was made between the colonialists and the local
traditional leadership under the monarchy for a settlement that would
comfortably accommodate both forces in some form of partnership, that
would not upset the conditions designed by colonialism, but only
integrate a few among the historically oppressed in the form of the
monarchy and its appendages. This is what is usually referred to as
``independence'', which in less than a month from now will be costing
the Swazi taxpayers millions to "celebrate" together with the birthday
of the king, popularly known as the 40/40, as both are marking their
40th anniversary.

In 1973, the king proclaimed a decree that banned political parties
and criminalised all forms of political activity, which paved the way
for the monopoly over public affairs and politics by the royal family
and their friends, a case that holds to this day. We have a royal
family that regards all of us as mere objects of exploitation,
oppression and the satisfaction of its greedy interests, disguised as
our national pride and culture.

The luxury of elections is too farfetched for our people. Since 1973,
the whole nation has never seen what it is like to participate in free
and democratic elections, where you can openly contest, freely
persuade people, be openly scrutinized and, finally, be held
accountable for your promises.

Even when Southern African Development Community (SADC - the regional
grouping of Southern African countries adopted the protocol of
guidelines on the conduct of democratic elections, we raised our
eyebrows that a new glimmer of hope was emerging on the horizon; guess
what, we were to yet learn the mechanics of reality that, the nearer
we get, the further we move away from our final destination.

Having considered all the factors above and seeking to characterize
the ruling system in Swaziland, we can safely say, despite resistance
from some quarters, that the tinkhundla system is and remains a
neocolonial and semi-feudal system, founded on the premise of the
exclusion of the overwhelming majority of our people, because of a
royal regime that has failed to transform society and the economy to
serve the interests of the people, but instead integrated itself as an
extension and corrupt elite into the well-oiled system of accumulation
already in place then.

A brief balance sheet of the socioeconomic profile of Swaziland

- Swaziland has the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in the world, which
is now at 38% from around 40%.

- Swaziland has one of the highest levels of inequality between the
rich and poor, with wealth being unevenly distributed.

- The economy is no longer growing, but has stagnated and has, in
fact, been going down every year since around 2000.

- The abuse of women is "dressed in nice gowns" and called Swazi
"tradition and culture", which undermines the rich heritage in our
true culture, thus serving the narrow selfish interests of a royal
minority.

- About 70% of the population live below the US$1 a day and more
300,000 of Swaziland's around 1 milion citizens depend on food aid as
means for survival.

- The bulk of the economy is now based on the informal sector, and on
casual and contract labour, which provide very insecure jobs and pay
very low.

- More than 52% of the total income of the Swazi government is
derived from the Southern African Customs Union pool, and were this
not so, and our reliance on the South African rand (to which the Swazi
currency is pegged), inflation would be in the double-digit figures.

The economy of Swaziland is centred around the royal family and its
friends. Cabinet dances to whatever tune that sung by the master;
recently the royal family received funds and aid and distributed it
through the king, queen mother, princes and princesses, in order to be
perceived as benevolent and caring for the poor and suffering, while
they are the primary cause of the hunger experienced by our people.
Balancing these handouts with the extravagant expenditure by this
family on itself is like chasing a wild goose.

A new constitution or a revised 1973 king?s draconian decree

In his proclamation to the nation, the monarchy on April 12, 1973 said:

"Now, therefore I, Sobhuza 11, king of Swaziland, hereby declare that,
in collaboration with my cabinet ministers and supported by the whole
nation, I have assumed supreme power in the kingdom of Swaziland and
that all legislative, executive and judicial powers is now vested in
myself and shall, for the meantime be exercised in collaboration with
my cabinet ministers. I further declare that to ensure the continued
maintenance of peace, order and good government, my armed forces have
been posted to all strategic places and have taken charge of all
government places and all public services. All political parties and
similar bodies that cultivate and bring about disturbances and
ill-feelings within the nation are hereby dissolved and prohibited."

Many spectators have convinced themselves that this decree has ceased
to be the foundation of the ruling political architecture of our
country. Our view is that it still continues to be the force behind
the establishment. The new constitution is rather a reinforcement and
further entrenchment of this decree and its fundamental provisions.

The royal regime, in response to the pressures of our people, tried a
hasty constitutional review process in which it was the player, the
referee and the match commissioner at the same time and all we were
privileged to be was spectators in a game we were supposed to be the
players.

This is why we rejected the process and its outcomes with the contempt
it deserved and still maintain that no shortcuts will take Swaziland
to the promised land of milk and honey, but only a protracted, honest
and all-inclusive process leading to a multiparty democratic
constitutional dispensation will deliver us to the land of our dreams.

That is why the Swazi constitution reaffirms the fundamental
perspectives of banning political parties and all forms of political
activity, frustrating the popular aspirations of the whole population
and undermining the supremacy of the rule of law. Such an arrangement
will not take us forward.

Undemocratic elections or elections without democracy

In the circumstances in Swaziland, what are the possibilities of
holding free, fair and democratic elections that should constitute the
basis of a legitimately acceptable outcome and whose product could be
the express will of the people?

We have, time and again, affirmed the centrality of a process that
will lead to a democratic outcome for our country, in many documents,
such as the Way Forward to a Constituent Assembly Through a
Negotiated Settlement and the Road Map to a New and Democratic
Swaziland, which fundamentally outline the essence of our alternative
route out of the mess tinkhundla has plunged our country into.

The regime has once again, as expected, defied all logic and organised
an electoral process that lacks even the most basic semblance of
democratic participation. To test its authenticity and claims for a
free democratic space, as PUDEMO we held our rally to commemorate our
25th anniversary in Manzini on the July 6, 2008, and four of our
leaders were arrested and brutalised, while other comrades were
hospitalised as a result of police brutality. Further, it has been
made clear beyond doubt that political parties remain banned and
illegal, which means they cannot contest the coming elections.

The following conditions obtain as regards elections:

- Political parties remain banned.

- The media, judiciary and all public institutions remain tightly in
the monopoly of the royal family and its friends and are used to
criminalise political parties as divisive, fomenting war and are
described as "unSwazi".

- Traditional institutions and structures continue to be vehicles of
intimidation and abuse, agitating against democratic practices.

- Parliament has no powers, but is a mere rubber stamp of the royal family.

- The constitution remains illegitimate and does not have fundamental
guarantees for the creation of a conducive environment to conduct
democratic elections.

We also note that various international organisations have clearly
refused to condemn the current king, Mswati, at best preferring to
play hide and seek with words like "not sufficiently democratic for
proper elections".

We further note the hypocrisy of the UN in encouraging women to
participate in undemocratic elections against the progressive
movement's call for a boycott of the elections. This is an attempt to
use a very legitimate issue - the dehumanisation and
under-representation of women in Swazi decision-making processes - to
support an undemocratic, highly patriarchal and oppressive system,
which shall turn a few women in parliament into stooges or agents of
patriarchy and political tools of oppression.

We condemn this in the same way that we condemn the Commonwealth which
designed the current constitution, supported tinkhundla oppression and
is now turning against the product of its own failures, the royal
elections, because it has been exposed for its hypocrisy and
opportunism and is shying away from associating with the mess of its
own making, which unfortunately is costing our country, people and the
struggle in general.

The same Commonwealth of Nations dressed down the last national
elections in 2003, and ran short of calling them a sham, elections
that elected a legislature which does not have political power, where
power is entrusted to one person, and where political parties are
banned.

The European Union has romanticised the tinkhundla system, politely
calling for some changes and failing to act with the decisiveness
required or known of it in other instances. It is not assisting the
process in any way. We did call for smart sanctions against the royal
family, specifically, but the EU played its games, and preferred to
passively raise concerns and not confront the evil system directly.

The royal regime prides itself in the hope that there would be various
observers who would declare, at the end, that the elections were free
and fair since there was no violence. In this case we ask ourselves if
it is indeed worth the trouble of going to watch a basically
undemocratic election process ? - would these observers be (actually)
legitimising an illegitimate process.

As mentioned earlier in my presentation, we believe that for the
process to be worth its salt it must embrace broader democratic
participation, clear constitutional safeguards and the respect of all
the international human rights principles and conventions, including
the Declaration on Human Rights, the African Charter on People's and
Human Rights, the Harare Declaration of the Commonwealth of Nations
and the SADC Principles on National Elections.

The Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF) is the way forward to a
new and democratic Swaziland

We are proud to be members of the newly formed Swaziland United
Democratic Front, an initiative of the struggling people of Swaziland
collectively. It is their united voice against the tinkhundla system,
in their quest to establish a truly united and democratic Swaziland.

Indeed the history of the struggle for democracy all over the world
provides one key lesson, and that is it matters not how deep the
oppression may be or whether the captain of the oppressive rule is a
military junta or a traditional despot, foreign or local. That lesson
is that unity is a fundamental precondition for democratic victory!

It has always been the collective and individual desire of the
struggling forces of Swaziland to act in unity against a divisive
system that always plays one against the other, sometimes infiltrating
forces of progress to drive even deeper wedges between the people and
their organisations and between organisations themselves. In our
address to the workers in May 2005, PUDEMO clearly and articulately
called for the forces of change to unite and speak in one cohesive
voice, and we are, therefore, proud that this call has been achieved.

It has been our constant call for the unification of the labour
movement in the country under the call for "One country, one
federation" and "One industry, one union". This year, the workers
commemorated their day [May Day] together as one, and not as a
fragmented movement. This is a positive step towards a united mass
democratic movement.

We are proud to be among those who have refused to be bullied by the
system into the sham elections or any of its fraudulent constitutional
schemes, despite massive pressures, patronage and corrupt material
temptations. We have refused to be second-class citizens in our own
country, but continue to demand our rightful place as full citizens
and not objects of royal pity and subjugation. We stand tall, in the
midst of a cold world that conveniently pretends not to see what our
people are going through daily, with all the indicators of a
terrifying political and socioeconomic crisis.

Tasks of the Swazi revolution in the current phase:

We are called upon to act with renewed urgency, to arrest a deepening
feeling of hopelessness, in which both local and international
organisations are beginning to feel that nothing can be done to change
things in Swaziland. It is a country "cursed by the gods", with a
monarchy that is determined to go to any lengths to destroy every
element of democracy and decency in our society.

The following tasks are central to what must be done:

- Strengthening of the mass democratic forces to root themselves
among the masses of our people, which is the core anchor of any claim
to being progressive and democratic.

- Deepening of strategic thinking and deeper ideas backed by solid
and scientific facts around all the issues affecting our people in
order to develop popular, workable and viable alternatives to the
crisis of the system. In our Road Map document, PUDEMO was beginning
to do just that.

- Restructuring and broadening of the international solidarity
movement, as well as strengthening all solidarity efforts in order to
enhance, deepen and unite all attempts to expose the tinkhundla
system, raise the profile of the Swazi people's struggle and mobilise
resources for the struggle of the people. In this case, we must ensure
that structures of this nature are led by our international friends as
we Swazis are actively involved in the frontline trenches of our
struggle, which they are acting in solidarity with.

- We need to deepen political education for all-round ideological and
political development of the forces of struggle, in which case,
clarity around core perspectives of the struggle and its evolving line
of march shall be better enhanced. In this case, we know that our
South African comrades are very much advanced here, and their
expertise would be useful for us.

- Uniting all the forces under the banner of the SUDF around the
issue of multiparty constitutional elections, which should be able to
offer a decisive way forward, though this does not mean undermining
the individual programs of different organisations within the front,
but as a means to build cohesion and unity in action.

Finally, we would not have done justice if we do not also add our
voice, once again, to the call for speedy democratisation, stability
and success in the negotiations process in Zimbabwe, which is a factor
the region has felt so heavily these past days. We are encouraged by
the democratic breeze seemingly emerging from the negotiation table
lately, and it is proof that Africa is indeed capable of resolving her
own challenges amicably, for we are our ``brother?s keeper''.

Our call for democracy in Swaziland is a call for democracy all over
the region and continent. We believe that without a firm and
revolutionary movement for the deepening of democracy all over Africa,
there will be no democracy or at least, sustainable democracy in
Swaziland.

Let all who love our country join the march to a new and democratic Swaziland!

All life has no meaning outside the life-affirming struggle for human
dignity (The Road Map to a New and Democratic Swaziland).

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