Swaziland@Newsletter Extra: He gave his life for the people

1. Lawyers for Human Rights: Lawyer died for the love of Swazis.
Innocent Maphalala. Times of Swaziland, September 24, 2008.

2. Dead bombers are our members. Arthur Mordaunt, September 25,
2008. Times of Swaziland September 24, 2008.

3. King Mswati facing mounting opposition: Bomb blast kills two. IRIN
(MBABANE), 22 September 2008.

4. Lawyer killed in Lozitha bomb blast. Musa Nhleko. Times of
Swaziland. September 23, 2008.

5. It is with great sadness and anger: Comrades Musa Dlamini and Jack
Govender. Swaziland Solidarity Network 23 September 2008.

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1. Lawyers for Human Rights: Lawyer died for the love of Swazis.
Innocent Maphalala. Times of Swaziland, September 24, 2008.


Attorney Musa Dlamini died for the love of the people of his country
and should be respected for that.

That is the view of Lawyers for Human Rights, an organisation he was a
founding member of. Musa Dlamini was popularly known as MJ. He was
attached to Kush Vilakati and Associates before he left the country a
few years ago.

He died over the weekend when a bomb that was in a car he was
travelling in exploded. The police are still investigating
circumstances surrounding this shocking matter. "Musa was a personal
friend of mine," said Thulani Maseko, Lawyers for Human Rights
Secretary.

"He was a good person and a loyal citizen whose brains would have
helped develop the country. However, he sacrificed his life for the
people of Swaziland."

He said as a lawyer by profession, Dlamini could have concentrated on
making money but instead, he decided to join the struggle for
democracy in Swaziland. Maseko said it took great courage and
dedication for a lawyer to do this. "We have to respect him for that,"
he said. Maseko explained that Dlamini was a founding member of the
LHR and the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA). He last spoke to
him in December 2007 when the deceased called Maseko from Nairobi,
Kenya.

Reasons

Maseko said they were supposed to meet a few days later in
Johannesburg but for certain reasons, could not.

He said he could not denounce Dlamini because of the manner in which
he had died. "He is still my friend," he said.

He said it was irresponsible of citizens to condemn violence without
looking at the root cause.

Maseko believes that some citizens have decided to turn violent to
draw government attention to their frustration at the manner in which
the country is governed.

He believes that government could prevent violence from escalating by
affording the people a platform to discuss socio-political issues.

Percy Simelane, government spokesman response was that all citizens
of the country had always been given the opportunity to engage in
dialogue with government.

He said such platforms include the national Indaba and the processes
leading towards the drafting of the national constitution. "Under no
circumstances should anyone use human rights to deny others human
rights," said Simelane.

____________________________________________

2. Dead bombers are our members. Arthur Mordaunt, September 25,
2008. Times of Swaziland September 24, 2008.

In a shocking revelation, two political parties have claimed ownership
of the two suspect bombers who perished when a bomb in their car detonated.

In a widely circulating email, they claim that one of the suspect
bombers was one Jack Govender, who is a founding member of the
Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN).

Identification

The police are yet to confirm if this identification is true as
relatives are only going to see the bodies there.

The other deceased was Musa MJ Dlamini who belonged to the Peoples
United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO).

Both organisations have confirmed the membership of the comrades to
their organisations.

According to the SSN, Govender aka Sipho Khumalo played a crucial role
in the formation of the South African based organisation, which
co-ordinates programmes of the democratisation of Swaziland outside
the country.

"In fact he was the main drive for its establishment, and was the
first one to establish contact with the progressive liberation
movement in Swaziland post South African democratic breakthrough in
1994, (such as) People?s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO),
Swaziland Federation Of Trade Unions (SFTU), Swaziland Youth Congress
(SWAYOCO), Swaziland Association Of Students (SAS) where he met MJ and
the then Swaziland Democratic Alliance," states SSN in a statement.

Dlamini was a lawyer who gave up his trade to concentrate on the
struggle for Swaziland democratisation. The duo met their tragic
death at Lozitha area outside Manzini near one of King Mswati IIIs
palaces. It is alleged that they were in the process of planting a
bomb that was aimed at blowing up the overheard bridge in that area.

Studies

"He (Govender) left South Africa in December 1998 to pursue studies
and work in the USA and later would travel the world.

"He came back to South Africa in February 2008 and continued his work
for the liberation of Swaziland through the solidarity network.

"It is only befitting that he fell in Swaziland, the land he fought so
much to liberate," observed the SSN.

SSN spokesperson stated, in an interview, that Govender family had
been notified of the death and they would be coming to Swaziland to
identify the body.

He said they were working with the Department of Foreign Affairs to
repatriate the body to South Africa.

Police spokesperson Superintendent Vusi Masuku confirmed that they
were expecting the families to identify the bodies of the deceased.

...monument in memory of MJ, Govender once Swaziland is liberated

The Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) has pledged to erect a monument
in memory of the late Musa MJ Dlamini and Jack Govender.

This the SSN will do once Swaziland has been liberated and
multi-partism allowed in Swaziland.

"Tinkhundla-free Swaziland will cherish this day as having contributed
immensely to their freedom and a befitting monument of freedom will be
erected in their honour, for their selfless service to a democratic
and free Swaziland where all will live together harmoniously and with
peaceful neighbourliness without the oppression by the other," vowed the SSN.

The organisation urged other cadres not to despair but continue where
the deceased left off.

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3. King Mswati facing mounting opposition: Bomb blast kills two. IRIN
(MBABANE), 22 September 2008.


Two men were killed and a third injured after a bomb exploded on 21
September close to King Mswati III's Lozitha palace, 25kms east of the
Swazi capital, Mbabane.

Police suspect that the bomb exploded prematurely as it was placed at
a road bridge by the perpetrators. Police said the two men killed were
a Swazi national and a man said to be Indian. The man who survived the
blast was a 44-year-old South African national and was taken in to
police custody and faces charges of treason - a capital offence. He
appeared in Manzini Magistrate Court on 22 September.

A fourth man, aged 30-years-old from Johannesburg in South Africa,
fled the scene and was the subject of a manhunt police said.

The bomb blast came in the wake of parliamentary polls on 19
September. According to Swaziland's elections, candidates are
permitted to contest the poll as independents, while political parties
are banned, in a system known as Tinkhundla. Mswati remains
sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarch and holds elections every
five year's and then chooses his prime minister.

Protest

This election has seen mounting protests against the Tinkhundla
system, amid calls for a more representative style of democracy.

In 1998, following elections, a security guard was killed by a bomb
planted at the offices of the deputy prime minister's offices in
Mbabane and there have been a string of bombings since, which remain
unsolved.

The bomb at Lozitha bridge, about one kilometre from the Swaziland
largest royal palace and a principal residence for Mswati, also houses
the Kings Office, which administers royal affairs, and the Liqoqo, the
band of royal elders who act as the king's senior advisors.

The highway is the Swaziland main road artery connecting Mbabane with
the commercial town of Manzini, where the bulk of the country's
manufacturing sector is based. The landlocked country imports the
majority of its commercial goods by road from South Africa, most of it
by way of the highway that skirts the Lozitha palace.

The bomb exploded shortly before midnight, causing a passing vehicle
to flip over. The driver sustained injuries.

The Peoples United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), one of the country's
banned political parties, has called for a more militant approach to
achieving democracy, but denied any part in the bombing.

"There seems no end in sight for these bombings. There must be
movement toward democratic change (to stop them)," PUDEMO's president,
Mario Masuku, told IRIN.

Masuku was locked up in a police van for about six hours on 20
September, after he had attempted to join a pro-democracy protest that
blocked traffic at the South African border post.

One of the protest's organisers, the Swaziland Federation of Trade
Unions (SFTU), has distanced itself from the use of violence to attain
political goals, after two explosions earlier this month coincided
with a march by 15,000 of its members in Mbabane.

"The police must find the culprits. We as a union have always said
that violence is not the answer," SFTU Secretary General Jan Sithole
said.

_____________________________

4. Lawyer killed in Lozitha bomb blast. Musa Nhleko. Times of
Swaziland. September 23, 2008.

The Swazi who died during the bomb blast at Lozitha on Saturday night
was a lawyer.

Lawyer Musa Dlamini was once implicated in an E2 million armed robbery
that was staged at Siteki Evukuzenzele Supermarket.

Dlamini was with three others when the blast occurred. Preliminary
investigations have revealed that the bomb was allegedly intended for
Parliament and the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) buildings
situated at Lobamba and Nkhanini respectively.

They were, however, disappointed as they found security officers
patrolling the areas.

Their next stop was the Lozitha highway bridge which, however, could
not be bombed as the bomb exploded before it was placed on the bridge.
Other areas that are said to have been visited on the night were the
police headquarters in Mbabane, Swaziland Electricity Company
headquarters and the fuel stations at Matsapha.

It is said that the men were hired by one of the Swazi progressive
groups based in South Africa to bomb government structures.

When they arrived at the bridge, it was reported that the alleged
master-mind who has since been arrested asked someone to connect the
bomb as he went to relieve himself next to the road.

The bomb was connected and unfortunately it was a time bomb which is
said to have exploded less than 10 minutes after it was connected. The
Limpopo man who has been charged with High Treason is said to have
been badly injured on the face and body.

The so-called master-mind was expected to make a court appearance yesterday at
the Manzini Magistrate?s Court, but could not as he was reported to be
bleeding from the head, hence he was declared unfit to be in court.

___________________________________________


5. It is with great sadness and anger: Comrades Musa Dlamini and Jack
Govender. Swaziland Solidarity Network 23 September 2008.


It is with great sadness and anger that we learnt of the tragic
passing away of two prominent internationalists, revolutionaries and
members of the freedom struggle in Swaziland, comrades Musa "MJ"
Dlamini and Jack Govender aka Sipho Khumalo. The humblest and the
bravest servants of humanity have fallen ? pick up their spears and
carry on the fight for freedom.

According to the information, at our disposal, disseminated by the
royal news cables and cohorts, the two comrades passed on between
Mbabane and Manzini in what appeared to have been an explosion and
their remains were scattered around the scene of the accident.

The SSN is deeply saddened by the untimely departure of the two most
dedicated revolutionaries and of its founder members. We dip our
revolutionary banners in their living memory as we pay tribute to
their contribution to the struggle for freedom, peace, justice and
democracy in Swaziland.

SSN does not believe the royally edited information and blatant lies
about what happened on the fateful night of September 20, 2008, the
day that swallowed two giant revolutionaries. The tinkundla free
Swaziland will cherish this day as having contributed immensely to
their freedom and a befitting monument of freedom will be erected in
their honour, for their selfless service to a democratic and free
Swaziland where all will live together harmoniously and with peaceful
neighbourliness without the oppression by the other.

Comrade Jack Govender, on the insistence of Prince Musa who introduced
him to PUDEMO, was the founder member of Swaziland Solidarity Network,
in fact he was the main drive for its establishment, and was the first
one to establish contact with the progressive liberation movement in
Swaziland post South African democratic breakthrough in 1994, People's
United Democratic Movement [PUDEMO], Swaziland Federation Of Trade
Unions [SFTU], Swaziland Youth Congress [SWAYOCO], Swaziland
Association Of Students [SAS] where he met MJ and the then Swaziland
Democratic Alliance.

He left South Africa in December 1998 to pursue studies and work in
the USA and later would travel the world. He came back to South Africa
in February 2008 and continued his work for the liberation of
Swaziland through the solidarity network. It is only befitting that he
fell in Swaziland the land he fought so much to liberate from royal
dictatorship, his internationalist blood and that of his friend and
comrade Musa will nourish the germinating seed of freedom that will
soon bear the Swazi tree of freedom which one day even the royal
oppressors will bask under its protection of comfortable shade of
freedoms.

As we pay tribute to these gallant heroes of our freedom struggle,
ardent internationalists, we reject with all contempt the insinuations
by the autocratic Swazi regime police that theirs was an evil act of
terror. They were forced to those conditions, to confront the enemy
head on, by the autocratic regime and undemocratic government of King
Mswati III, who abrogated all national powers -judicial, legislative
and executive unto himself through the unfortunate and the sad decree
of April 12, 1973. Until today Swaziland remains a dictatorship under
King Mswati III and his royal cohorts. Theirs was a just struggle from
which all and what is necessary remain justified to use against human
oppression and for the cause of justice and the liberation of their
fellow countrymen and women.

We have also noted with disgust the manner in which the royally
influenced media has attacked the integrity of comrade MJ. This is
expected from their quarters who serve their masters. MJ was a hero of
the Swaziland struggle for freedom and was not a coward. He did not
allow his law studies to blind and limit him from freeing his people
and for that we will always remember him both as a great legal mind
and great patriot who loved his country for which he gave his blood,
the greatest honour any revolutionary can attest for his country. The
sacrifice of his thriving law practice to concentrate on the freedom
of his people is greatly appreciated and acknowledged by all of us who
worked with him.

To all peace loving Swazis, patriots and democrats across all the
sectors we call upon you to remain focused and steady in the just
struggle for a free, peaceful and democratic Swaziland and we call on
you to unite during this time of pain in Swaziland, to join hands and
face the common social and political challenges facing you, to work
together and confront the tinkundla system to totally destroy it and
usher in a democratic dispensation.

We call on to strengthen the revolutionary foundation of the Swaziland
United Democratic Front to take the final challenge for your country's
liberation for which MJ was a prime architect from its initial
conception. We remain available for any support that is possible and
within our capacity towards a free and democratic Swaziland. We can
only remind you that for your liberation arise the consciousness of
the masses who are the ultimate arbiter of their fate and social
condition, deepen your roots in them and observe the spectacle of a
people's revolution in motion.

To their respective families we sincerely pass our deepest condolences
and regrets for these untimely deaths. May they know that we all share
their pain and grief and thus help to lessen their pain. We also loved
them, they were our comrades and brothers but we know your pain is
immeasurable.

To our beloved comrades as we bid them our final farewell, may their
undying revolutionary spirit live on and help to inspire many young
revolutionaries to take up their spears and soldier on until Swaziland
is free and indeed until humanity is totally free from hunger,
illiteracy, disease and dictators. Lalani ngoxolo maqhawe a maqwawe,
so hlala si ni khumbula nge zenzo zeno! Yours was an heroic action,
not an act of cowardice, and accordingly will spur us on until
Swaziland is finally free from the unjust system of tinkundla
oppression. Our banners are flying half mast for you comrades ? rest
in peace!

Issued by the Swaziland Solidarity Network-South Africa Chapter