Swaziland@Newsletter 53
Published by Africa Contact (Denmark)

Earlier issues can be read at
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/SAK-Swazinewsletter together with
documents and other materials not included in the regular newsletter.
If you wish to subscribe to the newsletter, please send mail to:
SAK-Swazinewsletter subscribe@... All correspondence to
swaziland@... Free subscription to the newsletter will also
give access to the photo section which illustrates the history, the
land, life and struggle of the Swazi people.
_______________

1. Income rating hobbles aid effort. James Hall, Mbabane. Inter Press
Service (Johannesburg). 17.1.2008.

2. Floods could be worse than 2001. BBC News 17.1.2008.

3. EU gives 15 million euros to aid Swazi sugar farmers (AFP), 18.1.2008.

4. Four students arrested for riot. Sabelo Mamba, Weekend Observer 19.1 2008.

5. Standard Bank Research Economics. Swaziland?s economic woes must
be fixed. See http://www.standardbank.co.za, select ?Research? to view
publications.

6. Tragedy and comedy in the same small place. Steve Newton,
Blogosphere of the Libertarian Left. 12 January, 2008 - Delaware
Libertarian: http://delawarelibertarian.blogspot.com/

7. Regional lessons learned. Southern Africa. Population Services
International, Washington, D.C. (PSI). 7 January 2008.

8. Swazi media face harassment - http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/
Richard Rooney, January 14, 2008.

9. National Trust Commission to establish environmental centre. The
Swazi Observer January 14, 2008.

10. Long on policies but short on implementation. (Mbabane - IRIN) 10.1. 2008.

11. Good news for livestock farmers. Phila Dlamini, The Swazi Observer
16.1.2008.

12. Bongani Masuku, The meaning of the ANC Conference for Swaziland.
Sunday Times of Swaziland 13 Janaury, 2008.

13. Solidarity programme: the people of Swaziland and Swaziland
Solidarity Network. Sikhumbuzo Thomo, Secretary General, SSN. January
2008.
_______________

1. Income rating hobbles aid effort. James Hall, Mbabane. Inter Press
Service (Johannesburg). 17.1.2008

Amanda Dube is literally 'dirt poor'. Fierce bush fires ravaged
Swaziland for months in 2007, and repeatedly swept over the hilly area
of Mliba where she lives. Fires burned the trees and vegetation on the
small sloping plot where the widowed mother of three attempts to
scratch out a maize crop.

Dube was unable to produce any food last year because of drought. The
drought wiped out 80 percent of the country's maize production, and
this week even before new trees and maize plants could take root,
powerful rainstorms sent torrents of water down the hill and past her
stick and thatch hut, carrying away top soil.

"The soil was very poor before. This is a very rocky area and not
really good for growing food. But now there is hardly any dirt at
all," the 37-year-old Dube told IPS. Dube says that she and other
Swazis like her are not likely to see the national economy
fundamentally strengthened through developmental assistance because in
the eyes of the international agencies that decide such things, her
country is too affluent.

Two-thirds of the population of Swaziland - less than one million
people - live on less than one dollar a day. The unemployment rate is
40 percent, and more than four out of ten Swazis depend on some form
of food assistance to stay alive.

Dube's husband died after "growing very thin" three years ago. Like
most Swazis, she will not say he succumbed to an AIDS-related illness
because of the stigma attached to AIDS. Dube is entitled to food aid.
She can collect a meagre ration of maize, beans, and cooking oil
imported by the World Food Programme (WFP) and distributed by the
international relief organisation World Vision.

"The economy is performing poorly, especially in comparison with the
other nations of the region," said Richard Ndwandwe, an investment
advisor with an Mbabane bank, told IPS. "We have not achieved 3.0
percent economic growth in a decade, and the central bank says an
annual growth rate of 3.6 percent is required just to keep up with
population growth," Ndwandwe said, stressing that the, "net result has
been a deterioration in the standard of living for almost all Swazis."

"It is the rich minority that is skewing the statistical picture, and
making the country appear better off than it is for most people,"
explained Ndwandwe. "Social inequalities are increasingly leaving
Swaziland with one of the world's most-skewered income distributions,"
noted Peter Beck
Christiansen, the European Union's (EU) ambassador to Swaziland.

Colonial-era landholders and business people who did not have their
properties compromised when Swaziland gained its independence 40 years
ago, government leaders, and a small but well-off clique of Swazi
entrepreneurs have amassed wealth that has raised the nation's gross
domestic product (GDP).

Less than twenty percent of the population controls eighty percent of
the nation's wealth, according to the World Bank. But, the World Bank,
using GDP to classify the country's state of economic development, has
placed Swaziland in the "low-middle income" category of nations.

"We are far from being a middle income country, but we are not
considered a low income country, and this makes a world of difference
when it comes to accessing development funding," said Ndwandwe.

"It is not a fair rating," Abdoulaye Balde, the country director for
the WFP, told IPS from his Mbabane office that coordinates the world's
response to Swaziland's food shortage crisis. "It does not take into
consideration that way most people are living. We are always telling
this to our donors," he stressed.

The director of another humanitarian relief NGO, which receives World
Bank logistical assistance said, "There is so much need in the world
and so many peoples competing for limited resources that it is easy
for an NGO to go by World Bank guidelines to decline assistance to a
country like Swaziland. It's not necessarily fair."

Several times this past year, Prime Minister Themba Dlamini and Majozi
Sithole, his finance minister, reminded the country that Swaziland
does not qualify for low-interest loans or interest-free grants
awarded to countries classified as "low income" although a large
majority of Swazis, like Dube, live in absolute poverty.

Denied developmental funds, the government's response has been to
encourage economic growth by boosting the private sector, with the
hope of increased tax revenue from businesses.

While foreign direct investment (FDI) is sought by globetrotting teams
of government officials, ordinary Swazis are encouraged to become
"small entrepreneurs."

Christiansen signed a treaty with Swazi leadership for a 100 million
dollar aid package, Wednesday. "I think that it is a particular
responsibility of the country to ensure that ever citizen received a
fair share of the national wealth," Christiansen said.

However, not even the country's small,and by law nonexistent,
opposition groups who speak about countering the ruling monarchy's
grip on governance, have called for wealth redistribution.

"The rich are not going away, and that's the only way to make
Swaziland statistically a low income country," Anthony Simelane, an
attorney based in the central commercial hub Manzini, told IPS. "There
is not going to be wealth redistribution that would benefit the poor.
The country is denied development funds to help the poor, so all
government can hope to do is boost the economy and reap taxes,"
Simelane said.

The impediment to this plan is government corruption. Sithole has
estimated that the amount of government money lost to various forms of
corruption annually equals the country's national debt.

Christiansen touched on corruption when he signed the EU's
developmental agreement. "I have learned in my three years in
Swaziland that no amount of funding or donor assistance can lead to
development if the right conditions are not in place. Deficiencies in
the areas of governance have and will continue to seriously limit your
development progress, with or without the HIV/AIDS threat," he told
his Swazi hosts.

The EU's aid package is contingent upon the implementation of what
Christensen called "an ambitious governance reform programme to enable
Swaziland to reach at least the level of other Southern African
countries."
___________________________________________


2. Floods could be worse than 2001. BBC News 17.1.2008.

Flooding in Mozambique and neighbouring countries could be more
damaging than catastrophic floods seven years ago, Mozambique
authorities say. But officials say they don't expect the death toll to
be as high as in 2001, when 700 people died.

The government is preparing to evacuate 200,000 people from their
homes as rains continue to fall. Some 70,000 people have been forced
from their homes so far and several people have died, the government
said. The National Institute of Natural Disaster Management (INGC)
predicted the heavy rains as far back as November and warned
communities they were coming.

But flood waters are now spreading to Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique,
Swaziland and Zambia, and more people will have to be evacuated. The
rain is forecast to fall throughout February and could continue into
April, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies said. The INGC told the AFP news agency that a UN
announcement that 50 people had died in the flooding was
"overestimated".

Torrential rains in Zambia and Zimbabwe have swollen the Zambezi
river, Africa's fourth longest, to well above the flood limits.
Valleys in Malawi and Mozambique are bearing the brunt as the waters
flow down to the Indian Ocean.

______________________________________

3. EU gives 15 million euros to aid Swazi sugar farmers (AFP), 18.1.2008.

Swaziland's sugarcane farmers were handed 15 million euros by the
European Commission on Friday in a measure to cushion them from the
impact of a cut in industry prices, officials said.

A joint statement by the Swazi government and EC said 15 million euros
(22 million dollars) would minimize any adverse impact on the sugar
sector which has been a mainstay of the economy in the landlocked
southern African kingdom.

"This will go towards the enhancement of the profitability of
smallholder sugarcane growers and will contribute to maintain the
efficiency of Swaziland's sugar production," said the statement. "The
beneficiary farmers will also be assisted to prepare sustainable farm
plans."

Some 700 sugar industry workers have been laid off in recent months
with producers forced to cut costs as a result of the lower prices
from Europe.
Swaziland's yearly sugar quota to EU markets stands at 120,000 metric tonnes.
_____________________________________

4. Four students arrested for riot. Sabelo Mamba, Weekend Observer 19.1 2008.

Four students of the University of Swaziland have been arrested in
connection with the riot at the Campus on Thursday evening.

They are Langelihle Dlamini (20), Bheki Mhlanga (28), Emmanuel Ngubane
(22), Qiniso Nxumalo (21). Police Public Relations Officer Superindent
Vusi Masuku said Dlamini was arrested on Thursday while the rest were
rounded up yesterday. He said Dlamini was arrested by members of the
public, who handed him over to the police after pelting a bus
windscreen with a stone and another car.
"Before being handed over to the police, Dlamini was severely beaten
up by the public," he said.

Supt. Masuku said Dlamini appeared before the Manzini Magistrate's
Court for two counts of malicious damage to property and that he was
granted bail of E500. He said the others appeared before the Matsapha
Circuit Court, which released them on their own cognisance. They are
expected to make appearances in court on February 1, this year.

The PRO said Mhlanga was arrested for public disturbance in that he
placed some stones on the highway and in the process disturbing the
free flow of traffic. He added that Ngubane and Nxumalo were charged
with malicious damage to property.

Meanwhile, police have launched investigations to determine the
circumstances in which a Swaziland College of Technology student was
shot during a confrontation between UNISWA students and the police on
Thursday evening.

Police Public Relations Officer Superintendent Vusi Masuku said the
issue was still being investigated yesterday and a conclusion had not
been reached. ?The student is still in hospital, hence it is only
after he has been discharged that we can make conclusive analysis of
what occurred,? he said.

The student was identified as Nkosinaye Dlamini. He was allegedly in
the company of UNISWA students within a rented flat near the
university. Police are said to have fired at the direction of all that
were in the house, missing a four year old child and hitting Dlamini
on the stomach.

It was said the rubber bullet penetrated Dlamini?s stomach and was
embedded there. He was subsequently admitted to the Manzini Clinic.
Other students were also injured when armed officers pounced on them
to distract them. This was after the students ran riot and vandalised
a car belonging to Vice Chancellor Cisco Magagula on Thursday evening.

UNISWA students want the institution?s administration to withdraw a
semesterisation programme, and postpone examinations scheduled for
Monday.
____________________________________

5. Standard Bank Research Economics. Swaziland?s economic woes must
be fixed. See http://www.standardbank.co.za, select ?Research? to view
publications.


Swaziland?s economic performance has deteriorated over the past decade and is
projected at 1.2% this year and 1% in 2008 by the IMF. This is the result of a
number of factors, some external and some domestic.

External factors are the deterioration of trade preferences and
regional droughts, among others. Swaziland is landlocked and
surrounded by Mozambique and South Africa. The small and open Swazi
economy can benefit from exports to these neighbours as both economies
have shown robust growth. For example, Mozambique grew by 8.5% in 2006
and is expected to grow by 6.8% this year; whereas South Africa grew
by 5% in 2006 and is expected to grow by 4.7% this year. Although
Swaziland?s exports are mostly to South Africa (about 63% of total
exports), exports to the US have grown under the US? African Growth
and Opportunity Act (Agoa). Despite South Africa?s robust growth,
Swaziland has lagged behind its neighbours.

Of interest is that the US International Trade Commission (USITC) reports that
Swaziland has grown its financial services exports and, barring South
Africa, is the largest such exporter in the 23 sub-Saharan Africa
(SSA) countries that report balance of payment data to the IMF.
Financial services to the value of US 97 million dollars were exported
in 2003, rising to US$290.8 million in 2004, which are linked to
Swaziland?s agricultural export products, such as soft drink
concentrate, wood pulp and sugar. In 2003 financial services exports
accounted for nearly half of SSA?s total of US$201 million, an unusual
feat for a small economy.

The tourism sector could offer growth opportunities in the future. The
USITC also notes that Swaziland?s gaming industry lost some of its
attraction for South African gamblers when South Africa legalised
gambling in 1995. Rail tourism has helped boost tourist arrivals. New
projects are being planned to further stimulate the sector. The strong
currency since 2002 has also had a largely negative impact on the
competitiveness of the country?s manufacturing and other export sectors.

Email brenda.landsberg@... to be included on Standard
Bank research distribution list. See
http://www.standardbank.co.zaselect ?Research? to view publications.

_____________________________


6. Tragedy and comedy in the same small place. Steve Newton,
Blogosphere of the Libertarian Left. 12 January, 2008 - Delaware
Libertarian: http://delawarelibertarian.blogspot.com/

Swaziland is just emerging (hopefully) from a lengthy drought, which
King Mswati III sees as an opportunity to end the dependence of his
small nation in southern Africa on international food hand-outs.

Given that 80% of Swaziland's population depends on subsistence
agriculture, and that good old Mswati keeps tens of thousands of
hectares aside for cultivating not food but cassava for ethanol
exports (got to pay for those Mercedes SUVs each of his 13 wives
drives), this is just another one of his inspired policies.

For another example (and here all humour departs): Swaziland has the
highest AIDs/HIV infection rate in the world (26% of all adults, 49%
of all young women) and the lowest life expectancy (31.3 years).

King Mswati's answer: Sterilize and brand the infected, while
announcing a five-year moratorium on all sexual intercourse.

We often hear about failed nation-states. This is a nation-state of
919,000 people that could starve or die out completely from disease
within the next few years. Conundrum for the day: is it genocide when
a country commits suicide?

_________________________________________

7. Regional lessons learned. Southern Africa. Progress Report:
Population Services International, Washington, D.C. (PSI). 7 January
2008.

Home to an estimated 9.3 million people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA),
Southern Africa is the unquestionable epicenter of the continent's HIV
pandemic. With an adult HIV prevalence rate of 33.4 percent in
Swaziland and 5.5 million PLHA residing in South Africa, the region
has the dubious
distinction of housing both the country with the highest adult HIV
prevalence rate and the country with the largest HIV-positive
population in the world.

While Southern Africa is relatively more developed than other parts of
sub-Saharan Africa, HIV is taking its toll on regional economies:
Every country now ranks lower on the Human Development Index than it
did in 1992, and HIV/AIDS has undoubtedly contributed to this decline.

Gains in treatment are not keeping up either: For every person who
receives treatment, five more will be infected. AIDSMark responded to
HIV epidemics in eight Southern African countries with funding and
technical assistance: Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Namibia, South
Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

HIV epidemics in these countries are highly generalized, with adult
HIV prevalence close to or exceeding 20 percent in every country
except Madagascar, where the epidemic remains concentrated (0.5
percent prevalence).

HIV is most commonly transmitted in the region through heterosexual
sex, and the epidemic is driven by concurrent sexual partnerships, low
rates of consistent condom use and low rates of male circumcision.
While certain groups are at higher risk, particularly commercial sex
workers (CSWs) and long-distance truck drivers, HIV is a
population-wide problem in the region.
_________________________________________

8. Swazi media face harassment - http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/
Richard Rooney, January 14, 2008.

If we were to take a snapshot of the media in Swaziland at the moment
we would see that the majority of them are state controlled and that
small part of the industry that is in private hands has been harassed
by the monarchy and the government.

The media industry in Swaziland is small and the majority of it is
state controlled. As far as the newspaper industry is concerned, there
are two principal players. The first is the Loffler family based in
Namibia which owns African Echo, the holding company of the daily
Times of Swaziland, Swazi News (published Saturday) and the Times
Sunday. These newspapers, the first of which, the Times, was
established in 1897, are the only major news sources in the kingdom
free of government control.

The second major player is the corporation Tibiyo Taka Ngwane, which
is controlled by the Swazi royal family and owns the Observer Media
Group, which publishes the Swazi Observer and its companion paper, the
Weekend Observer. One independent monthly comment magazine, The Nation
magazine, manages to continue publishing despite government opposition
and a small circulation. A free government produced newssheet,
Swaziland Today has very little credibility.

Newspaper circulations are generally poor. Estimates suggest that the
Swazi Observer sells between 5 000 and 15 000 copies a day and the
Times of Swaziland sells about 35 000 copies a day. The Times Sunday
and Swazi News sell about 15000 copies a week. The Weekly Observer has
a circulation of 10 000. All newspapers are published in the English
language. These newspapers serve a population of about one million
people.

Newspapers lag a long way behind radio and television as the most
important source of news for Swazis. A gender and media audience study
found 16 percent of women and 19 percent of men cited newspapers as
the most important source of news compared to 53 percent of women (63
percent men) who cited radio and 31 per cent women (17 percent men)
who cited television.

The survey found that respondents with tertiary level education
constituted the highest proportion of those who chose newspapers as
their main source of news.

There are two free to air television stations in Swaziland, the
Swaziland Television Authority (STA) and Channel Swazi. The STA is the
state broadcaster and still dominates airwaves. Two acts of parliament
have resulted in a monopoly by state owned radio and television.
Broadcast licensing is the prerogative of Swaziland Posts and
Telecommunications which has the sole authority to issue licenses.

The STA has one channel with multiple national repeaters. The
government in 2001 allowed Channel Swazi, a pro-establishment medium,
to begin operating domestically.

The South Africa-based satellite broadcaster, MultiChoice, also
operates in Swaziland providing subscribers with access to television
services including Cable News Network CNN, BBC, AlJazeera and Sky News.

There are two radio broadcasters in Swaziland: the Swaziland
Broadcasting and Information Services (SBIS) and Voice of the Church,
a private Christian radio station which is a local franchise of
TransWorldRadio. Voice of the Church is the only privately-owned radio
station in Swaziland. The Swaziland Broadcasting and Information
Services is a state-run national radio service. It has one siSwati
language channel, one English-language channel, and one information
services channel.

There are three relatively new entrants into the Swazi media market:
the magazines Youth Connexion and Siyavena and the television station,
Channel Swazi, but none are particularly critical of the state. The
youth magazine aims mainly at addressing social issues affecting the
youth such as HIV AIDS and crime. Channel Swazi is also a
pro-establishment medium that offers very little in terms of
progressive and dynamic points of view. Siyavena is a sports
publication without much critical content. Apart from adding its name
to the media landscape, it has no new voice on behalf of media freedom
in the kingdom.

The media are not independent of government. There are estimated to be
more than thirty pieces of legislation which could be regarded as
restrictive to press freedom in Swaziland. Generally, in the state and
private sector, the government has kept a tight reign on media
censorship in recent years.

A Commonwealth election monitoring team criticized Swaziland?s lack of
press freedom and expressed disappointment at government-owned Radio
Swaziland?s reporting on the 2003 elections, saying that restricted
campaign coverage reduced voters knowledge of the candidates and
harmed their ability to hold candidates accountable.

Last year the Times group of newspapers was threatened with closure
after the Times Sunday ran a report sourced from an overseas news
agency that blamed King Mswati III for many of Swaziland?s economic
woes. The newspaper group was forced to run an abject apology or face
closure.

The power of the king is so great in Swaziland that news media in the
kingdom enforce self-censorship when opportunities to report
critically about him occur. In August 2007, the world?s media reported
a survey from Forbes in New York that placed King Mswati III among one
of the top 15 richest monarchs in the world. He was revealed as the
richest monarch in sub-Saharan Africa and the youngest (at age 39)
among the monarchs in the top 15.

The king?s wealth was estimated at 200 million US dollars (approx. 1,4
billion Rand). Foreign news reports noted that more than 70 percent of
Swazis lived on less than 1 US dollar a day and that more than half
the population relied on food aid donated by international agencies to
survive. The Swazi media mentioned none of this.

It is difficult to be optimistic about media freedom in Swaziland. As
we make our way in 2008 the government is threatening to force news
media into a system of regulation that they do not want and a
government subcommittee wants to choose which journalists can and
cannot on the Swazi Parliament.
__________________________________

9. National Trust Commission to establish environmental centre. The
Swazi Observer January 14, 2008.

THE Swaziland National Trust Commission (SNTC) is seeking to
coordinate and facilitate Environmental Education programmes as well
as establish a centre of expertise in the country.

Chief Executive Officer Titus Dlamini said this centre of expertise
would become an important hub for all environmental educators who were
taking part in the implementation of the UN Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development (DESD) in the country and beyond.

Speaking during the graduation ceremony of 17 environmental educators
at Malolotja Environmental Education Centre, he said this would be
done in collaboration with the Swaziland Environmental Authority
(SEA), the Ministry of Education and University of Swaziland (UNISWA)
through SNTC?s National Environmental Education Programme.

?It is, therefore, important for all environmental educators like
yourselves to identify their role and to formulate programmes for
participating in the establishment of these centres of expertise and
as such become involved in the implementation of the DESD,? he said.

?The SNTC is happy to join hands with stakeholders on the ground to
help achieve the great work of educating the nation on the environment
and its sustainable use,? said the CEO, adding ?our institution
created these education centres for such a purpose.? Dlamini said the
UN Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro
in 1992, gave high priority in its Agenda 21 to the role of education
in enabling sustainable development.

?This role was further emphasised at the World Summit on Sustainable
Development in Johannesburg where it was noted that a UN Decade of
Education for Sustainability (DESD) should be declared to highlight
the role of education in the achievement of sustainable development,?
he noted.

Implementation

?In March 2005, the UN General Assembly launched the UN DESD and the
main focus of its implementation plan is to encourage partnerships and
actions at all levels of society and amongst all stakeholders with a
responsibility and interest in education as well as sustainability.?
Dlamini said following in the spirit of the Decade, Swaziland became
the first country in the southern Africa region, and indeed in Africa,
to launch the DESD in April 2007.

?While we forge ahead with the meaningful implementation of this
extensive programme, which will be with us until 2014 and beyond, it
is essential to note that our partners are organisations such as SEJA
and others that have already put the education agenda in the forefront
of development,? he added. ?Our success as an institution and as a
country depends on these partnerships we are forging here and we pray
that it blossoms into a fruitful endeavour for all partners concerned.?

The CEO further said Swaziland was already participating in the DESD
and the country had taken the first step in engaging its partners in
environmental education and related sectors to facilitate capacity
building to address environmental and health risks, so as to reduce
poverty and other challenges related to the millennium development
goals (MDGs).

?I want to commend SEJA for taking up the daunting task of educating
the public on the environment. The dedication and perseverance
displayed here are some of the most useful tools for Swaziland to
achieve sustainable development,? said Dlamini.

He further applauded the participants for their dedication and
commitment. ?Being adult learners who are already living in
communities ravaged by the environmental crisis, it is encouraging to
know that the baton has been picked up by fresh people who will run
with it and shine in their respective communities.?

He also said as a country with an economy in transition, the nation
was faced with a major challenge of extremely fast-paced development,
especially with the drive for poverty alleviation. ?Some of our
investors come from countries with poor records on environmental
regulation and as such expect the same of Swaziland,? he said, ?it is
now your job as environmental educators to ensure that there is
environmental compliance in your communities.?
_____________________________________

10. Long on policies but short on implementation. (Mbabane - IRIN) 10.1. 2008.

Swaziland's ability to cope with its ongoing humanitarian crisis will
not improve until its under-performing economy picks up, social
welfare activists and the government agree.

In a policy speech this week, outlining the government's goals for the
year ahead, Prime Minister Themba Dlamini frankly acknowledged the
country's economic woes, which are hampering efforts to roll back food
shortages, AIDS and poverty.

Citing Swaziland's current problems as "drought, wild fires, issues of
orphans and vulnerable children, drug shortages, poverty and slow
growth of our economy", the premier said real gross domestic product
per capita "still remains the lowest among the Southern African
Customs Union (SACU) countries". SACU is a five-member trade
organisation.

Economic growth averaged just 2 percent over the past five years, well
below the annual population increase of 3.6 percent. Although growth
nudged 2.8 percent last year, the Central Bank of Swaziland noted that
the performance still represented "an overall decline in the quality
of life for the average Swazi".

Nervous labour

Even labour is skittish about mounting industrial actions at a time
when overall unemployment hovers around 30 percent, and has reached 40
percent for school leavers. After past crackdowns by the authorities
there were no significant industrial actions in 2007. Workers ignored
a strike call in June by the labour movement to press for political
reform.

"There will not be economic improvement until there is a transparent,
accountable and democratic government to set economic policy," a
source with the Swaziland Federation of Labour told IRIN. "Investors
are staying away, but we are faced with a chicken-and-egg situation in
the labour movement: workers need to raise their voices and be united,
but they are afraid to take a risk because of widespread joblessness."

Swaziland is surrounded by large and affluent South Africa, and a
revitalised Mozambique with economic growth in double digits. Foreign
direct investors prefer other regional economies to the small kingdom
that has few natural resources, and a declining population of less
than a million as a result of AIDS.

"Swaziland's response to our humanitarian crisis is hobbled by lack of
money. There's no government revenue because of two reasons: a poor
economy and corruption," said Sipiwe Simelane, a director of the HIV
support organisation, People For Positive Living.

Government strategy is to pour money into expanding the Matsapha
Industrial Estate outside the central commercial hub, Manzini, and the
creation of new industrial parks in the far southern and western parts
of the country. The approach is: "if we build the facilities, the
investors will come", remarked Maxwell Shongwe of the Ministry of
Economic Planning and Development.

The Prime Minister seemed to acknowledge foreign investors lack of
interest in Swaziland in his policy message, and said the government's
priority would be to encourage Swazis to start small and medium-sized
businesses.

"The problem with this strategy is that local businesses depend on the
domestic market for success - these are small traders, not exporters.
Because of the economy, there are fewer consumers able to support new
businesses," said Charles Mthetfwa, who is struggling to keep his
plumbing business afloat in Manzini.

Government may not have cash, but it is flush with policies. On the
heels of a new National Health Policy, Dlamini announced cabinet
approval this week of a Comprehensive Agricultural Sector Policy and a
National Food Security Policy.

"Government also likes to set goals without telling how these are to
be achieved. Goals are announced as if they are done deals, and the
politicians congratulate themselves, knowing that a few years down the
road, when nothing is accomplished, they will be out of government,"
an economist at a bank in the capital, Mbabane, told IRIN.

The Prime Minister announced a target of halving the poverty rate,
estimated at 69 percent of people living on less than one US dollar a
day, within seven years, and eliminating poverty altogether by 2022.

"The end of poverty by 2022 was set 10 years ago in a National
Development Strategy [NDS], and government still acts like this is
destined to happen, simply because the goal is government policy, but
there are more people living in poverty today than when the NDS was
passed. The goal is worthy, but how is it to be achieved?" the
economist wondered.

The government insists that improvements in social welfare are slowly
being realised. The number of elderly beneficiaries of government
grants, for example, rose by 40 percent last year, from 33,000 to
47,252. But health workers note that problems around accessing
pensions and guarding against corruption persist in the system.
_____________________________________

11. Good news for livestock farmers. Phila Dlamini, The Swazi Observer
16.1.2008.

Livestock farmers should brace themselves for a business boom as a
secure beef market in Norway, but this depends entirely on the speedy
progress that will be made in the negotiations between the two
countries.

Currently, the country exports beef to the United Kingdom and the
Eropean Union, but that is no longer an attractive market following
the escalating feed prices.

The news on the Norwegian possibility was revealed by Swaziland Meat
Industries (SMI) Managing Director Jon Williams. He was speaking
during the feedlotters day held at SMI last week.

"With the price of beef rising following the escalating feed prices,
exporting to some countries in the European Union is no longer
attractive. As a result, we need to explore other markets, and Norway
is one of the attractive options that we are currently exploring," he
said. He further added that a Swazi team had been in negotiations with
the Norwegians since 2006. Further, Williams stated that a Norwegian
Member of Parliament had already visited Swaziland and "we can now
reveal that the matter is now pending in the Norwegian Parliament."

On another note, Williams called on the involvement of both the
Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Trade in collaboration with the
Ministry of Agriculture for the benefit of the beef industry.

Previously Swazi beef products were banned by the EU after Swaziland
failed to produce the necessary paperwork needed to track the
provenance of slaughtered cattle, including their inoculations.
However, the local industry has put its house in order, resulting in
the ban being lifted.

Swaziland has a quota of 3 600 tonnes of beef that it can export to
the EU; however, the local beef industry falls far short of meeting
that quota, as only 500 tonnes are exported per year.

The drastic drop can be attributed to a lot of beef farmers deserting
the industry following the recent hike in feed prices.

Food prices may climb for years because of expansion of farming for
fuel, climate changes and demand from richer consumers in fast-growing
developing nations, a report from a top food research group said last
Tuesday.

Biofuels expansions alone could push maize prices up over two-thirds
by 2020 and increase oilseed costs by nearly half, with subsidies for
the industry forming an implicit tax on the poor, the International
Food Policy Research Institute said.

________________________

12. Bongani Masuku, The meaning of the ANC Conference for Swaziland.
Sunday Times of Swaziland 13 Janaury, 2008.

For Swaziland, there were expectations from all sides of the
political equation. The government was eagerly awaiting what to expect
from the Limpopo outcome, owing to the desperation of the Swazi regime
at the moment and the significance of South Africa in relation to the
momentum for democracy in Swaziland or the lack of it.

For the conservatives and traditionalists in the ruling bloc, owing
to his strong traditional background, Zuma represents hope for an ear
so sympathetic to their "misunderstood case for a unique democracy,
though with an overdose of feudal hangover". Also, using old theories
of marriage as a tool for political ends, traditionalists at Lobamba
hoped that the relationship between Zuma and their daughter would be a
critical leverage over him, so as to secure the necessary concession
in this regard.

On the other hand, the progressive forces relied on first and
foremost, the ANC as an institution and its agenda for a continental
renaissance underpinned by a strong commitment to democracy and that
any President would not stray from that standpoint. Further, the
strong and proven commitment of the Alliance partners SACP and COSATU
to the democratisation of Swaziland, meant that it might secure a
bigger ear under a Zuma Presidency, hence a more decisive intervention
in support of the struggle for democracy in that regard?

(It) is also worth mentioning that the resolution on Swaziland from
this Conference was very progressive, building on the Stellenbosch
Conference resolution of 2002, which affirmed the legitimacy and
correctness of the struggle for democracy in Swaziland, as a direct
expression of the broad struggle by the African masses for the
restoration of their dignity, free from corrupt elitism and daylight
plunder of their resources.

The other most important lesson from this Conference was the
centrality of internal democracy in the ANC, which has seemingly
eluded many former liberation movements on assuming state power. This
has been the down-fall of many former progressive movements, the
Zimbabwean case, being a case in point. Vibrant and sometimes
threatening engagements and political contests are feared, yet they
are the centre-piece of on-going democratic assertion for any
revolutionary movement. Lack of such fierce engagements and contests
is a threat to democracy inside a progressive movement and in a
country generally.

Once institutions of democratic expression collapse, dangerous
elements fill-in the gap and speak on behalf of the whole society.

______________________________________

13. Solidarity programme: the people of Swaziland and Swaziland
Solidarity Network. Sikhumbuzo Thomo, Secretary General, SSN. January
2008.

Introduction

This year, 2008 marks 11 years since the Swaziland Solidarity Network
was born. It marks a period of active consolidation of the good work
done and remarkable achievements of the SSN in the past 11years. We
take this opportunity to salute the internationalists who pioneered
the wonderful work of this historic initiative and the comrades who
held high the banners of this movement during trying times in the past
10 years.

The people of Swaziland have, for far too long, been suffering from a
system of royal oppression driven by the monarchy and his friends.
They have been trying to knock at the door of the royal family for
democracy in vain.

The world has watched in cold silence the terrible persecution of the
ordinary people and pretended not to see or chose to ignore literally
the cries of the Swazi people. As the progressive and democracy-loving
people of South Africa, we have taken it upon ourselves to break that
silence.

1. The following tasks are the guiding framework for the Swaziland
Solidarity Network:

- Hosting a General Counsel of The People's United Democratic
Movement (PUDEMO) on the 29th February, 2008 as there cannot be held a
meeting inside Swaziland due to the draconian King's decree .We need
to mobilize resources for accommodation, transport, catering and
stationary.

- Alliance international summit on Swaziland. This should assess the
situation in Swaziland, developing a firm programme and create the
necessary infrastructure to generate and sustain the momentum on this
issue. This could then allow that the issue of the Swaziland
Solidarity Network be discussed clearly and firmly concretized for
action, including capacity required, what resources are possible and
what time-frames are desirable.

- The plight of the Swazi Exiled comrades namely: accommodation,
education and health.

- Office assistance in: electronic equipment, stationary, furnisher,
commission for our fulltime office volunteers.

2. Other special projects of the Swaziland Solidarity Network

- South African Foreign affairs and parliament information focus.

- Focus on SADC, AU, EU and UN Human rights Commission, particularly
through such civil society organs such as ECOSOC of the AU.

- Identification and targeting of businesses that have interests in
Swaziland and engaging them around the programme for the
democratisation of the country and their role in this.

- Creation of auxiliary and support institutions to sustain the
momentum towards democracy and for social transformation in Swaziland.

- Create infrastructure for the welfare and support of Swazi
activists in the context of intensified state brutality and the
deteriorating socio-economic and political conditions in that country,
particularly tackling the conditions of Swazi refugees and political
exiles based here in South Africa and beyond.

- Developing capacity for improved political education and training
for political activists to build the required levels of leadership
ability.

- Establish Focus teams on key issues, such as on the sanctions campaign.

- Target academic and research institutions dealing with IR globally,
particularly those based in RSA, such as the Africa Institute (AI),
Institute for Global Dialogue (IGD), South African Institute for
International Affairs (SAIIA), Institute for Security Studies (ISS),
and the Southern Africa Political Economic Monthly (SAPEM).

3. Anti-Tinkhundla election campaign, the development of anti-election

- Campaign material

- Setting up the co-ordination center and systems for the campaigns

- Mass rallies and community meetings for the programme

- Support system to the anti-election campaign volunteers

Finally, the new leadership of the Swaziland Solidarity Network shall
be visiting Swaziland for political assessment of conditions in the
country and what should be done. In this regard, it shall meet and
interact with all organs of civil society, including institutions of
the state, where desirable to get facts on developments. The date
shall be set by the NEC at its first meeting soon.

Further, the Swaziland Solidarity Network will engage in an
organizational redesign process to reposition the solidarity network
properly in the unfolding circumstances: a front-liner in the
international solidarity movement with the oppressed people of
Swaziland.

This should afford the Swaziland Solidarity Network an opportunity to
amass necessary capacity in terms of administration and organizational
cohesion. The creation of a sustainable infrastructure and
professional team driving our programme consistently would make a
decisive difference in our work and the struggle of the Swazi people
in general.

_____________________________________


Swaziland Newsletter is published by Africa Contact (Denmark) and
distributed to more than 1200 national and international
organisations, research institutes, universities, trade unions and
labour movements, political parties, church organisations, print and
electronic media, governments, diplomatic missions, members of
parliament, parliamentary committees and private individuals in
Southern Africa, Europe and the United States of America.

Support the democratic movement in Swaziland: MANDELA FUND: BG Bank,
Norre Voldgade 68, 1358 Copenhagen K, Denmark. SWIFT-BIC: DABADKKK.
Registration Number: 0274. Account Number: 3327000. The MANDELA FUND
is a registered national collection in Denmark.