TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE BACK

Last week, the sudden tabling of a Private Members Motion in the House of Assembly sent shivers down our spines.

Block-capped WhatsApp and Facebook messages flew backwards and forwards between NGOs, activists and even concerned government employees. Hurried two-minute phone calls were made to inform allies. People made knee-jerk promises to mobilise. It felt like 2017 all over again.  At Kwakha Indvodza staff members scratched their heads at how, and why the most august House and its honourable members were due to debate a motion which read:

TO MOVE THAT THIS AUGUST HOUSE REFER THE PETITION TO HON. MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ON THE SEXUAL OFFENCES AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT NO.15 OF 2018 TO THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE FOR INQUIRY AND REPORT WITHIN SIXTY (60) DAYS.

It feels like we are going in circles. As a nation, not 14 months ago we celebrated the enactment of perhaps the most comprehensive legislation regarding sexual offences and domestic violence in the SADC region. This was our moment to celebrate, our moment to shout that we are a nation moving forward. In this regard, Eswatini leads the way, well ahead of some of our larger neighbours in the region in the defence of the rights of all citizens to live free from all forms of violence, threat and abuse.

But it was also time to get to work; to inform people about the Act, to ensure that all duty-bearers must immediately do their part. From the police, to social welfare, medical practitioners, public prosecutors and our Members of Parliament, to address the myths and misconceptions that surround the SODV Act and that are often passed on by people who have not opened a single page of the Act.

Parliament

And so, to Parliament we went, again. In numbers, civil society organisations, abuse survivors and members of the public watched from the gallery, as is the right of any citizen, as Bahlonishwa went through the other items on the day’s Order Paper. Finally, almost reluctantly, they addressed the elephant in the room: the motion on the SODV Act above. The proposer, Dvokodvweni MP Mduduzi Magagula, sensed that the room was not on his side and sheepishly deferred his motion, citing that more investigation into its contents was needed. The room let out a sigh of relief. Some laughed nervously and looked up at the gallery above.

As Honourable Masuku stated the other day, we should not be scared of further debate on the SODV Act. If anything, MP Magagula is practising democracy and raising the concerns of his constituents at the highest level. If indeed this is the majority view and desire of those he serves, then tabling this motion is a noble piece of political representation and, like Masuku, we should welcome the opportunity to reinforce why this is such a necessary law for so many.

However, we should also be doing more. We should be teaching each other what the Act actually says. We should be having these conversations with our wives and husbands, with our children and with those most at-risk of both abuse and of perpetrating a crime through ignorance of the law. It is not time to go back to the august House for these conversations. It is time to take them to the pool halls, to the churches, to community meetings and, dare I say it, to the living rooms and bedrooms of our homes. Kwakha Indvodza and partners, including the DPM’s Office and Masuku himself have made this their mission and for this, we applaud his leadership.

But the events of last week prove that there is much more left to do. No law is perfect, the SODV Act included. But in such times of financial and social crisis, where we need effective, clear-headed leadership from our Legislature, this is not the time of revisiting and re-tabling last year’s successes. This is not the time to tell the world that, as a country, we revoke the protection of those vulnerable to harm. It is time to move forward, to fixing what is broken in our beloved Eswatini: towards further social protection for the young and old, towards providing improved education and greater opportunities, towards health services for the sick and better accountability to those who abuse power. And, if Magagula’s motion is tabled once again, it is time for us all to say ‘Enough is enough’.

Kwakha Indvodza provides training packages which unpack the SODV Act and its implications on our daily lives. For more information, please contact Hlobile@kwakhaindvodza.com  or +26824042265.

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