ATONE FOR THE DEAD, MAIMED BEFORE DIALOGUE

Between the two of them, National Commissioner of Police William Tsitsibala Dlamini and Minister for Housing and Urban Development Prince Simelane had direct influence in the course of events that culminated with the epoch-making civil unrest that began as peaceful protests against police brutality at the wake of the mysterious traffic accident-related death of university Law student Thabani Nkomonye, which morphed into a pro-democracy movement that irreversibly raptured the peace – albeit practically superficial to the politically discerning – the leadership used as a camouflage for a polity with no respect for human rights and liberties that exploited culture to install a regimented society of serfs for total control and manipulation.

Prince Simelane, who lately has emerged as a self-appointed supreme defender of the ruling elite, initially raised the political temperature with the battle cry of fighting fire with fire when protests against police brutality suddenly morphed into a well-coordinated political movement after the triumvirate Members of Parliament (MPs) for Siphofaneni, Hosea and Ngwempisi gave voice to the protests by calling for political reforms underpinned by an elective prime minister. This ignited constituencies into petitioning their respective MPs to champion, on their behalf, the cause for political reformation in Parliament.

Surprisingly, albeit not unexpected, no one berated Prince Simelane for his sabre-rattling, which could be construed as tacit endorsement by government and his political benefactor(s). It was no wonder when National Commissioner of Police Dlamini followed this up with a declaration of war against petitioners, a move that appeared to receive government approval when it suddenly banned the physical delivery of the petitions other than through social media, triggering nationwide protests for democracy that turned into an orgy of violence with arson attacks on businesses coupled to concomitant looting leaving behind dozens of emaSwati dead and many more injured and maimed.

But neither Prince Simelane nor NATCOM Tsitsibala, who by now should have been declared national disasters, if not emergencies, with others to follow once investigations into the massacre of emaSwati are concluded, have been held to account for their sabre-rattling. But instead it is MP Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza (Hosea) and Mthandeni Dube (Ngwempisi) who are languishing in jail after being denied bail while their former colleague Mduduzi ‘Gawuzela’ Simelane is a fugitive from injustice after being blamed for the civil unrests triggered by irresponsible utterances by Prince Simelane and NATCOM Tsitsibala who to date have not withdrawn or retracted their war-mongering and inflammatory utterances. This strengthens the conjecture that their actions had the backing of the political establishment.

Investigations

As I see it that we are into the fifth month since the death of many emaSwati yet the police have still not publicly opened investigations into these crimes yet they were able to expedite the arrests and prosecution of looters and arsonists during the civil unrest, while government remains silent on the question of opening an inquiry into these apparent crimes against humanity speaks to a political conspiracy. Government’s initial position of blaming the murders on mercenaries fizzled out with the finding by the Human Rights Commission’s verification that security forces used lethal force against apparently unarmed protesters, hence the fatalities it put at 47.

Prime Minister Cleopas Sipho Dlamini after much denial later conceded in an interview with the BBC that some of the protesters were killed by the police yet has not seen it fit to order an investigation so that those responsible are prosecuted. Parliament also turned a deaf ear to the Human Rights Commission’s recommendation to call for a fully-fledged inquiry into the civil unrest and accompanying fatalities. Yet the State and government had wasted no time in launching the Reconstruction Fund to assist businesses impacted by the civil unrest to get back on their feet. This omission to investigate the murders of predominantly emaSwati youth and the apparent continuing scorched earth operation to hunt down, torture and even kill emaSwati youth whose profile fits those who likely participated in the pro-democracy protests to instill fear and paralyse the pro-democracy movement ahead of the scheduled dialogue all fits into the narrative of a diabolical political conspiracy to secure the obtaining political hegemony.

As I see it, the question we ought to be asking ourselves is; is dialogue possible under the cloud of unresolved death of dozens and maimed emaSwati simply for demanding restoration of their human rights and a government elected by and accountable to the people? It seems to me that this question has to be dealt with comprehensively even before a substantive dialogue gets off the ground. Society cannot pretend that everything is normal and we ought to forget and move on. There has to be atonement for the dead and, indeed, for the walking wounded without limbs whose lives have been irreversibly altered and for those affected to find closure. We are talking about human beings here and not worthless animals which provided moving targets to crazed security forces to gun down. These are no longer just allegations but facts as conceded, albeit belatedly and probably also reluctantly, by the PM.  

Personally I was not impacted by the killing, maiming and torture of compatriots but have been permanently traumatised by the horror of it all. What kind of human beings would lob teargas canisters in a loaded bus and gun down those trying to flee through windows? There were just too many horrors committed by an evidently crazed security apparatus. I used to live in a country, a society where life was sacrosanct and the loss of human life a tragedy of gargantuan proportions. I used to think, indeed believe, that emaSwati were cut from the same fabric with common and shared values. How wrong I was! It is why I intend to keep alive in my own way, the memory of those who perished and for their blood to water the tree of liberation because nothing will ever be normal for me again. That is why I cannot say Merry Christmas!

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