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CULTURE HAS BEEN WEAPONISED

03/01/2022 08:21:00 BY VUSI SIBISI

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The arbitrary and summary expulsion of Matoni Ngom’yayona Gamedze from the regiments days before the Incwala Ceremony last year was quite instructive as it served to expose just how culture has been politically and socially weaponised to whip emaSwati into submission and by so doing, acquaint and subliminally acquiesce them into a life of servitude to the ruling elite and its acolytes.

I do not intend to bore anyone with the whys and wherefores of this matter because it is common cause that it was politically motivated given the leader of Sive Siyinqaba political movement’s political reinvention at the wake of the June 29 uprising. I should hasten to say that given the politicisation of culture in recent years, to which sections of particularly pseudo patriots affirmed their loyalties for self-serving purposes, it took an inordinately considerable length of time to make up my mind on tackling the subject matter given its sensitivities.

Leadership

Of course, we are in the 21st century yet some of the things that happen and done in the name of culture belong to the dark ages. But perhaps a more compelling reason was the leadership’s acceptance for the need to dialogue – culture is bound to feature prominently in the discussions – to chart a new political trajectory for this our beautiful country. As can be expected, the words arbitrary, summary and perhaps including unilaterally, may be alien and anathema to the Eswatini cultural parlance for obvious reasons that they may stir and inevitably stoke the consciousness of its subjects who invariably would be oblivious to their circumstances. That is why Ngoma, as he is commonly called, has no recourse in staying, reviewing or reversing his expulsion from the membership of the Inyatsi Regiment, an institution he joined voluntarily.

But we can no longer divorce the fact that culture and cultural institutions have not only been politicised but have also been weaponised to weaken and decimate all elements opposed to the Tinkhundla political hegemony. Consequently, a critique of the political system, some toxic aspects of culture and certain practices is deemed an affront on the monarchy by the zealots.

Regiments

It should also be stated that in the mix of politicisation of culture is the expectation of upward mobility for the adherents as it is common currency that nowadays being a member of the regiments stands one – including their progeny – in good stead in respect to political, employment and business opportunities. Hence for the employment inclined loyalists the army, police and Correctional Services, as well as government, provide secure job opportunities while for those in business public tender entrepreneurship is assured and the nepotism policy delivers political office for those in the habit of prostrating themselves and singing for their supper.

As I see it, the expulsion of Ngoma without due process – ostensibly because upon joining the regiments one bequeaths their very lives to the King and by so doing strip themselves of all their rights and civil liberties – was a politically influenced decision even if this is denied because it had a bearing on his recent radical political statements that were critical of the obtaining Tinkhundla political system that is underwritten by the King, the ultimate custodian of absolute power and culture and traditions that embody the Eswatini nation. The Ngoma episode, as it were, has somewhat helped to illuminate the source of the incompatibility of the obtaining polity with the rule of law, which is disguised as culture. This ostensibly because the King personifies culture.

Isolation

Consequently, the question of the rule of law cannot be dealt with in isolation to the political question because for as long as the current polity subsists so shall the rule of law crisis haunting this country. So, even if Ngoma had wanted to challenge his expulsion he could not do so because that would be deemed uncultural unless he did so within the confines of culture which appears not to subscribe to the notion of the existence of natural justice. After all he had forgone all his rights and civil liberties upon voluntarily joining the regiments.

Casualty

As I see it, the rule of law is not the only casualty of culture but human rights and civil liberties too. Hence the essence of joining the regiments equates to abdicating these inalienable rights and liberties and bequeathing one’s life to the King. Regrettably, the sub-cultures birthed by the idolatry of culture and some traditional institutions have intruded even the lives of those who have elected to pursue a parallel path to that of servitude to culture. This explains government’s continued refusal to respect, guarantee and safeguard human rights and civil liberties of the people because itself is prisoner to culture, hence is always in breach of international conventions on human rights to which the kingdom is a signatory.

Regrettably, culture is being abused and perverted on the altar of political expediency by those entrusted with the responsibilities of protecting, preserving and promoting it, while the rest of the nation subscribing to high moral values watch in horror, unable to do anything in light of the might of the State. The result is that, instead of remaining a glue that holds emaSwati together, culture has now become a divisive tool that is used to malign those who do not subscribe to the Tinkhundla political system and endorse the excesses of the leadership that have led to the impoverishment of the people while also stunting the development potential of the kingdom.

Now culture has become an obstacle to national imperatives instead of being the glue that not only binds the nation together, but also a lubricant to the lifestyle of all emaSwati because of misplaced loyalties and self-serving machinations. Hopefully the forthcoming dialogue will lead to the social reconstruction of the nation that would also insulate culture from political encroachment.