WITH POLITICAL PARTIES; IT IS FINISHED

When Jesus had received the sour wine on the cross, He said "it is finished."

Jesus meant there was nothing else to do and nothing left to do. He paid it all - totally, completely and permanently. He meant the work was really finished. In our political context, it means “there is nothing else to do”, hence, it is finished. Last year, I reminded members of the Mass Democratic Movement (MDM) of public perceptions about the integrity of political parties.

I did mention that conservatives and our parents taught us as a fact in childhood that political parties are pro-war. They advanced a persuasive theory that King Sobhuza II in Council, with legislative backing from Parliament, issued the 1973 Decree which banned political parties because he wanted to save the nation from bloodshed. Emaswati were raised with the belief that political parties take their rivalry to the battlefield.

For the nation to live in peace and tranquillity, our seniors argued that Tinkhundla is a political system suitable for emaSwati. While they branded the country’s political system as an ideal mechanism for service delivery, they besmirched the integrity of political parties.

Resultantly, many of our fellow citizens began to view political parties as a recipe for division and mayhem. This is a political doctrine embedded in many of the people of Eswatini, formerly Swaziland. We cannot denounce this pure veracity as it is deep in the mental faculties of many of our people. In June 2021, we presumed that political parties had gained ground.

When Cyril Ramaphosa paid a courtesy call on His Majesty the King, many of our people thought Tinkhundla System of Government was crumbling. In November 2022, the President of Namibia, Dr. Hage Geingob (may his soul rest in peace), also undertook a working visit to the country to hold consultations with King Mswati III.

While this process of consultations was ongoing, certain elements within the MDM reminded emaSwati of what the people who lived during the era of King Sobhuza II had said about political parties. Firstly, the formation of the Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO) did not go down well with some senior executives of the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO).

Exiled Mduduzi ‘Gaw’zela’ Simelane's participation in the formation of SWALIMO was never viewed by PUDEMO as a complementary effort in the pursuit for multiparty government.The enmity or rivalry between SWALIMO and PUDEMO began to divide the MDM. SWALIMO had to withdraw its membership from the Swaziland Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF).

Secondly, the consternation emanated from what other members of PUDEMO defined as disloyalty on the part of Simelane, the former MP of Siphofaneni. The ex-Siphofaneni MP is a former member of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), the youth wing of PUDEMO. He also worked closely with Mlungisi Makhanya in the student movement. Makhanya who was recently poisoned by a member of the Swaziland International Solidarity Forces (SISF) is the president of PUDEMO.

Logically, Simelane’s stint with SWAYOCO created an impression that he would definitely vouch for PUDEMO or rather join it in the executive. However, he ‘sailed to Tarshish’ and trouble began. When the call for political reforms was at its climax, Makhanya, addressing people during the Workers Day at St. Paul’s in Manzini, dedicated the VIVA slogan to convicted former members of Parliament Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube.

He did not recognise Simelane. He claimed he would not recognise people who feared arrests. This, he said, after the Simelane had fled the country to exile, leaving behind Mabuza and Dube handcuffed. Makhanya’s omission of Simelane from his salute irked some comrades.

A physical confrontation among partisans ensued, resulting in injuries and a rumour that one person died there. The enmity between PUDEMO and SWALIMO has continued over the past two years under the public’s watchful eye. EmaSwati were indoctrinated that partisanship is a dividing line in the public's political attitudes. Such attitudes lead to political polarisation.

Political polarisation is the divergence of political attitudes to ideological extremes. This is what we are presently witnessing in the country's political situation. We have seen MDM members accusing one another of poisoning and assassination. As pointed out above, Makhanya was poisoned. Notably, an aggrieved member of the SISF, Mahlangu, claimed responsibility for poisoning the PUDEMO president. A mission was reportedly dispatched to hunt him down.

After the poisoning incident, Bheka Magagula, a member of the Swaziland International Solidarity Forces, was kidnapped and murdered. Just when some of emaSwati are looking at the prospects of adopting multiparty democracy, the fears that our forefathers have always had about political parties are coming true.

 I have no doubt in my mind that many of our people are now afraid of political parties. If parties fight wars now, it is going to be worse in a multiparty dispensation. EmaSwati must not be blamed for fearing that assassinations will occur during multiparty elections. This is because party leaders usually do not accept defeat in elections.

They always suspect election rigging and ruling parties intentionally and systematically delay the announcement of results. Therefore, an indigenous liSwati is unsure if rivals in the political space can accept the outcome of an election. EmaSwati believe that the attitudes by certain Eswatini partisans have shown convincingly that they are prepared to spill the blood of those who can possibly win the election.

EmaSwati do not want war. They will prefer to maintain the status quo even if it calls for them to die for it. Consequent to the shocking killings and death threats flying back and forth within the MDM, emaSwati will resolve to keep their Tinkhundla System of Government. Bheki Magagula is being buried today. Who killed him? They suspect that those who are aligned with the principles of the MDM murdered him. In politics, the balance of probability supersedes the law of evidence. Come on!

In January 2024, I mentioned in this column that political parties should rebrand themselves to regain public confidence. As it were, Tinkhundla System of Government is in the driving seat. I am aware that certain partisans would argue, even though without substance, that the rivalry is part of politics. The current rivalry is dangerously violent. It is murderous.

The executives and members of the MDM must put it at the back of their minds that they will need the support of the population (1.3 million people) to introduce multiparty democracy in Eswatini. They cannot, on their own, impose this system of government on the people. People have a right to reject Tinkhundla or multiparty democracy.

Basically, political parties will need support from the people they are presently frightening. About 10 months ago, liberal thinkers told me that the infighting among political parties has frightened emaSwati to a point that they might have to cling to the adage that: "better the devil you know than the angel you don't." 

Two years ago, SWALIMO executive member Sibongile Mamba-Manyika believed that her home was attacked by those who aligned themselves with a certain political party. Ordinarily, one would have expected Manyika to shift blame to the State. But, she reasonably suspected that enemies were within the MDM.  

Manyika argued that some partisans wanted to kill her. That was a very serious statement to be made by a person who has a face in the MDM. Perception is mightier than evidence in politics.There are people who believe in the school of thought that Muzi Mmema was not killed by the State. Mmemba, the late former Deputy Secretary General of the Swazis First Democratic Front (SFDF), was reportedly snatched in front of his wife and four children and shot dead in a forest, about 20 km from his home. What is this?

His killers are yet to be arrested. The media reported that the four men who kidnapped him were travelling in a white foreign registered Ford Ranger. The driver of the Ford Ranger has not come up to confess to the murder, and police are still investigating, so they say.  

There are many people within the MDM who believe that Thulani Maseko was also not killed by the State. After the killing of Bheka, the theory that Maseko was not killed by the State made sense even to certain diplomats. Of course, there is also a growing feeling within the MDM that certain partisans set a trap for Thabo Kunene to be arrested. 

Kunene, the self-styled commander of the underground forces, is in jail with others who are members of the movement. These are some of the infightings occurring within the movement, which leaves a great deal to be desired. Political parties have not done justice to convince the masses that they are united in their course for political reforms. They have not given us hope that we shall continue to enjoy peace in a State governed by them. They have not convinced emaSwati that His Majesty the King of Eswatini will reign peacefully above politics in a State governed by political parties.

Instead, they have projected a posture of a new dispensation hell bent on sowing the seeds of discord in our peaceful society. Indeed, they have adopted a militant posture that frightens emaSwati to believe that political parties are not yet ready to govern the country but poised to spill blood. I did point out sometime ago that political parties in Eswatini do not invest in processes aimed at building mutually beneficial relationship with the public. 

Donating food to a few grannies and paying visits to evicted farm squatters is morally upright, but not enough to convince people that multiparty democracy is more effective than Tinkhundla System of Government. The image of certain political organisations has been tainted to a point that, if Eswatini were a multiparty State, these parties would only need to use violence to force emaSwati into voting for them.

Emaswati should be allowed to ask critical questions: “What happens if SWALIMO wins elections? Will PUDEMO accept the outcome? What if PUDEMO wins the election, will SWALIMO accept the results?" At present, we have pointers that these two political parties will fight.

I have to mention again and again that political reforms in a conservative country like Eswatini need intellectual and physical postures in the frontline. I shudder to say that Eswatini political parties projected images of scary warlords and disrespectful cabals advocating for reforms. They have assembled brigades that take pride in insulting elders.

Will these insults influence the elders to surrender power to them? So far, the happiest person is the one who favours Tinkhundla. I think the proponents of the Tinkhundla System of Government are watching the 'show' with keen interest. Basically, the most important thing to realise is that they enjoy the 'spectacle.' 

This is the observation they have been making since the hullabaloo within the MDM began. “Do you see, we told you that political parties are a source of bloodshed.” It is a fact that nobody will have the reason to denounce that Eswatini political parties are in a crisis. 

It is finished.

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