PUDEMO COULD SPLIT

I envy political scientists.

They have the ability to predict political future developments. Basically, they studied political philosophy and political behaviour and identities. They are not gods, but they can foresee things and form an impression. I am not one of them. Nevertheless, I like them. We need them in society to guide and correct us so that we are always relevant to the times. Party splitting, floor-crossing, defecting and switching happen around the world. Even though I am not a political scientist, there are clear signs that something unpleasant within the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) is going to happen.  It may happen before the end of the year. The movement, established in 1983, is under siege. Certain members of PUDEMO established the Communist Party of Swaziland.

Established

Perhaps, they are used to it, but the division currently obtaining among members of PUDEMO will result in an unfathomable split. Busie Mayisela, a senior member for the Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO), also established a new party styled Swazis First Democratic Front (SFDF). The juxtaposition or comparisons of the leadership styles of Mandla Hlatshwayo, one of the founding fathers of PUDEMO and Mlungisi Makhanya, the current President, is a ruse that can distract one’s thinking from the core issue. It is a fact we cannot easily denounce that PUDEMO has some members who see Hlatshwayo, my uncle (malume), as a political leader who can be the movement’s face at a time when the party’s ratings have just slipped down terribly. I have to declare my interest. My mother is a Hlatshwayo and Makhanya’s mother is a Nkambule.

The leadership styles of malume and mzala are not the issue here, but PUDEMO members share sharply contrasting ideologies that will undoubtedly result in the split. I have done my home work and discovered that the ‘left’ within PUDEMO are of the view that the ‘right’ should adopt a certain approach to the call for political reforms in Eswatini while the ‘right’, which is mostly made up of those who are in exile, strongly believe that the ‘left’ must leave the country for exile. They believe that the left is obstructing the course for liberation. In fact, the  ‘left’ is now convinced that the right is a cult.   

In April 2024, I intercepted a document with letterheads ‘similar’ to those of PUDEMO, which caused commotion among members of the organisation.  I can state with conviction that the document was crafted by certain members within the ‘right.’ Before I analysed the paper in detail, it is important that I give a brief background of PUDEMO, which, as a newspaper, we published in 2022. A group of students at the University of Eswatini came together in July 1983 to form PUDEMO) to protect Queen Regent Dzeliwe.

The protection and re-installation of the deposed Regent was among a list of other demands that the students made in their earlier marches, dubbed the ‘Dzeliwe Demonstration’ in August 1983. The gathering of the students was conducted behind the scenes, and it later transpired that the group, though formed at the backdrop of Queen Dzeliwe’s deposition as Regent, was actually the foundation of PUDEMO. More demonstrations followed as the Queen Regent Dzeliwe challenged her removal, by filing an urgent application at the High Court. PUDEMO was eventually launched on January 1985. By that time, it already had a working constitution, a programme of action and a manifesto.

While the first goal of the manifesto indicated that the organisation was calling for a constitution of a multiparty democracy system, goal number nine indicated that the organisation intended to promote and develop the rich heritage of Eswatini culture. The clause further highlighted that Eswatini law and custom would be codified and published for general information of the public and cultural institutions would be open for all. The political stand of the movement regarding the monarchy has always been a subject for debate over the years, as different leaders gave different versions of their interpretation of the manifesto. Meanwhile, the document in circulation, which the PUDEMO executive, disowned, suggested new strategies and ideologies that the movement was known to have discarded in the past.

It is stated in this paper that PUDEMO should disappear from the public eye and stop operations in Eswatini. The thinkers within the movement are of the view that all executive members should go into exile. They are of the view that PUDEMO must operate underground from exile.Interestingly, the thinkers and strategists suggested that the organisation should use secret strategies to take over Parliament. The executive told me that the national executive committee (NEC) never adopted such a document. But, it does exist and it is in circulation to date.  Some PUDEMO members alleged that it was possible it was crafted by those who are already in exile. The document prescribes policies for the movement that are sharply contrary to its last year’s resolution to boycott anything to do with Tinkhundla System of Government. It contains ideas that draw PUDEMO members close to Tinkhundla System of Government.
It is titled ‘PUDEMO Operational and Survival Strategy.’

It is mentioned in this document that PUDEMO did not have to participate in last year’s general election but ‘it does need to take over the August house and turn it into a site of struggle.’ The strategy borders on infiltration, radicalisation and agitation. To take over Parliament, it is mentioned in the document that PUDEMO should achieve this goal through covert infiltration via a structure that should not be known by the public and the regime that it had links with the party. There is a suggestion that the movement should get closer to the enemy through pushing for dialogue against its narrative that it (dialogue) has been concluded.

Investigations by the Times of Eswatini SUNDAY uncovered that some PUDEMO members suspected that a certain “scholar” could be behind the document. Other members suspected that ideological proponents of the Tinkhundla System of Government could be sowing seeds of discord within PUDEMO. I realised that there is confusion within the party. It is now divided into two camps.  Another theory is that members of a certain political organisation crafted the document. There is also a strong belief that members of the organisation in exile authored the paper.

Relocate

Members opposed to the ideas expressed in the paper told me that the suggested organogram that the national working committee should immediately relocate to exile, set up an official office there and permanently operate from there triggered a lot of thinking and suspicion. “The person or persons who crafted the document received funding, it’s my suspicion. It’s possible we have PUDEMO members who think like that,” the long-serving member of the organisation confided in me. The document spells out that the national working committee must be the only “known” members of the movement and “all other national structures must disengage from public duties of the organisation and strictly operate underground.

The PUDEMO regional working committee must immediately disengage from all public PUDEMO work and retreat to underground alongside all its underlying structures including the leagues and branches,” this is one of the proposed directive that does not sit well with the other faction of the movement. According to the document, PUDEMO inside Swaziland (Eswatini) must cease to publicly exist as a party. It is stated that all open and public PUDEMO work shall be carried out by the national working committee from exile using information provided by the underground regional structures within the country.

The new strategy spells out how the organisation must operate in the media space, with restrictions having been put forth for consideration. The document states that there should be no more publicising of PUDEMO work by any structure or individual under any circumstances. However, the national working committee, using its own intelligence to determine what should or what should not be publicised; shall be responsible for the entity’s publicity. In its pursuit for publicity, it has been proposed that the national working committee shall strongly consider that underground structures and individuals within Swaziland (Eswatini) must be protected at all costs.

Pertaining to the implementation of the strategy, four tactics are to be employed as follows:

• Organisationally, go underground and into self-exile.
• Centralise organisational power and operate a bit more dictatorially to obliterate factions and shorten the chain of command.
• Get closer to the enemy through pushing for dialogue against its narrative that dialogue has been concluded.
• Self-censor the name and symbols of the movement inside the country to protect membership.

On the other hand, the clique proposing the new approach to the ‘struggle’ has explained why it crafted the document whose objectives are to:  

• Advise PUDEMO about the urgent need to adapt to the imminent situation that shall be presented by the full implementation of the Suppression of the Terrorism Act (STA).
• Suggest possible steps that may be taken immediately to prepare the organisation for the inevitable repercussions of the STA.
• Raise the serious need for the organisation to strengthen itself, survive under the conditions and most importantly lead the National Democratic Revolution (NDR from the imposed shadows.
• Influence the organisation towards the ‘Value Added Approach’ to the struggle, especially since it is not waging a military struggle but a peaceful one.
• Advance the NDR through building a strong, resilient and capable PUDEMO.

It is said that the document seeks to reform the PUDEMO organogram from that of a public organisation into one that suits an underground movement. I spoke to Penuel Malinga, the Secretary General of PUDEMO, Brian Sangweni, the National Spokesperson and Maxwell Dlamini, the Deputy Secretary General, about this document. They said it did not represent the ideologies of the organisation and it was not adopted by the NEC. They said only the NEC could release PUDEMO documents.

They said the Political and Ideological Department did not sanction this document to be discussed at branches through the NEC.They said the policy conference neither discussed it nor embraced it.  However, I was reminded of this document this week, realising in the process that it is highly possible that PUDEMO is on the verge of the split. Proponents of the Tinkhundla System of Government celebrate each time there are problems within the party.  The main undoing about Tinkhundla is that they lack a think-tank that studies patterns and strengthens the political system to stay relevant to the current times. Tinkhundla proponents are relaxed. They always react to situations, and have not been proactive to ensure stability and impressive rating of their own political system.

With PUDEMO showing signs of failure, it would have been a better time to regroup, refocus and fine-tune the political system so that it pays dividends in times of need.  These are interesting times, I am watching.

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