Times Of Swaziland: PLEASE CLEAR UP 1973 DECREE ISSUE

PLEASE CLEAR UP 1973 DECREE ISSUE
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The editor on 04/03/2014 04:24:00


Sir,
Please publish my letter because I think it will help the authorities in
deciding on this 1973 Decree debacle. I must say that Jan Sithole is right to
say this degree will have disastrous consequences for our economy. In fact it
will become an obstacle to our First World vision. If the Constitution is the
supreme law of the land, as everyone seems to agree, why then is it difficult
for government to issue a one-line statement saying “The 1973 decree is dead
and buried as per our supreme law of the land which is the Constitution.”
That one line should be enough to convince everyone and AGOA will be ours again.
But we must first agree if the Constitution is indeed the supreme law of the
land ‘in practice’. From where I’m standing, the Constitution exists only
on paper and that’s very sad for a country aspiring to the First World.
For example, the so-called Terrorism Act appears to have been taken from
apartheid SA and some politicians here want to hang on to it as if their lives
depended on it, yet it defies the Constitution.
Also, the Constitution calls for a certain number of women in Parliament but
this constitutional requirement is being ignored with impunity. Was our good
Constitution a big mistake then?
Mthunywa