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Arrested and humiliated at Oshoek border gate

05/08/2013 04:12:00 The editor

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Sir,

A friend of mine was arrested at the Oshoek border gate while travelling to South Africa this weekend.

She was humiliated and had her Swazi passport and Swazi ID taken from her, then was released to go back home and not continue with her journey.

Their reason was that they wanted to know why her passport had stamps for Mozambique. She was then asked all the relevant questions; indvuna, chief and all. They said she wasn’t a Swazi because she did not speak proper siSwati.

I want to know Mr Editor, is it a crime to go to Mozambique? Why, then, are those with South African stamps every week or questioned on why they go there?

Offered

I mean, it’s not like she goes to Mozambique every day. It’s like once a year since her passport was issued and once a year to South Africa too. Why is that an issue? If it is illegal to travel to Mozambique, why do we have a Mozambique border post then?

Supposed

Can the Ministry of Home Affairs tell us our rights? Are we given the passports to only travel to South Africa? Are we supposed to tell the border staff our motive for travelling? What are our passport and border rights?
Is it legal to have our passports taken away and be humiliated at the border by officials? Is it a crime not to speak proper siSwati?

Certified

Why do we have whites and coloureds who do not know a single siSwati word but are certified to be Swazi citizens? What is being a Swazi citizen? What does it mean to have a Swazi ID and passport? And what if you are married to a Swazi?
Now, how does she get her passport and ID back?

Angry ‘Swazi’ Citizen

Dear ‘Angry’ Swazi,

We are going to have to follow up on this letter because there is something not right here. What we can say with absolute clarity is that the Constitution states that a citizen must be able to speak one of the two official languages; which are siSwati and English.

You may be interested to know, also, that not every citizen is required to have a chief, indvuna, mountain, river etc. We also seriously doubt that a customs official can deprive her of her ID. Our recommendation therefore is that you report this incident to the Ministry of Home Affairs Principal Secretary, and also the Anti Corruption Commission, and let us know what happens.

Editor