WE ORDERED INTERNET SHUTDOWN, MINISTER ADMITS

MBABANE – Government, through the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Manqoba Khumalo, has admitted to have ordered the shutdown of the internet in the country.

The minister explained the incidents that led to the decision to switch off the internet in an interview with Newzroom Africa during the programme called InFocusOn405 on Tuesday evening. The minister was on air from 9pm and the interview with Newzroom Africa journalist Thabo Mdluli lasted 25 minutes. Khumalo was responding to Mdluli’s questions, who had asked him (Khumalo) to explain the issues around the internet shutdown in Eswatini. Khumalo started by saying internet was available in Eswatini.

Agents

He explained the evolution of events since the violence broke out last Monday. He said government discovered that there were foreign agents who were mobilising through the internet and channelling funds to Eswatini to sponsor the violence. Khumalo said the alleged foreign agents were providing resources to the people in Eswatini. He made an example that they provided the funds to assist the protesters with transportation from one place to another. He said the mobilisation was happening through the internet and social media. The minister said the transportation issues during the protests were well-orchestrated. Khumalo said as a means to isolate the agents of destruction, government had to go through a series of processes of elimination until a time when government figured a way out. He said although it took government long to see businesses getting back after the riots, since last Friday, business, banking and email platforms were fully restored.

Violation

He was asked if shutting down the internet did not amount to violation of freedom of speech as MTN Eswatini admitted that switching off the internet was a direct order from government. Khumalo responded by saying government’s position was to put the lives of emaSwati and the protection of infrastructure first. He said they also had a responsibility of preserving utilities. He said this was a conscious decision to figure out a way to isolate the alleged agents of the destruction. Khumalo said as the government’s IT technicians were doing that, they could not get consistent internet up-time and social media could not be separated on time. “This was not ideal,” he said. Khumalo said switching off the internet was not a matter of policy or a tendency in Eswatini. He said the country was dealing with a specific situation and even other countries did such when faced with severe threats.

He made an example of the United States of America scenario during the elections where the country had to suspend certain accounts of people who were associated with mobilisation of attacks in Parliament.

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