RELEASE MPS, CHANGE DIALOGUE VENUE - STAKEHOLDERS

MANZINI – For some stakeholders and organisations, the proposed national dialogue cannot be held while two legislators who advocated for the change are in custody.

In fact, the stakeholders said that people would not feel free to be part of the national dialogue if Members of Parliament (MPs) who had the privilege to discuss the call for change were eventually arrested and were still in custody. This was in reaction to an announcement made on Saturday by Mbekelweni Indvuna Themba Ginindza on behalf of the King at Ludzidzini Royal Residence, that His Majesty King Mswati III would convene Sibaya national dialogue next year after Incwala. The stakeholders have called for the release of the two incarcerated legislators to be part of the proposed national dialogue.

The MPs, the stakeholders said, should be granted bail. The argument by the stakeholders was that the two incarcerated MPs, Bacede Mabuza of Hosea Constituency and Mthandeni Dube of Ngwempisi Constituency, were in the forefront of the call for change but found themselves caught up on the wrong side of the law.

Dialogue

Also, the stakeholders are of the view that a national dialogue should be held on a neutral platform. They are of the view that the Ludzidzini Cattle Byre will not be a conducive environment for the proposed Sibaya national dialogue. Constitutionally, Sibaya is the Eswatini National Council constituted by Bantfwabenkhosi (princes, tikhulu (chiefs), and all adults citizen gathered at the official residence of the Indlovukazi (Queen Mother), under the chairmanship of Ingwenyama, who may delegate his function to any official. This is according to Section 232 (2) of the Constitution.

Subsection 3 provides that Sibaya functions as the annual general meeting of the nation, but may be convened at anytime to present the views of the nation on pressing and controversial issues. This publication sought the input of various interveners and posed three questions which sought to establish what would make a conducive environment for dialogue. This publication also sought to ascertain if it would be a conducive environment if the dialogue was held while the two legislators, who advocated for change which was the agenda for the dialogue, were still in custody.

Chairperson of the Multi-Stakeholders Forum (MSF) Thulani Maseko said his organisation had five pillars that would render the dialogue favourable to all parties. These, he said, were that there should be an all inclusive internationally mediated political dialogue; there should be the unbanning of political parties and returning of all political exiles, including the release of the incarcerated MPs; there should be transitional authority; there should be a new democratic Constitution and there should be a democratic multiparty dispensation, which shall be an outcome of free and fair elections, which should have political parties and individuals participating freely.

Maseko said the incarceration of the two legislators and other political prisoners would render the dialogue unfavourable if it were to be hosted while they were still denied freedom as the issues that led to their arrests were what would be addressed. “There are those who were arrested under the Sedition and Terrorism Act, but were granted bail, with some about 10 years ago. They should be released unconditionally and be allowed to partake in the dialogue process,” Maseko said.  

He said all those who were in exile should be allowed to return into the country so that they could partake in building the country. Maseko said as things were, it was hard to anticipate any dialogue while law enforcers were supposedly continuing to instil fear and torture people. Maseko said they could not accept dialogue at Sibaya and, therefore, they rejected it with the contempt it deserved, inclusive of the timelines set for it. President of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU), Welcome Mdluli, said for favourable dialogue, there should be political will from authorities.

Default

He said when this happened, by default the order to have law enforcers in the country’s streets would be reversed and no one would be killed for voicing their opinion on how they wanted to be governed. Mdluli said Sibaya was not conducive for the dialogue as it had endless limitations. He said the communication was top-down, regardless of the submissions made and for such, the minutes taken in previous engagements would assist if they could be shared with the public.

The unionists said the incarcerated legislators and other political prisoners should be freed to engage in the dialogue they had been seeking as representatives of the people. On the alleged killing of civilians by law enforcers, he said: “We need truth and accountability so that those responsible can lead us to the instigators of the violence. This will help us have the law effected on all those who took part in the deliberate act to suppress the people and hold them to ransom for voicing their opinions.” On the other hand, Secretary General of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Sikelela Dlamini said his organisation aligned itself with the MSF.

Prisoners

On the other hand, Swaziland Transport Communications and Allied Workers Union (SWATCAWU) Secretary General Sticks Nkambule said they aligned themselves with the MSF five point-plan. Nkambule said releasing all political prisoners, including the two legislators, would set the tone for the political dialogue. He said it would be a sham to seek accountability on the killing of civilians during the political unrest from the local law enforcement agencies.
He said expecting them to investigate themselves would be a mockery of the process; instead, an independent organisation should lead the process just like it should with the dialogue.

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