SOME SWALIMO MEMBERS WANT ‘GAWUZELA’ LEADERSHIP OUT

MBABANE – The infighting within SWALIMO seems to be continuing as some members are now reportedly calling for a congress to elect new leadership of the party.

According to sources within the party, most members, whom they defined as active members, were no longer happy with the current Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO) President Mduduzi ‘Gawuzela’ Simelane’s leadership. “In fact, the members are now aggrieved towards the whole National Executive Committee (NEC) and want to elect a new one,” said the sources. However, the sources stated that the NEC told them that there would not be any congress for the next three years.

Dictating

The sources said the current leadership under Simelane was accused of being dictating and imposing decisions without hearing anything said by the members. They alleged that the current NEC took decisions on their own without involving the junior line managers, who included the four district executives. The demand for the hosting of the congress has been a hot topic for quite some time on the party’s WhatsApp groups. It has been gathered that the members were questioning the current leadership as to when the congress would be held because the stated three years was too long for them to wait. The party has not yet celebrated its first year anniversary as it was formed last year. According to SWALIMO official website, the party was formed in June 2021, but it was launched around mid November by its president and founder, Simelane.

Quitting

“It’s a chaotic situation as I speak. Members are quitting and the calls for the congress are even louder now but the NEC is turning a blind eye to that,” said one of the sources. The sources revealed that the calls for the congress gained momentum after the NEC unveiled the SWALIMO Youth Command Unit. They alleged the SWALIMO youth league committee was not elected but imposed on the organisation by 1st Deputy Secretary General (DSG) Gift Dlamini. The sources narrated that initially, the president, in a meeting, had commissioned the four district chairpersons, secretariat and the national organising secretary, to form a youth league committee. They assigned teams and started the task as requested but two weeks down the line, Dlamini together with 2nd DSG Phephile Ndzinisa and the Secretary General (SG) Siphetfo Dlamini, were seen on a live video launching the youth league committee.

“We then took them to task on that, but they insisted that the committee would continue despite that we were saying the committee was not inclusive as it was imposed in that it did not come from the branches (from SWALIMO members),” said the source. The source further narrated that a majority of the people rejected the committee. It was established that the district executives took that to the NEC, but unfortunately the NEC (top nine) sided with the secretariat (SG and his deputies) and insisted that the committee was confirmed. It was gathered that the district executives attempted to fight this battle for weeks but their efforts proved futile.  The sources alleged that since the NEC dictated every decision within the organization, it told the districts executives point blank that no matter how much they fought this, they would not win because it’s them (top nine) who were in charge, not the people.

“Even as I speak, the membership is rejecting the youth league committee,” added the source. The sources further mentioned that this indicated that the current SWALIMO top leadership was not siding with the people, more so because they were not elected. The sources alleged that SWALIMO was the same as Tinkhundla System of Government because more people were appointed than being elected and decisions were imposed. The sources wondered why the leadership said the congress would be held in three years’ time yet SWALIMO had active structures now and was ready to go to congress. They said in the first place, the timeframe was imposed by the very same leadership, it was not agreed upon by the general membership. They said there were no reasons given as to why it would take three years to hold the first congress.

When sought for comment on the matter, SWALIMO’s 1st DSG (Gift Dlamini) said the allegations  or calls for a congress were unfounded, given that the entire leadership of SWALIMO was on interim basis and the deployment approach was currently used to solidify the structures until the first elective congress. “Nortwitholding that some mischievous narratives are spread contrary to the resolution adopted,” said Gift. He said at a plenum that had over 100 leadership delegates, a resolution was taken that the first elective congress would be in 36 months then, which was now less than 24 months away. “Like many other political formations, due processes and diligence should be undertaken prior, to ensure a successful elective conference,” he added. When asked how the youth command unit or youth league was put in place, the deputy secretary general said it was put into office the same way other structures had been put into office in SWALIMO. “We believe in consistency,” he said.

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