KALIBA DISRUPTION: LAWYER SICELO RESPONDS TO DPM

MBABANE - Despite holding a different view about the country’s system of government, Lawyer Sicelo Mngomezulu denies being the brains behind the civic voter education disruption at KaLiba in Hosea.

The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) is conducting civic voter education in preparation for the 2023 National Elections. Officers who were conduct the exercise received a rude welcome at Kaliba under Hosea constituency, which ended in one person being shot. On Wednesday March 22, 2023, during the Deputy Prime Minister’s (DPM) Office annual budget and 2023/2024 budget debate, the DPM, Themba Masuku, told senators that the person who was behind the disruption of elections was the very same person who promised slaughter a cow for maidens who would not attend the Reed Dance Ceremony August, last year. Noteworthy, the DPM did not mention any name, but it is on record that Eswatini-born lawyer who now resides in South Africa, Sicelo Mngomezulu, was said to have promised maidens from Hosea Constituency, who would not attend the annual Reed Dance Ceremony a cow to feast on last year.  This saw government moving an application to have him declared an undesirable and prohibited immigrant. In the matter that is still pending in court, Mngomezulu who resides in the Republic of South Africa, filed his opposing papers, where he denied to have encouraged anyone to boycott Umhlanga.

In an interview, the lawyer said if the DPM was referring to him as the person behind the disruption of the civic voter education exercise, he was making wild allegations because he had never been involved in any of the chaos. “I have not been involved with the disruption of any civic education exercise. The Tinkhundla System’s undemocratic elections are of no interest to me. I’m a humanitarian; I assist emaSwati, whenever I can on socio-economic matters, not in violating laws of the land,” he said. The lawyer said he had no idea why would a government official would make such allegations against him. He said he strongly felt that the allegations were speculative.

Elections

He further shared that his view was that the elections in the country represented an archaic and blatantly undemocratic system of governance. He said he was of the view that any election exercise must be in a multi-party system, premised on a credible Constitution, one which must be an outcome of a dialogue between the government of the day and the mass democratic movement. “The dialogue and a new constitutional order must of course come before any election,” he said. On the other hand, Masuku said it was sad to learn that there were people more especially those who claimed to understand the law as they were trained professionals, who still referred to the governing system of the country undemocratic. “This learned fellows as he is called in this profession describes our system as undemocratic. It is sad to hear this from a liswati trained lawyer, who also describes the government of the kingdom as a regime and not administration. Let me remind him again that the people he illegally claims to be representing were elected by emaSwati, exercising their individual rights to vote for people of their choice. Such can’t happen in undemocratic societies,” he said.

Masuku said incarcerated Members of Parliament (MPs), Mthandeni Dube and Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza, were elected to be in the House of Assembly. “Mngomezulu is insulting the electorate that exercised their constitutional right to vote in our system,” he said. The DPM said by calling the elections undemocratic, he was insulting all the 59 MPs who were elected in accordance with the country’s Constitution. “He is also insulting the institutions that participate as observers during our elections. The other word he doesn’t understand is regime. I invite him to check this word in his dictionary or Google it.  The word regime is used by brainwashed people. Let this guy learn how to think independently,” he said. The DPM went on to say; “You were able to buy cattle for the Hosea community when you tried to bribe them not to attend the iconic cultural Reed Dance that runs annually in this Kingdom. It is history now that your attempts failed. The people of Hosea attended the Reed Dance in numbers.

Discovered

“Some Hosea residents later discovered that while you told them to boycott the Reed Dance in the country,  you were seen attending and supporting a similar event in your country. How can you explain this double standard.” he said. Masuku said Mngomezulu did not have to be physically present to disrupt the civic voter education which is part of the national elections.  
“Just like you tried to disrupt the Reed Dance by spending our scholarship money, you sent money to pay those who caused the disruption at the EBC voter education in Hosea as well as beating up the police,” he alleged.

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