UK GOVT GRANTS ‘GAWUZELA’ 5-YR ASYLUM

MBABANE – After having fled the Kingdom of Eswatini over two years ago, former Member of Parliament (MP) Mduduzi ‘Gawuzela’ Simelane has been granted a refugee asylum stay in the United Kingdom (UK) for the next five years.

Refugees have a right to apply for welfare in the UK, in line with nationals in that country. If one is a refugee, they are able to work in the UK without any restrictions. The Times SUNDAY has seen a copy of a letter dated February 8, 2024, written by the UK Home Office, detailing that his application for a stay had been approved. Simelane fled the Kingdom of Eswatini in July 2021, shortly after news of an arrest warrant against him made rounds. His warrant of arrest was issued along with those of incarcerated former MPs Mthendeni Dube and Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza. The two were arrested on July 25, 2021, and charged under the Suppression of Terrorism Act of 2008. After fleeing the country, Simelane stated that he was in the UK in a quest to spread the word about the human rights violations in Eswatini. He said he was on a global advocacy drive.

addressed followers

On Monday, the former MP, who is the President of the Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO) addressed his followers on a late-night show dubbed ‘Family Meeting’, where he revealed that the Government of Eswatini cancelled the diplomatic passport that was issued to him. The passport was given to Simelane as a working tool in his capacity as an MP. During the late-night show, Simelane told his followers that he was happy that in 2024 he would travel the whole world speaking about the plight of emaSwati. Following his statement, the Times SUNDAY engaged him on what exactly he meant by saying he would travel the world. In his response, he said, what was meant to be his worst moment turned out to be an hour of great strides.

“I did not intend on making UK my home away from home by then, but upon discovering that government has taken down my Eswatini passport, due to the pressure they felt about my global advocacy, I then had to apply for a stay here, lest I be stateless. I thank Alpheous and the government for the continuous own-goals they keep scoring. The 18 months of being grounded while the process was taking its time has been painful, but through it I have scored the biggest victory I never thought of ever,” Simelane said. When asked how he ended up being granted the so-called stay in the UK, he stated that a string of intensive interrogations of his story was launched by the relevant department as soon as he applied for the stay. This, he said, gave him the greatest platform to share the Eswatini story in depth backed by massive evidence.

application passed

He then commended the mainstream media and online platforms for the fact that his application passed with flying colours. “I got all the support I needed. The government here declared that it is convinced with my presentations on the course and all I stand for,” Simelane. Again, this reporter asked him what the latest developments meant, especially since in the Kingdom of Eswatini he was regarded as a fugitive of the law. To this he responded by saying: “The fugitive status only exists in the mind of the Eswatini Government.” He mentioned that the world was now clear about the true colours of the Eswatini regime and that emaSwati should never hesitate to apply for a stay anywhere now. Simelane was also asked what benefits he would enjoy now that he had reportedly been granted a stay in the UK.

He mentioned that there were massive benefits which included the UK passport. “The UK ordinary passport travels to 153 countries including world super powers without the need of a visa while the Eswatini diplomatic passport only covers 86 countries; I guess none of the super powers included. Therefore forcing me to take the UK stay propelled the calling to higher dimensions,” he said. Elaborating, Simelane said now was the time for him to take the route once taken by the late South African political activist Oliver Tambo. History dictates that Tambo was one of the heroes of South Africa’s struggle for freedom from apartheid.

forced to leave

For many years he served as president of the African National Congress (ANC). Because the South African Government did not like the ANC’s activities, Tambo was forced to leave the country. For 30 years he continued to oppose apartheid while living outside of South Africa. “I will now wage the international pillar of the Eswatini struggle with ease. I appeal to the peace and democracy loving organisations, institutions and individuals across the world even back home to be destiny-helpers in this course. “Time is against us as our people continue to languish in pain as some are with the incarcerated former MPs. We need to fast-track the process to set our people free. Resources are what will make it possible for me and others to make our footprint globally,” emphasised Simelane. Upon further investigation, this publication discovered that Simelane has been granted refugee status of five years permission to stay in the UK. The latest developments mean that the UK Government has accepted that Simelane has a well-founded fear of persecution and, therefore, cannot return to the Kingdom of Eswatini and has, therefore, been recognissed as a refugee under the 1951 Refugee Convention.

inquiry

A questionnaire was sent to the British High Commission in Eswatini and it responded by saying: “Such matters are the responsibility of the Home Office in London and we have not yet received any information related to your inquiry, so we are unable to respond to specific questions at the moment. However, we undertake to clarify the position in due course.” By definition, a refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. Seeking asylum is not an unlawful act, and as such, international refugee and human rights law standards protect from penalisation even those who have entered or remained in the territory of a State, without authorisation, including penalisation in the form of detention or other restrictions on their movement. According to research, the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, also known as the 1951 Refugee Convention or the Geneva Convention of July 28, 1951 is a United Nations (UN) multilateral treaty that defines who a refugee is and sets out the rights of individuals who are granted asylum and the responsibilities of nations that grant asylum.

Convention

Research also makes mention of a relation between the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees and what is known as the 1967 Protocol. The 1967 Protocol broadens the applicability of the 1951 Convention in that it removes the geographical and time limits that were part of the latter. These limits initially restricted the Convention to persons who became refugees due to events occurring in Europe before January 1, 1951. Meanwhile, while every refugee is initially an asylum seeker, not every asylum seeker will ultimately be recognised as a refugee. This, the UN law says, is because the right to be recognised as a refugee is determined by law after an asylum seeker has applied for protection in the country of refuge.
In terms of rights, refugees and asylum seekers have a right not to be removed, in any manner whatsoever, by their host country to their country of origin, or any other country, where they are at risk of being seriously harmed.

According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), refugees are regarded as being among the most vulnerable people in the world and the 1951 Refugee Convention; supplemented by its 1967 Protocol, helps protect them. They are the cornerstone of refugee protection and the key legal documents that form the basis of UNHCR’s work.
In terms of background, Simelane, Dube and Mabuza were charged after spearheading calls for political reforms from 2021, during a Parliament sitting.

ideology

They spoke of the ideology outside Parliament, where it received support, mainly from the youth. The three legislators made calls that the premier should be elected by the people so that he could be accountable to them. It is currently the prerogative of the head of State to appoint the prime minister (PM), on the recommendation of the King’s Advisory Council, known as Liqoqo. As the call for the election of the premier by the people intensified, the youth delivered petitions to various tinkhundla centres across the country. They mandated their respective MPs to support the three MPs who were calling for political reforms. Trouble started when the petition delivery was banned by the then Acting PM, Themba Masuku, who felt the gatherings at the tinkhundla centres violated COVID-19 regulations.

Meanwhile, as law enforcers arrested the pair, in then MPs Mabuza and Dube, while Simelane had a warrant of arrest issued against him; but he did not hand himself over to the law enforcers. Instead, Simelane left the country and this later resulted in Parliament invoking Section 98(1) (c) of the Constitution. His Parliament seat was declared vacant as he was absent from 20 consecutive sittings. The section invoked by Parliament reads: “The seat of a senator or of a member of the House shall become vacant where the holder is absent from 20 sittings of the chamber during any meeting of that chamber without the permission in writing of the presiding officer and is unable to offer a reasonable explanation to the Parliamentary Committee on Privileges.” On another note, it was on July 26, 2021, that Simelane was declared a fugitive from justice.

hiding

A fugitive from justice, also known as a wanted person, can be a person who is either convicted or accused of a crime and hiding from law enforcement in the State or taking refuge in a different country in order to avoid arrest. In the warrant of arrest issued on July 8, 2021, presented in court, it stated that the three former MPs allegedly acted jointly to incite people of Eswatini to revolt against the constitutionally established Government of Eswatini. The Crown stated in the charge sheet that Simelane was a fugitive from the law. According to the charge sheet, as a consequence of the alleged incitement by the trio, there were riots in all the regions of the country. The Crown further brought it to the attention of the court that these riots caused loss of life, bodily injury to people and destruction of private and public properties.

Eswatini Govt not aware - Alpheous

MBABANE – Eswatini Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo has said that they were not aware of the latest developments regarding former Member of Parliament (MP) Mduduzi ‘Gawuzela’ Simelane’s stay in the United Kingdom.

Nxumalo said if there was a letter confirming that Simelane had been granted refugee status, it would be duly directed to him as the recipient. The spokesperson said the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini respected the sovereignty rights of other countries and, therefore, did not dictate to them for any course of gesture or action.

diplomatic channels

“We have a long standing, warm and cordial relations with the Government of the United Kingdom. If there is a need for the Government of Eswatini to be appraised about any details on this matter, we shall use the normal diplomatic channels to communicate same to the Government of the United Kingdom,” Nxumalo said.

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