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GLOVES OFF IN MP WELCOME, BHEKI MAKHUBU ‘SKOM’ LABEL

09/03/2024 11:37:00 Ntombi Mhlongo

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MBABANE – Talk about a battle between two media gurus!

Battle lines have been drawn between two seasoned journalists, who boast of having vast experience in the local media space. They have verbally squared up against each other and ironically, it is over an issue that touches on how the media in the country should conduct its operations.

These are former Times Assistant Weekend Editor and Mbabane East Member of Parliament (MP) Welcome Dlamini and The Nation Magazine Editor Bheki Makhubu. Trouble started on Thursday, when Makhubu made a statement that the Prime Minister, Russell Dlamini could not be taken serious if, in his plan to have the media regulated, worked with a person of Welcome’s calibre.

This was during the Editors Forum held at the Mountain View International Hotel. When making the submission, Makhubu referred to Welcome as a ‘Skom-boy’ which means someone from the hood. Dlamini comes from Msunduza location, which is one of the densely populated informal settlements in the country, due to its proximity to the country’s capital - Mbabane city.

Msunduza is referred to as ‘Skom’ and is characterised by high rate of unemployment, with some residents surviving on piece jobs (hence have highly unstable income) and highly vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity. Yesterday, the MP issued statement in reaction to the submission, where he first said that he was a proud ‘Skom-boy’, having been born and bred in what he termed the historic area of Msunduza. “Me and thousands others are proud to call this place their home.”

Qualified

Welcome recounted that last Thursday, he attended the Editors Forum Breakfast Meeting in his capacity as a qualified journalist and politician. He said he looked forward to a fruitful engagement between the senior journalists and the politicians present, but such turned into a disappointment when he heard Makhubu attempting to belittle him by implying that people from Skom were nobodies.

“My disappointment developed into feeling pity for him because I realised that he is a broken and bitter man. Here is a man who was given an opportunity to state his case in front of the PM, on why the media has failed to put in place a self-regulatory mechanism and instead of doing so he chose to attack me and the place I live in,” the MP said in his statement.

He accused the editor of not just being bitter, but also full of disrespect and thinking that everything revolved around him. He then alleged that not long ago after the national elections, Makhubu called him several times to lobby him on what to push in Parliament.

“I listened to him and took some of the things he said and indeed raised them in the House. But today, because it suits him and his love to play to the gallery, I should no longer be taken seriously because I come from Skom. This is an insult, not only to me but all the people of Msunduza and those associated with this bustling kasi area,” said the MP.

Respected

He went on and shared that Msunduza was the same place that once became home to respected senior members of the royal family in the likes of Prince Makhungu and Prince Phiwokwakhe, not to mention astute politicians such as Founder of the African National Congress (ANC) Pixley Ka Isaka Seme and former President of Mozambique Armando Guebuza.

He said Makhubu’s own fellow journalists, namely the late legendary Mandla ‘Tiger’ Magagula, the late Cyril Dlamini (former Swazi Observer boss), former Swazi Observer Managing Editor and Bheki’s close associate Vusi Sibisi, and current Editors Forum Chairperson Mbongeni Mbingo all lived at Msunduza.

“With a friend like Bheki, do (or did) these individuals need enemies? It goes without saying that the opinion he holds now about me living at Skom is the same he has always held about them coming from the same area. Skom has produced executives, bureaucrats, trade unionists, musicians, soccer stars and others professionals,” said the MP.

He also mentioned that for those who might not be aware, Makhubu had, himself lived at Skom some years ago and that was while he worked for our sister publication, the Times of Eswatini. The MP accused Makhubu of being vigorously opposed to any form of media regulation.

“While he wants other people to be held accountable, he does not want the same to apply to him. Such hypocrisy!
“His unwillingness to transform and the fact that he doesn’t value the views of people who come from areas such Skom will leave him stuck in the past, while other more open-minded journalists move forward,” emphasised the MP.

Challenged

He then challenged Makhubu to make time for a decent public conversation on the need for the media to be regulated. “May I reiterate, I am a proud Skom-boy, who went to Ka-Boyce High School, proceeded to the University of Eswatini, worked as a journalist and today I am an elected Member of Parliament. I’m not done yet, more is still to come,” said the MP.

On the other hand, Makhubu in his own statement first explained that when his mother left hospital carrying a new-born (him) more than 50 years ago, her first port of call was Msunduza, where his father’s aunt was living at the time and where the family waited for her with great excitement. By saying this, Makhubu said he was demonstrating that said his association with Skom started at the beginning of his life.

“That said, I want to say that it is very unfortunate that, when engaging in this country’s socio-political discourse, people take a narrow view of issues raised instead of looking at the broader picture and, most importantly, paying attention to context,” said Makhubu.

He said he was asking himself why Welcome, an elected MP from Skom, suddenly became the foremost champion of media policy and regulation only three months after leaving the biggest print media house in the country, The Times of Eswatini, where he made his name.

He said he was also asking if anyone had noted the irony in that the MP, who was given a roaring send-off by The Times of Eswatini on winning the elections, had now turned on his former employers and was colluding against them without even having bothered to take a cooling off period from his old job.

“What does that tell us about the character of such a person? He is not the only journalist who has left the media and stood and won last year’s national elections. MP Alec Lushaba, more experienced and much more senior to him won the same elections at Hhukwini and is also an MP. However, MP Lushaba has not said a word about this matter, yet his involvement in the operations of a media house were far greater and more involved than MP Welcome ever was,” said Makhubu.

He then asked if it would be correct for people to believe that the MP was asked by the people of Mbabane East and, by necessary implication Skom, to champion media regulation and policy with the prime minister, something he said he believed could never be true.

Regulation

Elaborating, Makhubu reiterated that in his discourse with the PM on Thursday he pointed out that if he wanted to be taken serious about the need for media policy and regulation he would have to do better than a choose MP Welcome as an expert and advisor.

“Here’s why I said so. Media regulation encroaches on freedom of speech, a fundamental right that all emaSwati should enjoy. The application of this freedom starts with the media. Therefore, if the premier is honest about media regulation, it would be remiss of him to select as an advisor and expert on media issues someone like MP Welcome, only because he worked at the Times for several years and won an election”.

He explained that the country has educated media scholars who could help the premier if he was honest in his intentions. These scholars, he said, included Dr Maxwell Mthembu, who is at the University of Eswatini as a Journalism lecturer and is also a doctor of the craft with no less than a PhD.

Others, he listed included Khulekani Nene, another academic in Journalism at Limkokwing University, who has a Master’s Degree in the craft, Vuyisile Hlatshwayo, a holder of a Master’s Degree in Journalism who has extensive newspaper experience and Phesheya Dube, a PhD candidate in Journalism who is currently Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Information Communication and Technology (ICT).

Alleged

He alleged that there was therefore much to be said that the PM had turned only to MP Welcome, from Skom, as an adviser and expert on media policy and regulation, whose only claim to the role is his experience working for the Times and winning an election in Mbabane East. The editor also lamented the fact that when the PM met the Editors Forum and first raised the issue of media policy and regulation, the Minister of ICT, Savannah Maziya and her officials were not there.

He said had the minister and her officials been there, they would have appraised the premier on what had happened about media regulation and policy over the last 20 years, that he felt so strongly about today. Furthermore, Makhubu said it was extremely unfortunate that an innocuous comment about Skom had riled up a whole MP at a critical period of parliamentary debate over the country’s national budget where his mind should be.Meanwhile, Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo said he was not present at the said breakfast meeting and that his comment could only be limited to what he had read in the media.

Insinuation

Nxumalo said it was unfortunate that an insinuation had been attributed to a long serving and experienced journalist like Makhubu, that when one came from Msunduza they were less intelligent to the point that there was no contribution or input they could make towards the proposed media regulatory mechanism in the country.

“This is very sad and unfortunate. Besides, the person in question is an elected Member of Parliament, therefore, an hounerable! The utterances attributed to Makhubu, lack respect, humanity and do not help to inculcate a culture desirable to society at large,” said Nxumalo. However, he said knowing the mantle and the character of Makhubu, he had no doubt that he would find it good and expedient in his own time and space, to withdraw and apologise to the MP and community of Msunduza for such utterances.