Frontline NEWSLETTER

Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF)

Volume 1, Issue 1 June 1, 2011

Introducing SUDF Monthly Newsletter Tinkhundla Accussed No: 1

Inside this issue:

SUDF Monthly Newsletter Update on Max and Ngubeni explosives case The formation of TUCOSWA SUDF conduct civic education workshop SFTU ILO Statement

Poem the true view of my country: Swaziland

Sipho Jele first anniver- 6 sary

The Newsletter
By Ace Lushaba and Victim Shongwe We are happy to introduce to you our first issue of the FRONTLINE, a monthly newsletter of the Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF). SUDF is an umbrella organization of pro-democracy movements in Swaziland which include, from amongst others, labor, consumer organizations, students, youth and political organizations. The Frontline seeks to unpack the day-to-day struggles and sufferings of the people of Swaziland and the challenges faced by pro democracy activists and groups in bringing down the Tinkhundla dictatorship of Swaziland. This newsletter aims to profile the daily struggles of the people of Swaziland and to provide an alternative voice for all those peace-loving people of Swaziland who no longer have a voice in mainstream media. The newsletter also aims to be a powerful weapon in the hands of those fighting to advance a free and democratic Swaziland. The idea of a united front is not entirely new in the progressive forces as we learn from history. The idea of fighting together was galvanised during the 1996 strike action for 27 demands. It was during this period of the struggle where it became evident that no one carried the blueprint of the way forward and it was also here that people, ordinary masses, realised their power in unity. The formation of the SDA was therefore not a surprise. The mindset of the people shifted from worker-related issues to all issues affecting the Swazi society.

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Frontline NEWSLETTER

Focus on the explosives case

By Dr Sikelela Dlamini (SUDF Coordinator) Maxwell Dlamini was first arrested on Sunday 10th April 2011 at a police roadblock at Sidvwashini (Mbabane) alongside Sifiso Mabuza of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), Samkeliso Ginindza, Deputy Secretary General of the Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) of which Maxwell is the President, & Themba Mabuza of the Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF). The four political activists were driving in the same car, returning from a weekend workshop in the Mpumalanga town of Witbank, South Africa. They were charged under the internationally-condemned Suppression of Terrorism Act (2008). These charges were however subsequently dropped without much explanation. Alternative Charges Max was re-arrested alongside Musa Ngubeni, Treasurer of the Manzini branch of the People s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) on Wednesday 13th April 2011, the day after the now famous 12th April 2011 mass protests which were brutally crushed by the state security forces. This time Max and Musa were charged with contravening sections 8 and 9 of the littleused Explosives Act (1964). Bail hearing For a charge with a maximum sentence of 4 years on conviction, the bail application for Max and Musa has already gone down the annals of Swazi magistrate court case history as the most frequently postponed and vigorously opposed. When the application was finally heard by magistrate Florence Msibi, investigating officer, Assistant Superintendent Sihlongonyane, argued that releasing Max and Musa wouldn t be in the interest of justice on grounds that it was highly likely to cause public uproar/unrest. He also feared that the accused might interfere with state witnesses and/or evidence. He told the court in his evidence-in-chief that Max and Musa had connections in South Africa and that this made them a flight risk and they might abscond trial. ally, Uniswa, attempted to frustrate Max s attempts to sit his exams. Uniswa demanded that Max be escorted to write his exams at its Kwaluseni main campus. His Majesty s Correctional Services, on the other hand, argued that they did not have adequate security to facilitate that arrangement. For that reason, they preferred Max to write his exams in prison. Uniswa would have none of it, arguing that they neither had enough personnel nor would Of note was that while none of they be able to guarantee the the 4 crown witnesses had security of the exam papers if sufficient legal basis for oppos- this happened. ing bail, magistrate Msibi s 3minute summary of the 4-day hearing stunned the packed The defence team subsequently public gallery when she denied successfully obtained a court Max and Musa bail on the order allowing Max to sit his barely established grounds exams at Kwaluseni. The court earlier cited by Sihlongonyane. order provided a hitherto paling Equally noteworthy was magis- glimmer of hope that perhaps trate Msibi s uncharacteristic justice could still be expected behaviour on the day. She sped after all. Max will now write the through her summary, handed remaining two papers during down the verdict, and hurried the July Supplementary Exams off the courtroom, leaving the season. It is however true that court interpreter to fulfil her the Uniswa Senate will, despite part in her absence. Her erratic the court order, first have to behaviour smacked of discom- decide if and what type of exam fort and only she knows what to allow Max to write in July. So much for the democratic princiwas going through her mind. ple of the rule of law under undemocratic Tinkhundla! It is now history that defence lawyer, Mandla Mkhwanazi, Meanwhile the SUDF commisimmediately applied for a High sioned its campaign wing, the Court review of magistrate Swaziland Democracy CamMsibi s judgment. It is also his- paign (SDC) to organize a tory that the High Court hear- prayer for Thursday 19th May, ing was on May 20th summarily the day before the abandoned postponed when the judge High Court bail review hearing assigned to hear the matter on May 20th. The prayer took suddenly recused himself, citing place at the Swaziland Catholic close affinity to the father of Centre (Caritas), in Manzini. It one of the accused. The matter attracted over 50 prois therefore pending at the High democracy activists from across the country. Catholic Reverend Court Pius Magagula led the service with some inspiring scripture Missed exams readings. Max is a third-year Diploma in Commerce (Dip.Com) student at Uniswa. At the time of his arrest he was preparing to write his final exams. He missed two of his papers due to the postponements of the bail hearings. It will come as no surprise too that despite Max not yet having been convicted of any crime, the state and its close

Comrade Maxwell Dlamini addressing during March

Max (wearing a light blue golf shirt) with SUDF s organising secretary Themba Mabuza during SUDF s strategic planning workshop at the Glogal Village

Max and Fundizwi at a workshop

Prospects for discharge/conviction? For all intents and purposes, the guilty verdict or conviction is a foregone conclusion. Never mind the absence of compelling evidence. While one would ordinarily wish to avoid preempting the trial and its conclu-

Musa Ngubeni and Max Dlamini at a bail hear-

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sion, the erratic behaviour on the part of the crown, i.e., from the arrests to the implausible postponements right down to the illogical denial of bail and the High Court judge s recusal, have clouded the entire case with such controversy that the conclusion that there can be no fairness of justice is simply irresistible. How are Max and Musa are doing? I last visited Max and Musa on 23rd May 2011. They remain in rude health and in unexpectedly high spirits. They are resolute in defiance, convinced that their charges will be dropped, and that whatever the verdict they and their fellow countrymen and women will soon be free from the shackles of the undemocratic Tinkhundla regime. Following a South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) TV embarrassingly revealing documentary footage on Thursday 2nd June 2011 of Swaziland s worsening political repression; the prison authorities put Max and Musa in solitary confinement. They also made the two to each write a shortlist of close relatives who would from Friday 3rd June be the only visitors permitted to see them. International solidarity adds their supporting voice Through the efforts of the London-based Action for

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Southern Africa (ACTSA), the British Student Union have initiated an e-mail petition to generate international support for Max and Musa and pressure for the undemocratic Tinkhundla regime to unconditionally release the activists, who are nothing more than political prisoners in the eyes of the free world. Such support will no doubt add the needed impetus to the SUDF s efforts to further alienate Tinkhundla until its leaders realize that there is no alternative to a speedy return to multiparty democracy in Swaziland.

One Country One Federation, One Industry One union the historic formation of Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA)
By Fundizwi Sikhondze I would like to leave behind me the conviction that if we maintain a certain amount of caution and organization we deserve victory[....] You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future. It took the madmen of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity today. I want to be one of those madmen. [...] We must dare to invent the future. THOMAS SANKARA, 1985.

In October 2010 a historic meeting took place in a small guest house in the suburb of Madonsa in Manzini, Swaziland. A total of 15 leaders (5 from each) of the three leading labour organizations met for a weekend of deliberations. This would have passed for a normal workshop except that the leaders who had met there had only one agenda item to deliberate on for the rest of that weekend. This was the merger of the two federations in Swaziland; namely, Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) and Swaziland Federation of Labour (SFL) into one federation. Further, the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) would affiliate to this federation. The workshop culminated in a statement of intent being issued. The statement of intent highlighted a roadmap that was going to lead, primarily, to a political and public

March 18 protest action launch of the new federation on May Day in 2011. The official launch was planned to take place after Workers Day, taking into consideration the legal implications of the merger. Subsequent engagements have led to the crafting of the proposed name for this unifying federation. The name given was Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA). Preparations for this year s Workers Day were done along the lines of the unity of TUCOSWA, with all three organizations agreeing to hold the May Day celebrations in the small town of Nhlangano in the southern part of Swaziland. This in itself was a revolutionary break from the norm and fulfilled the spirit of bravery in the labour leadership. Indeed during the Workers Day celebrations in Nhlangano the new Federation was launched to much jubilation and applause from workers in the small stadium in Nhlangano. As the leadership of the three organizations held their hands in the air they signaled to all that there was no going back on the unification of the workers of Swaziland and indeed henceforth no one had the power to stop this process and indeed the unification of the workers of Swaziland had reached a point of no return. We salute the leadership of SFTU, SFL, and SNAT for reaching this milestone and changing the history of the politics of the country forever.
VIVA TUCOSWA VIVA

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Frontline NEWSLETTER

SUDF Conducts Civic Education Workshops!

ignorance. There are, nonetheless, those that are generated deliberately in order to provoke a particular angled reaction from either those close to the subject or the readership/viewership. If activists choose to snub the reporter, no one will set the record straight. That has the unintended outcome of often tarnishing or permanently damaging the image of the struggle.

Cops stationed outside a civil society meeting By Dr Sikelela Dlamini SUDF Coordinator Introduction The SUDF kicked-off its civic education programme in May as outlined in its Africa Contactsponsored Project. The first workshop attracted over 20 activists from 10 civil society organizations, comprising SUDF affiliates, prospective affiliates, and partners. This group constitutes civic educators who will in the second half of 2011 facilitate countrywide communitybased civic education upon completion of their training. One more training workshop will take place in June. This SUDF initiative responds to a glaring need to empower civil society for incisive analysis of their daily socioeconomic reality in order to be able to influence public decisions about their future existence from a highly informed standpoint. The SUDF notes that state-funded civic education exercises have deliberately skirted the pertinent issues and tended more toward indoctrination aimed at sustaining the status quo. Independent civic education efforts have, for various reasons, been both limited in scope and less-thanexhaustive in approach. The first fourday training workshop focused on media relations; democracy, good governance, human rights; and gender and poverty eradication.

The workshop delved into the subject of image. Image manifests itself via various forms and at different levels. To begin with, activists need to physically present themselves in a manner that inspires respect from reporters, or their shabby appearance could easily become the alternative focus of media practitioners. More importantly, activists whose conduct is less-than-exemplary forget that journalists are always looking for a controversial story about them. The fewer scandals the better! Activists have an obligation to uphold values that dispel existing stereotyping with regard to how the media portrays themselves, their organizations, and ultimately the struggle.

Media Relations This session centred on the question how to maximize the impact of the media for purposes of advancing Swaziland s struggle for multiparty democracy. The workshop s highly interactive delivery format inspired participants to do some deep soul-searching. There was eventual consensus that the media s agenda entails essentially sifting from all social issues or stories available to it what, from the standpoint of their editorial policy, is refreshingly newsworthy and equally unique.

Activists were also called upon to know the different levels of communities they will be interacting with. It is, after all, from understanding one s target audience that one is able to package one s intended message in such a manner as to attract their attention and sustain their interest. The right content has the potential to antagonize an audience if it employs offensive language or uses examples that are deemed to be insensitive to local realities (e.g., power relations/land disputes). The media inevitably emerged as one constituency or community that activists need to research on in order to know how to handle their various ways of going about their assignments.

Evolution of Status Quo: Tinkhundla Dictatorship Whether it is the contentious land issue or the spiralling economic meltdown, the genesis of the crushing socioeconomic headache facing Swaziland today resonates with the yet-to-be-acknowledged constitutional dishonesty that dates back to the colonial era. For example, King Sobhuza II established Lifa Fund to which every Swazi family contributed originally in order to buy back Swazi Nation Land lost through concessions to Afrikaner settlers in the 19th century. Sobhuza was to transform Lifa Fund to Tibiyo Taka Ngwane in 1964. Tibiyo Taka Ngwane represents a multi-billion Emalangeni financial conglomerate, which today holds a controlling stake in all major corporations in the country. Tibiyo, as a private royal institution, evades taxation and its financial position is subject to neither parliamentary debate nor public audit; thus contributing to the country s increasingly unhealthy economic performance.

Tibiyo Taka Ngwane today represents a multibillion Emalangeni financial conglomerate, which today holds a controlling stake in all major corporations in the country.

Activists were made to appreciate the extremely difficult and uncomfortable overall responsibility of endeavouring to establish and sustain an amicable working relationship with media practitioners from various media houses. Forming negative impressions of and shunning the media were not options whatsoever. Activists need to be on hand to correct misrepresentations and the misperceptions they create among a diverse consuming public. In fact, a lot of misrepresentations reflect

For the record, the Swazi monarchy has always resented anything to do with constitutionalism because constitutions, by their nature, expose leadership to public scrutiny and criticism. Swazi monarchs have for the same reason equally always detested the very notion of multiparty politics. The reason is that political parties contest the same state power that Swazi kings traditionally inherit.

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In the wake of the accelerated push for British Africa s return to self-rule, the British colonial administration attempted to reorganize Swazi politics through a modern constitution. Existing political parties such as the Swaziland Democratic Party, the Swaziland Progressive Party, the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC), etc., were vehemently opposed to a royal stipulation that every Swazi s interest was represented in the Swazi National Council (SNC). As a result, a subsequent Constitutional Committee proposed 8 SNC representatives and 8 from political parties. It goes without that the SNC questioned this arrangement. Sobhuza advanced the same excuse, in addition to the fact that the constitution was divisive and unworkable, as his main argument for abrogating the constitution through a Decree on 12th April 1973. The truth is that the NNLC had managed to win three seats in the 1972 parliamentary elections. For the first time in Swazi history there was an official opposition in parliament. King Sobhuza II could not stomach the unseemly prospect of having to share power with commoners. That is why political parties were and remain banned thirty-eighty years later. It helps to note that not all aspects of 1967 (Independence) Constitution were removed. Strategically, only those to do with governance and which directly threatened the powers of the king were omitted. bust activism around governance issues.

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The continued disagreement on the political question induced King Sobhuza II to commission a national referendum. The referendum asked Swazis to choose between a rather unfamiliar reindeer (mpondompondo), symbolizing a monster, and a lion (Ingwenyama), symbolizing the king. The highly predictable result was overwhelming in favour of the lion.

The British colonial administration ultimately convinced Sobhuza to form a political party to contest the other 8 seats in the 1967 parliamentary elections. The British maintained that they were not going to give any independence instrument to an individual. The king s Imbokodvo National Movement (INM) won the first elections with a landslide victory.

The Establishment of Parliament Order of 1978 both restored parliament and ushered in the notorious Tinkhundla as a system of governance with 40 electoral centres throughout the country. There were no voters rolls and often people simply joined shortest lines/ queues to vote irrespective of who the candidate at the end of a queue was. Successful election candidates joined an Electoral College, which then elected Parliamentarians. No wonder there were always some predetermined lists/faces for parliament through a nebulous voting system known as kuhlaba ). Essentially, Swazis voted for its own sake.

The growing concerns around governance led to the Establishment of Parliament Order of 1992, which ushered in direct election to parliament from Swaziland s 55 Tinkhundla centres. It both replaced the dubious Electoral College and brought in voter registration instead. Swaziland currently has a bi-cameral parliament consisting of the House of Assembly (55 elected + 10 appointed by king) and Senate (20 nominated by House of Assembly + 10 appointed by king). Over the decades, the overwhelming majority of nominees have often been friends or associates of the king s direct appointees. The numerical significance of the king s appointees comes to the fore when issues of constitutional amendments are considered. A two-thirds majority is required for this to happen as well as for a successful vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister or his entire cabinet. Naturally, no king s appointee is expected to vote out other king s appointees as this act indirectly amounts to a vote of no confidence in the appointing authority. It is traditionally unSwazi to even remotely appear to be in opposition to the monarch.

The Establishment of Parliament Order of 1978 both restored parliament and ushered in the notorious Tinkhundla as a system of governance with 40 electoral centres throughout the country.
able terms of reference (ToRs) in favour of the status quo. The deliberately skewed composition of the constitution review committees and their rigid ToRs, inter alia, caused the leaders of progressive groups such as PUDEMO, Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU), Institute for Democracy and Leadership (IDEAL), etc., to decline their curiously individualised inclusion in these royal committees. The Constitution of 2005/2006 notably fails the primary test of the extent to which it departs or does not depart from the 1973 Decree. It ultimately reflects the notorious Decree in that it introduces individual merit (Section 79) as opposed to group representation/political parties, whose registration it does not provide for (e.g., no associations Act). It also does not ensure effective separation of powers between the Executive, the Judiciary, and the Legislature. It was first PM Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini s arrogant assertion that Parliament reports to him and latterly king Mswati III s order for the PM to withdraw the land case from the courts and for Parliament to drop the debate thereof that finally proved the absence of separation of powers under Tinkhundla.

Contrary to widespread reports by the Swazi royal leadership, the 1967 Independence constitutional arrangement was a product of local discussions between 8 SNC and 8 political party representatives, constituting themselves as a constituent assembly. The Westminster constitution was thus not entirely a British imposition as it is widely documented in the country s official annuls of history.

King Sobhuza II died in 1981 and the Supreme Council of State, Liqoqo, took over and subsequently deposed Queen Regent Dzeliwe. The People s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) emerged in 1983 from its then base at the University of Swaziland (Uniswa). It vigorously agitated for Dzeliwe s re-instatement while at the same time introducing ro-

Continued worker and political activism resulted in 27 demands and the pressure for government to re-introduce a written constitution, inter-alia. It however took the Tinkhundla government an entire decade to develop a written constitution. It is unavoidable to note at this point that King Mswati III, who ascended the throne in 1986, strategically appointed princes to head the various national consultative committees for constitution making. These princes were also given inalter-

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Frontline NEWSLETTER
An illustrative practical exercise revealed that often male activists refer to their female comrades as Comrade She , for instance. Such needless qualifications reflect deep-seated yet subtle gender stereotyping that needs to be confronted head-on. A comrade is a comrade and there does not have to be any qualification if the same does not apply to males and females alike. The same applies to practices such as males giving up front seats in trucks for the benefit of their female comrades without the latter even asking for the favour . The assumption is often that they can t board at the back primarily because they are female. That is gender stereotyping couched in terms of courtesy .

Marches in Mbabane on March 18, 2011 Law-making in effect still rests in the king in parliament wherein the Legisla- The king s constitutional powers remain so pervasive and ture endorses the king s laws and the overarching that they totally corrode the notion of separation king can also veto bills. The king can of powers also disband parliament before its term without giving reasons for doing so. far as the highly secretive and questionable spending of the rulLet us not forget that the Prime Minis- ing royal household is concerned. The SUDF has no doubt that ter is the king s appointee. Barnabas its emerging team of civic educators is getting a firm grounding appointment was also extrain the evolution of the obtaining political order with all its inherconstitutional in that he was not appointed from the House of Assembly ent socioeconomic problems. This pertinent training will definitely empower them and inform how they fashion their interacas per the constitution. tion strategies at the various communities targeted for the SUDF s civic education exercise. The king s constitutional powers remain so pervasive and overarching that they totally corrode the notion of separation of powers. Parliamentarians and cabinet literally duly swear allegiance only to the king on assuming office. While the king purportedly acts in consultation, in actual fact he may or may not take any constitutional organ s advice. By the way, the king also appoints all such organs. Certain matters have been taken away from the jurisdiction of the constitution and strategically located in the SLC or Liqoqo. Of note is the fact that the king is the final arbiter in matters referred to this forum. The session emphasized to participants that good governance obtains at the political and fiscal levels. Participants were made to appreciate that amendments recently effected in Royal Emoluments and Civil Lists remove all accountability and transparency in as Gender and Politics This session foregrounded the concepts of advocacy and lobbying as critically important components of any campaign, including the on-going campaign for multiparty democracy in Swaziland. It emerged that advocacy should take place at the level of raising or creating awareness at the grassroots or constituency level. Once sensitization or conscientization has been sufficiently generated, lobbying kicks in to garner the support and buy-in of influential figures and organs in society at the decision-making level. No campaign will ever be successful until the final decision and instrument(s) for effecting a change can be guaranteed.

The last point brings to the fore the definition of gender as distinct from sex. No one can or cannot perform certain socially determined tasks on the basis of their sex. Sex has to do with the biologically predetermined physical differences between males and females. Gender, on the other hand, refers to the socially designated roles of males and females based on their presumed differential abilities. They have nothing to do with natural capabilities and/or roles. They are society-given. Gender varies from society to society while sex is universal. For instance, Indian wives pay dowry while Swazi husbands pay lobola.

Activists quickly discovered that gender inequalities existed and disenfranchised womenfolk even at the level of the struggle. To begin with, the number of women at the workshop was almost one-fourths (a mere quarter). The SUDF was urged to consciously mainstream gender in all its activities; starting with (en) gendered invitations to workshops such as this one.

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The largely problematic power relations that arise as a result of preconceived male and female roles have more to do with patriarchy or the socially determined domination of females by their male counterparts than the cultural practices of paying dowry or lobola, for example. At this point it becomes imperative to state categorically that the culture or cultural practices of any societal context are never God-given or natural. Instead, they are socially determined over time.

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Activists were then led to a stark awareness that gender inequality represents another form of disenfranchising womenfolk and that society cannot develop maximally until this anomaly is corrected. They noted that land ownership in Muzi Masuku leading discussions during Sidla Inhloko dialogue Swaziland is currently determined along gender lines. Land ernment which were pronounced on SUMMARY OF THE ILC JUDGEMENT is unfortunately the key means Friday, 10 June 2011. We are humbled The International Labour Conference (ILC) expressed its profound of productions in a predomi- by the solidarity rendered to us by the disappointment, the lack of progress in resolving the matters which nantly agrarian economy such people of the world. We applaud their were discussed during the same conference in June 2010. It obunanimous refusal to turn a blind eye as that of Swaziland. served that there were no time frames set by the government to on the oppression and human rights deal with the areas of concern to workers especially the amendviolations taking place in our country. ment and or repeal of oppressive laws in Swaziland. These laws are In this regard our respect goes to the an impediment to the exercise of fundamental freedoms and deworkers of Africa, the European Union At the end of the session the and the Nordic countries for their mocracy. They include the 1973 King s Proclamation, the 1963 Public Order Act, the 2008 Suppression of Terrorism Act, the activists were in no doubt that unwavering support. 2009 Public Service Bill and many other instruments that facilitate a lot still needs to be done to The current crisis in Swaziland is a the political suppression of dissenting voices. The Swaziland govattain gender equality right man-made disaster resulting from a ernment has long been dragging its feet and delaying to amend the from the ranks of the struggle political system underpinned by tyr- Prisons Act in order to allow correctional services officers to form all the way to the wider Swazi anny, greed, corruption, brutality and and join a trade union as per ILO Conventions 87, to which she is signatory. The conference further noted and was gravely disapsociety. They determined to do selfishness. their utmost best in contribut- We wish to make special mention of pointed by the fact that the government has no roadmap to coning to that paradigm shift when the employers of Swaziland for the cretely resolve the problems as sighted over the years. the civic education programme is rolled out in earnest in the second half of 2011. SWAZILAND FEDERATION OF TRADE UNIONS STATEMENT ON THE WORKERS VICTORY IN GENEVA INTRODUCTION The Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) welcomes the conclusions of the International Labour Conference ( ILCs) Committee on the Application of Standards (CAS) on the case put before it by the workers against the perennial human and trade union rights violations perpetrated by the undemocratic Swaziland Govprogressive input they made during the case which was far more improved than in 2010. Workers know fully that employers and the economy stand to benefit from a democratic dispensation in Swaziland. We were disappointed by some SADC governments led by Zimbabwe for supporting the continued violation of human and trade union rights in our country. We wish to take a moment and salute the government of the Republic of South Africa who after having been correctly briefed withdrew at the last minute from supporting the continuation of the repression and suppression of the peoples of Swaziland. SADC governments must desist from the tendency of trying to maintain Swaziland as a cultural museum and a haven of an ancient lifestyle. The Conference condemned highly the continued harassment, raids, and arrest, detention and intimidation interrogations of trade unionist in Swaziland. The overwhelming support and the mountains of evidence forced the GORNMENT to fail even to plead for exclusion from the special paragraph. The committee then included its conclusions in the special paragraph of its report. CONCLUSION. In conclusion we once again thank all workers, employers and governments of the world who supported our cause during this conference. Indeed their efforts were not in vain. The significance of this achievement is that the Swazi is once again proved to be noble by the world. However, the people of the world expect Swazis to lead in the prosecution of this struggle. They are behind us and we should be in the forefront. The current economic crisis gives an opportunity to reach the democratic dispensation in the shortest possible time in order to save our people from further suffering.

Frontline

Swaziland United Democratic Front

The true View of My of the child. country: Swaziland Sipho Jele First
By Alex The Poet
The true colors of my country The true Swaziland How long have you been deceived? How long have you received How long have you conceived Deceived of a peaceful country Received about a democratic country Conceived a developing country This then is melody of the true Swaziland A voice of the real Swaziland A roar of the future of Swaziland Around the cities of Manzini Around the mountains of Mdzimba Around the rivers of Shiselweni Around the 'deserts' of Lavumisa You shall find the poor Swazis You shall find the poor schools You shall find the starving Swazis You shall find the dying Swazis Around the cities of Africa Around the cities of Europe Around the hospitals of South Africa You shall find children of the leaders of Swaziland You shall find brothers of the leader of Swaziland

1989, The convention on the Rights

anniversary commemoration 20102011

By Victim Shongwe

Let me remember the fallen heroes and heroines of our struggle; allow me to salute in particular the late cde Sipho Jele who unceremoniously died for merely wearing a t-shirt an issue so trivial to be the cause of death yet too important to scare the lion. Peace and democracy loving people of Swaziland and the world join hands with the oppressed and suffering masses of our struggle in Swaziland as we salute and honour a worker, a liberator, a fighter and a son of the revolution in the late cde Sipho Jele who died at Their Majesties Corrections Services in Sidvwashini, Mbabane. We shall continue to call for a total transformation of the insane tinkhundla system to even stop more people dying for their political believes and for fighting for a free and democratic Swaziland. We applaud the formation of TUCOSWA which coincided with the first anniversary of Sipho Jele s abduction and his eventual death; we salute the workers of Swaziland for honouring the comrade with such a gift to the democratic forces. Long live the spirit of none surrender long live

About SUDF

United and driven by the common historical objective to build a truly democratic constitutional dispensation grounded on the universal principles, codes and practices of multiparty democracy and conscious of the fact that the liberation of Swaziland is a national responsibility, and that our strength lies in joint action in the establishment and marshalling of a broad front of struggle, activism and unflinching commitment to fight until the oppressive Tinkhundla regime is uprooted in all its forms and vestiges, and with full recognition that the respect of individual organisational identity and programme is the cornerstone of democracy

For For For For

our education is less valued our hospitals are critical our salaries are drops our lives are miserable

A feeling of Scarcity, Shortages and Sanctions A feeling of Wakes, Weeds and Weaknesses A feeling of Abuse, Affliction and Annihilation A feeling of Zigzags and Zeroes A feeling of Immorality, Illness, Inconvenience A feeling of Limits and limitations, Laments and lamentations A feeling of Abuse, Affliction and Annihilation A feeling of Danger, Darkness and Detention Where is your respect Swaziland Where is your thinking? Where is your love for the people? Can t you see from your cousin Europe? Can t you see from your father Africa? Can t you see from your brother South Africa?? Why not respect 1948 Why not respect 1965 Why not respect 1979 Why not respect 1989 1948, The UN Declaration of Human Rights 1965, The International Convention on Elimination Elimination of all forms of racial discrimination 1979, Convention on the Elimination of discrimination Against women