Analysing his Majesty's speech

Fortunately, I was present, I listened to every word he said, and I am glad that umtukulu recorded the full speech on the TV and I referred to the video when I happened to forget some of the things His Majesty uttered at Esibayeni. I am writing what he said. Just to rewind a bit, it is the same thing that happened with King Sobhuza II’s speech at the very same venue in 1978.In my previous article about King Sobhuza II, I highlighted how people bent the message to suit their own propaganda. People have misinterpreted his speech and thus the experiment theory popped up of which is wrong. Now let us get to the speech.

In His introductory speech, His Majesty showed a sense of appreciation that Swazis had come in numbers for the big national gathering.

He went on to highlight that other countries do not have the chance to gather in one place and express themselves as we do at the Cattle Byre. To prove that this was a good thing, former Malawi president came to witness this beautiful event that Swazis have.

He continued to say that this would draw tourists from all corners of the world to witness Swazi culture. He emphasised that the main aim of Sibaya is nation build-ing.

Getting on the theme of his speech, he continued to highlight that a nation must strive to survive. He said the nation formed a National Development Strategy. He mentioned that Sibaya was a catalyst to revitalise those stra-tegies to be met and implemented. However he mentioned that the country is struggling economically and the issue of circulars should be looked into and see if it is affect-ing the economy.

He said he is worried that we have been expecting to look into Finance Circular No 1 of 2010.

He cautioned the nation that as much as the nation wanted the controversial circular removed, there was still order to be followed. Note this point dear reader; it will be reviewed not removed. He said experts would be brought to solve this issue. The King was quick to point out that we should also get experts that would advise how to revitalise the economy.

He went on to mention that the nation signed charters that needed to be ratified. He did not spend much time on the charters, he dwelt on the issue of untrust-worthy advisors. He said he does not want advisors that will give him bad advice. He urged the nation to point-out the rotten potatoes in the advisory council without fear.

The point to note here is the King has the people’s interest at heart and does not want people near him that will mislead him. He then addressed the thorny issue of corruption. He made an example of cases in the High Court. He said people were only labelled suspects but were never brought before court.

He then jumped on the hot issue of schools and the teachers’ strike saga. He said recently it was witnessed that pupils were not in class as teachers were on strike demanding a salary raise.

He mentioned that it pleased him that people spoke strongly of the issue and wished he could sort it. He cautioned that the relationship between government and teachers should always be healthy. "Sesisho kutsi nine bekunene sive kumele ngabe siyasibambisa".

He reminded the nation how the country was once unable to pay civil servants salaries.

On mentioning this I knew what he would say next. He wanted the nation to understand the situa-tion. What I like about His Majesty is that he is aware of what people think.

He said the Swazi economy is in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). He went on to caution that belts should be tightened in every government department.

Clearly we know that Percy drives a E450 000 Fortunar, while the Prime Minister got more than E100 000 as a salary, government buys news cars and the nation still has to come to terms with the hefty payouts for Cabinet courtesy of Finance Circular No.1 of 2010. So he is aware of this and that is why he made mention of it. He further said that if the country accumulated new wealth it should not be wasted but be spared for the future. In Mkhulu ‘s view he was referring to the E2.4 billion loan from South Africa.

He continued that the nation had to sit and for example emabandla sort out this issue while the children are at school. He said while others are attending to this issue, classes should operate without any disturbance thus hindering their performance in schools.

He finished his speech by urging the nation to refrain from using the meet fire with fire approach. He cautioned them to sort out issues before the whole world knows about them.

He assured the nation that all issues discussed at the Cattle Byre would be looked into and implemented. He thanked the nation for showing respect and the good behaviour they exhi-bited. He emphasised, in his closing remarks that this was a good thing and wished many a nation could adopt this since it builds the nation.

He concluded: "Sesibongile kakhulu esiveni ngemsebenti wesibaya sesiyawu phindze sihlangane nangalamanye emalanga esibayeni sesibuka eh kusti eh lesive lesakunco-ma ngabe kuhambe njani"...a thunderous shout of ‘Bayethe’ was heard.

Mkhulu was impressed but he knew that the King’s speech was like a Bible. People interpret the Bible where it suits their needs and leaves out verses that are against them.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Your website:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: