WHAT’S SA INTEREST IN TINKHUNDLA?

Why would anyone – wherever they may be coming from – be interested in and want to be taught about the kingdom’s Tinkhundla political system, considering its less than glorious legacy since its enforcement on emaSwati as an experiment some decades ago, wondered my mind when I came across the headline ‘SA eager to know Tinkhundla system – ‘Cruiser’ last week. 

The initial impression created by the article in question suggested that the Tinkhundla political system had somewhat found favour with sections of the South African population, hence some were envious to learn more about its ecosystem. Minister of Tinkhundla Administration and Development David ‘Cruiser’ Ngcamphalala enthusiastically revealed this to a captive audience of Members of Parliament (MPs) where the lawmakers were being workshopped on the Regional Development Fund (RDF).

As I see it, the topic of the kingdom’s political system evokes diverse emotions and reactions depending on which side of the great political divide. Yes, the system has divided emaSwati into two camps, for and against, with no effort being made to create common ground. This prompted a reader to respond in the letters to the editor page, advising those South Africans, real or imagined, the minister was referring to, to reflect on the former apartheid system in SA for a better understanding and appreciation of the Tinkhundla political system. True, but evidently not the sort of response Minister Ngcamphalala and his ilk to whom the system is an insurance to sustain their livelihoods would go to any lengths to project as the best and otherwise ruinous political system.  

Evidently, the Tinkhundla political system was created to exclusively serve the interests of those charged with the leadership of this country and their families and cronies with the default facade of grassroots democracy. But by and large discerning South Africans do not need to be lectured on the subject matter because they are witness to how it has ruined this country while creating an exclusive class of wealthy elites. 

Educated

But just for a moment and take Minister Ngcamphalala for his word on this sudden external SA interest in the system, there could be a number of reasons why some South Africans allegedly want to be educated about the system. It could well be the need to verify and authenticate what they already know or; it could be for academic purposes or; to gain insight on and an understanding of how a people can condone an otherwise oppressive political system for this long or; to take informed positions in influencing its collapse. 

For, while South Africans enjoy the full bouquet of human rights, including freedom of expression, the same cannot be said of emaSwati. So, why would any sane person be envious of an oppressive political ecosystem that deprives the people their inalienable human rights and liberties in direct contravention of God’s edict? 

Additionally, while elections are cyclical every five years like in the majority of pluralistic democracies across the globe to either renew the mandate of the governing political party or change it, Eswatini elections, under the Tinkhundla political dispensation, are purely symbolic – and a false façade to project so-called grassroots democratic credentials of the system - because the only change they bring is probably new faces in the Legislature and subordinate institutions.

It, therefore, cannot be that people, in South Africa, would envy a political system that has frozen emaSwati from real politics because of its exploitative nature. South Africans are free to join political parties of their choice while political parties are criminal in Eswatini. Besides, South Africans enjoying the freedom to freely express themselves on anything and everything – including openly criticising their leaders if and when they stray from representing their best interests - they also enjoy a much more superior social deal that seeks to improve their lives. 

Poverty

That well over half of the population is captive to poverty when the Bretton Woods institutions, World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), and United Nations system rate Eswatini as a medium income country is testimony on the failings of the Tinkhundla political system. Today government has perfected begging as an art form as its only humanitarian intervention to alleviate the plight of emaSwati, hence many of its responsibilities to the people are now the burden of bilateral and multilateral partners as well as foreign governments while it is fixated on providing for the First World niceties to the ruling elite. 

Relative to resource outlay since independence some 52 years ago, this country although relatively small with a corresponding small population, ought to be the beacon of the African continent instead of celebrating mediocrity.

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