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PM FITS MAKHUNDU BILL?

02/08/2021 08:06:00 By Vusi Sibisi

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Were we to measure the recently appointed Prime Minister, Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, on the basis of his maiden ministerial statement in Parliament, then there is nothing to cheer that things will from now on be done differently after having earlier doused any expectation of a paradigm shift in the exercise of his office when he informed Senate that he did not expect to be popular.

That, viewed from the context of the existing polity, needs no unpacking.

Defining

The particularly defining section of the PM’s statement was his dismissal and denial of the widely held belief that the arrests of two outspoken Members of Parliament (MPs), Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube, were political. Were this not a serious matter it would be laughable because it is true to the stock-in-trade of Tinkhundla to pervert the truth knowingly. There is not even a need to trace the genesis of the arrests of the duo to disprove the PM’s deliberate but erroneous truth. Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo spoke for everyone else whose vision is not blurred by the blind loyalty to the failed Tinkhundla political system when he drew the attention of the PM that the common perception here and abroad was that the arrests were politically driven. And in politics, as the PM may be aware, perception is reality.

If the PM thought that flavouring his position with a trust that the justice system would give them a ‘free and fair trial’ would somewhat soften the blow that has been dealt by the obtaining political system, then he must be taking emaSwati, specifically those vehemently opposed to a system that has allowed entitlement to impoverish emaSwati, free reign on the treasury, misdirected national resources and systemic looting of public entities, to be simpletons just like the system does. The simple and plain truth is that there is no justice in this country owing to its political patronage as ably demonstrated by the lack of transparency in the appointment of judges and members of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

Arrests

As I see it, that the arrests happening so soon after the PM’s appointment relating to transgressions alleged to have happened sometime in June is in itself instructive, as it is indicative, of the leadership’s apparent hostility and resistance to political reformation. That was the tone at Sibaya when the PM was appointed and indeed he is carrying it from there and thereby giving substance to then circulating rumours that the interim leadership of Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku had been chastised and thereafter left out in the cold to dry for not arresting the pro-democracy trio of Mabuza, Dube and their Siphofaneni counterpart, MP Mduduzi ‘Magawugawu’ Simelane. Once appointed the incumbent PM had a personal stake in the matter and, therefore, the arrests of the trio since they were, among others, calling for an elective PM, became his priority to secure his tenure with the appointing authority.

While the PM made an undertaking to investigate police brutality, it became immediately crystal that he was merely making a politically correct statement devoid of any commitment to follow it up with action. For in the same sentence he went on to defend police, explaining that they were provoked, saying ‘it has become common for protesters to intimidate, threaten, insult and provoke police. It has become a norm for protesters to hurl rocks at the police. This is criminal and has no place in our society. Police are there to protect us at all times and also rely on our cooperation and respect. Respect of the rule of law is sacrosanct and we should refrain from activities that tend to brew violence and instability’. Nowhere does the PM touch on the disproportionate force employed by the security forces leading to many fatalities.

Brutality

Does that sound like someone who has any interests of investigating police brutality or rather like an apologist justifying such brutality? The latter seems to be true and is supported by empirical evidence of the police assault on and shooting of protesting emaSwati calling for the freeing of MPs Mabuza and Dube during their bail appearance at the High Court last week. As it were it appears hit squads have been unleashed to hunt, pursue and kill emaSwati likely to have participated in the pro-democracy protests. Also a common feature on our roads across the country in recent months have been unmarked white double cab vehicles, apparently leased from South Africa, being used by the security cluster some of which do not bear registration plates perhaps to camouflage the nefarious activities they are used for.

And yet the PM is talking about the rule of law. What rule of law? Rule of law is but a useful set phrase which does not examine too closely either the justice of the laws enacted or the nature of the political order. Consequently, the question ought to be posed if there can be rule of law in an unjust and oppressive environment. The rule of law and even the constitution have suddenly become a refuge for those controlling the levers of power in the midst of the calls for political reforms. Yet it is the same constitution that they have flagrantly defied and breached whenever it suited their objectives.