BURYING HEAD IN THE SAND WILL COST US

THIS year must have been, in the eyes of the State, one of the best it has had in a while. It was able to ‘deal’ with many of its detractors and bring a semblance of normalcy after a couple of tumultuous years. Many of those detractors are languishing in jail, some forced into exile and yes, some are dead. The mass democratic movement is, in the words of government spin doctor Alpheous Nxumalo, in  ICU.

The leaders of this country, I am sure, are really sleeping better lately. What of the successful elections, double celebrations and Sibaya. They have also been able to tactfully avoid the much-awaited national dialogue which was promised to the international community and emaSwati.

Dialogue

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) was first made to believe that the dialogue was going to take place pending the cessation of violence. As we all waited on bated breath for this to happen, government summersaulted and blatantly told SADC to back off. Before we knew it, we were preparing for elections. Sibaya was then summoned and in the cloud of secrecy and uncertainty that characterises this supposed national AGM, a People’s Parliament was sanctioned.  

At best, this was expected to set the agenda and modalities for what would be the meaningful and inclusive national dialogue we all agreed was a panacea for our socio-political woe which led to the civil unrest. We later heard that that was in fact the dialogue we had been waiting for and this matter was now conclusively dealt with. Well played. Now you ask yourself; what  really is a dialogue.

Difference

In a context like this one, common sense dictates that you would have seated two or more warring parties who do  not quite see eye to  eye and have them thrash  out their difference until common ground is reached. In this case those ‘warring’ parties would obviously be the voices from either side of the political divide, sitting down in an externally facilitated or moderated process that allows the parties to put their differences on the table and find consensus where possible. The posture of the State has been to deliberately ignore the dissenting voices, even to the extent of claiming they do not know who ‘these people’ are. At the height of the unrest we were even told mercenaries were behind the turmoil.

I do not see the current government taking a different approach to this issue and that will be to the nation’s detriment. As a country, we are far from dealing with the issues that led to upheavals that began in 2021.  While we may think we have outsmarted everybody and dealt with the ‘Swazi’ way, we should not at all be surprised if history repeats itself. The solution here is not militarising the country and turning it into a police State as Justice Minister Prince Simelane would have it.

That is not a sustainable way to keep peace. History has taught us that this never works and that sooner or later, the gun is defeated buy an angry people who might only be armed with matches and stones. We have very deep-seated differences as a nation and they cannot simply be wished away. This approach will be the death of us, literally. Not even teaching our children about the Tinkhundla System of Governance in schools will be the answer to our problems.  We should make peace with the undeniable fact that the debate around the system of governance will never end, and there shouldn’t be a problem with that.

Alternatives

People must at liberty to rethink how a better Eswatini can look like and should be able to proffer alternatives without fear. All systems evolve and some are replaced if the people subject to it decide to. We can never say that issue has been dealt with definitively. Government must, instead, ensure that people can enjoy their democratic right to think and  hold views,  however unorthodox they may sound.Our failure to properly deal with this issue as a nation may bite us at a time when we least expect it. There may appear to be lull now and that the government is in control but all that is needed is one spark for things to take a bad turn. 

Who would have thought the death of law student Thabani Nkomonye would be the trigger for a domino effect that change this country as we knew it. The government should not bask in the glory of the supposed peace we have now but use this as an opportunity for nation-building and bringing all the different voices together. It is time for healing and finding common solutions even with the people we have chosen to ostracize and label as dissidents. We are a different nation in so many ways, no doubt, but we are not immune to the lesson of history.   
          

 

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