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REVIEW TINKHUNDLA POLITICAL SYSTEM

11/05/2024 09:23:00 Mfanukhona Nkambule

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The continued non-review of the Tinkhundla System of Government may be perceived, in some quarters, as an admission that the political system is unworkable.

About six months ago, Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo reminded the country’s authorities of the significant and urgent need to hold a broad or national consultative exercise to evaluate the political opinions of emaSwati. He was speaking during a meeting in which MPs introduce themselves to the Head of State. This happened at Mandvulo Grand Hall, Lozitha. MP Khumalo praised the King for establishing Vuselas (national consultative exercises) in the past which helped to set up a Parliament that is currently founded on direct representation, thus eliminating the electoral system.

The concept of political performance is very crucial; hence, developed countries periodically review their political systems. John Hogstrom, Department of Social Sciences at Mid Sweden University, points to the fact that, in comparative politics literature, different concepts of performance and quality of a political system are employed. It is important that we define what a political system is, and my understanding is informed by Almond (1996, pages 28-29) who gives the following definition: “The political system is a set of institutions concerned with formulating and implementing the collective goals of a society or of groups within it.”

Functions

He continued to write: “Political systems have institutions, agencies or structures, such as political parties, parliaments, bureaucracies and courts, which carry on specific activities, or perform functions, which in turn enable the political system to formulate and enforce its politics.” Let us then substitute political parties for tinkhundla centres which are ordinarily expected to formulate and implement the collective goals of society or of groups within it.

Then, the review of the Tinkhundla System of Government will assist in determining whether the central government at Hospital Hill and Parliament are able to ensure implementation of those goals. Is there a link between the central government and the Tinkhundla System of Government as a political system? Does each of the 59 tinkhundla centres have a budget to implement the goals of the society? Never ever talk to me about the underfunded Regional Development Fund (RDF) and Youth Fund. I am talking about sufficient budgets for tinkhundla centres.

In fact, tinkhundla centres are mini-Cabinets or mini-Parliaments that should have governors ensuring that roads are upgraded or tarred, schools and health institutions are up and running. I still don’t understand why the Ministry of Public Works and Transport is active in Mbabane. All the centres across the country should have equipment in the form of graders. In the absence of facilities and key ministries at the tinkhundla centres, so, why are you complaining when multiparty democracy advocates criticise the country’s political system for ineffectiveness?

Factory shells should be all over the country. Each inkhundla must have two to five factory shells to create jobs for emaSwati. Concerning political performance, Almond writes: “We call the outputs of a political system - its extractions, distributions, regulations and symbolic acts, its performance.”
Vusela will help the nation evaluate the distribution element of the Tinkhundla System of Government. The extractions and regulations are least important in an environment where the distributive power of the Tinkhundla System of Government is present and effective.

What do I mean? Ladies and gentlemen, effective distribution closes inequality gaps and it is the fast-moving vehicle for economic growth and political stability. Tinkhundla System of Government should be reviewed to incorporate the dynamic political strategy to distribute resources and assets to the people. It must guard against distributing liabilities to the people. Like any other political system, I have realised that Tinkhundla System of Government has two essential elements that require fulfilment – input and output.

The input side of the Tinkhundla System of Government is about the access to the political power and the output side, which is about how the political power is exercised (decisions and actions). The country’s political system is effective on its input side and weaker on its output side. It is, therefore, important for any political administration, mainly at State level, to have a think-tank that will address such issues.

Stability

I strongly believe that the review would ensure if the country’s political system could still be regarded as the perfect vehicle for economic growth, social and political stability. It is the opportune time to prevent recurrences of the infamous 2021 civil unrest. The 2024 May Day Celebration at Prince of Wales Sports Ground in Mbabane is a lesson or a clear indication that we are like a house divided against itself.

The silence and some pockets of peace that we currently enjoy should not deceive us that all is well in the Kingdom of Eswatini. The political system should be reviewed to incorporate the components that its critics identified as lacking in its pursuit for excellent service delivery and elimination of inequality in the Kingdom of Eswatini. In my snap survey about world political systems, quantitatively as it were, I have discovered that good governance is founded on closing gaps that give rise to inequality and improving service delivery.

I still maintain that people are thirsty for excellent service delivery that directly meets their needs. Any political system, either theocracy or democracy, which recognises people’s God-given rights, promotes accessibility to land, water and minerals, shall receive, without any doubt, national embracement and recognition.

That system would definitely receive recognition and protection from the citizens whom it was designed to serve. That is why I, therefore, advise the country’s authorities, to consider, as a matter of urgency, a broad national consultative exercise to determine relevancies and irrelevancy of the country’s Tinkhundla System of Government. This consultative exercise should have clear terms of references as opposed to situations in which a man is free to talk about the sun and the stars unless this man wants to share ideas on how best the country can mitigate the effects of climate change.

I have shared some ideas with some people from both progressive and conservative camps that Tinkhundla System of Government should focus on what people want. It shouldn’t be detached from the masses. In case it fails to do that, the expectation is that the political system is unworkable. The country’s last Vusela was set up in 1996. Its mandate was to collect views on how the country should be governed. That happened 28 years ago.

Reconciliation

I am referring to the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) which was under the chairmanship of Prince Logcogco. The exercise culminated in the passing of the Constitution. My second point is about the importance of reconciliation as I indicated a few months ago. As emaSwati, we cannot live as enemies. We need to embrace diversity in political opinion. There are three stages of reconciliation, which we have to consider for progression and peace.

According to the Governance and Social Resource Centre (GSDRC), the three stages for reconciliation are as follows:-

Replacing fear by non-violent coexistence;
Building confidence and trust;
Developing empathy.

I have realised that we need some closure as we are still nursing the wounds of the 2021 civil unrest, which culminated in death of our relatives and destruction of our businesses. It is important that coexistence, trust and empathy develop between individuals who are connected as victims, beneficiaries and perpetrators. Reconciliation at interpersonal level is very fundamental for peace and tranquility. What I witnessed at Prince of Wales Sports Ground during May Day Celebrations was not good for a country like Eswatini.

Many initiatives in the area of healing (counselling victims and offenders together) and restorative justice (mediation) take this route towards reconciliation. All the steps in the process also entail the reconciling of groups and communities as a whole. Each perspective, the interpersonal and the collective, has its own chemistry but they are equally important in the process of reconciliation as rightly elucidated by the GSDRC.
The organisation states that burying the past in a reconciliatory way requires the mobilisation of a variety of techniques.

Most of them have to be activated in the short run. The following should happen to ensure we move forward together:

Healing the wounds of the survivors;
Some form of retributive or restorative justicve;
Historical accounting via truth-telling;
Without reparation there can be no healing. Restorative justice, if adequately organised, can heal the wounds of both victim and perpetrator.
Given the volatility of an immediate post- conflict context, time management in processing reconciliation is an extremely important but difficult dimension in the search for a shared future.

Policies must not come too soon or too late. The end of a violent conflict creates a complex agenda - rebuilding the political machinery and the civil service, holding free elections, prosecuting human rights abusers and so on. The GSDRC advise us all that more often than not it will be impossible to tackle all tasks simultaneously. As reconciliation is only one of the many challenges, short-term political or economic interests may lead to reconciliation measures being postponed.

However, reconciliation efforts cannot be put off indefinitely. Healing, truth-telling and reparation deliver important short-term benefits but generally they will not eliminate altogether the underlying causes of the past violence. Long-term tools are also required, three such tools are: Education, memory and retrospective apologies.

Humble

Last year, I did mention here that we have to humble ourselves as emaSwati. We have to deny ourselves so that we can achieve our goals. The principal goal is to attain the democracy that will guide us to peace, unity and prosperity. We can’t achieve our goals when we still perceive each other as enemies. On its own, I often value peace as a precious resource. From a conflict analyst point of view, the most required peace is actually one which practitioners define as durable. Durable Peace is the first phase on the curve of conflict. As its name implies, durable peace is a lasting peace.

Another peace on the curve of conflict is stable peace, which is a term to refer to a state of relations that is higher in its degree of tension than that of durable peace. The third phase of peace, which I don’t want it to prevail in Eswatini, is called unstable peace. Unstable peace is a situation in a country where disputes remain unresolved and tensions continue to rise. The unwanted fourth phase is crisis, which leads to something I don’t want to talk about.

The gist is that, as a country, we can’t afford to live in a conflict setting. This is so because we actually need each other. Let us maintain durable peace or revert to it in case we have shifted to stable or unstable peace. In whatever we do or plan do, let us remind ourselves that we need to reconcile. This is the right time to do so. As we do so, we can then share ideas through the Vusela.