Unpacking the Mangwaneni land scam

A month ago, I was inundated with requests to address the injustice the City Council of Mbabane is showing to the people of Mangwaneni.

They wanted me to write and address the issue of a construction ban the city council had imposed on Mangwaneni township residents.

Their concern was what right the council had on Mangwaneni, since that area was under Swazi Nation Land and had a Royal Kraal (umphakatsi), to impose such construction bans on the area.

The people of Mangwaneni are also threatened by a letter written to them by the City Council to the effect that the municipality is going to zone their land into 35 square metre plots.

The people with land exceeding 35 square metres would either have to lose the excess or purchase the adjacent plot.

Their plight is a sorry one.

Johannes Shongwe, whom they elected to represent them in Parliament, has not even spoken about their plight in Parliament.

Despite being in Parliament for two years now, he has not even moved a motion to that effect but is instrumental in donating blankets to the elderly impoverished people of the area, so that they re-elect him in 2013.

The people of Mangwaneni are only allowed to construct stick and mud houses.

The current rains are a threat because some of these houses are so dilapidated that during a rainy night, some of them get flooded.

There are two councils in Mangwaneni, which make contradictory decisions.

There is the umphakatsi inner council (bandlancane) and the Mbabane city’s appointed council (libandla).

After speaking to the inner council, it would seem their duties and roles have been overtaken by the Mbabane city council’s libandla.

Taking a tour of the township, I came across a sorry state of affairs. Here is a place that is hardly a kilometre from the Mbabane CBD but is a slum in the making.

Despite the people’s desire to develop their plots and construct decent houses for themselves, the construction ban is detrimental to the people’s interests.

There is also no development that the city council is assisting the people with apart from the fact that it intends developing the area into 35 square metre plots and deprive the people of their land.

The zoning process will also prove costly to the residents, most of whom live in poverty.

During construction of the Ngwenya-Mbabane highway, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport constructed houses and relocated some of the residents into them.

Some families who were living in two separate houses were forced to share a single two-bedroom house.

This has made life a living hell for some of these families.

In other cases, some people have left the area and khontaed in areas such as Siphocosini, Mpolonjeni and Mantabeni but are desirous of selling the houses government built for them in Mangwaneni.

The city council issued a communiqué to the effect that these people have no right to sell these houses because the land on which they are built does not belong to them.

This then again brings us to the burning issue of land ownership in Swaziland, which has contributed to the 70 per cent poverty rate.

An email sent to the city council’s public relations officer for clarification on this issue was not answered.

This then left me with the alternative to find answers on my own.

I want to appreciate the Deeds Office for their assistance and for the way in which they have proven to be efficient in their file and information keeping.

The first step for me was to find out if Mangwaneni was on Swazi Nation Land (SNL) or ever defined as an area under the Mbabane municipality.

According to the Local Government Act No.8 of 1969, Section 4(1) (c) Subject to the provisions of this section the Minister may by notice in the Gazette, define the boundaries of any municipality and alter such boundaries.

I did not find any gazette to the effect that the Mbabane municipality boundaries had been extended or altered to include Mangwaneni township.

In 1969, when the boundaries of Mbabane were demarcated, the Mangwaneni township was out of municipal boundaries, according to maps at the Deeds Office.

This would mean the Mbabane council does not have any jurisdiction over Mangwaneni township.

However, again, let us dig a little deeper into the issue and not conclude it prematurely.

Duties of the city council, according to the Local Government Act, the Council shall so far as is reasonably practicable　abate all public nuisances and develop, control and manage any land vested in, owned or leased by the Council.

If Mangwaneni is under the control and authority of the Mbabane City Council, then the council has failed in its duties.

This is because Mangwaneni continues to be a public nuisance since it is a slum within two kilometres from the city centre.

The City Council has not developed the township as is required of it by section 55(1) (f).

This is other evidence that the city council does not have any business on the Mangwaneni township.

The roads in Mangwaneni are repaired, if not by the Ministry of Works, by residents of Mangwaneni.

There is a stench coming from the rubbish that is piling up, which the council has not collected.

So the question is, what instrument does the City Council have to claim authority over the township?

As said, the emailed questionnaire did not warrant a response from the council, so that leaves me and you to search for the answers.

Let us assume the city council has good intentions to develop Mangwaneni.

The construction ban defeats such purposes.

Then why does the municipal council treat the people of this area with such disdain? Why are the people expected to pay for the zoning of their plots, why is the City Council limiting these people to only 35 square metres per plot instead of maintaining the present size per plot?

According to the Crown Lands Disposal Act No.13 of 1911, Mangwaneni township does not form part of the crown lands for which government has jurisdiction.

This then means the Minister of Housing has no authority over the township and therefore the City Council also has not authority over this land since it falls under SNL.

The only way the City Council can have authority over the township is through written consent from the King.

It is this consent that I am sure the City Council does not have.

Unless the Mbabane City Council can produce a written authority from the King, they have no right to impose a construction ban at Mangwaneni.

The silence of the city council on the Mangwaneni issue is proof that they do not have the King’s written authority to develop or even have authority in the area.

It is time the people of Mangwaneni stand up for their rights.

In short, the construction ban imposed by the City Council on Mangwaneni is illegal.

A 78-year-old woman I will not name for fear of her being intimidated by the City Council’s libandla, is living in sorrow because of the City Council and the Minister of Housing’s failure to address this issue.

The old woman lives with four of her grandchildren whose parents are deceased.

She also has a son who is married and working in South Africa and is interested in building a decent house for her.

The son cannot assist his mother because of the construction ban imposed by the City Council.

True, the City Council has managed to rezone and develop the people of Nkwalini.

I did find a gazette and a notice declaring the extension of the Mbabane boundaries (Declaration of Mbabane Township (Extension No. 25) Regulations of 1999 — No.13 of 1911(2) but the declaration on Mangwaneni was no where to be found.

Townships such as Mangwaneni and Msunduza have been neglected by the City Council and yet Msunduza, for example, is just adjacent to Corporation.

The problem in Swaziland is that we have a habit of voting the wrong people into Parliament.

The MPs we elect become useless because they have no passion to rescue the poverty stricken people of this country.

Theirs is just to swing on those chairs and collect a cheque at the end of the month. If our MPs find it unworkable in Parliament, why don’t they resign en-masse?

It is because they know that there are financial benefits to be lost, should they decide to resign en-masse?

I must agree with Musa Hlophe and say there is nothing honourable in this government.

Another issue is that of Minister Lindiwe who wants us to believe she is a God-fearing Christian.

The problem is that she has no shame.

She has recently allocated land meant for the poor people to the most wealthy in the country.

She claims to have authority to allocate discounts to whoever she desires.

The only way in which she could save her bad reputation, is for her to tender her resignation.

It was disappointing of the Prime Minister to come to Lindiwe’s defence, especially because he also benefited from the illegal land discounts.

The way Swazis are being treated by this government is shameful.

This will have a negative impact on the institution of the monarchy.

We cannot keep quiet anymore, something has to be done, and it must be done now.

As for this Cabinet team, only God can have mercy on them.

As it is now, the King is the nation’s only hope.

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