Times Of Swaziland: GODRICH NARRATIVE COULD DERAIL PROBE, JUSTICE

GODRICH NARRATIVE COULD DERAIL PROBE, JUSTICE
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Sabelo Gabs Nxumalo on 09/08/2022 14:50:00


The South African media ran a story on the alleged involvement of our head of
State in the brutal murder of Hillary Gardee, the daughter of Economic Freedon
Fighters (EFF) former Secretary General Godrich Gardee.
As a father of four daughters, one can’t even begin to understand the pain
endured by Godrich and the entire family during such a loss. One can only extend
sincere condolences and sympathy to the family and hope justice will prevail. As
an observer from afar, one can’t help but wonder why His Majesty the King
would go to the extent of ordering the brutal killing of a daughter of a South
African citizen who organised a six-hour blockade of the border when some border
gates were closed for months due to COVID-19. The loss of six hours’ income
does not justify murder. There are individuals who have done and continue to do
serious damage to the image of the King and his reign but have not been killed.
In fact, some have been taken to courts in South Africa and their cases are
still pending. My worry with this narrative of our King being a killer is that
it might derail the real investigation and the real killers evade justice.
Three men were arrested
Two months ago the SABC news reported that three suspects had been arrested for
this crime. They even pronounced their names as Laurence Mkhatjwa, Philemon
Lukhele and Mduduzi Gama, who are facing six charges including murder, rape and
kidnapping. One of the accused, Lukhele, works for the African National Congress
(ANC) Chief whip in the Mpumalanga Legislature. His employment was confirmed by
the ANC Mpumalanga Chief Whip, Vincent Mlambo, in a Newzroom Afrika interview
two months ago.  The EFF was up in arms fighting the bail application. Only two
weeks ago the case for the three accused was postponed to August 22, 2022. The
bail applications were also postponed to various dates toward the end of August.
The EFF has continued to pronounce their lack of confidence in the legal system
of South Africa particularly in cases of gender violence.
Enter King’s accusations
When we were growing up we had myths about how King Sobhuza II would transform
into a cat or lihhiya and just vanish. It would appear that King Mswati III is
being built up to have these abilities to reach any person with his supposed
powerful security forces. The so-called powerful security forces are wondering
who they are talking about because they are being hunted and shot at on the
streets and inside their barracks. Those who have been following the case are
baffled. Where does the King fit in all this? The charismatic government
Spokesman, Alpheous Nxumalo sprang into action with a statement that may be true
or false but a diplomatic nightmare all the same. Maybe the diplomatic nightmare
started when Godrich, in his grief, sent a tweet accusing the head of State of
another country of cold-blooded murder without hard evidence and that
country’s media published it.
It would seem you can say anything against His Majesty in the South African
media and it will be published regardless of any facts as long as you are
criticising him. This is very unfortunate because the media is the only real
safeguard to true democracy and if emaSwati get to a point where they just
don’t trust the South African media to report objectively and fairly on the
King, how will they trust democracy that the South African media is promoting?
On the other hand, I do wish His Majesty had just stayed out of the name-calling
and allowed diplomats and government to handle it.
True democracy
Recently someone asked me what I wanted for Eswatini in light of all that has
happened. I answered as I have always answered, that I wanted true democracy
through a referendum if possible. The immediate assumption to the loyalist is
that if you say you want democracy you want political parties, which is not
necessarily true. Democracy simply means the will of the people or what the
majority of emaSwati want. I may like it or I may not like it, but that is what
it means. The majority of the people might well choose to remain with the
Tinkhundla political system, and true democracy will say that is okay. I can
only hope that emaSwati will want a democratically elected government regardless
of the political system used; a system that reduces the political pressure on
our monarchy.
My friend immediately interjected, saying a referendum can never work because
emaSwati don’t know what they want. He went on to say they just blindly follow
the monarchy without much knowledge of the atrocities being allegedly done. He
even said there is no mass movement simply because of the lack of knowledge and
fear of police brutality. My strong conviction is that when people truly want
change, they will march and demand change regardless of police brutality. Martin
Luther King Jr, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela are proof that when people
want change they will rise up against any odds. I suggested that maybe the
democratic movement should push for more civic education at tinkhundla centres,
which is the grassroots level. When asked about recent fear, intimidation and
infighting within the newly formed political parties, including the loyalist
Mangololo, he acknowledged that it is not helping but was natural and expected
in a free democratic society. How does this convince emaSwati?
Economic freedom fighters
As a strong pan-Africanist, the policies and ethos of the EFF and their leader
Julius Malema make a lot of sense to me. I have listened to Malema in many
interviews and he just never fails to amaze me with his intellect and his
understanding of the decolonisation agenda. I am sure Malema understands that
the role of emakhosi (kings) in the struggle for the return of land is very
important. When colonialists came, kings held full title to the land in the
trust of the people; not as their personal property but in trust for the people.
When we say land was taken from Africans we actually mean it was taken from
African kings who held it in trust for them. Africans believed that land
belonged to all for our use, collectively. One requested the land from the chief
or king and would use it as per one’s need and strength. The EFF must work
with emakhosi including King Mswati III in the democratisation process and
discourage violence. Comment septembereswatini@gmail.com