Times Of Swaziland: ‘Vote for Jennifer, face eviction’

‘Vote for Jennifer, face eviction’
================================================================================
BY MDUDUZI MAGAGULA AND  SIBONGILE SUKATI on 04/08/2013 05:27:00


TIMPHISINI — Jennifer  du Pont was harassed yesterday during nominations at
Ludzibini chiefdom, an area led by Chief Magudvulela, a former senator.
Ludzibini falls under the Timphisini constituency. Dumisani Dlamini the Chiefdom
Headman warned voters against voting for du Pont, calling her unprintable words
in the process.
Dumisani is said to have threatened voters and warned that anyone who nominated
du Pont would be evicted from the area. He warned that those who would nominate
her should be prepared to relocate to areas as distant as five chiefdoms away.
Her sin was that she attended the nominations only a few months after her
husband died.
The headman was of the view that she should still be mourning her husband.
However, Mandla Dlamini, a member of the community, defied the headman when he
raised his hand to nominate du Pont. This was after at least two people had been
nominated ahead of her.
Mandla is said to have been brave enough to face the headman and tell him off
and dared the latter to evict him from the area. In the end, du Pont was
nominated for the post of Member of Parliament. In an interview later on du Pont
confirmed the incident.
She said she was disappointed that there were people who wanted to defy the King
by refusing her a chance to be nominated. Du Pont said she was disappointed that
there were people who worked against the ideals and spirit of the elections, as
pronounced by the King. “The elections process will go to the next stage now.
I hope and pray that such an incident does not happen in future,” she said.
“I am happy now that we shall be using ballot boxes for the next stage and I
am sure the people would ignore such people as the head- man and continue to
keep their faith in  me.” She also said what the headman did was disrespect
for women rights.
Mzwandile Fakudze Deputy Chairman of the Elections and Boundaries Commission
(EBC) said she should address the issue with appropriate structures to resolve
it. He said one of these structures was to approach the leadership of the area
to have the matter sorted out amicably. “If she has issues with the headman
she should address it with the chief because it is an internal matter.”
Apart from this, the nomination centre where the former MP will stand for
elections was changed from Eludzibini Chiefdom to a nearby high school. Voters
suspected that the venue was changed because of the former MP’s status as a
widow. Her husband died in May.  The electorate alleged that after extensive
consultations, it was decided that culturally, it was wrong for a recently
widowed woman to go to the royal kraal as she was still in mourning.  However,
Du Pont did not wear the standard black mourning gowns and was dressed in a blue
wrap-around dress known as sidvwashi. “We were surprised to learn that we now
had to go to the school because since the start of the elections process, we
have been doing it at the royal kraal,” said a member of the community who
spoke on condition of anonymity.
The area’s chief, Chief Magudvulela rubbished such allegations when
interviewed yesterday.  The chief who is also a former senator said there was
nothing wrong with changing the venue from the royal kraal to the school as the
school was also a government place where the national flag was also hung.  He,
however, did not go into detail as to what necessitated the change in particular
because the school had no electricity connection and as a result the machine had
to be charged at a nearby homestead.
“I do not know why people would assume such,” he said. “There is
absolutely no truth to this matter, especially because there is also a woman who
is in mourning at the same royal kraal,” he said.  The nominations took place
under a tree in the school yard.  Addressing the electorate before the start of
the elections, Chief Magudvulela implored those present that they should treat
the school as if they were in the royal kraal.  “I do not want to see beer
bottles because this is a respectable place where the flag is also raised,” he
said.
However, during the interview he said there was no flag yet at the school as it
was fairly new.
“There have been too many stories flying around about me to the extent that it
was reported that whoever would nominate me as a widow would be fined a cow,”
said du Pont. The polling officers declined to comment about the change of venue
but stated that they had been told that the school would now be used instead of
the royal kraal.  Chief Magudvulela told the electorate to nominate people who
would bring development to the area.