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MY VERY BELATED LINYEVA

28/08/2016 05:45:00 The editor

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Sir,

Bayethe Wena waPhakathi! Your Majesty, with the utmost and sincere of intentions, kindly allow me to convey my warmest greetings to you, your royal household, your government and the Swazi nation at large. May I also take this opportunity to congratulate you for being chosen to chair and host the SADC Summit.

This proves that in spite of our repugnant track record in terms of governance, in the eyes of the world, we are indeed a force to be reckoned with.
This proves that your leadership skills are widely recognised, Your Majesty!

Kindly allow me to apologise for not being part of the masses who heeded your royal command to gather at the Sibaya to cough out ‘emanyeva’ (thorns) that prick some of your subjects. To be frank, I did not attend in fear of the unknown.
Your Majesty, some of us (except those who benefit from the system of governance) live in fear of the unknown. We fear censoring or criticising authorities, irrespective of glaring evidence that all is not well in this beautiful kingdom. Many a times, people discuss issues affecting the country in whispers, behind closed doors and only among trusted allies, constantly looking over their shoulders that no security agents or those severely obsequious are eavesdropping.
Your Majesty, please do not get me wrong.

I revere you, the royal institution and my country with a passion and I believe if one fearlessly speaks the truth, it will sooner or later set one free, just as our Lord Christ encouraged us in John 8:32 “So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Judging from the many submissions at the recent Sibaya gathering, not all is well in the country. People are frustrated.
Your people are buckling under the yolk of nepotism, corruption and injustice.

Some were hysterical in their submissions; others spoke with heart-rending melancholy because of the misdemeanors perpetrated by some people you appointed into authority.
Some of your appointees have forsaken your mandate of helping you run the country smoothly and transparently. Instead, they are milking the country dry of its resources.
They blatantly use your name for personal gain and to fatten their bank balances, to the detriment of the country’s development. There is a lot of pent-up anger, indignant feelings and sheer frustration at the lack of justice, fairness and a well-balanced distribution of the country’s wealth.

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
All this is perpetrated by some of the many hyenas and jackals you have appointed into authority.
Your Majesty, no one needs to be a rocket scientist to discern that you are a visionary, transparent leader and that you have your subject’s interests at heart. Sadly, some of the people you have appointed are letting you down and are turning the people against you.

Corruption is rife even in the highest echelons of authority. It has even spread its cancerous tentacles in some chiefdoms, where land is sold to the highest bidder, including foreign nationals at the expense of indigenous Swazis. Your Majesty please kindly take heed and carefully scrutinize the people you appoint into positions.

Many leave their cozy beds and wives in the still of the night, to wave you goodbye when you leave the country to scout for investors when their sole intentions is for you to notice and appoint them (as they smile at you endlessly) where they will satisfy and pursue their nefarious and greedy interests. Very soon, divine judgment is looming over the horizon to judge the vile and the corrupt. Your Majesty, there is an age-old idiom that says, “Uneasy is the head that wears the crown” How true!
Many of these hyenas’ sole intentions is to enrich themselves and do not give a hoot about the country’s development.

Your Majesty, we all know that you are a good father to both your family and your nation. However, these people are letting you down. Please do something before it is too late. The country has lost many brilliant young minds to foreign countries, as a result of nepotism, where they ply their trade in the process benefitting these countries. These visionary intellectuals could have helped immensely realise your Vision 2022. The recycling of people over the age of 60 is unfair.
Elderly men who have reached their retirement stage have long passed their sell-by dates should go and play with their grandchildren.
Your Majesty, your nation is also concerned about the alarming influx of foreign nationals, mostly from the East. They are now littering the country, running spaza shops, calling themselves investors. They are depriving Swazis the chance to run small businesses. Swazis suffer a lot whenever they seek trading licenses.

The process is so cumbersome at times for locals but foreigners’ only need to flash their wallets and bingo, they are offered licenses at the drop of a hat!
I am also concerned, Your Majesty, about the oppression perpetrated on our wives, sisters and mothers at many of the textile and apparel industries.
The women are buckling under oppression, shoddy treatment and are abused. They are paid meager and measly salaries.

They rent houses ranging from E200 to E800 but are paid mostly E600 or less per fortnight. Some have turned to the oldest profession in the world, which is prostitution, in order to supplement their income.
How are we going to have an AIDS-free nation by 2022? Your Majesty, people are yearning for change. They are up to their necks and frustrated with the nepotic Tinkhundla system.

When change is imminent your Majesty, no matter how immovable the resisting force can be, one day it will buckle and self-implode. We don’t need a bloody revolution in order to change things around. Dialogue and listening to the concerns of all stakeholders is paramount.

Your Majesty, maybe by the time you read this letter, I would already have been taken away for interrogation by those who are paranoid but there is one thing so uncanny about the truth…it sets one free! Your Majesty, Bayethe! Wena waPhakathi! May you successfully host the SADC Summit!

Alex Lucky Nxumalo
MBABANE