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BUT WHY MR PM?

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Sir,


I had to pinch myself twice in sheer disbelief as to how Prime Minister (PM) Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini came out firing on all cylinders, castigating a certain scribe who writes for this publication, for writing, according to the PM’s paranoid perception, negatively about government every time in his weekly column.


It is alleged that my PM even went to the extent of labeling the columnist as ‘evil’, in light of his no-holds barred criticism of government’s at times inept performance.


Sad, Mr Prime Minister, very sad indeed. Last time I read my Bible, there is a verse sternly warning creation about ‘Thou shalt not judge because you also will be judged.’  The PM, as a staunch Christian, that is, on the surface, should know better.
If these allegations are true, then the death knell is as good as having sounded for the superficial freedom of expression our society and press currently enjoy.


Our government, by virtue of being mandated to lead the country with transparency and being accountable to the people, cannot and must not be spared from constructive criticism.


The media, being called the Fourth Estate not for nothing, plays a very significant and crucial role in its oversight duty of disseminating information, especially about the performance of Cabinet.


It doesn’t need one to be an Albert Einstein to discern that in this beautiful kingdom of ours, there runs a very thin line between society’s freedom of expression, press freedom and the virtual muzzling of both.


Our leadership is constantly exhibiting symptoms of paranoia whenever criticised. That brilliant minds have alluded to the fact that criticism is healthy, our holier-than-thou government rushes to call it unSwazi - a cowardly defence against accountability and transparency.


Without the press playing its oversight role, would we, for instance, have known about how government is swimming in a cesspool of debts, resulting in its failure to pay its service providers and a host of other failures too numerous to mention?


Should then scribes like Vusi Sibisi turn a deaf ear and blind eye to the shoddy performance of our leaders who have a chronic aversion for criticism?


Without the press as a watchdog, I dare say our country would long have been liquidated and sold to the highest bidder as a result of ineptitude.


I and many of my countrymen hold the prime minister in very high esteem. He has an impeccable record of having steered the country out of stormy seas. I have on numerous occasions applauded him for his exceptional leadership qualities.
His former robust and no nonsense style of leadership has seen him rescuing the country from the brink of collapse.


Although some love to hate my PM, in spite of his flaws as a human being, he has exhibited true leadership qualities on many occasions.
Sadly, all these brilliant attributes have, like the retreat they are currently enjoying, retreated to where only-God-knows. Sadly, lately he seems to have succumbed to the malignant effects of that dreaded, irreversible of humanity’s flaws - old age.


As writers, we don’t have any personal vendettas against government and for that matter, any individual minister.
Even though we have a suspect and flawed style of democracy, our government is still accountable to taxpayers. It is accountable to the scrutiny of the media which represents the interests of the populace.


Even though we, as media and nation are viewed with disdain by our leaders, we love this country and many of us are fiercely patriotic and cannot turn a blind eye when our leaders stray from their duty of governing the country.
Your real friend is the one who won’t beat about the bush but will boldly tell you where you err - exactly what Sibisi and his peers are doing.


Countless times in many of my articles I have implored our leaders to practice tolerance. The media which is now tagged as evil, has played in the past, a sterling role in disseminating crucial information to the gullible and unwitting public, which is oblivious of government’s ineptitude.


Let us not strike a fatal blow to freedom of expression. For too long we have  been a pariah and outcast nation.
Prime minister please leave a legacy of love and tolerance; your government must learn to play the ball and not the man.
For once, can you prove your detractors wrong and make them eat humble pie? Freedom of expression, we yearn and cry for you.


Alex Lucky Nxumalo

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