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PROVOKING THE SECURITY FORCES

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Sir,

Many a time we see some mad people sitting quietly and harmlessly, enjoying their madness and quite oblivious to the happenings around them.
For as long as they are left alone to enjoy living in their own fancy world and continue building their castles in the air, they are of no threat to anybody.


But if they are provoked, their reaction will unveil the level of madness they have concealed in exchange for peace.
For every conflict, there is always the remote and immediate cause that will justify or condemn the warring factions.
That is to say, every action must be balanced with both the remote and immediate causes before judgment is passed.
I wish to state that this letter is not meant to justify or condemn anybody, but rather to seek a way of rational behaviour for peaceful and productive co-existence.


Protect


I condemn any act of brutality by any of the security forces who are trained to protect lives and property and ensure the security of the citizenry in the context of strict obedience to the laws that moderate our day-to-day activities.
To ensure that the protector enjoys his work of protecting the unprotected, the unprotected must make the work of the protector easy by keeping within the bounds of the law.


In the discharge of their duties, though, the ‘madmen’ in the security forces are provoked by some actions of the protected.
This leads to a confrontation between civilians and armed security forces. The argument is true that in such confrontations between security forces and civilians, which oftentimes is provoked by the civilians, the former is armed while the latter is unarmed and therefore should exercise restraint. But is it not foolhardy for the unarmed to take on the armed?


True as the advice is that the armed should exercise restraint, we should also not lose sight of the fact that a virtually unarmed David was able to kill Goliath, who was armed to the teeth.
In fact, if Goliath had known that David, who looked innocent and harmless, was lethal and dangerous, he would not have allowed him the luxury of time to put a stone in his sling. Self-preservation should always be the first law of defence.


Defend


That is why, at times, I do not blame the police when they use ‘minimal force’ to defend themselves.
But when ‘minimal force’ means panel-beating the face of an unarmed civilian or when ‘minimal force’ performs the work of a dentist and illegally extracts somebody’s tooth without applying local anesthesia, then it becomes minimal force with a difference and leaves a sour taste in the mouth.


The practice of provoking security forces to react must stop because, at the end of the day, the international community and our own progressives will push what caused the police reaction under the carpet and give the verdict of human rights abuse against Swaziland.
Examples of provocative behaviour:


ARREST US: The action of our three respected brothers who went to ‘put the police to the test’ at St Theresa’s High School leaves much to be desired (Times of Swaziland, April 13, 2014). Was it an offence to go to St Theresa’s?
If it was not, then what offence had they committed to have made them dare the police to arrest them?
Or did they want to insinuate to the police that they effect arrests without justification?


A similar situation happened at the Mbabane police station where a lawyer, who is supposed to know better, went to dare the police to arrest him. For what reason, only he knows.
I thank God that the officers displayed level-headedness. Otherwise, Swaziland would be in the news again for ‘violation of human rights’.


Cracked


But is it one’s human right to intentionally provoke an officer in the legitimate discharge of his duties? Trust me, the international community and press would have looked away from the immediate cause of the action because somebody might have cracked a kernel with a sledge hammer while using minimal force to send the trio out of the venue.
PUDEMO makes a donation (Times Sunday, April 13, 2014): There is nothing wrong in making donations of whatsoever but there is everything wrong with donating an illegal item to an innocent and unsuspecting recipient.
It even becomes an intentional act of provocation when the donor agrees that his action would put the recipient in danger of confrontation with the authorities.


Allow me to quote from Page 7 of the Times Sunday dated April 13, 2014: “The People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) got an opportunity to donate caps to 54 workers of textile firms in Siteki…The caps were inscribed ‘PUDEMO’ … the workers , mainly young women, were advised by Mphandlana Shongwe, the second Deputy Secretary General of PUDEMO, to hide the caps in their handbags. Shongwe warned them that police would arrest them if they were to be found wearing them.”


The question that comes to mind is; if the donor knew that he was donating an illegal and red-hot item that would put the recipient in danger, why then donate it in the first place? Yes, the police would arrest them - but who would have caused it?


Demons


Mr Editor, before I go on to my next point, let me share this short story. There was a pastor in a fully-packed Sunday Service casting out demons. “All you demons, I cast you out in the name of Jesus. You demons, come out in Jesus name”.
All of a sudden, a provoked demon manifested in human form with the head of a male lion and moved towards the pulpit. The pastor fled from his pulpit by the nearest exit.


The congregation fled through windows and doors, tumbling over one another and in the process sustaining injuries.
The question is; who caused this problem? Is it the demon who was provoked out of his peaceful and harmless sleep or the incompetent pastor who bit off more than he could chew? I do not need an answer.


Then there is the AGOA threat and our behaviour. Many of our actions these days, at a time when AGOA is breathing heavily down our necks, are meant to provoke reactions that will paint us black in the eyes of the international community and further sink our ship on the already stormy waters of AGOA. But who will lose more? Is it not the masses we claim to be fighting for?


If there is any time for all Swazis with a love for this kingdom at heart to come together, it is now. If there is a time for all of us to bury our differences, political or religious, and come together to fight a common cause, make sacrifices for the good of the kingdom and its people, it is now.
If there is any time for us to look beyond our noses and see the effects of our actions on our loved ones, it is now!


Swaziland is under threat; our homes, children, jobs, happiness, everything is under threat with this AGOA issue, which many people are playing politics with. AGOA is now a lion in the midst of our sheep trying to devour them.


Explanation


What can we do? We have two options:
OPTION 1: Quarrel with the herd-man and demand an explanation of why he took the sheep to graze in a lion-infested forest while our cattle are being feasted on, or
OPTION 2: Team up with the herd-man to chase the lion away and save our sheep and later advise him not to take the flock to graze there again.
I think the second is the better option. All hands must be on deck to avert this looming threat. We should stop any actions that will provoke counter-productive reactions.


Rather, we should come together and show the world that we are capable of turning things around. We should mind the same things, speak the same language and move towards the same direction. There-in lies maturity in the face of adversity. There-in lies our unity that must be the source of our strength.

Concerned Citizen

Comments (2 posted):

crizza bix on 25/04/2014 06:29:26
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Very, very naive. No actions against acts of oppression means peace?
Anthony M. Ngwenya. on 25/04/2014 22:25:10
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Fear of confrontation manifests itself in well written documents that only serve well in teaching the oppressed to sit down and begin an endless process of suffering peacefully. When one is in the receiving end of injustices any form of resistance seems justified. But when one is comfortable and well taken care of usually one never sees the need to object.

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