UPROAR OVER SEXUAL OFFENCES BILL ‘JOKE’

LOBAMBA – “Wathint’abafazi, wathint’imbokodo.” This slogan, meaning you strike women, you strike a rock, was chanted by women who packed the public gallery in Parliament yesterday.

The public gallery in Parliament was packed to capacity as concerned human rights activists came to hear for themselves the shocking news of the removal of proposed clauses in the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Bill, 2015.
Four core clauses of the bill have been entirely scrapped from the proposed law.

The clauses are Clause 4, 10, 42 and 47, which are incest, unlawful stalking, abduction and flashing, respectively.
Although the Bill has not been adopted by Members of Parliament (MPs), a report calling for the adoption of the law without the clauses has been tabled by the chairperson of the Deputy Prime Minister’s (DPM) Portfolio Committee, Sandleni MP James Simelane.

One of the main excuses made by the chairperson in his report was that some of the provisions were meant to seriously undermine Swazi traditions.

However, this was not to be as, although the issue was in yesterday’s Order Paper, it was not debated because of other House business.
Representatives from the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA), Women and Law in Swaziland and others were keen to listen in on the issue.

However, the matter was not discussed as anticipated because of other House business.
The House once again spent almost six hours debating issues surrounding the closure of the Swaziland Christian University (SCU).

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