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SA MINISTER DISAPPOINTED AT TROIKA MISSION TO ESWATINI

08/09/2021 08:48:00 BY NTOMBI MHLONGO

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MBABANE - For South Africa Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor, the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Organ Troika Technical Fact-Finding Mission to Eswatini was a disappointment.

The minister made her views known during an interview on Newsroom Afrika yesterday morning, where she responded to questions related to the political situation in different countries on the African continent. Pandor had just finished responding to questions on whether South Africa (SA) would host refugees who fled Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover last month, which was when Newzroom Afrika’s Xolani Mngambi touched on the issue of the Troika fact-finding mission to Eswatini. Mngambi said the minister was part of the SADC delegation of ministers involved in the issue but that there had been no feedback on the mission.

Position

The news anchor asked the minister to state the position of SA in as far as issues of Eswatini were concerned. In response, Pandor said statements were issued by the Troika Organ and that she was part of the delegation but that the chair, which was Botswana at the time, issued statements on behalf of the delegation of ministers. “I was quite disappointed, we were on a fact-finding mission and what we found in Swaziland (Eswatini) was that our colleagues in government essentially wanted government to brief us when we wanted a wider set of briefing as we wished to speak to the broader stakeholder including non-government stakeholders,” she alleged. Elaborating, Pandor said they wanted the wider stakeholder base so that they could have a full understanding of the events that had unfolded.

She alleged that they were unable to get an agreement that they could speak to stakeholders. “The view of the Eswatini colleagues was that the SADC Troika chair had asked that we meet the formal government structure,” she alleged. According to Pandor, they did manage to persuade some stakeholders but not as broadly as they had intended. “We returned and reported to our superiors on this and our concerns. We communicated our dissatisfaction to our colleagues in Eswatini. Subsequent to the visit, a technical task team was sent by SADC and it comprised of officials from the different countries. I understand that a report has now been submitted to the former chairperson and now that Cyril Ramaphosa takes over, I am looking forward to getting a briefing about that report,” the minister said. Mngambi then chipped in and stated that the issue was an absolute concern.

He then posed another question to Pandor where he ascertained if Eswatini, as a country whose foreign policy was based on human rights, would still want to cooperate. In response, Pandor said SA cooperated with all countries under SADC and encouraged dialogue. “So should Eswatini want to dialogue, perhaps to find solutions to ensure political stability, SA would be ready to assist in that regard.” This publication sought to ascertain if indeed the delegation was informed to engage government only. A call was made to Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Thuli Dladla who, however, said she was not aware of the interview. Dladla advised this reporter to contact Deputy Prime Minister Themba Nhlanganiso Masuku by virtue of the fact that he was the acting prime minister when the SADC Troika team visited the country.

Self-exiled

Meanwhile, self-exiled political activist and Spokesperson of the Swaziland Solidarity Network Lucky Lukhele said the sentiments by Pandor were concerning. “I could see that she tried to be as diplomatic as she could but you could pick that South Africa is upset, but it looks like Botswana was the one that was playing the royal family card,” Lukhele said. It should be noted that when the SADC Troika team visited the country, a concern was raised following allegations that the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) was not invited to appear before the technical mission. As a result a letter was written by other concerned parties to the SADC Secretariat highlighting the exclusion of some political parties from what was supposed to be an all-inclusive process.

According to a letter from some members of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum, they reiterated that they were happy to appear before the team to make their presentation in relation to three issues, being; the socio-political situational analysis, the cause(s) of the crisis and the way forward. However, the Multi-Stakeholder Forum indicated that it had come to their attention that some political parties such as PUDEMO, Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS), and the Swaziland People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) among others, had not been invited to meet with the distinguished SADC Organ Troika Technical Team. They stated that as the Multi-stakeholders Forum, they were deeply concerned about the alleged exclusion, as it may have a catastrophic effect on the legitimacy of the recommendations that the technical team will make to the principals. The forum asked to impress on the technical team to spare no efforts in ensuring that no organisation was left out, in particular political parties. Meanwhile, this publication reported last month that the report on the SADC Troika fact-finding mission to Eswatini was not part of the issues endorsed or deliberated upon during the Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and government.

Summit

At least this was according to a communiqué which was issued at the end of the summit. Instead, the summit received a report of the outgoing Chairperson of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, Dr Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, President of the Republic of Botswana, and commended him for his outstanding leadership and continued efforts to address peace and security threats during the year, notwithstanding challenges posed by COVID-19. South Africa President Ramaphosa was elected chairperson of the Troika. This automatically means that the issue of Eswatini where there was unrest which resulted in some people being killed, vandalism, looting and burning of some businesses, will now be handled by that country.
Ramaphosa takes over from Masisi, who initially sent over the fact-finding mission to investigate the unrest which occurred in the country.

According to Masisi, the report was handed over to the King. According to the SADC guidelines, Ramaphosa may call an extra ordinary meeting of the Troika during the course of the year. However, if no issues arise, the Eswatini report may be attended to during the next SADC Summit, which is expected to take place in August 2022 in the Democratic Republic of Congo.