Home | News | MIXED FEELINGS OVER RAMAPHOSA’S STATEMENT

MIXED FEELINGS OVER RAMAPHOSA’S STATEMENT

25/01/2022 09:06:00 Khulile Thwala

Font size:

MBABANE - There were mixed feelings from progressives over the Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, Cyril Ramaphosa’s latest statement on Eswatini.

In his latest statement, the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation chairperson, stated that there was a need for continuous support and monitoring of the intervention measures in the country. “There is a need for continuous support and monitoring of the intervention measures agreed by SADC to ensure peace and stability in Lesotho, Eswatini and Mozambique,” stated Ramaphosa. He said this during the African National Congress (ANC) Lekgotla closing address on Sunday. The ANC Lekgotla is a national executive committee meeting which comprises high-ranking ANC officials, including mayors, MEC’s and ministers. As per the past two years, the Lekgotla has been held virtually and the ANC president usually holds a closing address, which is viewed on national television.

Situation

In his closing address, the ANC president also made mention of the situation in the three aforementioned countries, which include Eswatini. In his last address, where he made mention of SADC’s intervention in Eswatini in November, Ramaphosa and His Majesty King Mswati III held discussions on a broad range of matters relating to the political and security situation in the kingdom. According to the Office of the SA Presidency, the deliberations resolved that the Kingdom of Eswatini would embark on a process that would work towards the establishment of a national dialogue forum. “President Ramaphosa and King Mswati III agreed that the SADC Secretariat would work closely with the Government of Eswatini to draft terms of reference for the national dialogue forum. These terms of reference will specify processes for the forum as well as the composition of the forum,” stated the Office of the SA Presidency.

When Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) President Sibongile Mazibuko was reached for comment, she said as the Political Party Assembly (PPA), they had made submissions to SADC along with the Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF) on two separate occasions concerning the intervention process in the country. Mazibuko said Ramaphosa’s noting that there was need to monitor what had been agreed upon was positive, however, it was important to highlight that SADC had not presented a report that had been made public. “When SADC issued its initial report, it was handed to the King. Therefore, whatever has been agreed upon, between the King and SADC, one cannot comfortably say we are aware of,” she said. Mazibuko said all they had was a communication to the effect that terms of reference shall be drafted by government and SADC and that whatever measure is instituted would be constitutional.

She indicated that as PPA and a democratic movement they had expressed they wanted an independent environment for dialogue and there had to be an independent chairman as well. “If he says intervention measures in the country have to be monitored, we have previously stated that the environment on the ground was hostile. Therefore, continued monitoring of this is a positive thing,” she said.

Comment

MSF Chairperson Thulani Maseko was also reached for comment on their reaction to President Ramaphosa’s sentiments on Sunday night. The chairman said as MSF they welcomed, as always, the concern as mentioned by the ANC president. “We recall that on the ANC’s January 8 statement, the president expressed the ANC’s commitment to the peaceful resolution of the Eswatini political crisis. “What it means for us in the Mass Democratic Movement is that the ANC as the governing party in South Africa is ready and willing to walk with the people of Eswatini towards finding a genuine and lasting solution to our governance crisis. It means that the ANC and the Government of South Africa are committed to the process of establishing a forum towards a meaningful national dialogue, not a gimmick,” said Maseko.

He said they were determined to work with SADC towards a committed, genuine dialogue, and not Sibaya national dialogue. “We will be impressing on SADC that we will not give credit to the Sibaya process which hasn’t worked for us over the years. We will impress that there must be a clear commitment from the part of the King and government on the creation of a political climate that is conducive to a genuinely people-driven and participatory democratic process,” said the MSF chair. He said fundamental on this was the unconditional release of all political prisoners, including the two Members of Parliament, Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube, and the return of all exiles, including Mduduzi ‘Gawuzela’ Simelane and the many others who left the country many years ago.

“We will insist on the adoption of terms of reference that will clearly define the process under the chairmanship of an impartial chairperson, preferably the SADC. We will advise the chairperson of the Organ Troika that we have long dismissed Sibaya as a forum and venue for a genuine and meaningful dialogue process. Sibaya is a traditional setup, squarely within the domain of the King as a traditional ruler with its own rules that are inconsistent with modern democratic processes,” he said. Maseko said the Sibaya National Dialogue was not the dialogue they envisaged.

Supreme

“The dialogue process we envisage is one that is a pre-eminent political act of emaSwati towards a multiparty democratic dispensation, where no one single person or group of people will be above the supreme democratic constitution as adopted by the people,” stated the MSF chairman. Director Communications in the King’s Office Percy Simelane was also reached for comment on the matter. When asked whether the measures the SADC Organ Troika chairperson was referring to was the national dialogue, he said they elected not to assume what he meant lest they contaminated it. “His office is better positioned to echo his sentiments on Eswatini. We believe the envisaged dialogue in the country for peace sake is Troika’s top shelf responsibility and not just duty at the moment. We, therefore, choose to take the SA president only for his word and not try to interpret it because some meanings are lost in translations and in the process the message is dashed,” said Simelane.