5% EMASWATI WANT DIALOGUE AT SIBAYA - SURVEY

MANZINI - A survey which was conducted by SUDF suggests that only five per cent of those sampled wanted the anticipated political dialogue to be held in the cattle byre (Sibaya).

The Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF) said following the June/July political unrest, which saw dozens of emaSwati being shot dead and some left with permanent disabilities, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) advised that government should have a people-to-people conversation, which is often termed the people’s dialogue in order to overcome the country’s political crisis. Following that, the SUDF, a coalition of pro-democracy groups, which was formed in 2008, commissioned a countrywide poll in November 2021 to solicit individuals’ perspectives on the people’s discourse.

Consists

SUDF consists of political parties, trade unions, students’ unions and civil society groups, among others and respondents (2 000) were randomly drawn from the country’s four regions – 59 constituencies. The questions were mainly about the anticipated people’s dialogue and the system of governance they preferred. Lucky Dlamini, the newly-elected SUDF Chairperson, who briefed the media about the survey report at the organisation’s conference room yesterday morning, said 10 per cent of the sampled emaSwati (one out of every 10 respondents) did not know the correct definition of a people’s dialogue. He said it appeared that 90 per cent knew what a people’s dialogue was.

Dialogue

Again, the chairperson said the survey also suggested that 80 per cent of those sampled - four out of every five, believed that the country needed a people’s dialogue to resolve the political crisis. He also mentioned that almost 90 per cent believed that the citizens should be educated on what was a people’s dialogue. Thereafter, he said the survey suggested that at least 50 of the sampled emaSwati preferred that the people’s dialogue should be held at the national stadium (Somhlolo). He said a further 10 per cent said the anticipated people’s dialogue should be held at the country’s tinkhundla centres. “Nine per cent chose a hotel as a neutral venue for hosting the people’s dialogue and only five per cent of the people sampled said they would be comfortable if the people’s dialogue would be held in the cattle byre (Sibaya),” Dlamini said when delivering the survey report.  He said the remaining 26 per cent said they either did not know where it should be held or it could be held anywhere. It is worth noting that government has allocated E22 million for Sibaya National Dialogue. This was announced by Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg when he delivered the 2022/23 Budget Speech in Parliament on February 18, 2022.

Again, it is worth mentioning that according to the country’s Constitution of 2005 – Section 232 (1), the people, through Sibaya, constitute the highest policy-making and advisory council (libandla) of the nation. Section 232 (2) reads; “The Sibaya is the Swazi National Council constituted by bantfwabenkhosi, the tikhulu of the realm and all adult citizens gathered at the official residence of the Indlovukazi (Queen Mother) under the chairmanship of Ingwenyama (the King), who may delegate this function to any official.” Again Section 232 (3) says; “Sibaya functions as the annual general meeting of the nation, but may be convened at any time to present the views of the nation on pressing and controversial national issues.”
However, on the other hand, the SUDF chairperson said as progressives, they believed that the Constitution was partly the cause of the political crisis faced by the country, thus they were of the view that it could not be used to solve the prevailing political issues.

The SUDF leader said approximately 33 per cent of the sampled emaSwati (one out of every three) recommended that the proceedings of the people’s dialogue should be broadcast on national radio, while the same number of people said they would like to have it broadcast on television. Another 33 per cent of emaSwati chose internet-based platforms and the remaining one per cent said the proceedings of the people’s dialogue should not be aired on any platform. On another note, Dlamini said about 64 per cent of emaSwati (almost two out of every three) said the report of the people’s dialogue should be released within two weeks after the end of the dialogue. He said only a per cent of the people said the report should not be released.

Internet

He added that the report also reflected that 35 per cent of the people said the contents of the report of the people’s dialogue should be aired on radio and an additional 31 per cent said it should be broadcast on television. He said 34 per cent of the people preferred that it should be released on internet-based platforms. Again, he said the survey report reflected that 23 per cent of the people, almost a quarter of the sampled emaSwati, suggested that the implementation of the action points (recommendations) should be effected after four weeks. Dlamini said nine per cent of them said the action points should be executed within three weeks, while 11 per cent said  they had no idea how long it should take to execute the people’s dialogue’s action items. He said the remaining three per cent suggested that the action points should be implemented after six months.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: