DIALOGUE COMMITTEE TO BE KNOWN IN DUE COURSE - PM

MBABANE – While the nation remains curious about the national dialogue, government will not reveal the committee selected to handle the preparations, at least for now.

Last week, the Prime Minister (PM) Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, assured the nation in Parliament that the much anticipated national dialogue would take place. As he gave the assurance, the PM also revealed that a committee had already been selected to handle the preparations of the dialogue. Following his assertion, this publication sought to find out from the PM’s Office the names of the members of the committee and the criteria used in the selection process.

Committee

The PM’s Office, through the office of the Government’s Spokesperson, was also asked to state what exactly the committee would do. In response, it was stated that the names of the committee members would be revealed in due course. “We can reveal, however, that they were selected according to the different portfolios and their work experience. Their duty is to prepare for the upcoming Sibaya process. Further details will be shared as the national dialogue date draws closer,” it was stated in the response. During the portfolio committee debate of the three entities under his wing in Parliament last week, the PM was asked to provide answers on the national dialogue by some of the Members of Parliament (MPs).

Lomahasha MP Ndumiso Masimula called for the PM to set the date for the national dialogue as emaSwati needed it. The PM gave assurance that the dialogue would take place and that preparations were at an advanced stage. “I-dialogue ikhona,” he said. He mentioned that committees assigned to work on the preparations had already been put in place. Elaborating, the PM mentioned that as per the cultural procedure, the Sibaya will be announced and  the way forward on the dialogue would be known.

Agenda

He reminded the MPs that there is never an agenda at Sibaya, which meant that emaSwati will attend  and that is when they will know the agenda of the day. Meanwhile, during the portfolio committee debate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation annual performance report, government was accussed of being secretive about the proposed national dialogue. Ndzingeni MP Lutfo Dlamini said he had looked into all the reports from the various government ministries, and did not find anything about the mechanism of the proposed national dialogue.

He mentioned that the country needed the dialogue so that all emaSwati could start talking to one another. The MP also said there were issues that needed to be buried and new strategies on growing the country that needed to be agreed upon. He said His Majesty King Mswati III announced the dialogue but no one wanted to explain anything to the nation. In response, Minister Thuli Dladla explained that the issue of the dialogue rests with the Office of the PM and that a task team was in place working on the logistics. Meanwhile, Chairperson of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF), Thulani Maseko, said they were not aware of the committee and its members. However, he mentioned that there was nothing wrong with government selecting its own committee so long as it will then meet with the pro-democracy groups to discuss how the dialogue should be coordinated.

Preparation

“The national dialogue needs a joint preparation, and we will have no problem being invited to a meeting by the select committee. All we want is for the committee to know that there is no dialogue that will take place at the Sibaya. Instead, a neutral venue is what we will advocate for in the event that we get to meet the committee. We insist that the national dialogue is not a government process,” said Maseko.

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