JUNE 29: GOVT, PROGRESSIVES DECLARE VICTORY

MBABANE – And they both claim victory!

This is what the progressives movement and government said about June 29, the day when pro-democracy formations had planned activities in remembrance of those who passed on last year, on the same date. June 29, 2021 was a day characterised by unprecedented levels of looting, violence, burning and shooting of civilians, following the halting of petition deliveries by the youth to various tinkhundla centres. Yesterday, some of the progressives had planned to march to the Prime Minister’s (PM) Office to deliver a petition, while others such as the Political Party Assembly (PPA) had actually called for its members to stay at home. “If there is something one should not be jealous about is that the prodemocracy movement recorded a huge victory yesterday,” said the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) Secretary General (SG) Wandile Dludlu in relation to yesterday’s situation in the country, following their declaration of June 29, 2022 as a public holiday.

Concerned

Dludlu said, as far as PUDEMO was concerned, people heeded the call of the mass democratic movement by staying at home, in remembrance of emaSwati who died and those who got injured during the political unrest, which took place on June 29-30, 2021. A report by the Human Rights Commission pointed out that 46 people died during last year’s political unrest.
It should be noted that there has not been an agreement on the number of deaths. “If you look at the number of closed shops across the country, you will agree with me that the businesspeople closed their businesses so that they and their employees can join hands in the remembrance of the people who sacrificed their lives for the struggle last year. About 80 to 90 per cent of the shops were closed, which means many people stayed at home,” he said. Dludlu said yesterday was not necessarily about an activity, but about people staying at home. He said as leaders of the mass democratic movement, they couldn’t hold activities in the major cities, where there was a heavy presence of security personnel, including the army.

Gamble

“You heard some people saying that the army does not use rubber bullets, so we cannot gamble with the lives of the people because as much as we want democracy, we have a responsibility to protect them. There are activities in some parts of the country but not in the major cities,” he said. He added that it was obvious that government did not want any activity by the mass democratic movement, hence it deployed the security personnel. He said it was clear that their safety was not guaranteed when they heard an army helicopter flying in close proximity on Tuesday night. Government, on the other hand, described yesterday as calm, after there were threats and intimidation propagated through social media by terrorist groups. In a statement issued yesterday afternoon, the Government Spokesperson, Alpheous Nxumalo, said the groups wanted to hold the nation to ransom while claiming to be fighting for democracy. He said government noted how emaSwati went on with their respective lives in the most appreciated peaceful manner. Nxumalo said yesterday started and progressed as any other normal working day, as citizens throughout the country went about doing their normal business peacefully, despite insufficient public transport in some places.

Threats

The government’s spokesperson stated that it could not be ignored that some citizens chose to remain indoors, either because they were afraid of threats, or they were not sure if transport would be available. “All in all, we appreciate the good and peace-loving citizens who chose to behave in a commendable manner, as well as our security officers who diligently and selflessly worked to ensure peace, law and order,” said Nxumalo. He went on to say while there was nothing wrong, unconstitutional, or immoral about holding strong political views or having a preference for an alternative political order, but deploying terror tactics to get the message across was criminal, cowardly and contrary to ideals of good governance.

Gratitude

He further expressed gratitude to the country’s security services (imibutfo) for ensuring the overall safety and protection of the nation in all the various roads and business infrastructures across the country. The presence of soldiers in the streets raised concerns to many, as to what it meant because it was often perceived that soldiers would be deployed in cases of a war. However, in Prime Minister Cleopas Sipho Dlamini’s remarks on Monday, he did mention that the police and the army would be present to provide security. Dlamini was quoted stating that now that the ‘terrorists’ had declared war on the public, the government would declare it on them as well. “Njengoba sebayiphakile natsi sitayiphaka kuhlanganwe etulu,” said the PM in vernacular.

Meanwhile, Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF) described yesterday as decisively successful day. MSF had initially planned to mark the day by delivering a petition to the Prime Minister’s Office. MSF Chairperson Thulani Maseko said as the mass democratic movement, they declared June 29 of each and every year a public holiday. He said yesterday the people decisively made it happen. Maseko said the people made it clear that the Tinkhundla Government were no longer in charge of the country, but the people was in charge. The human rights lawyers said the denialism and naivety of those in authority must come to a stop. “History continues to be written and the people keep on re-writing it in their own favour,” said Maseko. “Indeed, the mission was achieved; it was resoundingly successful regardless of State’s harassment and intimidation. Tinkhundla have lost the plot,” added Maseko.

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