SWALIMO BACKS AWAY ‘GAWUZELA’, DISPUTES OUSTING TALK

MBABANE – The Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO) 1st Deputy Secretary General (DSG) Gift Dlamini says despite their President Mduduzi ‘Gawuzela’ Simelane being physically away, they were able to work seamlessly.

Dlamini said this during a press conference held at The Hive, Mbabane yesterday. He said it was not deniable that Simelane being physically away was somehow affecting them, but it did not stop them from executing all the duties of their movement. He said the structures of the movement were made in a way that they could work everywhere, effectively. He said in that case, they appreciated Simelane’s leadership as he always provided them direction and advice in their daily running of the organisation.  He claimed that SWALIMO was the largest political movement in the country thus far, with over 67 000 members.

His assertion could not be proven, as the membership of the other political movements could not be established at the time of going to print. Dlamini stated that the 67 000 members were the latest figures in the movement’s database as calculated in the past three months. He said he was 100 per cent sure that the numbers had improved, as in the past weeks they were in Siphofaneni, where they received a lot of application forms from people who wanted to join the movement. Dlamini said despite having so many members in SWALIMO, no one could ever be above emaSwati. “It is emaSwati first, SWALIMO, then us as the members,” said Dlamini.

He said part of the reasons they called the press conference was to set the record straight on certain issues they referred to as burning issues. He stated that among those issues was that relating to the  ‘founder’ question. He said SWALIMO had never entertained the debate around the ‘founder’ and ‘founding members’, for the simple reason that the movement belonged to all emaSwati, not to an individual or a group of individuals. Dlamini said during the launch, the President, ‘Gawuzela’, clearly articulated that stance and coined the words that no one and no organisation could take prominence above emaSwati and the will of the people.

He said it was about time that SWALIMO set the record straight on the ‘founder’ and ‘founding members’ question. “It is not disputed in the national executive committee (NEC) by anyone that the current president was the sole founder of the organisation. It remains a fact that there are other ‘founding members’ who include but are not limited to comrade Mbekezeli Mdabula Zulu,” said Dlamini.

Elected

He added that the vision bearer of what was now known as SWALIMO was none other than the current president, who was assisted by other people who some qualified to be founding members while others were just supporters. He said the founding members went ahead and elected Simelane to be the interim president of the movement. He said the founder and the founding members remained engraved in the founding statement annexed in the constitution to preserve history and for ceremonial purposes, nevertheless, in SWALIMO, all members had an equal status and no one had a right to brandish ‘founder’ or ‘founding member’ card.

He went on to rubbish the allegations that Simelane had disappeared, as he was within reach to anyone who wanted to talk to him. It was reported by an online publication that Simelane had disappeared with monies of the movement’s underground operations dubbed ‘Sabela uyabizwa operation.’ Dlamini said as a matter of fact, Simelane did not handle any funds in SWALIMO, thus it was practically impossible for him to disappear with any funds. He said anyone who wished to access the transactions on the mentioned account (Sabela Uyabizwa) of SWALIMO was welcome to do so after writing a letter requesting such.

He further disputed the reports that there were now two factions in SWALIMO, made up of another faction that were supporters of founder Mdabula Zulu known as ‘Mbekezeli’ within the NEC, working towards ousting Simelane. Dlamini said it was of paramount significance to state in no uncertain terms that there were no factions in the NEC of SWALIMO. “While there are heated debates from time to time as that is the nature of boardrooms, we remain united and in one accord. Certainly, this has just been learnt from the concerned media. Difference of opinion can never be construed for factionalism,” added Dlamini.  

The DSG also addressed the question on singing praises to Simelane. He said praise-singing was African not just Swazi, hence President Robert Mgabe was praised at the Centenary of Fort Hare University, when he was about to address the gathering, Mandela had a praise singer, so did Mbeki and Malema from time to time.  He said the praise-singing issue was deliberated in the NEC meeting and they unanimously agreed that it was African and it did no harm unless their members would advise to the contrary. Dlamini said the movement had also taken a stand to bring closer the much anticipated congress to next year. He said currently they were preparing for the branch executive committees (BEC) elections which were scheduled for this year November 18. He said these elections would be followed by the district executive committees (DEC) elections, scheduled for early next year. He said thereafter, the national congress would soon follow. It is worth noting that the movement had previously stated that the congress would be held in the next three years.

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