PERCY RESPONDS TO PROSCRIBED ONLINE ENTITY IN OWN CAPACITY - ALPHEOUS

MBABANE – Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo has come out to state that the King’s Office Director Percy Simelane responds to a proscribed online entity in his individual capacity.

Alpheous was responding to Swazi Bridge’s Manqoba Nxumalo, who had questioned him on the emergence of the online spaces on whether he would engage with them as well, including those which had been proscribed as terrorist entities. Alpheous said he would not respond to such entities as there was a specific reason why government published the notice specifying certain entities as terrorist entities. He said part of government’s decision was to deny them the leverage to access government official information from official sources.

Position

According to Alpheous, there was a known position of the King’s Office in respect to this particular entity. He said: “As to what convenience the individuals at the King’s Office have found suitable for them to continue to engage the particular entity is not going to affect and influence me in anyway, so long as the notice made by government still stands.” The government spokesperson said unless and until the incumbent Prime Minister (PM) Russell Dlamini, rescinded the decision, and the proscription of the entity, then there could be leeway to engage with them again. “These publications are continuing to publish government information, because we are living in a world of leaking and selling information,” Alpheous said.
He mentioned that it was an open secret that media houses paid for information and sold it. However, he said as government, they could not lend credence to institutions that believed in cohesion, intermediation in terrorism to communicate their language.

He told the Swazi Bridge host that he could not also entertain them if they were one of those organisation mentioned above and classified by government as terrorist entities. “I am talking to the Bridge and everyone online who is available and interested in engaging, because they are not classified as terrorist entities,” he said. This, Alpheous said, was the only difference from the particular one which had been branded a terrorist entity. Furthermore, Alpheous was questioned on the fact that he continued to engage with such entities when they were being taken to court by government and was responding to them for the very longest time and treating them like any other media entity, yet on the other hand, calling them terrorist entities.
According to the host, it was even worse that there was now a disconnect between the government press office and the King’s Office, in particular with Percy Simelane, who continued to engage with the banned entity. In response, Alpheous said he did not want to be seen talking on behalf of the King’s Office or the director of communications there. However, he warned about the danger of regarding the King’s Office employees as individuals and also treating the same office ‘as an individual’, adding that there was a huge difference.

Statement

Meanwhile, early this year, government issued a press statement announcing the cutting of communication ties with Swaziland News entity. The announcement was made by Alpheous, adding that a circular memorandum to all government ministries, advising all its officials and employees to desist from communicating and or responding in any form or method to such entities and individuals on social media platform, Facebook and others had been issued. Alpheous said the Swaziland News publication was declared ‘specified entities’ through Legal No.261 of 2022 in line with the Suppression of Terrorism Act, 2008 in that they allegedly ‘knowingly facilitated the commission of terrorist acts.’ The Director of Communication in the King’s Office Percy Simelane, when asked about Alpheous’ comments, stated that what he (Alpheous) alleged was not in the bracket of what he responded to when engaging with the entity.

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