‘ABAKHANYWE’ JUSTIFICATION

MBABANE – Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini says Vincent Ncongwane, Sipho Gumedze and the other Swazis who attended the recently concluded United States-Africa leaders Summit opposed the King.

Dlamini said it was a serious offence to stand against the King and oppose him, in his effort to help government and the country regain admission into the list of African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) beneficiaries.
The PM said the King had no ulterior motives when he went to the summit to try and negotiate for Swazis not to lose their jobs.

“It is unusual that live naliphuma balihambe ngemuva bayoliphikisa. Kuphikisa live is not allowed. Actually, no country can allow that. (It is unusual that when the head of state goes out to attend meetings, people go behind his back to oppose him. That is not allowed and no country can allow that),” said Dlamini.

He said government took serious exception to what the unionists did and their issue would be addressed when they come back to Swaziland.
“It is now becoming a habit that people do as they please in the country. It is okay to oppose and stage a protest action against government but not against the King,” he said.

He said the king was excluded because he did not have opposition. Gumedze and Ncongwane were among Swazis who participated in the unprecedented summit, where His Majesty together with more than 40 African heads of state discussed various issues with the US government, including the issue of AGOA. Swaziland was recently kicked out of AGOA, after the country failed to meet certain benchmarks.
Gumedze is a human rights lawyer and Ncongwane is Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA).

Government is taking serious exception to the activities of the two in the summit mainly because the two partook in meetings that resulted to the preclusion of the country in another crucial meeting. Swaziland was precluded from participating on the AGOA deliberations, on the part of the civil society engagements where all other African governments were represented; except for Swaziland.
This was where the fate of Swaziland on AGOA was sealed and put to bed.

They also protested around the meeting area in Washington, brandishing placards that demonised Swaziland’s record of freedom of speech.
The unionists were also part of protesters who staged a march around the Hilton hotel where the Swaziland delegation was accommodated.
In the House of Assembly last Wednesday, the PM informed Members of Parliament (MPs) that the two unionists should be `strangulated’ (a figurative term meaning `to discipline’) because they went to Washington under the pretext of going to salvage Swaziland from losing AGOA benefits.

Speaking to the Times SUNDAY, Dlamini said the unionists became an opposition to His Majesty the King in Washington, which was unheard of.
“Swazis respect the King, they never oppose him,” he said.   “The king has no opposition. It is only government that could have opposition, so government took serious exception to what they did.” Dlamini said the unionists’ action, what they did, would not be taken lightly, adding that government would be failing if their issue were ‘not addressed `in an appropriate manner.’
He said one way of dealing with the workers’ representatives could be through their chiefs at community level.

He said their chiefs had already been engaged to find ways to address what their subjects had done. He said their respective Members of Parliament would also assist in that regard. “Everyone in Swaziland lives under a chief, so their chiefs will have to deal with them,” he said. He said on their return, the unionists would be summoned by their chiefs where they would be asked to explain, in detail, their trip in America.
In our interview, the premier also said it was more distressing that the passports that workers leaders used when travelling were availed to them courtesy of the King, the same king they disrespected in Washington. “It is written in their passports that His Majesty humbly requests that in the countries they travel to, they should be treated with respect,” he said.
NB: The PM had been interviewed before he withdrew his comment on the   ‘Abakhanywe’ issue

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