Press TV has conducted an interview with Mark Beacon, Campaigns Managers for Action for Southern Africa on the issue of Swaziland and its absolute monarchy that is raising red flags in the region. Joining him is Fungayi Vincent Mabhunu, Coordinator, Swaziland Vigil. The following is an approximate transcript of the interview. Press TV: Focusing on Swaziland for the purposes of this discussion, from what I hear and read in the news reports, all these problems that Fungayi (Mabhunu) has outlined are always mentioned, albeit in not too great a detail; but there’s always a sentence that says, but the king is beloved and respected by his people. Is that your perception? Beacon: No. If you go to Swaziland and talk to people on the ground they have some respect, many have respect of the institution of monarchy to some degree, but do not want to continue with an absolute monarchy. We always say that it’s down to the people of Swaziland to decide what kind of system they want; but what’s very clear to us from talking to the social movements and others there on the ground is that people want some say over their own lives. Now, if you look at the situation on the ground now it’s very strictly controlled. For a person in a rural area in particular to do anything they need to have permission of their chief: whether it is to access land; whether it is to access education to any particular issue - very much controlled by the chiefs on the ground. Press TV: So there is no land reform? Beacon: No. The majority of the land in the country is very much owned by the monarchy itself, so you need to be subservient to the chiefs and therefore subservient to the monarch in order to do that because the monarchy very strictly controls the chief’s system on the ground. Swaziland is governed by two systems of law: you’ve got the constitution and that system, but in reality for most people on the ground an un-codified, an un-written-down system of traditional law, which governs their everyday lives. And that can be adapted and changed on a regular basis in order to restrict those individuals. Press TV: As you spread your wings outward, say, imagine you are a Swazi person looking for help from other southern African countries, SADC (Southern African Development Community) is the obvious avenue that you would go down. How effective has SADC been in exerting some kind of pressure upon the Swazi administration to reform? Beacon: Obviously Swaziland is a key player within SADC and with many of the demands on that regional body. Swaziland has hardly been high on the list of SADC’s priorities up until now. But what we’re starting to see within the region is some growing level of concern from many of the regional neighbors about the situation in Swaziland and that’s been thanks to organizations like the Congress of African Trade Unions (COSATU) that has raised the issue in a high profile way through the Tripartite Alliance. The last ANC Solidarity Conference passed policy on the situation in Swaziland and now within the South African government there seems to be many more voices of concern about the situation with our neighbors. Now, what we want to see and what the Swazi people want to see is that building up at a much higher momentum. Obviously with the elections coming up possible in August, possibly in September we will see much more of a focus on that within the region we hope. Press TV: Do you believe that what could be the basis for real democracy within the country where actually you have the discussion based on what people know and respect and try and make it evolve into something closer to an Africa-centered democracy? Beacon: As a UK-based campaigning organization and a solidarity organization at that, we certainly believe that the decision on whatever form of democracy Swaziland takes should be down to the Swazi people to decide. And what we would advocate and support is what many in civil society there are calling for and that’s a people-led consultation and a new constitution where people actually have a proper and full say into the constitution, which decides their lives. At the moment we’ve got a system that, as you say, is very much Tokenistic and in fact that whole system is simply a facade to kid the rest of the world that this is a unique form of democracy. If we go back to last October we had a situation where members of parliament almost unanimously voted to no-confidence the government - the government, which are consisting of people directly appointed by the king. According to the constitution it was down to the prime minister and others to resign. If they were to refuse to do that, it was down to the king to get rid of them. But in fact what happened was the king forced them into a position where they had to have a revote on that and everyone was very, very apologetic, fearful of losing their positions. So it is no real form of democracy at all and clearly needs replacing if people are going to have any legitimate say over their lives. Press TV: Do you feel that the hard realities of starvation, the difficult world-wide situation, are actually going to be the real catalysts for everyone to focus more sharply on action in Swaziland? Beacon: I think what has happened up until now is that the Swazi government have had a very clever system of propaganda. They’ve sold this country as one that is successfully marrying tradition and culture and modernity very well together. Even if you go to the country as a tourist you will see these fine houses as you head over the border and it looks quite an affluent country. It’s only when you scratch beneath the surface that you realize how deep that poverty and how deep that inequality actually is. When you look at the situation there they’ve got this system that has such control over the media and such clever propaganda system it makes it very, very difficult for the rest of the world to see exactly what’s going on. And some of that first needs breaking down. What we’re seeing already is that there are people within the system recognizing how bad things are and that they need to change that.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 05:53:12 +0000
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