King Mswati III still shying away from pro-democracy talks - In action and in speech, the ruler of eSwatini and his government refuse to listen to the mass democratic movement’s demands for a genuine dialogue.
The emotional and physical scarring of the torture and intimidation that students endured at the hands of security forces in eSwatini hadn’t healed when King Mswati III preached about peace and the need for dialogue. Mswati, in the official opening of the fourth session of the country’s 11th Parliament, claimed to “discourage the use of force and violence to influence change as we all deserve to live in peace”.
Mswati told the SADC envoy that he would convene talks in 2022 once he was done with his Incwala activities . The government announced at a press conference that the talks the king had accepted would be “a process of national dialogue through [a] Sibaya”. They agreed on seven action points, four of which require some kind of action from the government. One point involves the case of two pro-democracy members of Parliament, Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube, who have been in jail since they were detained on 25 July 2021. One other member of Parliament, Mduduzi Simelane, had to flee to neighbouring South Africa to avoid capture and jail time.
The Boksburg decisions were not new ideas. The Multi-Stakeholder Forum published a dossier in July already containing many of the resolutions adopted at the conference. The most significant point the body raised was that, for a proper dialogue to take place, eSwatini’s Constitution must be repealed and a transitional government installed.
Political parties remain on the sidelines while some, like the People’s United Democratic Movement, are labelled terrorist organisations and proscribed. Delegates in Boksburg held that for a dialogue to take place, political parties, including those banned, should be fully included.
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