25 July 1990
The Private Secretary
His Majesty Mswati III
Pondo State House
Mbabane
Swaziland
Dear Sir
Please convey the following message to His Majesty, Mswati
III and urgently give me a message by facsimile as above.
- My
aging mother, Emelinah Mgocozi Ndwandwe, of Nxambeni and Bulandzeni
Chieftancy of Swaziland
is lying dying in a Mbabane
government hospital. She was expressed her burning desire to see me and
her small grandchildren who are here abroad with me.
- I was
informed about her serious illness about seven weeks ago when attempts
were made, through the High Commissioner here in London,
to convey the matter to His Majesty the King, through the offices of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We got a reply the following day from the
Minister, Mr. Mamba, that the matter had indeed been conveyed to His
Majesty who said he was going to report it to the Council. That was about
five weeks ago before the Foreign Minister went to Botswana, Mozambique,
Adis and now Egypt until, we are told, the 28th July 1990.
- I know
of nowhere else in the world where the serious matter of illness and death
is taken so lightly. His Majesty is supposed to rule and reign over
people. Unlike the soil and trees, people have feelings. They cry, weep,
laugh, sing and dance. The King is there to cry, weep, laugh, sing and
dance with the nation which is made up of individuals like me, my mother,
her grandchildren and other relatives. It is therefore a bizarre absurdity
that today His Majesty is still “reporting to the Council”, according to
Mr. Mamba.
- The
crux of the matter is that while everybody can advise, it is his Majesty
who, at the end of the day, is finally responsible now and throughout the
pages of history. Should my mother die without seeing me and her
grandchildren, I shall find it too disgraceful to even call myself a
Swazi, let alone a member of the Swazi Royal Family. If the King is being
advised otherwise, it is the type of advice that is either ignorant or is
dancing on his political grave because even those who do not care
two-pence for me, my mother and the future of the Swazi Monarchy, shall
capitalize on his situation to the detriment of us all.
- What I
do need, as the longest political detainee in the country, is the
letter of safe conduct. That is to say, a letter from either the King
or the Prime Minister, categorically stating that to the best of their
knowledge and intention, I shall not be detained without trial upon
landing in Swaziland until my safe return to the United Kingdom, where I
have been granted a stay until political normalization in Swaziland, where
a state of emergency still exists –hence the law of detention without
trial.
- Secondly,
because I was brought here by the Swaziland
government, I need an apology in the form of return tickets and cash. That
shall be a clear indication to me that even if I do not return to stay for
now, I shall always be welcome to return in the future. The twist in the
tail that Mr. Mamba was trying to suggest over the phone that it is me who
must apologise and thereafter pack my bags and return to Swaziland
is not only ridiculous and absurd but completely bizarre. Namely, that the
injured party is to blame.
- Realising this, he then
suggested that I had insulted him. I would like him to quote to His
Majesty and the nation (Libandla) the exact and wherefore words of my
insult. What I did tell him there and then on the phone was that I
personally have no place and time for grudges and that if he shall handle
matters of state according to the whims of his grudges, he does not
deserve high office and that the office he was holding was therefore in
dire straights.
We therefore pray for His
Majesty’s heavenly peace. Let your children drink water again.
Dumisa
