THE WAY FORWARD FOR
Part IV
Yonder the dogs
Are barking
The night is dark
And menacing
You are lying cold
In a
condemned cell.
What do you say?
“Never
again.”
If Simon Nxumalo and others have forgotten, clouded by the
packings and arrogance of public office, we shall say it for them, on behalf of
the Swazi people; “Never Again.”
Dr.
Simon Nxumalo (Finance Minister)
Mr.
Titus Msibi (Commissioner of Police)
Mr.
Edgar Hillary (Deputy Commissioner)
Mr. Mangonein Ndzimandsze
(Commander of the Armed Forces)
Mr. Abedneco Dlamini (Army Chief
of Logistics)
Hey, this was pretty heavy stuff! You bet. Then you heard
the footsteps of your comrades coming to your rescue. That was us. We told
everybody about your arrest and campaigned for your release. That was more than
for you, it was for the country. We prayed and struggled for the clack cloud
over the country to lift. Never you forget you were
never alone. “Enemies of the Swazi Nation”! Who us? No, look somewhere else.
The chain of handcuffed hands to Matsapa Central Prison was
to grow longer and long enough to be a “Who is Who” in
the top leadership of
Eg, Prince Dabede (Commander of the
Armed Forces, World War II)
Princess Mnengwase (King Sobhuza’s sister
who crowned Mswati III)
Prince
Maguga (The Official Crown Prince at birth).
The list goes on. At that stage nobody knew who was
arresting whom for what. And what did you say, we are the enemies of the Swazi
Nation” You cannot be serious, nor are you certain anymore. “Vela ndunu, shona
ndunu,” Polycarp Dlamini’s words in defence of the Imbokodvo that afternoon
back in 1964, was being enacted with a vengeance.
“Enemies of the Swazi Nation”? No, not us. Go knock at Prince Mfanasibili’s door, to be
welcomed by Joe Fernandez in thick dark glasses, smoking a fat cigar, little
Mr. Patel on his side. “Want me or the King”? Fernandez says in a thick
threatening voice. Mfanasibili imagined himself King of Swaziland. People who
went to see him to secure their civil service jobs, or to make sure they were not fired, were
ordered to walk backward until they disappeared from his sight, after a pledge
to pay him money, goats or cattle. King Sobhuza had made the biggest mistake of
appointing him Chairman of the Civil Service Board, thus politicizing the
position for the first time since Independence, or ever. Worse
still, to a bitter politician who had lost in the elections of 1972 at Lubombo.
From then Mfanasibili hated the Swazi people and wanted to get his revenge by
any means possible. Sobhuza obliged when, despite his loss at the ballot, he
opened a Special Ministry and appointed him Minister of Commerce ‘to help the
Swazi businessmen. He ended up helping himself through the “Teka Takho Bus
Service.”
So you see these things don’t just happen. It took
Mfanasibili about 10 years to put a complete stranglehold on the country. It
took Sir George Mamba even less, from 1978 when he was appointed High Commissioner, by 1987
Nobody succeeds leading from behind. Mswati seems to think
that he can lead this country through oppressive measures, using the police
force and army. No, those tactics failed long ago, even in the hands of far
richer time-pot dictators
than himself, so that is a non-starter.
Your “friend” is your enemy and your “enemy” is your friend.
How I love this., but it makes me cry as I recall the
sadistic treatment that has been dished out to all those good men and Swazi
patriots who have genuinely tried to help.
Eg. Prince Mabandla
Ernest Dladla
Obed Dlamini and others.
Philip Dlamini was a Senior Manager at Si munye based at
Mvuvlane, and had been sent for further training in the
I still have not been home to bury my mother, and I shall not
be until
To be continued …………….
Clement Dumisa Dlamini
For and on behalf of
The Human Rights Defence Fund