The Causation Of Strife In Swaziland By Mario Masuku

Causation of strife [in Swaziland] By Mario Masuku

Some skeptics say that people are imprisoned for crimes of violence, sabotage in pursuance of anarchistic tendencies. But really, it all boils down to the fact that these activities are born out of injustice that is deep-sited in our countries, society and strengthened with the arrogance and intransigence of the „rules‟ of the society when their attention is drawn to these wrongs. People, therefore, resort, are encouraged to resort to extreme ways to achieve their goals. The struggle that culminated to the brutal torture, beatings and arrests of comrades and innocent citizens has been a protracted one. It is a national democratic revolution that builds up from phase to phase and level to level and characterized by the obtaining conditions. The women‟s march, PUDEMO‟s petition to the Prime Minister in June 2008, September 3, civil society march against the 40/40 „celebration‟, are examples of events used to demand dialogue. We called for dialogue and none came, not to mention the dialogue fallacy that was attempted by the cabinet with members of the NCA. I still believe that Swaziland cannot afford to sink deeper into an abyss of authoritarianism, suppression of freedoms of expression and association preferring the route of violence against those seeking to be. Swaziland belongs to all of us and not a few who happen to be born in a certain family, to be sole benefactors of the toil of the majority struggling masses. A critical national dialogue is a must if we are to be a winning nation and I am certain that progressive organisations would consider that. After all, this route was proposed some 17 years ago. One agrees fully that states have a duty to protect civilians against terror and crime. But who determines what terror is? In most cases it is the most undemocratic countries who wage the so called „war on terror‟, countries who protect their elite from the „forbidden-to-be‟ majority that are given no window or ear to be heard. USA President Benjamin Franklin once said, on almost similar circumstances, that „they that can give-up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety‟. Communities and civilians are in danger of blind-stumbling into a censored society as the elitist regimes dig deep into tax-payers‟ pockets to over-protect themselves, their families and property while interfering with people‟s liberty. I fear and view with scorn a regime‟s stance to a coercive self-censorship and in the case of the electronic, media houses in the face of intimidation and state sponsored terrorism. I have learnt that the only thing a tolerant society cannot tolerate is intolerance. Independence of the media is the corner stone of a developing democracy, and anyone with a diverging view must not be uprooted or ostracized, but must be allowed to co-exist. In this note, I hail the USA President Barrack Obama‟s determination to review the deeds of his predecessor‟s government. His calling for more open societies, democracy and human

liberties in the African continent (even Swaziland) is encouraging. This is a challenge to us, and together we can make it. I know that I am not the only one who believes that this is still very possible. The witch hunt begins Thanks to our reliable informers. I had been long warned that steps were underway to arrest me as early as end of October 2008 and we were comfortably ready for that. I had, earlier, been interrogated by a group of about 12 police officers led by one Zwane at the regional Police Head Quarters—this also helped test the wind. The meeting and resulting therefore, of the sibaya fanned the fires towards my arrest which also helped ease my nerves and prepared the family and comrades for the eventuality. Clearly, one was to be the guinea fowl or sacrificial lamb. On this Saturday the 15th November, 2008, I woke up early, prayed and listened to the morning sermon on radio, and then set out to take public transport to the African Methodist Episcopal church (AME) at Msunduza, Mbabane to attend the congregation‟s orientation workshop for new officers. I had with me my bible, diary and mid-day snacks. As I crossed Ngonini Drive just above our home, I noticed strange vehicles positioned some 500 meters in front of me, and as I came closer I noticed that they all had the Republic of South Africa registration (Gauteng Province). As soon as they came closer to me, Zwane alighted and told me that I must accompany them back to the house for they wanted to search for criminal items, and I walked back home with them. As I walked, I advised Attorney TR Maseko, Mzwandile (my son) and my wife Thembi who works in Manzini. As they went in I requested for a search warrant and Zwane responded that they did not have to produce one and commenced with the search. One police officer took video of the search; two were searching through a pile of documents while I sat on a sofa away from them. The attorneys, Maseko and PM Shilubane came to witness the search. These officers had not declared what they had with them before searching my house and I had an ace up my sleeve during the course of trial. They told me that they had found and would take certain documents which to me were no issue at all. The 1st station in my journey I was driven in a kombi with 5 members of the Lubombo Lukhozi (serious crimes unit) to the Mbabane Police Station where I was stripped of my wrist watch, shoes, belt and wallet and shoved into a dark, flea infested, dirty and smelly cell. Its adjoining toilet was water-logged, the cell windows-pane-less. Later that day, at or 1600hrs, I was driven to my house to collect my medication as I was to be moved from Mbabane the very same day. While I was being driven back to Mbabane from my house, my wife came together with Zodwa Mkhonta and were refused audience with me. I had only taken my diabetes and hypertension medication with me. The second station

On the same afternoon, I was driven to Siteki, some 140km from Mbabane where I spent the night sleeping on the floor in a mosquito infested 3x3 meter cell with no window-pane-less. To go to the toilet, I had to bang the cell-door and shout aloud for attention. On Sunday I was taken some 100km to Matsapha, Esigodvweni police station and then to the Central Prison‟s Maximum Section. There, I was kept in solitary confinement in a huge cell C1, as I had occupied the same cell in 2001 to August 2002 when I had been charged for a similar offence. I refused to sleep on the floor and I was eventually given a hard-spring bed. On Monday morning I was escorted by the Operations Support Service Unit with their armoured noisy trucks and fully armed personnel to Siteki Magistrate Court for remand. Thereafter I went through the humiliating finger prints taking exercise, and then taken back to the Matsapha Maximum prison. The 3rd station in the Last Mile People ask me as to how life was like down under in the gaol and I can only sum it with this extract from the noble Charles Dickens; “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, and it was the winter of despair.” That is prison life — hate it, you will still have it anyway, pretend you are not there, but you are shut in anyway and wish for freedom but it may be a little further — so take it as it is. Inmates are very positive people, they normally comfort one another and say „unganaki kutawundlula, akukho lokungapheli‟, meaning that this situation will go by, and that even this one will come to pass. C1 is in the middle of the compound and faces the west, the makeshift overworked dusty football ground, the study and dining room and those cells facing east. The maximum section is secured around by high concrete walls guarded by sentries. When in there one sees nothing but the sky smoke, flying by airplanes, birds, and some high mountains. I am locked in day and night until I make a request to have the outer huge door opened during the day which is approved after a week or two. This is welcome as I would watch those numerous football games by the convicts, and also watch faces (they are not allowed to talk to me) of some whom I know or left there some six years back. I had now begun, in earnest, the journey of the Last Mile to Freedom, and I knew clearly that I was shut in and would remember a short expression by one Oscar Wild that; “…every prison that man builds is built with bricks of shame, and bound with bars lest Christ should see how men their brothers maim.” The organization of which I am a member had met and resolved that I was to undergo this route, endure the hardship, seek no bail and stick to it and my own ideals and principles irrespective of the consequences.

I had, therefore, agreed to humbly take the challenge and I acknowledged that nobody walks without learning to walk—without learning to walk by walking, without learning to engage this same dream that others before me have suffered. I had to set off this thorny path. The mandate was that I love those who hate me, embrace those who execute their duties and orders from the top. I was to systematically expose the system to the prisons‟ community, let them appreciate the cause I and others have chosen. None of our captors are our enemies— but the perpetrators of repression and the system of governance itself. The whole prison must be regarded and respected as a community of convicts and warders and our program is that of conscientising those we can. A normal day there The lights and radio are open at full blast at about 0500hrs and one cannot continue sleeping under those conditions. I wake up and pray and then do physical exercises from 0515hrs to 0545hrs and then take a shower. The cell is cleaned thoroughly, then tidy my blankets and relax until about 0645hrs when I take my medication followed by early morning count by warders. Breakfast is either incwancwa or slices of bread and tea. My meals are taken without salt, oil or sugar although there were lapses occasionally. After breakfast, I read quite a few literature or newspapers as there is a primitive hateful censoring system—we will discuss this censoring further under the topic of administration in prisons. I did my laundry at this time and would be escorted to dry the clothes on the grass outside the cell. Earlier in the incarceration, I was not afforded sunshine, and I therefore stayed indoors unless I had a visitor which meant I had to be cuffed under sunshine to the reception (visiting area). The radio, until my recent request, was shut down from 0800hrs to about 1100hrs. There is a midday count at around this time after which lunch is served at any time between 1130hrs to 1300hrs. The lunch is porridge, cabbage and beans. Supper is served at 1500hrs, late afternoon count is conducted and then the gaol is locked up for the day at 1550hrs. This is the hour of winter and despair as one hears the robust clutter or keys from door to door, the none-emotional senior warders doubly ensuring that the doors are safety locked. I kept my supper until I take my early evening, medication at 1900hrs and have another smaller piece before 2200hrs. At this time the radio and lights are switched off and another assurance taken that all was securely locked. There are small battles that one engages in while in these institutions, which are worth noting. I had to engage the authorities to get sunshine, have the outside door open, allow me to have hand gloves and copper hat, etc. These battles are better discussed under the administration section.

One would win and lose some of these battles, and I am inspired by James Boldwing when he says; „Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced. Next we will discuss the administration of the prison and our preparation for the trial. How feasible is it to prepare, consult for an indictment with a possible 40-year sentence with no option of a fine, inside a goal like the one I was in? What drives one to push on, notwithstanding?

Mario Masuku is president of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) in Swaziland, a political formation banned in the kingdom ruled by King Mwsati III, subSaharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Masuku was on remand in jail from November 2008 to September 2009 on charges of terrorism and sedition. When he eventually appeared in court, the Swaziland High Court judge threw out the case after five hours of a trial expected to last several days. The judge called the prosecution case ‘hopeless.’ This article appeared in the Times Sunday (Swaziland) on 11 October 2009. It was the first in a series of three articles by Masuku published by the Times Sunday, the only newspaper group in Swaziland’s free of direct government control.