The problem with this country [Swaziland]

Mario Masuku

All of my life, I have come to believe that the freedom can never be a reality unless it is
carried out by the people themselves, particularly the oppressed and downtrodden majority.
For this to be realized, though, the oppressed require a state of consciousness rooted within
the context of objective reality—an ability to view the world as it is.

This is a qualitative thinking and action touching on the attitude of the oppressed and
eradicates such pandemic ills such as existential weariness. A weariness not physical but
psychological and builds within the oppressed a notion that the dominating, elitist and
undemocratic regimes are unconquerable; a belief in myths that such regimes are mandated
by mythical gods or ancestors and cannot be challenged.

I wish that this column, in the ambit of a highly regarded newspaper, be regarded as part of a
dialogue—a nation talking to itself. In the center, I will merely be a facilitator in this national
dialogue.

Undoubtedly and hopefully one will bring to the fore issues of socio-economic and political
contradictions within our community and thus engage both young and old, progressive and
conservative and entire cross section of classes into a vibrant debate for a prosperous nation.
It is, therefore, necessary to take a few steps back to recap on the historical context of the
people‟s journey on their path to their eventual breakthrough and freedom. We will engage,
later, on the concrete or material conditions in the conjuncture, the motive forces driving the
popular demands, constant issues of conflicts and the alternatives open to us as a nation.
The onus for this task lies solely in the hands of the oppressed and not the dominating force
or class. It is a fact that the oppressor cannot, as an individual or class, liberate or be
liberated—it is only the oppressed that through self-liberation as an individual and as a class
liberates the oppressor by simply forbidding him/her from continued oppression. There
always, in life of the dominated poor, come a time when they can bear no more, and proclaim
that enough is enough. No power, however strong, can stop their discourse.

Our struggle towards freedom calls on us to walk the streets and paths of history to the
objective destiny—to right the wrongs within the country‟s concrete conditions. Men and
women need to show commitment—for the terrain is challenging.

People must adopt that democratic radicalness in themselves, for to merely say that there
appears equity in society, meaning that our people enjoy the right to starve, right to lack
education, homes, enjoy the right not to have water, right not to enjoy health care and above
all to enjoy the right not to have a voice in one‟s governance. In my country, we have the
right not to be!

Sadly, these rights are „enjoyed‟ by us the working class, peasants, us in the shanty towns—
the poorest of the poor, while the elite minority feast on the cream of our toil. They live in
mansions, attend elite class schools and health centres and highly salaried.

Undemocratic regimes normally shift the blame in this crisis to the dominated forces—that
they are lazy, they do not use their heads and demand too much. On the other side of the coin,
the dominating class enacts bad and repressive laws for further suppression in fear of and
anger against freedom. Such regimes opt to pile up on unnecessary, second hand expensive
armoury instead of investing on dialogue peace and stability and economic advance of the
people. They often hide behind culture and tradition—the biggest defence tools used by the
unpopular regimes.

“Totalitarian regimes imposed on free peoples, by the direct or indirect aggression,

undermine the foundations of international peace and hence the security of a country.” Harry
S. Truman -1947 USA President.

Our country has produced dynamic people who today are either serving the governments
across the region (actually in socio-economic exile) or are lying low locally in fear of a
makhundu or kukhanywa any time they intend contributing towards nation building.

One should not wonder, therefore, as to where the average aged, the mature citizens, the
intellectual, professional and studentry of Swaziland are. Indeed since that fateful and
shameful April 1973 Proclamation we were effectively silenced and buried under those
cultural myths and untruths. This has relegated even the grey-haired, the intellectuals, to be
minor subjects—incapable of making and taking independent critical social decisions. Only
„Labadzala‟ shape our destiny.

The Swazi struggle, like many others, is characterized by the „national question‟ that what is,
where lies the problem and its magnitude? Time and time again we have placed the blame on
the colonial masters, the weather, ancestors, neighbours, labour and the progressive
movement. I believe that it is now the opportune time for us as a nation to positively but
honestly identify the problem, identify ways in which to make people‟s lives to improve and
promote a spirit of nation building and harmony.

This debate may leave us with scars, pain and sprains but, at the end, it will give us a finished
product we shall all be proud of.

Within this national question is underpinned the issue of direction, ownership, unity,
governance, tradition and culture, socio economy and identity. I know that we have the
tendency to bury our heads in the sand (so to speak) when dealing with so-called sensitive
matters. It would, however, benefit the whole nation if the matter was dealt with once and for
all.

The current chieftaincy and boundary and land ownership disputes are proving a sore-in-the-
armpit for those in authority and will continue to be so in future. The national question will
be discussed further in detail in future episodes of this column.

For any people to move progressively forward, it needs to critically look back and analyse its
history but not dwell on it. Quite a lot has been written and discussed about the era from that
historical moment of 1973 to date. Suffice it to say that in the quest by the governed to return
government to the people, the state‟s response was;

 Political participation was banned and government was vested in the hands of an
absolute monarch.
 Opposition and individuals were deported and others were detained without trial.
 The Tinkhundla ideology was put to test and to date no blue print is available.
  There were Commissions (not referendums) set out for people‟ views whose official
statistical outcomes were not pronounced.
 Continued calls and demands for inclusive participation in the political arena are
ignored.
 Unarmed protesters are violently suppressed and charged under the Public Order,
Treason and Sedition Acts and none repressive Terrorism Act.
 Calls for National Dialogue are ignored and, instead, the cosmetic and colonially
managed and monitored Smart Partnership and dishonest engagements are attempted.
Results (if any) do not take us any step closer to reconciliation.

The security forces are instructed, trained to become more high-handed, inevitable clashes are
experienced and many people are injured and arrested.

More citizens seek asylum and exile status in neighbouring and overseas states.
 Laws meant to entrench undue control are enacted and, in their course, violate
people‟s freedom to associate and express.
 Organisations and individuals are banned and people are irrationally and emotionally
locked up.
 Members of the civic groups have been more united in action lately although under
threat of intimidation.

The reaction by the state to recent explosions, the subsequent banning of PUDEMO,
SWAYOCO, Umbane and the SSN and my arrest in November, 2008 are subject of our next
edition.

It is unfortunate that the routes and phases of any struggle are not determined by the
oppressed and poor masses, but by the dominant minority class. It is they who would call on
serious and critical dialogue and it will be done, and it is they also who call on violence and
the oppressed react in that fashion in self defence. Indeed, violence breeds violence but I
believe that there is always an alternative to it as long as there is a political will and
commitment from all sides. I believe that a country‟s picture outside depicts the kind of
leadership it has and we still have the opportunity to strike a harmonious note for peace in our
land.

There has always been the talk of rebels, people who hate the country and those in the
corridors of power. What nonsense! You see, the highest kind of loyalty, patriotism, true
loyalty to one‟s country, may demand disloyalty to its pretences, hostility to the policies of its
government, a willingness to unmask its leaders, and recognition of the limits of its power.
History teaches us that it is not the rebels or dissidents who endanger a society, but rather the
accepting, the indifferent, the unthinking, the unquestioning. And this lesson knows no
national boundaries. Then if I have to make a choice, I would rather be a rebel than a
conforming reformist and coward.

Yes, we can all look back to the past and learn from it, study the present and cast a way
forward to a better future and generation. A future underpinned by national commitment, love
and hope. Yes, together we can make it.
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, sub-
Saharan 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 4 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.