Protests started in the constituency of MP Mduduzi Simelane, who is in hiding, fearing for his life, saying it is ‘heartbreaking to be hunted for exercising your constitutional rights’.
Mduduzi “Magawugawu” Simelane — a highly influential MP who is among those calling for democratic reforms in Eswatini — has gone into hiding as political temperatures rise in the kingdom.
Speaking from an undisclosed location, Simelane told the Mail & Guardian his life was in danger.
“True, my life is in danger. As a result I had to find a place I think is safe within the country, though. It’s very painful to be unsafe for standing for the truth. It’s heartbreaking to be hunted for exercising your constitutional right,” he said.
“We witnessed mass killings through the barrel of a gun. More than 70 unarmed civilians were shot and killed for protesting and calling for change. The SADC Troika organ has promised to come on a fact-finding mission, which has been aborted as they only met with the government team without meeting those calling for change. They promised to come back, which never happened until now, fuelling suspicion that they are siding with the government,” he said.
Eswatini is in the middle of a political crisis after the king allegedly launched a crackdown on protestors calling for reforms. According to banned opposition parties, dozens of people have been killed, more than 200 treated for gunshots and hundreds are missing.
Simelane, who is also a popular gospel artist from Phuzamoya in the eastern parts of Eswatini, has been at loggerheads with King Mswati’s government for years. In 2012, King Mswati, who allegedly felt threatened by Simelane’s popularity, instructed his cabinet to ban his altruism-inspired social issues show Makhelwane Simbona Ngetento, which aired on Eswatini TV. He was accused of campaigning for elections of the year that followed.
With political parties banned in eSwatini, the growing popularity of the MP — who was active in a trade union, the Swaziland National Association of Teachers — was causing a considerable headache for the government. Simelane is a teacher by profession.
Simelane subsequently won elections by popular vote in 2018, beating the then-Siphofaneni MP Gundwane Gamedze. That was the beginning of his political journey that complemented the work of political parties that have been calling for democratic reforms.
In May, during a memorial service of the late university student Thabani Nkomonye, police allegedly fired tear gas canisters at Simelane’s vehicle. He said the police wanted his vehicle to catch fire.
“They arrived at the memorial service, went straight to my vehicle and started firing shots. They thought I was inside the vehicle and wanted it to catch fire,” the MP said during a press conference with Eswatini media at the time.
Last week the M&G reported that political tensions have intensified and sources alleged there was a plot to arrest or assassinate the three pro-democracy MPs critical of Mswati’s government.
The pro-democracy MPs — who have consistently demanded democracy in parliament with an elected prime minister — are Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza from Hosea, Simelane from Siphofaneni, and Ngwemphisi MP Mthandeni Dube.
Simelane at the time confirmed that he was aware of the matter but could not comment further “as I am busy with strategies on how to handle this”.
Now he is in hiding.
Kingdom ablaze: Firefighters extinguish a fire in Manzini. (AFP)
He told the M&G that at the end of June, he had to flee the country after being harassed and placed under house arrest by the police for allegedly influencing the mass protests that subsequently became chaotic.
The political chaos erupted at Simelane’s Siphofaneni constituency and spread to other parts of the country. This was after the police allegedly blocked him from addressing his followers who had come to formally deliver a petition to him that was to be used in raising a parliamentary motion to remove King Mswati’s government.
Eswatini is ruled by King Mswati as an absolute monarch with executive, judicial and legislative powers. He appoints the prime minister from his ruling Dlamini clan, cabinet ministers, a majority of senators, judges and all members of the various governing councils.
On Tuesday, King Mswati summoned the nation to Sibaya at the cattle byre at the Ludzidzini Palace ahead of another planned mass anti-monarchy protest on Friday. Prior to this, Mswati had disappeared from the public eye since the political chaos erupted.
Eswatini government spokesperson Sabelo Dlamini did not respond to questions from the M&G.
Another pro-democracy MP, Mabuza, told the M&G that as members of parliament, they do not recognise the recent decision by the king to summon the nation in a dialogue.
“When we talk about political dialogue, we mean engagements where those advocating for democracy will be free to express themselves, not isibaya where the king enjoys absolute authority,” said Mabuza.
Mabuza has also gone into hiding for security reasons.
Meanwhile, opposition parties and civil society are calling for an investigation into the killings of dozens of civilians by King Mswati’s soldiers.
Human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko recently told the M&G that there are calls locally and internationally that the king should be held accountable for crimes against humanity.
Maseko said that the total number of confirmed and identified deaths is 54, adding more people were missing and more bodies may still be found.
“We must apply ourselves to the post-conflict scenario. International law is already full of precedence of how such a situation should be dealt with, to the extent that if it were to happen that His Majesty lands in South Africa, attempts must be put in place that … [he] be arrested and brought to book through the [International Criminal Court’s] Rome Statute mechanism.”
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