Shivambu didn’t initiate case against Eswatini
‘‘What MP Shivambu actually did was to make a follow-up on an issue that was already receiving attention within the structures of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).”
MBABANE – Floyd Shivambu, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Deputy President and South African MP, did play a part in creating global awareness about the incarceration of two MPs in Eswatini.
However, the issue, as a matter of fact, was never initiated by him, it has been established.
What MP Shivambu actually did was to make a follow-up on an issue that was already receiving attention within the structures of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
During an IPU Assembly held in Nusa Dua, Indonesia in March 2022, the deputy president of the EFF urged the organisation to pay specific attention to the Kingdom of Eswatini where rights of MPs were violated.
He mentioned that political parties were not allowed in the country, with several activists facing arrests for expressing their political rights.
RESERVED
He added that there wasn’t any constitutional order in Eswatini, but parliamentary and executive functions were reserved for the execution of the royal family.
He said MPs were being arrested for being in disagreement with the King.
As a result, he said two MPs were arrested in 2021. Last month, the Times SUNDAY reported that world MPs were coming to the country on a fact-finding mission.
Political parties began to take credit for the latest developments regarding the case of Hosea MP Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Ngwempisi MP Mthandeni Dube.
They hailed former Siphofaneni MP Mduduzi ‘Gawuzela’ Simelane for a successful lobbying abroad while other entities praised Shivambu for raising the issue in Indonesia.
According to the IPU files, the complaint against Eswatini was submitted to the IPU in January 2022.
The complainants exercised their right to remain anonymous.
It was already a talking point, having been included in a report of 47 countries accused of abusing MPs, when the South African MP raised it in March 2022.
VIOLATED
The case of MP Mabuza and MP Dube was included in a report on 685 MPs whose rights, according to the IPU, were violated in their respective countries.
By the time Shivambu raised it in Indonesia, the union had already instituted investigations into the incarceration of the Eswatini MPs.
Of the 685, the three parliamentarians are from Eswatini, inclusive of Simelane, the former Siphofaneni MP.
The issue of Mabuza, Dube and Simelane was filed as Case SWZ-Coll-01. The Eswatini Parliament is affiliated to the IPU.
They are classified as victims.
It has been established that the complaint was filed in terms of Section 1.1 of the Committee (Annex1).
The union held a recent hearing on the matter with a delegation from Eswatini during the 145 IPU Assembly
th in Kigali last month. The delegation was led by Speaker Petros Mavimbela.
It is stated in reports that the IPU wrote letters to Speaker Mavimbela in March and October 2022.
The IPU Committee on Human Rights of Parliamentarians communicated with the complainant in September and October 2022
It is said that the letter on the case was also sent to the Speaker in September 2022.
RIGHTS
The IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians reported human rights violations against 685 parliamentarians in 47 countries, almost one in four countries in the world.
It is said that many of these cases were new.
This is another all-time high record for the IPU and is likely to be just the tip of a growing iceberg. Most of the cases concern opposition MPs who are vocal critics of their governments.
In more positive developments, however, the committee was also able to successfully close a few cases following the release of some MPs.
This happened after the IPU interventions.
One of the MPs in Eswatini said the most important thing was that the case was receiving global attention.
“It doesn’t matter who brought it up, we are only happy to see the case receiving global attention,” he said, preferring to remain anonymous.
He also did not want to disclose the names of the complainants as IPU did not publish them.
Efforts to get hold of one of the political activists who started the debate on social media was unsuccessful as he did not answer calls and messages texted to him.
Below are some of the cases that were already being handled by the IPU by the time the issue was raised in March 2022.
ESWATINI
In a press release on March 2, 2022, the IPU listed a number of countries where the rights of MPs were violated.
The IPU Committee on Human Rights of Parliamentarians said it was monitoring the situation of MPs Mabuza and Dube in Eswatini. It said the two MPs were arrested and detained in July 2021 soon after they publicly called for democratic reforms. A third parliamentarian, Simelane, left the country before he could be arrested.
“The committee is concerned that the MPs’ rights to freedom of expression have been violated and that the charges they face are politically motivated,” reads the statement.