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Sir,

These days we find ourselves bombarded by laws, much of which are intended to harmonise our living and socio-economic development in ways that are intended to make it possible to have us co-exist and live harmoniously.

And the dilemma is that while we try to cope with existing ones, new ones are promulgated; making it difficult to muster them all.

Amendments

However, laws like all things, require maintenance, by way of amendments to keep up with the times. Society is evolving and so are ethics that have a strong bearing on our laws.

And this is where the biggest challenge comes from. This is the reason people complain about old and sometimes outdated laws that are seemingly out of step with modern society; particularly the area touching on fundamental rights and freedoms. Moral and ethical standards tend to be the key drivers here.

Challenged

It is for this reason that societies have found that even age old traditions are being challenged and questioned, as human rights take centre stage.

Our laws must necessarily evolve as well, because as new technologies are introduced, so are new ways of regulating businesses and lives.

In this country we have ancient laws that are a challenge to citizens; and the biggest challenge is that we can’t remember them all as law abiding citizens.

While it is to be admitted that not all archaic laws are outdated but they still pose a challenge when not used in centuries. Archaic laws are everywhere, in every sphere of our lives.

Progress

Archaic laws stifle progress and development. Different segments of our populace are affected by outdated laws, some less and some more.

As I conclude, I can only make a plea with our legislators to find it in their hearts to fast-track the review process of our laws to make them consistent with the country’s Constitution, as this would make citizens’ duty to comply with them relatively easier. And our legislators would get satisfaction in that they could boast at the end of their term that they ‘inherited this task as brick but left it as marble’.

Babe Dlamini

Sir,

Unlawfully taking a child out of the control of the person in charge of the child with the intention of performing a sexual act or marrying the child or performing harmful rituals or sacrifices is referred to as abduction. The Crimes Act No. 6 of 1889 - Section 46 on the abduction of girls under 18 years of age says, “Any person who takes or detains an unmarried girl under the age of eighteen years or causes her to be taken or detained out of the custody and against the will of her father or mother, or other person having the custody of her with intent that she may be unlawfully carnally known by any man, whether a particular man or not, shall be guilty of an offence and on conviction liable to a fine of E1 000 or imprisonment for five years. (Amended A. 18/1952).” This is a Crimes Act of 1889! What this means is that even if someone were to be convicted of a crime of abduction now, in 2018, they would be tried using this ancient law.

Truth

In all truth and honesty, women in Eswatini live in fear, every day. We never know who will attack us and who won’t, who is a potential rapist and who is safe. We can’t even run to our leaders because they are also in it, claiming that the violation of women is part of culture. The same politicians we hope would protect us make utterances that leave us chilled to the bone, such as a ‘husband can never rape his wife’. This shows that we are really on our own and if we do not take measures to protect ourselves we will go extinct!

I witnessed a friend reporting a husband who had just assaulted her and the police telling her to go back to spend the night in the same house as him, even though she clearly stated that she was too scared to be in the same house with him that night. If anything would have happened to either her or the husband that night, then the police would have done nothing to prevent it. We need to be more proactive than reactive in this country if we do not want to lose any more lives.

Nomsa