A voice of reason

D Owe still have any voices of reason left in this country, who are prepared to sacrifice or give their all in order to save this country from imminent, civil strife?

This is one of the most crucial, vexed and knotty questions ever to be asked by a concerned citizenry. Some of us are relentlessly, and worryingly posing this question to ourselves as we witness the country backsliding, and hurtling by the day, towards a self-inflicted, political instability which has the prospects, and probability of finally exploding into a fully blown, civil war .

Do we still have a government that cares (or, on second thoughts, did it ever care, anyway?) about the welfare, as well as the safety of its citizens, and, most importantly, about the rule of law in this country?

Some of us who are patriotic citizens of the country, and love this country with a passion - even though there is little or nothing at all left anymore to love about it - are continuously being baffled as to what the heck is going on in this country.

For all intents, and purposes, asenisho ye be-Kunene, why is such a beautiful country being so selfishly destroyed by those whose personal, and political egos, as well as their imperiousness, need to be constantly stroked, with such negative traits seemingly more important to them than the future of the country, and its people? Do they care any bit about the well-being, and futures of the rest of us hapless citizens of the country?

IMMINENT

What are the learders of government.. leaders we look up to, albeit, with fast eroding, and waning trust and confidence - doing to save this country from a foreboding, and imminent, anarchy situation in light of the perplexing, and persistent violence that is playing itself out from both sides of the political divide?

I, and many others before me, had in the past, persistently written numerous articles, a plethora of times, warning our leaders about the importance of good governance. We had always insisted about the consequences of failure to adhere to basic principles of good governance - but, in vain. Arrogance, and failure to listen to the concerns of the people about the manner they are being governed, has invariably led to the obtaining resentment, and violence we are currently witnessing.

Global history is bloated with numerous accounts, and records of negative consequences of failure to take any action by any civil authority in many countries around the world in addressing the concerns of their people. Such failures had more often than not, led to a simmering cauldron of anger, and resentment, which inevitably led to unrest, and bloodshed.

Our government, since time immemorial, had persistently treated its citizens as ‘subjects’ who had no right whatsoever to have any say in the running of the country. We had been labelled in derogatory insults as timfucuta, imicuba - imbeciles and dimwits who are being undeservedly extended a favour by being allowed to be ‘citizens’ of this country.

We had more often than not, always been regarded, and treated as hoi polloi - commoners, plebians, and trash. In respect of authority, we had suffered in silence whilst our human rights, and dignity had been grossly violated by those who considered themselves as the elite, the créme de la créme of the country. Only a certain clique in the country had repeatedly reaped the fruits or spoils of the sweat of the citizens - not subjects, please - of the country.

The tolerance of the people over the years, concerning injustices perpetrated against them by the status quo, were, in the long run, bound to snap. It is without any shadow of doubt that the Swazi people are a tolerant lot, and a respecting people. They hate violence, but, now?.

Sadly, as it invariably becomes the resultant case under any abusive authority in the long run, a situation would arise where the people would finally cross the Rubicon - a moment of truth, and a defining moment of whether to continue suffering in silence or take action - any action - to correct injustices.

The result, as I see it, was the frightening, June 2021, unrest...

It had long been coming, though..

ABUSIVE

It was bound to happen. Our leaders had always been complacent about their purported control over a superficially, and seemingly ‘docile’ nature of the Swazi people. Sadly, the people finally snapped. For too long, they had bottled up their emotions, anger, resentment, bitterness, and acrimony against the abusive system of governance. Numerous calls from different sectors of the populace for good governance had persistently fallen on deaf ears.

As the people finally revolted against the violation of their right to deliver petitions at their various, tinkhundla constituencies, government, instead of calming down the volatile tempers, decided to react violently, using excessive force in a bid to crush the incensed protesters. The rest, as they say, is history...

The relatively peaceful, or rather, forced coexistence between the government, and the citizens of the country, was irrevocably torn into shreds. Calls for a democratic dispensation mounted. Violence from either side erupted. People died tragically, allegedly at the hands of the country’s security apparatus.

Use of force is, and had never been a solution in calming down any volatile situation. In reaction to the police, and army brutality, the country began experiencing the perplexing burning of structures of those perceived as enemies of democracy.

As one thing led to another, we then began to witness revenge attacks allegedly committed by faceless, ‘solidarity’ forces.

Some members of the security apparatus began to be shot in cold blood. Faceless, alleged, pro-government sympathisers retaliated, targeting homes of pro democracy proponents, burning them down through use of deadly, petrol bombs.

The die was cast..No one was safe any longer.

Threats, and counter threats became the order of the day.

To date, in spite of numerous calls for a promised ‘dialogue’ to take place, government has remained adamant - no dialogue if the violence continues. The perplexing thing is that government’s security apparatus had relentlessly been accused of perpetuating the violence by its brutal stance towards the people.

VIOLENCE

Government had, to date, failed to call to order its security apparatus who had been implicated in numerous acts of brutality against anyone suspected of being a pro-democracy proponent.

Living in the country has become dangerous.

The age-old idiom of ‘violence begets violence’ is persistently being proven true.

Government, as an authority that is in power - through the very people it brutalises - should be the one that that calms the volatile situation by instituting the much awaited, dialogue process. Sadly, from the looks of things, no dialogue will ever take place - any time soon, if ever.

Some of us are not too sure as to whether the reluctance by government to succumb to the calls for dialogue which would hopefully halt the violence, is as a result of fear to lose power, pride, arrogance or otherwise. We cannot go on like this.

No! One way or the other, a dialogue has to, and must be instituted. If not, I tell you, anarchy, or civil war is definitely on the cards, and very imminent.

Consider what took place in the wee hours of Monday, last week at the residence of the president of one of the country’s oldest pro democracy political parties, PUDEMO...

The house of the PUDEMO president was brutally torched by unknown people. Considerable damages estimated to run into about E1.5 million were incurred. Allegations doing the rounds, especially from some online publications, as well as democracy-seeking, political parties are to the effect that pro-government proponents are responsible for this violent act.

Such wanton acts of bombing structures by faceless insurgents purportedly from both sides of the political divide had been fiercely condemned, and rightly so by those of us who love peace.

The cycle of violence continues, unabated. Kute lefuna kugoba luphondvo. What will be the end result?

DISCARD

As I see it, unless and until all warring parties discard pride, agree to end hostilities, we are certainly headed for a violent showdown.

The blood that was spilt in June last year as well as the violent retaliation from both sides will get worse, and will pale in comparison to what lies ahead. We had always witnessed untold destruction in many countries globally caused by the refusal to sit down and dialogue by warring parties who were in conflict.

Consider the raging, and destructive civil war in countries like Syria.

It is said that, “pre-existing economic disparities under President Assad regime contributed to the first non-violent pro-reform protests, in 2011, riding the wave of Arab Spring uprisings.

“While lack of freedoms and economic woes drove resentment of the Syrian government, the harsh crackdown on protesters inflamed public anger.

“Protesters demanded an end to the authoritarian practices of the Assad regime, in place since Assad’s father, Hafiz al-Assad, became president in 1971. The Syrian government used violence to suppress demonstrations, making extensive use of police, military, and paramilitary forces.

“In July 2011, defectors from the military announced the formation of the

Free Syrian Army, a rebel group aiming to overthrow the government, and Syria began to slide into war..

“Late 2011 and early 2012 saw a series of ill-fated efforts by international organizations to bring the warring parties to the negotiation table, and end the conflict...”

The civil war had been raging now for over 11 years. And the death toll?

In late September 2021, the United Nations stated it had “documented the deaths of at least 350 209 people in the conflict between March 2011 and March 2021, but cautioned the figure was ‘certainly an under-count’.

I am making the example of the Syrian conflict because it has some striking similarities to the conflict we are presently going through.

Although we haven’t reached the civil war status as yet, but, if we are not careful, but continue to be arrogant, and refuse to dialogue, civil war is a stark reality.

We are a small country, and cannot afford any civil war.

Let us be honest with, and candid to ourselves, and face facts. Without any shadow of doubt, the country has become a pariah to the outside world. Our brand of a so-called democracy, certainly belongs to the medieval times.

All tenets and principles of true democracy are incessantly being violated by our stubborn government.

A host of universally accepted and globally practiced principles of true democracy are incessantly being trampled upon.

Freedom of expression, association, of the press, and a host of other freedoms are blantly violated. What beats one’s imagination is that we are signatory to many international conventions which protect human rights, and human dignity. Sesiphila nge drip and violence, brutality, and sadly, nangemanga - period.

Corruption is rampant. Police, and army brutality rules supreme. If you dare criticize authority, or exercise freedom of expression, you are thrown behind bars at the drop of a hat. Where are the two, Members of Parliament, Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube, respectively?

FREE

And, where is former MP, Mduduzi ‘Gawuzela’ Simelane?

Oh...there is a certain, outspoken Babe Mkhaliphi of Vuvulane, whose days are numbered as a free, or at worst, as a living being...

We humbly plead with our leaders to see some sense, and save this beautiful kingdom from destruction. We hold our own destiny in our own hands.

Outsiders like the ineffective SADC cannot bring about the necessary peace if we are not willing to cease hostilities.

The country belongs to each one of us. It is not the property of any one individual or a group of individuals.

Let us revert back to our Christian values. God had protected us from influences of negativity from surrounding countries.

It is starkly clear that the Living God has turned His back on us.

We cannot be killing and maiming each other so tragically if God were still with us. We cannot go on like this.

Let us think of the next, and subsequent generations.

Let us protect them from believing that violence is the best approach to solving differences.

In the words of Hezlitt, “violence ever defeats its own ends.

Where you cannot drive you can always persuade. A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles. There is a secret pride in every human heart that revolts at tyranny.

You may order and drive an individual, but you cannot make him respect you.” Once again, may sanity, prevail. Have a blessed Sunday. Peace! Shalom!