If it smells funny, it is probably rotten
Madam,
)ollowing the attacN on 0lungisi 0aNhanya’s property, the reign ing 3eople’s 8nited 'emocratic 0ovement 38'(02 3resident, speculations have again been high as to who is responsible for the attacN $s citi]ens we have varying opinions and suspicions as to who might be responsible for the attacN, but according to 0aNhanya, as cited by the Times of (swatini, he strongly believes that the Government of (s watini is responsible for the attacN
I, personally, do not have anything concrete to suggest that 0aNhanya’s suspicions are in anyway inaccu rate, however, what I Nnow is that 0aNhanya and government have been Nnown adversaries for Tuite some time now Through his political influence and his devotion to the rev olutionary struggle, the 38'(02 president has, on many occasions, openly criticised government even in international platforms
ACTIONS
:e have e[pected government to act on 0aNhanya through criminal ising his actions using the infamous 6uppression of Terrorism $ct and the country’s stance on political parties, which would subseTuently result in his arrest as government has done with other political leaders such as the late 0ario 0asuNu, 0phandla na 6hongwe, 6ibongile 0a]ibuNo as well as other political activists In years past, where we have been closely following the country’s pol itics, the burning, destruction and the attacN of certain individuals, including the targeting of the armed security personnel, is a relatively new phenomenon, which has brought mi[ed feelings on the real agenda for the call for democratic change
This observation has triggered my curiosity and made me to investigate the formation and the e[istence of the 6wa]iland /iberation 0ovement 6:$/I02 , which is led by the e[iled former 0ember of 3arliament, 0dudu]i µGawu]ela’ 6imelane I have further taNen interest in observ ing the organisation’s internal affairs, which have been maNing headlines in the short time the organisation has e[isted 0y analysis on the e[istence of 6:$/I02 has made me notice a trend of disunity, not only among the political formation itself, but also in the entire nation 0aybe it is true that at some point the country’s political situation will most liNely escalate to the volatile stage that it is currently in, however, it is very tempting to thinN that the formation and the e[ istence of 6:$/I02 is one of the worst nightmares that has ever hit the nation 'id 0agawugawu create a monster and subseTuently ran away from the monster he created" :hen 6:$/I02 introduced its e[ecu tive members and its strategy, most of us were Tuite impressed when µGawu]ela’ introduced and further brought into the political space people who we believed had the capacity to understand politics and its dynamics in an advanced level
ORGANISATION
The growing followership of the movement was a true testament of an organisation with a capable human resource Through their influence, and what we suspect to be e[ternal assistance from international organ i]ations, the organi]ation demon strated a no bacNward approach in achieving the freedom that their leaders had promised
$nd fast forward into recent events, in line with the e[istence of 6:$/I02, we have e[perienced the endless shooting of police officers, attacNs on people’s properties, in cluding the property of the very same µGawu]ela’, who is now painted by the same e[ecutive that he appointed as a bad leader $ series of threats and intimidating messages have been circulating on social media, where certain individuals have vowed to free the country, no matter what the cost of doing that is 2ne of the very disturbing developments with the whole µGawu]ela’ saga is when government opposed 03 %acede 0abu]a and 03 0thandeni 'ube’s bail application, citing Gawu]ela as a living e[ample of a person who has been successful in evading trial
SITUATION
:hen it comes to the country’s political situation, we are all hoping that government will eventually do the right thing in engaging its people and respond to the calls for a dialogue It is very unfortunate that movements such as 6:$/I02 are slowly fragmenting the credibility of political parties in the country, yet political parties are Nnown to safe guard the application of democracy in democratic 6tates
If ema6wati do not stand up and dismantle this monster that was cre ated by µGawu]ela’ , which is in the process of swallowing the same per son that founded it, my guess is that we will Neep on pointing each other in the eyes, accusing each other of all sorts of heinous crimes such as the burning of people’s homesteads This will happen up until the country finds itself in a civil war, which will de stroy everything people have worNed for $nd my parting Tuestion with the e[istence of 6:$/I02 is, what is µGawu]ela’ running away from" Is he running away from government or the monster that he created" The monster that is hell bent on creating a trail of destruction and disunity among the people of (swatini and even worse, the political parties that have been fighting for recognition for a very long time
Sandile Mngomezulu