WeekendAnalysis

Mof emaSwati, I presume, do not want the recurrence of the civil unrest that claimed the lives of our children, relatives, friends, sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers.

The civil unrest, which unfolded in June 2021 and proceeded to divide the nation in the early months of 2022 and 2023 when Thulani Maseko was gruesomely murdered, should be a thing of the past. Sadly, Maseko, the deceased human rights defender, was killed in front of his children and wife. Only God will forgive the killer. Badly, the killer subjected the children to lifetime trauma.

Earnestly, I pray that God gives them the power to overcome the memories of the lifeless body of their father lying in front of them in a pool of blood. Diabolical!

The Times of Eswatini reported that four men are presently outside the country to orchestrate the second wave of the civil unrest. This is a serious statement – very serious.

I was terrified when I went through the report that government, through its intelligence, found that the four men were masterminding the second wave of the political unrest in the country. I know where we are coming from as a nation. We are coming from the period of fear and uncertainty. According to government, the four emaSwati had participated and lost in the 2023 general elections and were bitter about their loss.

Alpheous Nxumalo, the Government Press Secretary, alleged that they travelled to an overseas country to solicit finances to sponsor the envisaged political unrest. Nxumalo, in a statement, said government was aware of the individuals’ diabolical plan to attack the country. He was quoted: “Voters threw their candidature outright and therefore, they are angry, disgruntled and are now dangerous political renegades.”

OST UNREST

He explained that anyone who wanted to push the country into another experience of social unrest did not have the country’s interests in the centre of their activities, thus he warned the nation to stay away from such political elements. The government press secretary described them as dangerous in society. He charged that they should be locked up as they were not fit to be part of society.

Nxumalo pointed out that any second wave of the unrest would be a deadly project for the country. He then condemned all those who were stalking violence and tensions in the country. This quote showed that Nxumalo was serious about it: “We cannot build a better and prosperous Eswatini on faultiness but unity of purpose and coexistence.”

To stock up evidence, there was a copy of a plane ticket for a flight from O.R Tambo International

Airport in Johannesburg to Shenzhen International Airport in China.

The flight was Air China 868, which was an Airbus Industrie A350-900. The passenger was flying Economy and the flight was 12 hours 45 minutes long. The Times of Eswatini did a good thing as it enquired from Nxumalo if government had any form of documentation supporting the claims as some people might view this as propaganda.

In his response, he said government did not play propaganda. He said the State provided sufficient information for any person to dig further details, with a view to disputing or complementing what government had said.

He went on to clarify that this was both an intelligence and security matter, which would not be discussed in public spaces. It is already in the public spaces though.

At political level, Nxumalo insisted that it was important for government to show people that they were aware of what was happening and that they were seeing everything.

On the other hand, Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Senior Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said they did not discuss issues of security publicly. I assume Senior Superintendent Vilakati had to abide by Principle 9 of the Global Principles on National Security and the Right to Information.

This principle spells out the information that may legitimately be withheld, which include:

● Information pertaining to or derived from, the operations, sources and methods of intelligence services, insofar as they concern national security matters; Information concerning national security matters that was supplied by a foreign State or inter-governmental body with an express expectation of confidentiality; and other diplomatic communications insofar as they concern national security matters.

I neither dispute nor support the allegations made by government against the four men. If I were to say government is building castles in the atmosphere and later proven wrong, there would be something amiss about my analysis and calculation. If I support the allegations and also proven wrong in future, those calling for political reforms will doubt my intelligence. It is better that I stay in the middle, especially in a matter that borders on national security.

In a joint statement, Sive Siyinqaba and Swaziland Democratic Party (SWADEPA) said its members went to Mainland China to explore business opportunities with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) business people. The statement was signed by Barnes Dlamini, the President of SWADEPA and Matoni Ngom’yayona’ Gamedze, the President of Sive Siyinqaba. They said they have observed that the PRC was the second largest trading partner for the Kingdom of Eswatini when it came to trade imports.

Since the Eswatini Government has no diplomatic relations and formal trade relationship with Beijing, Gamedze and Dlamini stated that their entities felt they could play a role

● in encouraging PRC business people to set up both retail and manufacturing businesses in the country. This they could do in partnership with Eswatini’s business people.

“We could also play a role in getting our business people to export to the PRC. This was actually the main reason for our business visit to the PRC,” reads the statement.

They said they wanted to learn more about their political system and how political parties operated given that the PRC was one of the most non-violent and peaceful countries in the world. They said the PRC publicly denounced the use of force and or violence to bring about any political change or even transformation.

They claimed China practised what they preached. They also said Beijing was actually very strong on the use of dialogue than violent confrontation.

“On top of that, they have one of the most exponentially growing economies in the world as they are currently one of the biggest and fast growing economies of the world. They are currently close to zero poverty amongst their people,” they said.

I can’t say they are lying or telling the truth. This is because my interest is in accurate intelligence information to guide the investor and tourists planning to visit the Kingdom.

NATIONAL SECURITY

Accuracy in intelligence information is very crucial to maintain order and national security in the country. Any element of inaccuracy in the sensitive information we relay as intelligence officers or government PROs might scare investor-confidence. Political stability plays an important role in tourism and foreign direct investment (FDI).

Investors usually withhold their cash and equipment until they get information on their safety and security in the investment destination. Regarding tourists, they normally do not visit countries in turmoil or on the brink of political instability. They always look for safe destinations.

Instability in the political environment raises insecurity and overall risk for the visit of the tourist in that country. They cancel their travels whenever they receive information on a planned attack in that destination. Cram, a web-based application for creation, studying and sharing flashcards, points to the fact that terrorism activities are one example of political instability that reduces the amount of the tourists.

The entity advises that another major issue with political instability is the creation of negative publicity for a tourism destination. Before making tourism plan, studies have shown that tourists always examine the political stability of that particular place. They implement their plan if the destination is found to be secure for them. Cram puts emphasis on the fact that security and safety is the priority basis of tourists. I often see politics and tourism as interrelating or interrelated. They definitely intertwine in my observation. In the UK political system of the government, Cram educates that they have developed policies which helped to encourage tourism and to grow this sector.

I then learnt that safety and security are some of the elements that were considered by the UK government in growing the tourism industry. To the contrary, a large number of tourist arrivals from Europe, Japan and other countries fell down in Thailand because tourists did want to visit the place where insecurity.

On the other hand, tourism data has shown that China has contributed about E10.8 trillion (US$600 million) in the United Kingdom’s tourism sector. The increase of tourism has been noted with 112 per cent for the year. This is because of the strong political stability of the UK. Eswatini is fortunate that it has not been listed among the dangerous countries to visit in 2023 and 2024.

Based on information obtained from security specialists at International SOS, Atlas & Boots, a credible organisation on travel risk map, advises that the most dangerous countries to visit in 2023 were as follows:

● Afghanistan

● Central African Republic

● Iraq

● Libya

● Mali

● Somalia

● South Sudan

● Syria

● Ukraine

● Yemen

The information is based on the threat posed to travellers by political violence (including terrorism, insurgency, politically motivated unrest and war), social unrest (including sectarian, communal and ethnic violence) and violent and petty crime.

Other factors assessed included transport infrastructure, the capability of security and emergency services and the threat of natural disasters.

According to International SOS, there are 10 most dangerous countries in the world, which been assessed as carrying an ‘extreme travel security risk’.

They include:

● Ukraine.

● Afghanistan, which saw the Taliban take over in August 2021 as foreign forces pulled out of the country.

Syria, which has been embroiled in civil war since 2011.

Yemen, which has also been mired in a years-long civil war leading to the deaths of thousands and a major humanitarian crisis.

Mali, following ongoing instability in the West African nation. In September, the UNESCO-listed historic city of Timbuktu was taken under siege by jihadists.

● South Sudan.

● Somalia.

I hope we all agree that Eswatini should not be counted among those dangerous countries to visit. We love this country. We wish that it continues to be a place of massive production for economic boom purposes.

Eswatini is a home for our children and future generations.

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