Royal Control: Only the loyal get picked

By Inhlase

The powers invested in King Mswati III as eSwatini’s absolute monarch allows him to fill key state positions, including those on the bench, with members of the royal family or loyalists. While this cements the king’s grip on the country’s economy, it is also a powerful tool to stifle calls for democratic reforms in his mountain kingdom. All this serves to place the king and his family above the law as they continue to amass enormous private wealth while the vast majority of their subjects live below the poverty line.

While the 2005 Constitution gives the king supreme power to influence appointments, he has packed senior positions with royal family members and his loyal supporters since his ascension to the throne in 1986.

The 2022 Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) reinforces the direct link between this state sanctioned nepotism and the poverty and inequality that keeps most of the king’s subjects poor while he gets richer.

The report emphasises how there is persistent and blatant nepotism in eSwatini that is entrenched in the government’s policy-making. This system only benefits the king, his family and those that are loyal to protecting royal interests. The report points out how members of the royal family are appointed to powerful positions across the economy from boards of large companies to senior positions in the state and its parastatals. The largest sectors of the economy, the report highlights, are dominated by a high level of state interference and a high level of nepotism.

The frustration over this system of royal nepotism and its effects is increasing among ordinary citizens in eSwatini. The June pro-democracy uprising in 2021 highlighted this. A 29-year old man who was involved in the June run-ins with security forces and who does not want to be named for fear of reprisals says: “While we are living in abject poverty, King Mswati, his wives and children are swimming in riches. Yet, most of us are ravaged by poverty due to the high rate of unemployment in the country.”

Unemployment figures confirm that unemployment, which is one of the main drivers of the pro-democracy campaign, is getting steadily worse. According to Macrotrends.net, eSwatini youth unemployment rate for 2019 was 46.22%, a 0.1% increase from 2018. eSwatini unemployment rate for 2020 was 23.40%, a 1.16% from 2019. This drives poverty and, as a result, 63% of the population in eSwatini lives below poverty line.

Residents of Sithobelweni in the Lubombo region have made the link between this poverty and nepotism. The demands that they delivered to the tinkhundla centres during the uprising in June last year included a demand for an elected prime minister and a multiparty-democracy to address nepotism rife in the tinkhundla system of governance.

“Government is complaining about a huge wage bill when there are people who are earning salaries by virtue of being royalty, some are holding up to five government posts. We demand that Senators and all Members of Parliament be elected by the people instead of nepotism,” the Swaziland News quoted one of the protesters.

Inhlase Centre for Investigative Journalism (ICIJ) takes a closer look at the trend in the royal appointments.

His People’s Parliament

Mswati has increasingly filled important parliamentary positions with his children and members of his family. Constitutionally, the king appoints 10 members of parliament in the House of Assembly and 20 senators in Senate. AllAfrica.com says in 2018, he appointed eight members of the royal family to Senate and six to the House of Assembly. In the same year, he also appointed 17 members of his royal family to the King’s Advisory Council (Liqoqo) and Queen Mother’s Council (Ludzidzini) Committee. He appointed a further 11 princes and princesses to the other five committees.

Most of the parliamentary appointments were in contravention of the constitution, which gives the king the power to make the appointments, but stipulates that they should represent marginalised groups that are not adequately represented, and that at least half of them should be women. Of the 10 royal appointees to the House of Assembly, three were women, and of the 20 senators, seven were women. None of them represented a marginalised group.

Former US ambassador, Lisa Peterson, criticised the Swazi leadership for violating the constitution. “I am disappointed, disheartened, and disturbed that the parliamentary appointments made by the palace disregard explicit provisions of the country’s constitution,” she said in a 2018 statement.

The monarch has laden the state’s senior positions with royal and loyal appointees to do his bidding.

The King shows scant regard for parliamentary democracy. When the MPs elect Speaker, he only approves a candidate in his good books. The pro-democracy MPs who have been incarcerated, Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube claim that Speaker Petros Mavimbela acts as his gatekeeper in Parliament. Mavimbela has denied this.

“Currently MPs have no say in Parliament as all 99 of them are given direction on what to do and even if we pass a motion someone is going to come and tell us that the authorities want things to be done in a certain way,” the Times of Eswatini quoted MP Mabuza who also alleges that they were arrested because they wanted to move a motion to stop the king’s involvement in the parliamentary affairs.

The monarch’s level of interference in the parliamentary system was highlighted in 2003 when he refused to open the first session of the eighth Parliament because he was against the elected Speaker Marwick Khumalo. It was rumoured that he had an axe to grind with him. After the unprecedented stand-off between the two, MP Khumalo stepped down eventually.

Mswati enjoys blind loyalty from the royally-connected appointees. During the opening of Parliament, Senate President Lindiwe Dlamini reportedly assured the King that they would make sure that people not loyal to the King did not win elections. In August 2021, she blamed the incarcerated MPs Mabuza and Dube for instigating the riots within parliament. MP Dube reasoned that MPs started the unrest by exposing the corrupt activities of government. He said that provoked anger among emaSwati who found it painful not to get quality service delivery from government and later learn that huge amounts of money got lost through corruption.

Cloaked with the king power, Dlamini, who is a pastor and former minister of public works, made the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) a mockery. For two consecutive years, she refused to appear, as then minister of public works, before the committee to explain the collapsed Nhlangano – Sicunusa Road Project incurred a loss of more than E500 million in taxpayer’s money despite that it is far from being finished.

Handpicked Prime Minister

In his 36-year-reign, King Maswati has not departed from the tradition of appointing prime ministers from the Dlamini dynasty. During this time he has appointed seven prime ministers from this dynasty. Pro-democracy legislators, including Mduduzi Simelane, Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube, repeated calls for the prime minister to be elected by popular vote when Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini passed away in 2020. The king ignored the calls and appointed his forefather’s descendant Cleopas Sipho Dlamini  

Not only was this appointment in keeping with the longstanding tradition of the king appointing from the Dlamini family, pro-democracy campaigners like human rights lawyer, Thulani Maseko, believes that this appointment was unconstitutional because section 68 (1)  says the king shall appoint the prime minister from members of parliament. The king said he found him worthy of reviving the collapsed economy as an accomplished economist. He was impressed with the stellar performance of the former Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF) chief executive officer who had grown PSPF to a multibillion entity.

He does not tolerate it when the prime ministers he appoints do not toe the line. He reined in Prime Minister Absalom Themba Dlamini who suggested the need for separation of powers during his 2003-2008 tenure. In his speech at the opening of parliament, Dlamini challenged the king’s supreme powers. The Nation reported that he was fined an undisclosed number of cattle by the king’s advisory body for overstepping his bounds. That sent a clear message to other PMs to come that they should stay in their lane.

Judicial control

The king has powerful influence on the bench. In 2015 King Mswati appointed Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala and Supreme Court Justice Phesheya Dlamini, a Chief and royal family member. Both appointments did not meet the constitutional requirements. A 2014 International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) report found that the fact that all appointments to the Judiciary Service Commission (JSC) are under the King’s control which undermines the Constitutional guarantees of its independence

Maphalala has proved himself loyal to the king. For example, he blocked the court challenge to the king’s decision to rename the country from Swaziland to eSwatini in 2018 without legal power to do so. The king renamed the country, effectively by decree during his 50^th birthday celebrations. Human rights lawyer, Thulani Maseko challenged the constitutionality of the decree. However, the High Court file of the matter is gathering dust in the CJ’s chamber.

Maphala was groomed by his predecessor, Lesotho-born Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi, who made his allegiance to the king clear when he issued a controversial judicial directive banning courts from hearing cases involving the king. He then declared a war on emaSwati clamouring for political change. He said ‘they” had realised that progressive forces wanted political change. He noted that they were lawyers involved in politics who were advocating for regime change.

During the three-month-lawyers strike in 2011, the weekly Swazi Mirror quoted Ramodibedi: “This is a campaign for regime change. I understand this system and I believe in it… I respect the King. I’m a loyal subject. In as far as they want to unseat the King and the system, they will clash with this Chief Justice…”

In 2003 the king’s decision to appoint Chief Sezangakhona Phesheya Dlamini as the country’s attorney general plunged eSwatini into a judicial crisis. Dlaminni issued an ultimatum to then CJ Stanley Sapire and other judges hearing the Zena Mahlangu’s case to drop the case or resign. Mahlangu had been abducted by the king’s emissaries to become liphovela (fiancée). Despite his compromised integrity, Mswati appointed Dlamini a Supreme Court Judge. This violates section 155 (1) of the Constitution which states that “A person shall not be appointed as a Justice of the superior court unless that person is a person of high moral character and integrity…”

In a country where everything is about the King, High Court Judge Thomas Masuku was dismissed on trumped up charges. CJ Ramodibedi slapped him with 12 misdemeanours. One was on the comments he made in court while delivering a judgment in a case over cattle illegally impounded by the King’s Office. It was alleged that he insulted the king by saying he could not speak in “forked tongue.” He was also accused of associating with those who wanted to bring about regime change.  

Constitutionally, judges are protected from being victimised or called to answer for judgment or comments made in court. The Constitution in section 141 states: “A judge of the superior court or any person exercising judicial power, is not liable to any action or suit for an act or omission by that judge or person in the exercise of the judicial power.” His dismissal was seen as a direct attack on the independence of judiciary. It sent a clear message to all High Court judges that while in the exercise of their judicial functions they should be wary of reprisals.

Mswati also dismissed Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Rev. David Matshe who refused to endorse the dismissal of Judge Masuku in 2011. He not only refused but also spoke out strongly against the move arguing that it was unconstitutional and damaging the independence of the judiciary. As a minister of justice, he could not be party to injustice. “What are you doing to justice? Where is this taking our justice system? This is what I was to endorse. How could you do a thing like this?” Rev. Matshe asked.

This is the man who inserted God before king in his oath of office. The public trust in the justice system plummeted.

That current justice minister Pholile Dlamini-Shakantu was a member of the Judicial Services Commission that was behind the dismissal of Justice Masuku. This positioned her well to be appointed to the ministerial position in 2018.

The Chosen in Cabinet

The monarch looked no further than the royal household for certain ministerial positions. He appointed his trained-soldier brother, Prince Simelane, as minister of housing and urban development. His main function so far seems to have been controlling the pro-democracy protest marches in the towns and cities. While he supported the government’s ban on delivery of petitions by the youth to tinkhundla centres last year, he issued a threat to the pro-democracy campaigners to the effect that “our government will meet fire with fire,” according to the Times of Eswatini.

King Mswati also appointed his first born daughter, Princess Sikhanyiso as minister of information, communication and technology (ICT). She has proved herself an asset to her father and has, through her power over the media sector, successfully suppressed dissenting voices and freedom of expression. At the height of the political unrest, she shut down the internet as it was said the unrest was organised and coordinated on social media. She also tabled the Computer Crime and Cybersecurity Bill in Parliament which has since been passed into law to deal with social media abusers. This law is expected to enable the law enforcement agents to spy on the users of computers and mobile phones.  

The King also appointed his sister, Princess Lindiwe as minister of home affairs responsible for organizing the national ceremonies such as the King’s Birthday, Buganu Festival, Umhlanga and Incwala. Parliament let her off the hook after the          e-Visa tender scandal in which, according to Times SUNDAY, her ministry awarded a tender worth E47m projected to escalate to E263m to Crypto Technology Ltd. This is a company co-owned by her brother Prince Guduza and a king’s aide, Khandlela Mdluli.  

Mswati also appointed as Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, a businessman and member of Tibiyo Taka Ngwane Standing Committee. Responsible for managing the public purse, he has allowed spending on the king’s vanity projects including the king’s aircrafts’ hangar, Mbadlane-Manzini Highway and the International Convention Centre (ICC) and Five Star Hotel (FISH).

According to the Book of Government Budget Estimates for the years from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2024, the ICC and FISH are expected to cost the country an estimated E6.4 billion. During the national budget presentation, MP Ndumiso Masimula noted that the Mbadlane – Manzini Public Road has cost the taxpayer about E2 billion and was supposed to be completed in May 2021. The Times SUNDAY revealed that the construction of a hangar and workshop at KMIII Airport will cost E230 million. Masimula complained that this money should be directed to the health sector and dilapidated road network.

Working Princes and Princess

Another king’s daughter, Princess Temaswati works closely with Collins Lovey who is an employee of Montigny, a company Rijkenberg co-owned, as general manager of his private business called Silulu Royal Holdings. He is pooling the state farms for land use. Less than a handful of the farms are being rented out to farmers for various uses. But some of the farms, in particular those owned by the Ministry of Agriculture have been handed over to Silulu Royal Forestry Company.

Mswati has also appointed two of his sons to senior positions in government. Prince Sicalo was appointed permanent secretary of defence. He also appointed Prince Lindani as director of economic affairs in the King’s Office. Both princes are career soldiers, who hold senior ranks in the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force, whose academic credentials or other qualifications for their new positions are unknown.

The two princes also serve on the boards of public enterprises, Lindani on the board of the Eswatini Revenue Service and his brother on the board of the Central Bank of Eswatini.

Tamed University

In what has been interpreted as a bid to emasculate the University of Eswatini (UNESWA), Mswati has made it a rule rather than an exception to appoint a member of the royal family to head the university’s governing council. The Times Sunday reported the current Chairman, Prince David, draws a E100 000 salary illegally under the watch of the Public Enterprises Unity (PEU), which controls government enterprises. Yet the chairpersons of parastatals only get a sitting allowance. While the appointment has been criticized for being one that is aimed at stifling academic freedom and making sure students do not engage in politics or robust political debates, it has also raised questions about why the PEU has not taken action against the Prince and if this is a sign that it treats the royal family as if they are above the law.

Politicization of Culture

The king also enjoys a firm hold over the country’s traditional leaders. It is in the chief’s interests to ensure that the king’s interests are protected. They do this, for example, by denying dissidents access to services, refusing to stamp application forms for scholarships if young people do not attend the king’s ceremonies such as Umhlanga for girls and Luskwane for the boys. Government has publicly asked the chiefs to support them on the decision not to give the children of activists any access to scholarships. But, the system of traditional leadership is also sometimes complicated by the king. For example, when the monarch appoints a chief the appointment does not always sit well with the person who believed he had a succession right to the position.  

As pro-democracy calls in eSwatini increase, the traditional leaders have upped the ante and have started expelling “anti-monarchists” from the regiments or king’s warriors. For example, Matoni Ngom’yayona Gamedze, who is Sive Siyinqaba vice president and representative in the Political Party Assembly (PPA) and Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF), advancing the cause for democracy. He was expelled together with Chief Prince Magudvulela, one of the legislators who visited Mainland China suspected to be the sponsor of the political unrest. Inhlava Party President, Mfomfo Nkambule also got expelled for being a critic of leadership. Former Speaker, Mgabhi Dlamini was expelled from emabutfo for stealing cow dung from the king’s cattle byre.

According to political commentator Vusi Sibisi, Gamedze’s expulsion from the regiments exposed how the Swazi culture has been politically and socially weaponised to whip emaSwati into submission. He says the nepotism policy delivers political office for those in the habit of prostrating themselves and singing for their supper.

“The result is that, instead of remaining a glue that holds emaSwati together, culture has now become a divisive tool that is used to malign those who do not subscribe to the Tinkhundla political system and endorse the excesses of the leadership that have led to the impoverishment of the people while also stunting the development potential of the kingdom,” he says.

Sibisi hopes that the forthcoming national dialogue will lead to the social reconstruction of the nation that would also insulate culture from political encroachment.   

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This article is part of ‘The Palpable Stirrings of Change in eSwatini’ series made possible with the support of the Canon Collins Educational & Legal Assistance Trust under the Sylvester Stein Fellowship.