*SPEECH FROM THE THRONE NOTHING BUT BALDERDASH*
SSN- STATEMENT: 26th February, 2016 It has been at least two weeks since Swaziland’s king Mswati delivered his Speech from the throne at the official opening of parliament. Even at the time that it was delivered it was clear that the man was simply blowing hot air and that he was merely fulfilling his obligations as the head of state, nothing more. This is because the speech did not indicate that the head of state was in touch with what is going on in the country and recent events have indicated that King Mswati’s words are not worth the paper they were written on. *A NATIONAL DISASTER* The already impoverished kingdom of Swaziland is currently experiencing the worst drought it has ever experienced since the early nineties. Since last year, tens of thousands of poor rural dwelling Swazis lost their livestock as a result of dried up grazing land. Moreover, the crops that they planted dried up and wilted. This has left the country faced with a potential food crisis amidst escalating maize prices. Despite this crisis, the king dedicated only one sentence in his speech on this national emergency. He also did not indicate how his government would be leading the country in mitigating the effects of the natural disaster. This is consistent with his delusions of being a divine being who can climate with witchcraft, as indicated by his bizarre speech at the beginning of the year when he claimed that the drought ended the moment he commissioned the water party. The country does not need this type of laissez faire leadership which lives in a cloud totally disconnected from reality. The country needs a leader who will treat urgent matters urgently and be exemplary to all subordinate institutions. *BELT TIGHTENING HYPOCRISY* One area touched upon in his speech that he can lead by example is in changing his spending habits. It is clear that king Mswati never gives himself time to read and understand the speeches written for him because if he did then he would experience extreme cognitive dissonance. This is because as he was telling his government to spend less, he had already committed billions of Emalangeni towards vanity projects. One of these is the newly delivered Boeing 737 airplane, which is supposedly the first of a fleet to be operated by the newly formed government money drain, Swazi Airways, an airline company which was created to save the king from the embarrassing fact that his airport, the King Mswati III airport is a costly white elephant as no private airliner is using it. To add salt to injury, the king and his government last year decided to purchase a private jet for his personal use, this is despite the fact that he already has another jet. It is therefore clear that when talking about reducing government spending the king is not referring to government expenditure on him and any of his vanity projects. Unfortunately, what he is referring to are social projects such as education and health. *NO DIALOGUE IN SWAZILAND* Another hypocritical aspect of the king’s speech was his decree that Swazis should use dialogue to deal with their differences rather than confrontation. Meanwhile he has violated every human right that allows people to openly engage in politics. When the nation wishes to engage him on allowing political plurality he gives them the run around. The Commonwealth last year deployed a Malawian former head of state, Bakili Muluzi, to spearhead a dialogue between the king and civic groups, which included members of political parties. Despite the fact that there was nothing binding about the outcome of this dialogue the king used delaying tactics to avoid that meeting. While avoiding all opportunities for dialogue, the king has used confrontational measure to deal with those who challenge his government. At the opening of parliament, where he delivered his speech, there was a heavily armed battalion of riot police who had been deployed to stop a protest by civil servants who demanded that the government release a report of an independent salary review. *Two weeks after this show of arms the same police brutally ran over a University of Swaziland student, Ayanda Mkhabela, fracturing her ribs and dislocating her spine. This is what king Mswati means when he talks of dialogue, he means brutal suppression of his own subjects.* *WALKING THE TALK* In order for the king to act according to the speech he delivered in parliament he needs to curtail his vanity projects, reduce government spending on his ever expanding family and allow the country’s citizens to participate freely in political activities. It is meaningless to hold meetings with members of various formations and civic organizations in the name of *“dialogue”* while continuing to violate the rights of the rest of the country. While it is good that the government has disregarded the king’s prophetic ramblings and declared the drought a national disaster, resources should be committed to a national plan to avert starvation. In the spirit of belt tightening it is best that the resources meant for the king be diverted towards this cause. The idea that he needs to get through, moreover, is that speeches from the throne are not opportunities to lie to the world about things that he lacks the will to follow through on. It is an opportunity to make a factual analysis of the present and then articulate a transformative vision for the country. In this regard, alas, the gaffer has failed dismally. *Issued by the Swaziland Solidarity Network [SSN] South Africa Chapter.* Contact: Lucky Lukhele- Spokesperson 072 502 4141 Or 082 469 1421 *Lucky Lukhele- * *Tell:011 339 3621* *Fax: **0866162206* *Mobile: 072 502 4141* *Email: lucky.lukh...@gmail.com <lucky.lukh...@gmail.com> * Skype: LuckyLukhele1 Twitter: @lukhelelucky -- -- NEW!!!! SSN FORUM IS ON FACEBOOK!!!! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Swaziland Solidarity Network Forum Google Group. Visit the group home page at http://groups.google.com/group/sa-swaziland-solidarity-eom-forum for more options, pages and files. To post to the group, send email to sa-swaziland-solidarity-eom-forum@googlegroups.com or reply to this message. To unsubscribe, send email to sa-swaziland-solidarity-eom-forum-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Swaziland Solidarity Network Forum" group. 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