International Pressure Brings Early Release of Swazi Political Prisoners
Swazi human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko and journalist Bheki Makhubu are being released from prison in Swaziland two weeks before the end of their sentences for criticising the lack of independence of the judiciary, following sustained international pressure. Maseko had been put into solitary confinement after the publication of a prison letter marking the one-year […]
Swaziland Supreme Court Frees Jailed Writers
Swaziland’s Supreme Court on Tuesday (30 June 2015) ordered the release of magazine editor Bheki Makhubu and Thulani Maseko, a human rights lawyer, who had been jailed for two years for writing and publishing magazine articles critical of the Swazi judiciary. The Supreme Court said the jailing by the Swazi High Court was unsupportable. The […]
Swaziland Media Censorship – Some MPs Banned On TV
Censorship at Swazi TV is so tight that every month the Swaziland Government issues directives to the station about what events it should cover. And, the Government has also banned ordinary members of parliament from appearing on the news programmes of Swazi TV. This was revealed in a report tabled at the Swaziland Parliament. Bongani […]
King Mswati III Costs 3,000 Workers Their Jobs
The refusal by King Mswati III, the absolute monarch in Swaziland, to accept democratic change in his kingdom has cost at least 3,000of his subjects their jobs. This is because the United States withdrew Swaziland’s trading privileges under the Africa Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA). Swaziland had previously been able to export to the United States […]
King Mswati Is Also Bogus Doctor
Swaziland’s Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini is not the only leader the kingdom to accept a bogus ‘doctorate’ – King Mswati III has one too. He got his from Swaziland’s controversial Limkokwing University in July 2013. In return, he granted Limkokwing land for the institution to build a permanent site in his kingdom. At a ceremony, […]
Swazi’s Chief Justice Hearing Will Be Public
The inquiry into the alleged abuse of power by Swaziland’s suspended Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi will be held in public, it has been announced. But, it is not clear whether Ramodibedi, who has been holed up in his house for more than four weeks after an arrest warrant was issued against him, will attend. The […]
U-Turn On Success of King’s Airport
After claiming last month (April 2015) that Swaziland’s white elephant King Mswati III (KMIII) Airport was a huge success and had confounded its critics, an aviation boss in the kingdom now says it is not doing well because Swazi people are too poor to fly. The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the […]
Swazi PM Barnabas Dlamini and the Con-Man King
Barnabas Dlamini, the Swaziland Prime Minister, has been derided across social media after it was revealed he had been passing himself off as a ‘doctor’ for more than five years when he had no such qualification. Dlamini had been given an ‘honorary’ doctorate from the University of Swaziland, an institution that does not run doctorate […]
Swaziland women hold world’s highest HIV/AIDS rate
Swaziland has the world’s largest HIV epidemic, affecting roughly one in four people. The epidemic is showing signs of stabilizing and in recent years new infections rates have fallen. However, there’s a stark gender imbalance with respect to HIV incidence in Swaziland where women, especially young women, are much more vulnerable to the disease than […]
Swazi King Creates Schools Chaos
A command from Swaziland’ autocratic King Mswati III abolishing top-up fees has sent schools in his kingdom spiralling into chaos. He made the directive during his speech opening the Swazi Parliament in February 2014, even though the government he hand-picked did not have a plan to implement it. In Swaziland the King’s word is a […]
