Over 700 000 Swazis in this tiny Kingdom of eSwatini were forced into poverty by King Mswati and his Tinkhundla Government, Acting Prime Minister Senator Themba Masuku is pleading with those poor citizens not to listen to progressive Members of Parliament who are advocating for their freedom.
Perhaps, it is important to remind the Acting Prime Minister that the propagated political phrase suggesting that “Swazis gave King Mswati powers to appoint a Prime Minister” has reached its expiry date, a new generation that will question even the authority of the King has emerged.
Senator Themba Masuku never participated in any election to climb the political ladder and as such he does not have any political bond with the people to convince them not to listen to their elected MPs.
Government recently received over E500million donations for COVID-19, that money was looted through royal linked companies, as the situation stands, there are no drugs in hospitals and nurses are complaining about the lack of working equipment. This means the poor citizens who can’t afford private hospitals and clinics are dying because of Government's failure to prioritise health as one of the basic services.
Government recently refused to renew contracts of employment for teachers saying the teaching profession has been saturated when the truth of the matter is that various schools are facing a shortage of teachers. The future of children whose parents can’t afford private schools is at stake because of Government's failure to fund Free Primary Education(FPE) and pay decent salaries to teachers.
Civil servants have been demanding a Cost of Living Adjustments(COLA), but Government responded by increasing electricity tariffs, water, petrol, taxes just to push even the working class into poverty and making sure that only King Mswati, his family and allies enjoy a lavish lifestyle.
The youth particularly University students are struggling with scholarships including allowances, they have to go through the painful expirience of being assaulted by King Mswati’s security officers everytime they tried to remind Government to fulfil her obligation and fund education by paying their allowances.
Workers in the various industries that include textile, security, manufacturing, construction among others are paid peanuts because the King’s Government approved Gazettes that allowed employers to exploit employees and turn them into cheap labour while paying Mswati millions as shares disguised as Tetfulo.
Some security officers are sinking in debts, living a miserable life just because this Government systematically colluded with money-lending companies linked to Mswati that include Select Management Services to rip-off civil servants through loans that come with high interests.
But despite all these political blunders and social ills created by the Tinkhundla Government to suppress the people, Senator Themba Masuku in his shallow political mind believes the poor citizens must not listen to pro-democracy MPs but believe the propaganda from him and his oppressive boss, King Mswati.
The same State owned radio was used by the King and his Government to mislead the people that by 2022, this country would have attained the First World Status, the King who is referred to as “Umlomo Longacali Manga”, meaning the mouth that speaks no lies by his Praise singers was forced by reality to retract that propaganda statement, it was huge embarrassment for him.
In conclusion, it is important for Senator Themba Masuku to understand that as the senior citizens, some who tolerated this dictatorship perish, the youth will demand a democratic Government and nothing will stop that. Senator Masuku must remember that King Mswati was never elected by the people and as such, using his name through propagated statements suggesting that the people gave him powers to elect a Prime Minister will not be relevant with the current generation.
It’s political arrogance of the highest order for a political lunatic and opportunist like Themba Masuku who was never democractically elected by the people to sit in an air conditioned office and tell people not to listen to elected Members of Parliament. But then, in his own political imagination, he believes people will listen to him, we hope he quickly comes back from the political dreamland and face reality.
Acting Prime Minister Themba Masuku