By Magnificent Mndebele

The recent arrest of the self-confessed solidarity forces commander Thabo Kunene and his co-accused Sibusiso Nkomonye has laid bare eSwatini’s police surveillance and eroding signs of lack of oversight.

Kunene and Nkomonye were allegedly unlawfully kidnapped in Rustenburg, North West in South Africa, assaulted and illegally extradited to the Kingdom of Eswatini where they are now awaiting trial.

In an explosive 10-page affidavit, Kunene revealed that two senior eSwatini police officers, Thabo Hlophe, the Regional Crime Branch Officer who is based in Manzini Regional Headquarters and Clement Sihlongonyane, Senior Superintendent of the Police Headquarters in Mbabane, are the masterminds behind their abduction and the alleged contravention of South African immigration laws.

The latest patterns suggest that surveillance in eSwatini has now taken a worryingly different shape and becoming more clandestine in nature to curtail dissidents' frustrations with the monarchical regime. The police in eSwatini are now able to fetch political activists in South Africa and prosecute them in eSwatini with no action from the South African government.

The Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) is one of the many law enforcers in the Kingdom of Eswatini. The RESP is guided by the Constitution of Swaziland 2005 and the Police Service Act 2018. The REPS directly answers to Prime minister Cleopas Dlamini, who is hired and acts on behalf of King Mswati III.

The king has concentrated all military and enforcement powers to himself as he acts as the Commissioner-in-Chief and minister of police and the army. The police commander is directly accountable to him.

The loyalty of the REPS lies with the regime at the behest of King Mswati III. Among others, the functions of the REPS, according to the Police Service Act 2018, are to “collect and collate intelligence likely to affect public peace and the security of the State.”

It’s become public knowledge that the King’s men and women allegedly surveil citizens— or rather his subjects— through the REPS and other security clusters.

Some of the critical voices who are on constant surveillance are believed to be Mbongwa Dlamini, the president of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), Swaziland News Editor Zweli Martin Dlamini, the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) president Mlungisi Makhanya and his deputy president Wandile Dludlu, the national organising secretary Siboniso Mkhabela and Secretary General Penuel Malinga, General Secretary of Swaziland Transport, Communication and Allied Workers Union (SWATCAWU) Sticks Nkambule, Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) president Sakhiwe Aviwe Nxumalo, the former president of Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) Colani Maseko turned into Swaziland News journalist and the National Organising Secretary of Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDM) Themba Mabuza.

The REPS is mandated to protect life and property, maintain security, peace and public tranquillity amongst other things but the force has done the opposite in some instances. Cebile “CeCe” Shongwe, a former police sergeant who turned activist, said the police do not uphold the guiding principles of the police of maintaining and upholding the human rights of all persons, especially political activists living in eSwatini.

“There is no Act that has been taken against the police or security forces if ever they violate human rights,” Shongwe said. “They take action if you commited a criminal offense like rape and theft, but politically-related cases nothing is being done.”

 Shongwe explains that the scope at which the intelligence cluster collects information on citizens and political activists or dissidents has exacerbated after the 2021 July protests that nearly pushed the monarch to the edge. Nowadays, Shongwe says, the intelligence cluster does as it pleases and there are no measures put in place to hold them accountable.

 This is evidenced by the classic abduction of Kunene and Nkomonye, where the senior police officers undertook extreme measures to violate laws of another sovereign state just so that Kunene and Nkomonye are extradited to eSwatini to account and be held accountable for their alleged crimes.

Facebook surveillance 

Another former police officer, Samuel Matsebula*, details how his facebook account has always been surveilled even when he was still in the police academy. He recalls that intelligence officers were called to interrogate him and ask about pictures where he had been wearing political party regalia in Facebook posts.

Matsebula's history of student politics has constantly put him on a high rader of surveillance. The agents coerced him to delete all of the pictures that showed him in political regalia not knowing that years later the same Facebook account would land him in trouble with his station commander.

In 2020, Matsebula was promoted into a sergeant role in the police. Out of excitement, he posted a status on his Facebook account, saying: “Finally, I am the sergeant of the peoples’ movement.” His superiors saw the post and they opened a case against him for allegedly being associated with a political party. 

He recalls desperately trying to explain the context of his post, but was instead taken to court. The evidence was too thin, the court found, and advised the case to be dropped.

But the case was parked for a conductive period. His disciplinary hearing was postponed several times until 2021 during the July unrest that saw dozens of unarmed citizens losing their limbs and lives from the machine guns of the regime’s police and army.

Matsebula’s disciplinary proceeded and he went back to work as he had appealed at the Supreme Court.

As punishment, Matsebula was not allowed to carry a firearm and largely prevented from engaging with other police officers whom they accused him of corrupting. In fact, this act of “corruption” was apparently cited to his attempt to reason with the other police officers that they should always uphold and safeguard human rights when engaging with citizens. 

For this, Matsebula became less favoured among his superiors. His working environment became intolerable to the point that Matsebula opted to resign from the police force. The former police man explains how police officers would invite him on Facebook with fake accounts.

The agents with fake accounts posed as either PUDEMO or SWALIMO members. Whenever Matsebula posted something on Facebook, the assigned agent would comment and endorse the politically-related content as if he was one of them— or against the regime. However, Matsebula says, for having been part of the intelligence cluster himself, he easily picked up the camouflage of the police officer surveilling his online posts.

“I once did an audio in one of WhatsApp groups that I am in and I found out that the audio had circulated widely reaching the police. I saw then that in the groups that we join, the admins don't vet [group members] properly,” Matsebula explains that in fact the group administrators are only excited by the large number of members in the group.

Small talks 

Another type of surveillance that is conducted by the police force, according to Matsebula, is physical surveillance that includes “small talks”. The police will play football with the political activist or indulge in adult beverages with the activists at recreational spots so that they could be perceived as sociable and disgruntled with the oppressive system. This cunning way often leads to political activists opening up about their dissatisfaction with the monarch and their activism plans.

“When a police officer sees a civilian, they see a mine of information. So whatever small talk you have with a police officer, even if they are your friend or your boss, that information you tell them will one day come handy,” cautions Matsebula.

The police officers who manage to collect actionable intelligence often receive appraisals and get to be considered for promotion, scholarships, business trips and other leisurely benefits. 

Since King Mswati III has all to gain from the repressive system and all to lose from the proposed democratic changes. Thus, the intelligence cluster seems to lack any form of moral compass for accountability and the respect of human rights. “The king is the one that has all the power. Many times we would hear that people would try to advise him but he does not listen to anyone,” adds Shongwe.

*Name has been changed to protect the identity of the former police sergeant and political activist.

Magnificent Mndebele is a journalist researching digital surveillance with support from the Media Policy & Democracy Project (MPDP) run by the Department of Communication and Media at the University of Johannesburg.