Royal News Blog

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This article titled “Swaziland editor fired from king’s newspaper” was written by Roy Greenslade, for guardian.co.uk on Wednesday 25th January 2012 08.07 UTC

The editor-in-chief of the Swaziland Observer newspaper group, Musa Ndlangamandla, was fired last week after 12 years.

It appears that he fell out with the group’s owner, the king of Swaziland, and the country’s prime minister, Barnabas Dlamini.

Ndlangamandla said later that he would “rather eat grass” than work again for King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

Under his editorship, many controversial stories involving the king were censored, all of which appeared in media outside the country.

But Ndlangamandla recently gave space in the paper to several pro-democracy advocates, writing: “I knew that this would get me in trouble with the king, the PM and other powerfuls. But we had to do it because that was the right thing to do.”

Source: Africa.com

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This article titled “Coca-Cola accused of propping up notorious Swaziland dictator” was written by David Smith in Johannesburg, for The Guardian on Monday 2nd January 2012 13.51 UTC

Coca-Cola has been accused of propping up one of Africa’s most notorious dictators.

The multibillion dollar beverage company owns a concentrate-manufacturing plant in Swaziland, an impoverished kingdom ruled by Africa’s last absolute monarch, Mswati III.

The king has travelled to Coca-Cola’s headquarters in Atlanta in the US, much to the disgust of Swazi political activists who blame him for human rights abuses and looting the nation’s wealth.

Mary Pais Da Silva, co-ordinator of the Swaziland Democracy Campaign, called for Coca-Cola to pull out of the country immediately.

“Coca-Cola must know they’re doing business with the wrong people,” she said. “At the end of the day it doesn’t benefit the economy in any way. Their profits don’t help the average Swazi, while the king is getting richer by the day.” She added: “The king is milking the country. This is entrenching him more and more, giving him economic strength to crush opposition. Nobody should do business with the regime in Swaziland. They should cut ties and take their business elsewhere.”

Mswati III has 13 wives and hosts an annual dance where he can choose a new bride from tens of thousands of bare-breasted virgins.

With a fortune of about 0m (£64m), he presides over one of the worst-off countries in the world, with most people living in absolute poverty. Political parties are banned and activists are regularly arrested, imprisoned and tortured.

Coca-Cola says that Mswati III does not receive any profits or dividends from its Swaziland operation, its biggest in Africa. But some activists estimate that Coca-Cola, the world’s biggest beverage company, contributes as much as 40% of the country’s GDP. The company admits it cannot account for how the money it pays in taxes is used by the Swazi government.

Lucky Lukhele, a spokesman for Swaziland Solidarity Network, said: “Coca-Cola should find a way of directing the profits to the people of Swaziland. They should start supporting the pro-democracy movement.”

He compared the moral imperative to that of boycotting South Africa during the racial apartheid years. “Many supported the people of South Africa. There is no such thing as neutral ground – you’re for or against. The king is looting and destroying the economy. So either they support the people or they go into the dustbin of history along with the king.”

He added: “It has become crazy in Swaziland. The people are desperate. They are dying from HIV/Aids and TB as the result of the misbehaviour of the king. There’s enough evidence for the international criminal court to come in.”

Coca-Cola says it adheres to the “highest ethical standards” and aims to be “an outstanding corporate citizen in every community we serve”. It set up in Swaziland in 1987 after leaving apartheid South Africa.

It denies claims from some activists that it was motivated by Swaziland’s sugarcane fields – its concentrates do not contain sugar – or that the king personally owns shares in the Swazi factory.

Sherree Shereni, spokeswoman for the Coca-Cola central Africa franchise, said: “King Mswati III does not receive any profits or dividends from Conco Swaziland [Coca-Cola's concentrate production plant].”

Conco, like all the Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) concentrate plants, is 100% owned by TCCC.

Shereni added: “Through the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation, which was set up in Swaziland in 2001, the population of Swaziland has, however, benefited from Coca-Cola’s contributions to their social welfare in the areas of water stewardship, health, education and entrepreneurship.”

Asked if the king uses tax revenue from Coca-Cola for his personal benefit, Shereni said: “TCCC, like any other taxpayer, does not determine what the taxes paid to the governments of countries in which it does business are used for. This is the statutory prerogative of the governments themselves.”

She added: “Coca-Cola is not involved with political agenda of any country in which it does business. Coca-Cola’s reputation is built on the quality of its brands, the highest standards of manufacturing practices, the welfare and safety of its employees and adherence to local and international laws as applicable in any country where Coca-Cola does business.”

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This article titled “Swaziland’s super-rich king fails to find money for Aids orphans” was written by David Smith in Johannesburg, for The Guardian on Thursday 17th November 2011 15.51 UTC

Swaziland has failed to pay more than m (£6.3m) in grants to Aids orphans, the IMF says, despite the vast wealth enjoyed by its absolute monarch.

The tiny southern African kingdom needs to take urgent action as it struggles to maintain spending on HIV/Aids, education and the elderly, the IMF warned after a two-week fact-finding mission.

“The fiscal crisis has reached a critical stage,” the global body said. “Government revenue collections are insufficient to cover essential government expenditures.”

The IMF’s Joannes Mongardini told the BBC that the Swazi government had “owed” m in grants to orphans and m to elderly people since September. More than 25% of Swaziland’s adult population were infected with HIV/Aids, and tens of thousands of children orphans, he added.

The government has blamed its financial problems on the global crisis and a sharp decline in income from the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu), following a new tariff deal.

But civil society activists claim extravagant spending by King Mswati III and his 13 wives has exacerbated Swaziland’s slump. The British-educated monarch has a fortune estimated at anywhere between 0m and 0m, while the majority of Swaziland’s 1.4 million people live in absolute poverty.

This year has witnessed unprecedented street protests and calls for the overthrow of Mswati, although these have fallen short of the uprisings in north Africa.

In power for 25 years, Mswati is said to have been particularly upset last month at the killing of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, a close friend.

Despite the pressure, Mswati, who did not meet the IMF delegation because of a month-long religious retreat, has declined to accept a 0m bailout from neighbouring South Africa due to its demands for political reform.

The IMF, World Bank and African Development Bank have also made clear any assistance will carry political strings.

Opposition groups are demanding the lifting of a ban on political parties and the release of five political prisoners.

Mary Pais Da Silva, co-ordinator of the Swaziland Democracy Campaign, said: “The king is living in luxury while his people are dying from poverty and lack of antiretroviral drugs. He’s not interested, he’s not affected.”

She added: “The country is on the brink of economic collapse. Their failure to pay this money and their failure to pay salaries comes back to the fact that they are refusing the conditions imposed by South Africa because they lack the political will.

“Only democratic reforms are going to get us out of this situation. No country is going to want to give a bailout with conditions as they are right now.”

The IMF said proposed spending cuts had been undermined by “overruns” in defence outlays, leading to a 2011/12 budget deficit projection of 10% of GDP. The landlocked southern African country’s original target had been 7.5%.

So far, Mswati’s appointed administration, which oversees what is officially Africa’s most bloated bureaucracy, has kept its head above water by running through central bank reserves and delaying payment of bills, including state wages. By the end of September, those arrears stood at 4m, or 5.3% of GDP.

“This is reducing private sector activity, with various enterprises dependent on government contracts having to lay off workers or shutting down,” the IMF said, forecasting 2011 GDP growth of just 0.3%.

The IMF said the wage bill had also risen because of an increase in security force numbers.

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This article titled “Explainer: Why are people protesting in Swaziland?” was written by Mark Tran, for Guardian Weekly on Friday 9th September 2011 15.56 UTC

Thousands of people have been protesting this week in Swaziland, Africa’s last absolute monarchy. Popular discontent has focused on King Mswati III, who has been on the throne for 25 years, and has at least a dozen wives, 27 children, and a fortune estimated at 0m.

How large are the protests?

Sikelela Dlamini, coordinator of the Swaziland United Democratic Front, a coaltion of pro-democracy groups, said more than 3,000 people marched in the provincial town of Siteki. A further 5,000 were in a standoff with police at a bus station in Manzini. There were no reports of violence. Earlier in the week, however, police fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse crowds demanding an end to a political system that allows the king to run the country of 1.4 million people as a personal fiefdom. “Some people were beaten to a pulp,” Dlamini told Reuters in neighouring South Africa.

Why are people demonstrating?

It’s the economy. The current crisis for the landlocked country began in 2009 when South Africa went into recession. That triggered a collapse in revenue from a regional customs union dominated by South Africa that has historically accounted for two-thirds of Swaziland’s budget. Swaziland has refused to cut spending – especially on the royal household or military – causing its budget deficit to swell to 14% of GDP, a figure comparable to Greece. In April, riot police used teargas and water cannons to quell pro-democracy demonstrations.

What is being done to address the economic problems?

The International Monetary Fund has demanded reforms to what is officially Africa’s most bloated bureaucracy before it lends any money, while an emergency 0m bailout from South Africa is in question due to Swaziland’s refusal to accept the need for political change. On the verge of bankrupcy, the government has been keeping itself afloat by dipping into central bank reserves and running up arrears of at least 0m, although there are fears civil servants may not be paid this month. The University of Swaziland failed to open on 8 August for the final term of the year and public hospitals have run out of medicines for patients.

What does the IMF recommend?

An IMF delegation has just spent two weeks in Swaziland, bordered by South Africa and Mozambique, to see whether it was doing enough to win the fund’s seal of approval to secure foreign loans. The IMF said the government appointed by King Mswati had missed several targets to cut the budget deficit and advised it to pass a supplementary budget to cut spending, while preserving pro-poor spending, and strengthening spending controls to restore fiscal sustainability.

Does the country have political parties?

No. King Sobhuza, Mswati’s father, scrapped the constitution in 1973 and banned political parties. King Mswati, who has been on the throne since 1986, rules by decree and says the country is not yet ready for multi-party politics. The kingdom’s largest opposition party, the People’s United Democratic Movement (Pudemo), was banned as a terrorist organisation in November 2008 and its president, Mario Masuku, arrested under the suppression of terrorism act. Masuku was acquitted of terrorism charges in September 2009 after his case was dropped due to lack of evidence. During last year’s May Day celebrations, Pudemo member Sipho Jele was arrested and later found dead in his cell. There have been growing demands – fanned by protests in the Arab world – for greater democracy and limits on the king’s power. Royalists have argued that democracy creates division, and that a monarch is a strong unifying force.

How poor is Swaziland?

Swaziland, Africa’s third-largest sugar producer, is classified as a middle-income developing country, but income distribution is highly skewed and poverty in the rural areas is widespread. It also has the highest HIV and Aids infection rate in the world (26.1% HIV prevalence among 15 to 49-year-olds), with large economic and social implications. In view of the impact on agriculture of the HIV and Aids pandemic, the UN’s World Food Programme provided food assistance to almost 180,000 people until 2007.

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