‘His stories are not factual’: eSwatini pushes for South Africa to extradite exiled journo Zweli Dlamini to face terrorism charges
The neighbouring Kingdom of eSwatini has filed papers in the High Court in Mpumalanga, in an escalation of efforts to have South Africa extradite investigative journalist Zweli Dlamini back to Mbabane to face a plethora of charges including terrorism.
In an interview with broadcaster Newzroom Afrika, Alpheous Nxumalo, spokesperson for the eSwatini government led by King Mswati III, said Dlamini has a myriad of cases to answer before the courts in eSwatini.
“From the Mpumalanga High Court, the government (of eSwatini) has made an application to bring Zweli to answer on a number of terrorism charges which he has conducted in the past through his terrorism publication called Swazi News. It is him perpetrating, joining, abetting terrorism activities where a number of people in the country, including security officers and innocent people such a chief were ruthlessly murdered,” Nxumalo told the news channel.
“Zweli was in the forefront in many aspects. He was not only encouraging the murderous expedition at that time. He was also, through his publication, promising to reward those who are going to carry the merciless murder of emaSwati. Secondly, Zweli has made a number of allegations, untested allegations against the authorities in the country, stories which are not factual, stories which are not factual, disingenuous and seditious.”
The eSwatini government also accused the editor of the popular online publication of crimes including “threatening to shoot someone, housebreaking and failure to appear in court”.
“Zweli’s problems and challenges did not start with the unrest of 2021. The genesis of his problem is actually prior to the unrest of 2021. The agents of the law were looking for him to appear in court to answer two cases basically – that of threatening to shoot somebody, housebreaking and failure to appear in court, then he relocated to South Africa,” said Nxumalo.
eSwatini, a small southern African nation wedged between South Africa and Mozambique is ruled by the monarch whose family has reigned supreme over the country for over 55 years.
International human rights organisations, including Amnesty International have repeatedly raised the alarm, decrying the “sharp deterioration” of human and media freedoms in eSwatini.
“The Eswatini government continues to ignore the constitutional provisions on human rights and use law enforcement and legal instruments to crush calls for justice and democratic reform. What started as a call for an end to police brutality has turned into full-fledged dissent, with repeated calls for political and human rights centred reform,” Amnesty International said in the wake of the widespread 2021 unrest.
Last year, leading eSwatini human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko was brutally shot dead outside his home in Mbabane. At the time of his death, Maseko chaired the Multi-Stakeholders Forum, a collaboration of political parties and civil society groups working to amplify the calls for democratic reforms in eSwatini.
Activists accuse the eSwatini of eliminating Maseko.
On the other hand, the Swaziland Solidarity Network has over the years been at the forefront of leading pro-democracy calls and pickets in South Africa.
In an interview with IOL, Lucky Lukhele, the spokesperson of the Swaziland Solidarity Network said there is no way Zweli Dlamini would receive a fair trial in Mbabane. The well-known activist said courts in eSwatini “from the chief justice to the lowest magistrate takes instructions from Mswati.
Lukhele said once anyone dares challenge to monarch led by King Mswati III, they should sleep with one eye open.
“My father passed away three years. I cannot travel back home to commiserate with my family. The king wants my head on a platter. When my father died, soldiers and police descended on my community, seeking information on whether I will be coming for the funeral. It will be worse for Zweli if he is to return to Swaziland. He has exposed them so much, and this whole court case is a ploy to ruin him financially.
“The court case in Mpumalanga launched by the government of eSwatini is a continuation of intimidation of journalists, media practitioners and activists in Swaziland. The reality of the matter is that because the Swaziland government can no longer control Zweli Dlamini since he relocated to South Africa, they are now using all processes to destroy him. The Swaziland government is doing this to collapse Zweli Dlamini financially, using the bottomless government cookie jar.
“This case launched in Mpumalanga is intimidation in the extreme. They want to cripple the editor of a loved independent publication and we would like to thank the people helping Zweli. Mswati’s government knows that they will lose this case. They had not anticipated that Zweli would fight this much at this level. The court case was a bid to get Zweli’s address so that they can send down their specialized people to eliminate him, as they did to Thulani Maseko,” Lukhele insisted.
Lukhele said while South Africa has proudly showed support for the people of Palestine, Pretoria has been lukewarm when it comes to atrocities happening in eSwatini.
“Ask yourself, why are the same voices muted when it comes to Swaziland? ” Lukhele asked.
IOL