HYPOCRITE MSWATI DOES NOT ALLOW THE MEDIA TO DO ITS JOB SSN STATEMENT: 7TH February, 2014 In what was a rare occurrence, the king of Swaziland, Mswati, actually came to the rescue of photographers who were being shoved around by police officers at a Marula drinking at eHlane ceremony recently. It is reported that the photographers, who were part of the media personnel allowed into the area where the event was held, were merely doing their job when the king’s police started shoving them around, something they do in every occasion. Seeing this embarrassing confrontation, the king sent his protocol officer to tell the police to allow the journalists to do their job and stop shoving them. Of course what the king did was to be expected, it is why he wanted them to be there in the first place. He relies on the media to publish such events which portray him as being one with the Swazi people, and presents him as a popular figure. What is ironic and reveals this isolated incident for sham that it is, is the fact that the media in Swaziland is extremely censored and is normally not permitted to record or publish event that portray the royal family in a negative light. The very same king who told his troops to allow the photographers to take pictures once closed down his own newspaper, the Swazi Observer, for publishing an article which was critical of his government. The only independently owned newspaper in the country, the Swazi Times, has persistently faced pressure and intimidation from the throne for publishing similar articles, to the extent that it was forced to rehire king Mswatis speech writer as its managing editor, in order to censor itself internally. This suppression of the media is even worse in the electronic media as the only radio stations and television stations in the country are either state owned or owned by the kings relatives, except for a minor Christian radio station. In all these television and radio stations censorship is a policy so extensively applied that even government ministers and politicians have at certain times been barred from using them. It is therefore clear that the recent Marula incident only highlighted one thing that the media is free only to record that which promotes the king and the royal family, and portrays him in a positive light, anything else provokes a negative reaction from Africas absolute monarchy. Issued by the Swaziland Solidarity Network [SSN] CONTACT: Lucky Lukhele- spokesperson 072 502 4141
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 11:07:52 +0000
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