SWAZILANDS JUDICIARY MUST NOT REDUCE ITSELF TO ROYAL PRAISE-SINGERS SSN-STATEMENT: June 18th, 2014 The Swaziland Solidarity Network wishes to respond to the embarrassing warning issued by Swazilands minister of Justice, Sibusiso Shongwe. The Times of Swaziland quotes Shongwe as having said that all judges in Swaziland should praise the king whenever he makes an appointment within the judiciary. This warning was in response to comments made by a High Court Judge, Justice Qinisile Mabuza, who expressed concerns on the manner in which three acting high-court judges were recently appointed by the king. Shongwe said that those with dissenting views should shut up, and that once the king had spoken, all should hail him by saying Bayethe. With that warning and his evident intolerance for dissenting voices, Shongwe has basically summed up the system of governance in Swaziland and communicated government policy. If all judges are supposed to hail every action or statement from the king then the idea of independence of the judiciary in Swaziland is clearly a myth. In any country with a functional judiciary, judges are expected to speak out on issues affecting their institutions, whether this is appointment of judges or the misuse of power and all forms of interference by the executive government. To expect judges to reduce themselves to the kings praise singers undermines the very concept of justice and the rule of law. With PUDEMOs president, Mario Masuku, confined behind bars for the next 100 days for merely expressing his views on the system of governance, and Thulani Maseko and Bheki Makhubu still languishing behind bars for articles they wrote criticising the Chief Justice, the king is not content with the recent clamp-down on dissenting voices and has sent his minion to issue this warning. Swazis must defy it. Issued by the Swaziland Solidarity Network [SSN] Contact: Lucky Lukhele-spokesperson 082 469 1421 Or 072 502 4141
Posted on: Wed, 18 Jun 2014 04:55:52 +0000
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