14 October 1998
The SACP views with growing concern the deepening tensions in Swaziland in the run-up to the stage-managed elections scheduled for Friday 16th October. It is in the context of these "elections" that intimidatory raids were conducted yesterday and throughout last night by the police and army against the homes of PUDEMO and other pro-democracy leaders in Swaziland.
The conducting of these raids (involving dozens of armoured vehicles) at this time simply underlines how illegitmate and unpopular Friday's elections are. Since the Royal Decree of 1973 there has been a State of Emergency in place in Swaziland. This State of Emergency outlaws political parties. The candidates in Friday's elections are individuals, all drawn form the same pro-government milieu. Indeed, even the government will not attach too much attention to the elections, the prime minister, Sibusiso Dlamini has failed to be nominated within his own constituency, and is not standing. It is an open secret, however, that after the elections, he will, once more, be appointed prime minister by King Mswati III.
Apart from the intimidatory raids on homes yesterday, the run-up to the lections has been characterised by pervasive repression. Chiefs have clsely scrutinised the voter registration lists, and those failing to register are threatened with expulsion from the area. Notwithstanding these kinds of threats many Swazi citizens have shown a marked lack of enthusiasm for the elections. In at least one constituency, with an estimated 13 000 potential voters, only 200 have registered.
The bankruptcy of these elections is further underlined by the realisation that they occur despite the fact that the hand-picked Constitutional Review Commission (now in its sixth reincarnation), which was supposed to make constitutional proposals for a democratic electoral dispensation, has still not reported. Clearly here, too, the Swazi government is not serious about its own creation. Yet, this very CRC has been used internationally to allay concerns about the lack of democracy in the kingdom. "We are on the way to democracy, we have a Constitutional Review Commission", the people of Swaziland and the international community have been assured over the last two years.
The recent events in Lesotho should be a sober reminder to all Southern Africans that the endless delay of effective democracy, the gerrymandering of electoral processes, and the deployment of security forces for narrow political ends create deep tensions which can lead to a general melt-down.
We dismiss Friday's elections as a dangerous sham. We call on the Swazi government to lift the State of Emergency, to free all political detainees, to end harrassment of pro-democracy forces, and to ensure that there is a fully representative constitutional commission capable of developing an inclusive and legitimate democratic dispensation in the country. The ongoing dithering can only end in disaster that will have serious consequences for all of us living in this Southern African region.