POLITICS: Mozambique Leader Brings Democracy Message to Swaziland

By James Hall Reprint | | Print |

James Hall

MBABANE, Nov 12 2001 (IPS) - Mozambique’s president Joaquim Chissano first state visit to Swaziland made him the point man for regional leaders who seek political reform in the last sub-Saharan African nation to be ruled by a king.

The two nations have historic ties and shared cultural attributes, which makes Chissano a good choice to speak to his neighbouring leader, King Mswati III.

The 14 nations that make up the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) all have elected governments and the organisation operates under the assumption that democracy is necessary for political stability and economic growth.

But the anomaly presented by Swaziland is that the country enjoys both political stability and economic growth under a king who has ultimate executive, judicial and legislative authority.

A majority of Swazis support the monarchial system, partly because the embryonic opposition parties are considered unattractive alternatives.

Political parties have been banned by royal decree since 1973, but the Ngwane National Liberation Front (NNLC), the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) and other parties have “unbanned” themselves, issued manifestos, and staged rallies.

Their activities have ignited curiosity, but no popular following.

“We have come to exchange views on the political and economic situation so that Swaziland, as a member of SADC, can move forward together with the rest of the nations,” Chissano told reporters upon his arrival at Lozitha palace for his first meeting with King Mswati at the weekend.

The Mozambique president related that the subject of democracy in Swaziland is a constant refrain brought up whenever regional leaders meet. Evidently, those leaders feel some movement toward political reform is necessary in the kingdom, even though there is no evidence of an imminent popular uprising to be found in Swaziland.

A political scientist at the University of Swaziland notes, “The palace’s worst problem is public relations.”

“The world does not understand an absolute monarchy in the 21st century, and is inclined to label it a dictatorship despite King Mswati’s widespread approval amongst Swazi,” he says. “Surfing the Internet, you find Swaziland accused of all sorts of human rights violations, but, the reality on the ground is, this is a peaceful place nearly free of crime and civil strife. I suspect Chissano will only ask the king for some sort of cosmetic reform, and the king will agree.”

The Mozambique president is aware that his country is indebted to Swaziland for offering safe haven for 30,000 refugees from Mozambique’s civil war in the 1980s. Two large refugee camps were erected near the Swaziland’s eastern border with Mozambique.

These virtual towns were dismantled in 1992 when the refugees were repatriated at the conclusion of hostilities, by which time world leaders like Pope John Paul II had lauded the Swazis for their hospitality.

The influx of poor Mozambicans fleeing back into Swaziland from what until 1998 was the world’s poorest country has raised the kingdom’s crime rate. Cattle rustling is rampant along the border and Mozambicans figure prominently in court trials for housebreaking and robbery.

The Lubombo region border, between the two countries, has become a porous point of egress for stolen cars from Swaziland and South Africa into Mozambique. Some of the vehicles are stripped for their parts or sold intact in Mozambique, while others are driven northward into Zambia.

The resulting tension, such crime has brought, was captured in a joke run in the Times of Swaziland recently, in which regional leaders together in an airplane toss out things that are too plentiful in their countries. President Thabo Mbeki throws out a rugby ball because “There is too much rugby in South Africa”. President Sam Nujoma throws out a bag of sand because “There is too much desert in Namibia”. And King Mswati throws out Chissano because “There are too many Shangaans (a Mozambican ethnic group) in Swaziland”.

But Sam Dlamini, a manager at Swaziland Milling at the Matsapha Industrial Estate, has a different view, “Swazis are jealous of Mozambicans because they are industrious, and hard workers”.

Certainly, Mozambique’s 15 percent rise in gross domestic product this year, compared to Swaziland’s economic improvement of only 2,7 percent, is enviable. Mozambique, with a population of 17 million, is also attracting a wide variety of foreign direct investment that its small neighbour has sought to capture, but with less success.

“Mozambique has the size, the population and the natural resources that dwarf Swaziland, and they have the Indian Ocean, while we’re landlocked”, says researcher Sipho Matsebula of Standard Bank Swaziland.

The port of Maputo is undergoing a rehabilitation to make the facility a rival once more to South Africa’s Indian Ocean port Durban, and Mozambique wishes to attract Swaziland’s industrial and agricultural exports to Maputo.

President Chissano also used his Swaziland visit to announce the reopening of border posts to expand tourism and road freight haulage business between the countries.

Sixty-five percent of Swaziland’s exports go to South Africa, with much of the remainder headed for Europe, Asia and the United States. But economists predict greater trade with Mozambique as that nation’s purchasing power expands, and rail and road links improve.

The bottom line for such growing economic ties is that Mozambique, like South Africa today, will be positioned to exert pressure for political reform if this is ever deemed truly necessary.

“Chissano is telling the king what SADC leaders would like to see happen in Swaziland, but are not now demanding,” says unionist Charles Dlamini. “The palace feels that Swaziland’s foreign policy of never commenting on internal matters of other countries means no country has a right to interfere with us.”