SOME JOURNALISTS ARE MORE LOYAL TO THOSE IN POWER AT THE EXPENSE OF THE PUBLIC

… The media’s role goes beyond collecting, packaging and disseminating information it should help in checking misuse of authority, expose corruption and defend human rights

Is the country happy with the manner events are still reported in the country?

Being a person who has keen interests on the operation of media in the country  I have noticed that the country’s private media is scrutinizing every deal or move our government makes however such  has not been going well with the sympathizers or those who are secretly working as human shields for some corrupt or rich Swazi Citizens.

Many have been accused of being ‘protectors’  as they always react to riots about their paymasters in the disguise that they are feeding the nation with a clear picture of the how the ‘true’ yet not so true events unfolded.

While the public have a right to complain about the kind of information they receive, the challenges facing the media go beyond the journalists themselves.

The rich and the country’s politicians and media owners are the ones who should get the bigger share of the blame for the poor debate on important national issues.

It is worth noting that the involvement of some high profile individuals who push or protect their evil agendas has greatly affected the way journalists conduct their business.

It is just saddening that political cleavages are dividing the journalistic communities resulting in lack of dialogue and solidarity among the various factions within the corporate sector and government, hence preventing journalists from jointly defending their common interests.

I have heard in hush tones that some influential figures continue putting pressure on the media, especially public media to an extent that journalists are now more loyal to those in power at the expense of the public.

A small media market and general underdevelopment of the economy means that the media has to ally with political forces to get financial support. This has also definitely affected the way the media functions especially when it comes to its watchdog role. This is key in a modern and functioning democracy.  

Notwithstanding, the above concerns, the general environment is good for the media to grow and the journalists to freely collect news.

DISABLED BEGGARS KICKED OUT OF THE MALL

…There is a serious lack of reliable information about the nature and prevalence of disability in Swaziland

It’s exactly two weeks  I heard of a saddening story about how security guards in one of the privately owned shopping malls in the country’s cities were instructed to chase away a three notable beggars (disabled beggars) at the mall.
Even though one is yet to confirm this saddening report, but I have been told that three notable faces of two disabled women who can’t stand on their own given feet and a middle aged man who are known to have found a spot to solicit money at the mall  have been told not to set the their unable bodies at the mall…What , this is when I screamed ‘Racism’ and if only I had the power to prevent such in the country’s highest courts I would have mobilised the highest paid lawyer to help the Swazi Citizens to defend their presence in the privately owned mall.
Evident to such an inhumane treatment is that I have seen one of the women whom I had developed a very close relationship in the past three months  ago sitting under the scorching sun next to the now defunct Metro Cash & Carry trying to recover from the shock of being kicked out of ‘her spot’ on the doorstep of a busy travel agency.
As I walked towards the bus ran I met this middle aged brother who moves around only with the aid of crutches trying to squeeze himself on the narrow pavement at the bridge not very far to the mall.
As I passed next to this brother my heart bled because I have known these people to have been well mannered and even interesting characters who were not aggressive, harassing the shoppers at the mall. I would always see people volunteer and donate whatever they had to the poor souls.
As I tried to gather about their ban from the mall I overheard one transport operator stating that a complaint was raised to the owner of the shopping centre that these humble souls were harassing customers. I didn’t and I don’t want to buy the story because with my over 30 years in the city of Mbabane I have never seen these individuals disturbing shoppers.
My sweet message to whosoever was behind the drive of frustrating these people is that beggars are all over the world and these people are not there to rob anyone but have been forced by the lack of proper and physical structuring of their welfare.
 People with disabilities are excluded from the mainstream of society and experience difficulty in accessing fundamental rights. There is, furthermore, a strong relationship between disability and poverty. Poverty makes people more vulnerable to disability and disability reinforces and deepens poverty.
Disability tends to be couched within a medical and welfare framework, identifying people with disabilities as ill, different from their non-disabled peers, and in need of care. Because the emphasis is on the medical needs of people with disabilities, there is a corresponding neglect of their wider social needs. This has resulted in severe isolation for people with disabilities and their families.
To the management of the mall and the country’s legislators they should know that just t because beggars make more affluent people feel uncomfortable, that is no a reason to sweep them off the streets..we are going up the road that Hitler did. he had a final solution to beggars and Romas....do people want that?
Poverty exists, that is a fact. It will always exist. Unless a society is willing to provide a safety net, tackle the causes of poverty and fight the organised gangs that exploit it, then just moving the poverty away from where it is uncomfortable for rich tourists to see it is not solving the problem.
Demonising and marginalising a certain group of the community and moving them out of sight of the mainstream is just the first step on the road that eventually led to genocide in many cases. I do not think pointing this out is trivialising this matter.
Poverty and homelessness exists, sweeping it under the carpet and pretending it doesn't exist by banning it from the country’s shopping malls , presumably because it makes the shoppers uncomfortable, is not one of the solutions.
Following such I feel I need to get back to a story by one of my close friends and ex Philile Masango about one inspiration soul (may he rest in eternal peace) Joshua Simelane who despite his blindness he was determined to overcome the lack of proper structures in the country to take care of all disabled people. He had a dream of seeing the country’s oldest institution of higher learning University of Swaziland providing a Braille facility for the blind. I  know most of the those who are able to see the sun rise and set will always laugh it off and add to the statistics of those voting against the respect of fundamental rights of all the country’s citizens.
 The right of people with disabilities are protected by the Constitution. Government departments and state bodies have a responsibility to ensure that, in each line function, concrete steps are taken to ensure that people with disabilities are able to access the same fundamental rights and responsibilities as any other Swazi.
The legislative framework is crucial. There is a need to examine the need for new legislation. Existing legislation must be scrutinised and amended where necessary. Ultimately, legislation should comply with and give substance to Constitutional requirements.

TRADITIONAL MEDICINE IS DEEPELY ROOTED IN SWAZI CULTURE

…IS UNLIKELY TO BE REPLACED BY WESTERN INFLUENCED PHARMACIES

 

I am one person who has been raised in the most common township in the country. Msunduza, skom, ekasi; whichever name you prefer where’ in my early days of primary level seeing a sheeben in the area was like today seeing the restaurant at Gables in Ezulwni. During these days there were a lot of police crackdowns on the sheebens which were operating ‘illegally’ brewing the area’s favourite traditional brew. Such was acceptable in the society but it could not deter the area’s Sheeben Queens from operating their illegal trade and as I write this piece there are a couple who are still operating in the area’s dark city….

Enough of the drunk talk but one should know that I have been prompted to raise this issue because of recent and current continuous arrests of traditional healers under the tag ‘Operation Worthy’ .According to local press reports this is done by local police in a bid to tackle animal parts syndicates.

Apart from the Mbabane Swallows / Black Swallows crazy feat in the soccer filed, I personally feel such an issue has recklessly been handled or police have become overzealous regarding the arrests.

One should not forget that traditional healer have long been here even before the Game Protection Act was inscribed in the country and some of the people who today trample on the traditional healers trade consult some of the traditional healer for ‘magic/ healing potions.

Now that the law enforcers are coming hard on the healers trade one has to wonder is this means that the traditional healing profession which is highly associated with the Swazi Cultural beliefs would be buried and there would be no hope of resurrection.

Personally I am a qualified human Rights Defender having being armed with Economic, Social & Cultural Rights, Rights of the Child and Human Rights Law and thus feel my bitterness at the manner the issue of the healers is being handled by the country’s law enforcers.

Being Swazis we should know that despite being westernized by Capitalism of the world’s heavyweights most Swazis still believe that health, disease, success or misfortune are not chance events but the result of the active influence of individuals or ancestral spirits.

It is for this reason that the country’s citizenry always thrive on holding high esteem on traditional healers are held in high esteem in Swazi Culture and are held in high proportion of the country’s population.

Even though some consult healers secretly due to the modernized and religious values instilled the country’s citizenry but is no hidden fact when the going gets tough most people consult traditional healers to find long lasting solutions of their problems.

Going through the local newspapers advertisements, one’s eyes is always tackled by the increased number of traditional healers adverts which literally shows that the consultancy of  traditional healers is alive.

With conservation being used to curb the possession of  ‘protected game’  parts , I therefore  made my research with emajaha lamadzala from the traditional circles who confirmed with authority  that in the past conservation of  traditional medicine plants used to be achieved by various customary conservation practices such as taboos, religious controls and seasonal and social restrictions.

For example, menstruating women were not permitted to collect certain species as this would remove the "power" of the plant. Inadvertent restrictions such as the use of inefficient digging sticks to remove bulbs and roots also prevented overexploitation. Traditional healers and their plant gatherers collected enough for their needs and no more.
Many traditional healers, unlike most commercial gatherers, still adhere to traditional conservation practices in modern times. Among plant gatherers, however, the situation is very different and the collecting and selling of medicinal plants has become highly commercial.
I am not sure of how much animal species have been lost due to poaching or traditional healers in search of certain animal species are being used for traditional medicine all those in support of the crackdown they should know that it means that if traditional medicine disappears then primary and assuming that a primary health to a traditionalist would be compromised and thus would be substituted  with western medicines which would definitely bring a negative spat on the true Swazi Culture which has contributed immensely on luring tourists into the country.

NOTHING GOATY FOR MISS SD FIRST PRINCESS

BLAH! BLAH! OLD MCDONALD HAD A GOAT, E;I;O;

…I  once said it that the organisers of beauty pageants in Swaziland are all about filling their little known CVs with a not so needed publicity

In response to the Honourable Ngwempisi Member of Parliament Veli  who came to the rescue of the ‘now –not –so –important ‘ Miss Swaziland pageant and sponsored it with a goat , I feel this matter just needs to be slaughtered with the goat because if this was gift to the First Princess ( I understand) and if it was meant to be the prize for the pageant then I would like to know the person who decided to list it as a prize and I would personally drive him/her to the nearest dipping tank show him /her where livestock cleanse themselves from unhealthy disorder.

I just wish the princess would have been my relative or have been close to yours truly and I would have read the riot act over this insult. I don’t think even the organisers know that a beauty pageant or contest is a competition that would focus mainly on the physical beauty of its contests and such then is incorporated with personality , talent and answers questions whose scores would be marked by an equally competent panel of judges.

With the current state of Miss Swaziland prizes yours truly being a blogger, writer, Swazi by birth has an obligation to point my 9mm pen to the pageant organisers with just one bullet and explain to them that winners of Miss Swaziland Pageant are called ‘beauty queens’   and thus the ordinary prize of a beauty queen would be tiara, sash , a savings bond or  a cash prize would have been an honour for the First Princess Nosipho Mkhwanazi.

Trust I wouldn’t have responded to this but I was shocked to hear that Miss Swaziland was presented with a car (don’t worry about the model) then do we expect the First to also ‘ride’ on the goat when doing her charity projects. Maybe if we would have given her E500 worth of unit Trust from Stanlib or Africa Alliance then  it was going to be understood.

For the last time may the organisers of any beauty pageant  please do justice to themselves and please stop humiliating the girls. We have seen  in the past some of the girls being dethroned after successfully beaten the whole chuff, others have suffered humiliation after the lack of mentoring.

I just wonder now that we have the beauty queen if they do have a monitoring mechanism and mentoring for queens and be protected from these vultures who are always hell bend to entice the country’s models and shame them with expensive gifts then dump them like used condoms once they reach their sell-by-date.

In a nutshell let me encourage the Miss Swaziland at least beef up its marketing department and convince sponsors to sponsor the pageant. There is no sponsor who would want to be associated with a disorganised  event in the first place. By having the honourable MP sponsoring with a goat it shows that a lot of people out there are willing to be associated with the country’s beauty.

For those within the executive who refuse to research should see Miss South Africa 2010 had been pampered with the following:

 Avis Car Hire – always makes sure that she is mobile when she's away from home.

Barloworld Motor Retail  provided her with a car of her dreams.

Blackberry keeps her in touch with the rest of the world.

Brasilfit South Africa  provides  an exclusive range of Brasilfit activewear throughout her reign so that she can work-out in style.

Camelot Spa keeps her looking - and feeling - great.

Europa Art Shoes makes sure she steps out in fabulously fashionable footwear.

Exclusive Dry Cleaners celebrates 20 years of providing specialised dry-cleaning services to Miss South Africa.

Gary Rom Hairdressing - hair stylists to the stars -  ensure she looks glamorous at all times.

IMAN Cosmetics ensures that Miss SA looks the epitome of beauty and glamour at all times.

Cameroon Clothing  provides Miss SA with a fabulous wardrobe to look glamorous for every occasion.

Jet Set Watches will not only give her a designer diamond watch, but also a luxurious trip to Paris, France.

L’Oreal Professionnel, and Mizani  makes sure her hair has body, bounce and shine, leaving it in superior condition 

Lux Limousines  allows her to arrive in style.

Professional Impressions  ensures that Miss SA's image, etiquette and personal brand is of the highest standard

Pure Motion Studios  provide private Pilates sessions including a fitness training programme designed by Pure Motion Studios, and other holistic wellbeing offerings to keep Miss South Africa fit, toned, relaxed and healthy.

Sun International Dreams - Dreams will whisk her away on a dream holiday to Sun International'sRoyal Livingstone Hotel in Zambia.

Varsity College  provides her and a charity of her choice with educational bursaries

LET RICH WOMEN GO WITH RICH MEN

…So they can equally share their wealth rather than on these carrot showcasing  poor  males, who feature in the hall of fame through sports, booze and being messengers of rich older women .

I might have been called a fool, useless, clueless of how to make money…but nigga please ‘ I don’t need a rich woman in my life’.

I mean as I walked the strides of my life I happened to date the different types of women, slender, thin, chubby, fatty, rich , poor, educated, famous or whatever but out of all these groups the one I wish to remember quickly to forget dating a wealthy African woman.

I know some guys in the Kingdom of Eswatini have directly benefited from sleeping with successful Swazi women …I mean straight from a soccer field  shooting through the stars to boardroom while others enjoyed driving the most expensive vehicles while others like yours truly we would be seen in wild smiles chauffeured on the high profiled wheels.

Just sit back and think again , what good does it bring to enjoy the other person’s wealth when deep inside you don’t love that person but you enjoy ‘stealing’ the loot from the woman’s empire and abusing it on vulnerable young schoolgirls  and models in our society….I wouldn’t want to inflict any hatred to those who are still abusing rich women’s wealth  because they might feel it’s because I failed to steal the millions at my disposal. Ya to me it wasn’t the money cause maybe that rich person never spread her legs stashed with E10 000 for yours truly to penetrate and go out and abuse the money in the my dusty township Msunduza. It was a relationship which building but due to reasons best known to me I decided to jump the ship…

However its not about my life experience in the glittering hands of a rich woman its congratulating the steps local women have taken in closing down the gap between a successful young man and women.

I mean most of local women by mere looking are doing good with life ( apart  the ones still Gold Digging at this day and age) . It should not be a hidden that Swazi Women seem to be now earning E1.10 of the E1.00 my fellow brothers are earning and they seem to make a higher percentage of the current labour force in Swaziland. Is it because my fellow brothers have stolen money from the companies they work for, retrenched or  battling with the consequences of sleeping around at the Mbabane Government Hospital? I just wonder….

I always love sending accolades where its due and it is the reason I express my congratulations to all the women who are now earning more than most of us, however I think it is wise for me to focus on wealth than the income because one’s income only tell part of the story…

I alsways read from Forbes and other  financial publications that wealth  embodies the total economic resources available to its holder, more accurately indicates overall financial status. It is no hidden fact that  wealth can provide a financial cushion in times of distress, decrease the holder’s dependence on employment, and generate opportunities for social and political influence. In fact in this day and age  the gender wealth disparity has been on the rise since 1998 despite the recent decline in the income gap.

I am not a statistician but judging from the type of people in the country’s much more decent drinking holes  the buying power is much imbalanced where most men when requested for beer would always point a finger  to the woman by side. ‘Ngiyinike lomake’ and that is what he would tell a ‘broke’ brother instead of telling the truth that he fears that he would touch his few Emalangeni in his pockets because they would expose him that he has little than his woman.

It is for this reason I am not a fan of people marrying others because of finances because wealth does not solve problems of bedroom aerobics. In the past I noticed that a number of women often became economically dependent on their husbands and had  less control over shared finances. This led to them being abused sexually or otherwise.

It is not hidden fact that most men in the Kingdom of Swaziland manage their finances with ‘stupid’ mindset which that some tasks are suited only for the masculine species while on the other side of the coin it seem like the success of  Swazi women before marriage often impact their relative power in the marriage.

Like I highlighted on my intro these  disadvantages can be difficult to quantify, as marital wealth is often considered equally shared among spouses. I wouldn’t want to sound like am on the feminine side of sliding but it is no hidden fact that  women tend to outlive their husbands, and they experience more negative financial consequences from divorce than men. Half of all households are non-married, half of all marriages end in divorce, and women now spend more of their lives single than married.

Motherhood is another primary cause of the gender wealth gap. Women are more likely to shoulder the financial burden of single parenthood, and in dual-earning couples, mothers are more likely to have primary caregiving responsibility.

With all the glory goes to our better halves then my fellow brothers should also think of caring about decreasing the gap between the wealth in the household  wellbeing of  our sweethearts in their lives, but because they should no longer bear the sole burden of providing financially for  the house.

SOMEONE HAS ROBBED ME MY AIRTIME

AIRTIME TAXATION: Inyandzaleyo economic Hitmen on the loose

At exactly 0140 hours according to local time , am still awake…I don’t feel like sleeping because  when I tried a few hours ago I was woken by a strange dream where some neatly dressed corporate head announced taxation tariffs on my cellular phone.

Does such mean that I am having full ownership of my cellular phone gadget? So this means that there would be a direct reduction in comments such as “Ngelwami lolucingo ngiko ngingakalibambi” from  all trying to get away from constant eardrum bursting questions filled with lust. To me this taxation of airtime is none other than being leased talk time by the State when it should be its obligation to ensure that its citizens benefit from their right to development as enshrined in the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The country is still swimming in the filth filled economic chaos despite the assurance made by the Minister of Finance Majozi Sithole (Do I still trust this man?) that civil servants will be able to receive their merge salaries for the next four months. It is not a hidden joke , Swaziland is experience a mudslide of cash. All thanks should be forwarded to whosoever from the country’s financial institutions who has made an effort to borrow  a ‘broke female friend’ money to pay  her servants. I know our country’s democracy is yet to be defined but it has been unfair from tinini telive to showcase a silence protocol while we have been screaming for help.

While government is trying so hard to wake up from the honeymoon of enriching tenderprenuers  is also battling with silencing the ever increasing number of protesters in the country’s streets and this has proven to yors truly that these so called tinini are no good they are just concerned about their capitalist investments in the country and will be changing base in the next few days.

In the last two years , no would have thought the situation would be this bad , maybe we would have long tried to make efforts of implications political recommendations made by locals and international observers. Once again I would like to thank the local institutions for the bail out but on the other hand I would like to warn the Minister of Finance that John Perkins has always stated in his writings that bailouts serve the creditors while they enslave the debtors.

 Although protesters swarm the streets of  Mbabane, supporting  to the draconian measures being imposed by the IMF and it seems like the country's leadership is crumbling;  We have to bow down to IMF demands and then  accept the bailouts. Identically to the recently announced financial bailouts by local financial institutions Perkins in his writings is of the view  that “it has become evident that bailouts in our own U.S. crisis have only benefited the corporatocracy, with CEO's paying themselves outrageous bonuses. This method of borrowing against the well-being of a country's citizens merely serves to increase the power of the central banks, the IMF and corporate CEOs.In my books, I write about how world economics and politics today are controlled by a very few people -- the corporatocracy. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that whenever "debt restructuring" or "debt forgiveness" deals are struck they include privatizing parts of the economy that were previously considered public. Utilities, schools, prisons, even significant parts of the military are sold to multinational corps. Those who demand smaller government, are -- knowingly or not -- supporting a new brand of corporate imperialism.

My heart is bleeding because very soon we should not be surprised to see our government being controlled or influenced by the corporate sector which literally in the next elections in 2013 we will be voting for those with fat wallets instead of those who will make laws which will benefit the ordinary Swazi from Somntongo. Without inciting any Swazi citizen to any uprising we must just reject robbers from the corporate sector.

Before I  finish this piece I have stumbled over this heartbreaking news that it is proposed that we will now be taked for our mobile phone usage…I understand that this is not only in Swaziland but a total of 11 countries in the world tax mobile phone usages in addition to general sales taxes. We understand that with MTN Swaziland’s monopoly thay have tried to instill economic growth following their healthy mobile business to the vulnerable ordinary Swazi. After failed to qualify for an economics degree in the Institution of Higher learning in my country I wonder with the eleven years into the game have they boosted the country’s gross domestic product…

If government proceeds with this taxation let us hope that MTN and SPTC mobile services will be less affordable and should cut associated impact of mobile phones and mobile broadband services. Recently a study was conducted in 21 coountires which included 12 in sub Saharan Africa discovered that consumers in Turkey continue to pay the most airtime tax at 43 % , followed by the Gabonese Republic at 36% , Pakistan at 31%, Uganda at 30%, Croatia at 29% and the Democratic Republic of Congo at 28%.

 Many governments tax mobile services as a luxury and it has been proven that airtime taxes represent a large proportion of the total level of taxation and represent a barrier to development of services by reducing usage , especially in developing countries like Swaziland where consumers have lower income levels and are highly price sensitive. We should be surprised when these taxes are added to retail prices , raising the cost of mobile services and contributing to a reduction in their consumption.

"This study has found that taxes on buying handsets are notably proportionatly higher than taxes on usage of mobile services in developing markets, leading to unbalanced taxation profiles for mobile-related services. Higher handset taxes increase the retail price which limits access to mobile services in developing markets where consumers are particularly price sensitive. Tax cuts in this area have the potential to significantly boost access to mobile services and their consumption," said Chris Williams, Deloitte Telecoms partner.

DO WE STILL NEED THESE CALL BOXES…..Or solo kuyadliwa

This writing is not targeted to any institution or individual but it is my concern over the fast growing market of cellphones in our slowly financially drained Kingdom of Swaziland . This has resulted to the lesser and lesser numbers of people in Swaziland using public pay phones which call ‘coin or call boxes’.

I mean in the urban populace I have noted that out four people fully grown adult  are always be in possession ( despite considering if it has call credit or not)  and since I finished my high school over a decade ago  there is an evident t impact cellphones had on the business which had been solely operated by the Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications company in Swaziland.

This business is the one some indivuduals abused to empower their friends with huge tenders in the supply, maintenance and installation of  landline phones. I would like to thank MTN (even though it is enjoying unfair advantange of monopoly in the cellular phone business) for coming up at the time we were complaing of malfunctioning or poorly serviced coin boxes and landlines.

It is after the arrival of MTN that a number of Swazis divorced the hard wired phones and fell in love with their Nokia, Alcatels, Orange , Samsungs which has not only connected them to the world but has brought a lot of domestic wars in the love circles.

I have noted that in a week I hardly see a soul making a call in a coin box due to the the now readily available means of communication and a majority of the communication options available in this world are utilised via the cell phone.

  

Therefore, in many ways, the decline of landline phones and the rise in cell phone use does not simply mark a shift between one type of phone to another. The decline of the landline is also a reflection of how individuals have changed in our preferred means of communication.

 We as a culture have embraced new technologies, alternative ways of contacting each other, and even new ways of being marketed to by companies.

The public has become more open to being contacted on their cell phone by mobile/web marketing companies.

There is evidence that the decline of landline phone usage can also be attributed to the current economy. As an increasing number of people started using cell phones, households continued to pay for landlines because they were used to having them. With the decline of the job market, many households have had to choose between a landline and a cell phone. Because the cell phone can be used almost anywhere, is frequently more expensive than a landline, and cell phones have other features such as internet access, the cell phone becomes the obvious choice. The cellphone innovation has led me to wonder why the Swaziland Posts and Communications does not reduce the coin boxes around the country as to minimise its costs of maintenance on unused gadgets or somebody is blessed with a lifetime money spinning venture on unused gadgets…Then government should intervene