The Council of Swaziland Churches (CSC) is of the notion that the dialogue was agreed upon by authorities only to appease regional partners and come out as being sensitive to the wishes of the citizenry.
This was detailed in their recently-released joint statement with the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP).
However, government is adamant that the reason the national dialogue has stalled is due to the current environment, which it has deemed non-conducive.
“Government’s position regarding the national dialogue is clear; a dialogue will take place once the environment is deemed safe for all emaSwati to partake in.”
As previously alluded to, government remains committed to having a national dialogue, with or without international partners. We are all aware of the ongoing violence and terrorist acts against some emaSwati. The Deputy Government Spokesperson Thabile Mdluli, alluded no dialogue could take place under such a hostile environment, highlighting that they urged stakeholders not to be biased when addressing the country’s political situation, but to be objective and impartial in their analysis.
CCJP and the CSC, in their recent statement, added their voices to other civil society organs both inside and outside the country, calling on the regional economic bloc, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), to urge the Eswatini Government to implement the dialogue that was announced by the country’s authorities almost a year ago.
The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) and the Council of Swaziland Churches (CSC) add their voices to other civil society organs both inside and outside calling on the regional economic bloc, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to urge the Eswatini Government to implement the “dialogue” that was announced by the country’s authorities almost a year ago. This call comes on the eve of the SADC Heads of States Summit to be held later this week in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“Whilst we note the recent efforts made by SADC to restore the initial culture of non-violence with a proposal for an all-inclusive national dialogue in Eswatini, we believe that very little has been done by the authorities to bring eMaswati together and bring synergy towards human normality where peace and stability reigns supreme. Even in the face of disturbing episodes by fanatical groups located in both opposing camps, dialogue should remain an ongoing deliberation that is able to bring people together for better understanding of societal concerns and collectively devise strategies aimed at addressing these concerns. We have noted that when members of a society do not dialogue, they will never understand or know each other. They build prejudices, bigotries and inhibitions about each other. This (as has evidently been witnessed in our country) leads to mistrust, and once this has scaffolded higher, brotherhood and sisterhood becomes impossible.
We have taken note of comments to the effect that state security officers would now have to meet fire with fire to deal with what appears to be targeted attacks. The remarks are regrettable and unfortunate. These effectively rule out the possibility of fruitful talks aimed at addressing the ongoing political impasse. If anything, the remarks further exacerbate an already volatile situation and somehow spell disaster for the country. At the moment it all appears like the leadership had only acceded to the demands for a dialogue only to appease the regional partners and come out as being sensitive to the wishes of the citizenry.
L-R: CCJPExecutive Director Mr. Thami Tsabedze; Fr. Khonzumenzi Dlamini and Nkulungwane Mthethwa during the previous dialogue
The tune that the leadership seems to be playing is a different story altogether; their actions seem to be premised from a hope that the current crisis is something that will pass and therefore buying time for that desired hour to come. Initially, there were timeframes that were set at the beginning of the talk of a dialogue, but these were never adhered to. Essentially, nothing has happened so far regarding the dialogue and the situation keeps getting worse, with the citizens being thrown into a cloud of uncertainty.
In making this call to SADC, we re-echo the words of Pope Francis that he lovingly addressed to “those who hold responsibility, and those who are manifesting their aspirations for the future of the country, to a common effort toward dialogue, reconciliation and the peaceful settlement of different positions…authentic social dialogue involves the ability to respect the other’s point of view and to admit that it may include legitimate convictions and concerns.” While perhaps this call is not new, given the unprecedented violence and the apparent determination to stick to this call, we humbly propose that attention to this call be given. We are concerned that a failure to heed this call may lead to escalation of violence that will see more loss of life and the destruction of economy and infrastructure happening. We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the seemingly premeditated attacks on people resulting in the loss of life.
All lives matter. We are all children of God, and all human life is precious!”
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