Is Sibaya necessary for dissolution of Parly?

This is an unedited version of “As I See It” column article published by the Times of Swaziland on June 26, 2013.

By Vusi Sibisi

The announcement last week of the convergence of Sibaya sometime next month by the acting traditional Prime Minister Timothy Velabo Mtetwa, otherwise popularly known as TV, has started a feeding frenzy on the rumour machine given the unpredictable nature of Swazi politics.

Yet with the constitution now in tow nothing of Swazi politics should remain unpredictable, especially since an unpredictable environment is not conducive to achieving national crucial national imperatives such as economic development and social cohesion but a nemesis of capital. And without capital, particularly foreign direct investment, little or nothing of national developmental initiatives would see the light of day.

Personally I was not surprised by the announcement coming as it did in the middle of the election season primarily since it is expected that His Majesty King Mswati III will dissolve the current government to give way for the election of a new one. Understandably the new constitutional order has not taken root given the fact that this is the second national elections to take place under the new national charter hence rumours are bound to fly all over since the people are not yet in sync with their constitution.

But with or without the constitution, Swazi politics are always mired in mystery and secrecy. And eight years after the adoption of the national charter nothing seems to have changed. Over the years prior to the introduction of a constitutional regime the convening of Sibaya became synonymous with the changing of the guard at Hospital Hill, when the incumbent prime minister would be replaced by another Dlamini man. That was the nearest Swazi politics came closest to predictability.

Although the constitution dictates that Sibaya, or the People’s Parliament, which it describes as the highest advisory and policy making body, should meet at least once a year, this has not been the case since the national charter was adopted as the supreme law of the land on July 26, 2005. Contrary to the constitution, the nation has only been summoned on two occasions, first when parliament was dissolved in 2008 to give way to elections and second when the new prime minister was appointed after the elections.

Significantly Sibaya was convened last year when the Kingdom of eSwatini was battered by a multitude of problems especially on the labour front headlined by the teachers’ so-called “Waya Waya” (indefinite) strike over salary increment demands that at one stage threatened to spill over to parents and students. It turned out that that was one Sibaya never to be forgotten in the annals of modern day history of this the Kingdom of eSwatini. The occasion was a milestone and charted new ground with its radical tones on the governance and political future of the Kingdom, a far departure from the well choreographed praise singing of past events during which only blind loyalists strategically placed across the cattle byre would be picked to make contributions.

Besides the people calling on the dissolution of the Cabinet over its failure to deliver as expected coupled to a number of disastrous decisions, such as Cabinet Ministers, including Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini, granting themselves prime crown land in Mbabane at highly discounted prices to the infamous Circular No. 1 of 2010, which guaranteed lucrative but substantively unsustainable exit packages for politicians at the end of their term this year, they also wanted to directly elect the next prime minister. Never before had the authority of BaKaNgwane been challenged in such fashion - and from within their stronghold of the Ludzidzini Royal Cattle Byre to boot.

 Additionally, the people also wanted the unpopular Circular No. 1 to be reviewed or set aside and the teachers’ grievances to be addressed and the summary dismissal of striking teachers to be reversed. It is almost a year later since that historic Sibaya yet the people’s recommendations, with the exception of the reversal of the summary dismissal of teachers who had participated in the “Waya Waya” strike, and have still not been implemented.

Paradoxically, instead of Cabinet Ministers being showed the door they were rewarded with medals for a job well done during this year’s King’s birthday celebrations commemorated in Siteki, a move that was tantamount to cocking a snook at the people’s voices at Sibaya. Given that it is already late in the day there is also no likelihood that the controversial Circular No. 1 will be reviewed before the dissolution of parliament, for which Sibaya will be exclusively convened. With elections already in progress there are no indications that the people will also get to elect their prime minister, at least not this time around, because this may impact on the constitution requiring an amendment thereof.

So, in all earnest last year’s Sibaya may not have happened at all because just about everything the people prayed for pretty much remains unchanged.

As I see it, BaKaNgwane must have agonized over the decision to convene Sibaya when they know that they have not lived up to the expectations of the last Sibaya but have been forced by circumstances. Indeed it is an embarrassment to a political system that has prided itself on being unitary in which the voice of the nation is the fundamental principle upon which the country is governed that now BaKaNgwane are forced to face the same nation and try to hoodwink it on their failure to live up to the letter and spirit of the constitution – govern by and through consensus. After all what good is it that the constitution touts Sibaya as the supreme advisory and policy making organ of state yet the leadership refuses to listen to the voices of the people. 

As I see it, had an enabling legislation to breathe life into Sibaya been created that would address its processes, etc., that I alluded to previously on this column, there probably would be no need to summon the nation for the specific purpose of dissolving parliament. This objective can be achieved through a legal instrument probably derived from this or any other legislation. Had this been achieved the one Sibaya that matters in an election year would be for the appointment of the incoming prime minister. That would save the country a lot of inconveniences some of which directly impact on the economy in lost man hours in both the public and private sectors.

Perhaps one may be downgrading the value of the slated Sibaya where probably the dissolution of parliament will not be the only issue but the other would be for the tabling and adoption of last year’s Sibaya report and resolutions. Could be, but not necessarily important now that that report has largely been overtaken by events. But again in the realm of Swazi politics nothing is impossible even if it against the grain of the national constitution.