Sober Eye Eswatini

11/08/2022

Zwemart EXPOSES Mlungisi Makhanya as commander of Solidarity Forces

The People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) is back to the guerilla tactics that got them banned in the Kingdom of Eswatini. Through his eagerness to be at the forefront of “the struggle”, self-qualified journalist Zweli Martin “Zwemart” Dlamini has exposed PUDEMO President Mlungisi as the commander of the Swaziland International Solidarity Forces (commonly referred to as Solidarity Forces or Ground Forces.

The Solidarity Forces are responsible for the cold-blooded murder of police officers, as well as arson attacks around the country — in the name of peace and apparently protecting the people of Eswatini. The armed group was formed after Mlungisi Makhanya and his cronies discussed the need for an armed militaristic wing of their political movement — as reported by the Times of Eswatini.

Zwemart’s Swaziland News has been publicly promoting the Solidarity Forces, to the point of publishing a competition to design a logo for the them. Zwemart has also been consistently getting comments from Solidarity Forces after every attack they stage— claiming that he is protecting the identity of the commander and Solidarity Forces members for ethical reasons. However, Zwemart accidentally exposed the commander of the Solidarity Forces as Mlungisi Makhanya on his most recent article.

Zwemart published an article titled “Editor meets with Solidarity Forces Commander during an inspection of weapons”. He published a censored picture of the commander presumably testing a gun. The picture is edited to cover the face of the commander in an attempt to hide his identity. However, this attempts fails dismally considering that it is very easy to see that the man aiming a gun in the picture is Mlungisi Makhanya. This is because in the picture, Mlungisi is wearing a combination of clothes he has previously worn.

As if to really make sure that we can recognise Mlungisi in this picture, Zwemart’s graphic editor left the chin exposed to show us Mlungisi’s typical beard.

Zwemart’s article reads:

“These weapons would be used in the next stages of the ongoing operations. We don’t want to reveal our strategies, but we just want our people to know that the process of liberating the country from the hands of Mswati is ongoing,” said the SISF Commander, who was accompanied by other senior members commanding other units.

It is unclear yet whether the Solidarity Forces are purely PUDEMO’s brainchild with Swaziland News as their key partner — or if the other political movements are also invested in starting a civil war in the Kingdom of Eswatini through the use of guerilla attacks.

One thing is very clear though, Mlungisi Makhanya can no longer deny that he is responsible for deadly violence as commander of the so-called Solidarity Forces — thanks to his friend and king of misinformation, Zwemart Dlamini.

It remains to be seen what this cycle of violence is going to achieve for Emaswati, as many countries have gone through this and never recovered their standard of living. Mlungisi Makhanya is clearly a coward because he has denied being the leader of the guerilla, and it remains to be seen how the law will proceed with this information. It also remains to be seen how PUDEMO will publicly react to this exposure of their president, as they openly support a convicted killer terrorist Amos Mbedzi because he was a PUDEMO member.

13/05/2022

https://link.medium.com/qzdo4qmrZpb

Zweli Martin “Zwemart” Dlamini continues to be a loose cannon for all the stakeholders involved in the politics of Eswatini. The Swaziland…

02/05/2022

CPS Member KILLED by PUDEMO at May Day Celebrations
Leaders of the country’s political parties are hiding the fact that a political activist died on Sunday during the violence that occurred at the May Day celebrations held at St. Paul’s sports ground in Manzini.
The person who was killed is a member of the Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS).
He was hit with stones and fell to the ground and he was finished off by a flury of other stones that were thrown at him after he had collapsed on the ground.
It is suspected that he was killed by members of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO).
The PUDEMO members are said to have been mostly from the Mbekelweni branch and are the ones who were mostly violent during the event.
The death of the CPS member is being concealed because it is feared that it will drive people away from joining political parties.
There is also fear that if his death becomes public, this will confirm what King Sobhuza II said in 1973 regarding political parties bringing divisions and hatred among Emaswati.
The biggest fear is that the death of the CPS leader will result in an eruption of war among members of the political parties and result in deadly clashes each time the members come across each other.
Leaders of the political parties are said to have agreed to deal with the CPS member’s death secretly and only communicate with his family.
The murdered CPS member was part of a group that consisted of SWALIMO (Swaziland Liberation Movement) and EFF Swaziland (Economic Freedom Fighters) who had teamed up against PUDEMO members.
Members of CPS and EFF Swaziland had joined up with SWALIMO members to fight PUDEMO after accusing PUDEMO of undermining all the other political parties, especially SWALIMO.
It is known that the CPS is a breakaway organisation of PUDEMO and the two have always had it in for each other.
When PUDEMO leader Mlungisi Makhanya undermined SWALIMO leader Mduduzi Gawuzela Simelane during the celebrations, the CPS members saw this an opportunity to carry out an attack of PUDEMO by siding with SWALIMO.
The EFF Swaziland is also currently in a strained relationship with PUDEMO hence its members also joined forces with SWALIMO and the CPS to attack PUDEMO.
While the confrontation between members of the political parties began in the afternoon during the delivering of speeches by their leaders, the deadly violence took place at the end of the event when everyone was supposed to go back home.
PUDEMO members had taken time to arm themselves with stones and other missiles as well as bush knives and hone-made pangas and waited for the event to be over.
Members of the CPS, SWALIMO and EFF Swaziland had also prepared themselves to stage an attack on PUDEMO members when the day’s events were over.
As planned, all hell broke loose when the event ended and the members attacked each other.
As everyone ran in different directions in fear of their lives, the CPS member was being stoned like a snake until he died.
He was then rushed to the RFM hospital where he was certified dead.

18/02/2022

https://link.medium.com/2C66PADpKnb

Last week, we reported to you that Zweli Martin “Zwemart” Dlamini has a history of schizophrenia, and has been admitted to the Psychiatric…

18/02/2022

ZWEMART PROVES INCOMPETENT…AGAIN

Last week, we reported to you that Zweli Martin “Zwemart” Dlamini has a history of schizophrenia, and has been admitted to the Psychiatric Centre before. We also called him out on masquerading as a qualified journalist when he did not even complete high school. We come to you again with more evidence that Zwemart is as incompetent as he is arrogant.
Zwemart is currently spreading misinformation to the public about the proposed new tax laws of Eswatini. According to Zwemart, more money will now go into the hands of the government as Pay as You Earn tax goes from 33% to 36%. However, this is verifiably not true, as the increase in PAYE is caused by the fact that people who earn between E3,500 and E4,000 will no longer be paying taxes under the new law. The increase in taxes for those who earn more is offset by the loss of tax revenue from those who earn less — there’s no real net increase in tax collected by the government, as suggested by Zwemart.
As clarified in the Minister of Finance’s National Budget Speech for 2022, the tax is actually reducing for people who earn less than E300,000 a year.
It is refreshing to note that not all Emaswati believe Zwemart’s incompetent assertions. Some members of the public were quick to call him out on his social media where he published the story. One such example is captured below.
https://link.medium.com/2C66PADpKnb

14/02/2022

ZWEMART'S HISTORY OF MENTAL ILLNESS, ASSAULTING GRANDMOTHER

A history of mental illness has been uncovered against private investigator turned journalist and now terrorist Zweli Martin ‘Zwemart’ Dlamini.
There is a file of him at the Manzini Psychiatric Centre (Etinhlanyeni) after he was diagnosed with a chronic brain disorder known as Schizophrenia.
Reliable medical websites mention that when schizophrenia is active, symptoms can include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, trouble with thinking and lack of motivation.
Staff at the psychiatric hospital have revealed that Zwemart becomes violent whenever the illness becomes active and his thinking capacity becomes compromised.
This explains some of the violent behavior he has displayed towards some of his family members, particularly his grandmother.
When Zwemart’s grandfather passed away, he physically assaulted his grandmother as he demanded that he be given the money that was contributed by mourners towards the burial of the grandfather.
In SiSwati, this money is known as imali yetinyembeti, and anyone who falsely lays claim to it is bound to suffer bad luck in their lifetime and becomes at loggerheads with his/her ancestors.
Zwemart was raised by his grandfather after his father denied paternity. To save his family from societal shame, the grandfather then took him under his wings and raised him as his own.
Therefore, when the grandfather died Zwemart felt he was entitled to inherit all that he owned.
He ignored that the grandfather had more than one wife and therefore other children, besides his father (who rejected him), who were the rightful heirs of the grandfather.
Even before the grandfather was buried, Zwemart started to demand that he be given the money that was left by people who had come to mourn.
When told that he could not have this money, he began being violent towards anyone who opposed him.
After the burial, he become even more violent to the extent that his family had to seek the intervention of the courts.
His grandmother has a scar that was inflicted by Zwemart in one of her ears during an altercation over the ‘imali yetinyembeti’.
Besides demanding the money, Zwemart also demanded that he be given a portion of his grandfather’s land.
He even began building a house on a portion of land that the family uses for farming purposes.
He also demanded ownership of avocado trees that are within the family compound.
When this was opposed by the family members, Zwemart went into a fit of rage and cut down all the trees.
It was the courts that put a stop to all his claims but this was not enough to stop him.
There is an urgent investigation regarding fraudulent withdrawals of money held by the Office of the Master of the High Court and Zwemart is the Number 1 suspect.
His family members attribute this wayward, erratic and unruly behavior to his mental illness.
They say that Zwemart has always been in denial of his mental illness such that he even refused to take medication prescribed by doctors at the mental institution.
At times, the relatives say Zwemart has a drooling mouth (uvuta tince) when the illness kicks in and he has his mouth gaping (abe yinkhamisa) without even realising it.
They suspect that this illness was the main reason why he did not finish his high education but elected to drop out in Form 4.
They say the illness was made worse when Zwemart started smoking dagga and became violent towards teachers and refused to be taught or to take any instruction, which was why he does not have a high school certificate.
The relatives say they are surprised that today Zwemart claims to be fighting for the rights of Emaswati yet he has failed to respect the rights of his family members, especially the rights of his grandmother whom he physically assaulted.
https://link.medium.com/wsccUy7rDnb

10/02/2022

PUDEMO MEMBERS CALLING THE SHOTS AT ESWATINI REVENUE AUTHORITY

The interim Director General of the Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) Brightwell Siboniso Nkambule is faced with the daunting challenge of dealing with openly politically-affiliated senior employees who are dividing the organisation along political party lines.
While the ERS is a 100 percent government-owned public enterprise, the senior employees are members and supporters of political parties working to collapse the current government and Monarchy.
Anyone within the employ of ERS who is considered to be sympathetic to or in favour of the current regime is subjected to victimisation.
Leading this crusade are the Corporate Services Manager/Human Resources Manager Leonard Nxumalo and one Manqoba Gama who are both members of PUDEMO.
Gama has openly declared his PUDEMO membership on his page while Nxumalo is known to be associated with the political party.
This is a direct violation of the ERS code of conduct and ethics which restricts its employees when it comes to political participation and activity.
But despite Gama publicly stating his Political affiliation and his opposition to the current regime, no action has been taken against him.
This is because of his close association with Nxumalo who is supposed to lead the process of calling him to order through a disciplinary hearing.
However, that was not the case for another ERS employee Phindile Hlophe who was suspended after being accused of shouting that soldiers should beat up protestors in Matsapha last year.
Gama is the one who used his Political affiliation to influence Nxumalo that Hlophe should be charged so that other ERS employees can know that PUDEMO was now in charge of the organisation and anyone against the regime change movement would be taken to task.
Both Gama and Nxumalo’s employment with the ERS is still unclear because they passed the vetting process despite their known political affiliation.
A very senior leader of the ERS is the one who facilitated their employment and made sure that they passed the vetting process.
This leader is also suspected to be a PUDEMO member, which is what has made Gama and Nxumalo to be known as untouchables within the ERS.
Nxumalo was employed by ERS in 2018 despite having been fired in his previous employment in Botswana as Chief Executive Officer of Water Utilities Corporation (WUC).
Nxumalo was fired only a year into his three year contract after being called upon to account for millions of P**a that the Botswana government had pumped into the parastatal.
Before his sacking, Nxumalo was summoned to the Minister’s office, where the minister demanded that he accounts for the funds that government was pumping into the parastatal.
Nxumalo was specifically instructed to account for the P388 million that WUC had received from government under the pretext that part of the money would be used to pay employees.
Nxumalo’s troubles were further compounded by WUC employees who had reported management to the Permanent Secretary for failing to pay them performance rewards, even though such funds were availed by government.
Nxumalo had joined WUC in 2012 as a consultant (turn-around strategist) and only became the CEO in 2014.
Prior to joining WUC, Nxumalo worked for Swaziland Water Services Corporation (SWSC) as Director of Strategic Services.
Before the SWSC, Nxumalo worked for Cadbury Swaziland from 1996 to 2001.
He also worked for Mhlume Sugar Company between 1993 and 1996.
Nxumalo has a Masters degree in Public Management from the Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA).
He also has a Bachelor of Social Science (Public Administration and Economics) from the University of Swaziland.
It was while he was at UNISWA between 1984 and 1988 that he became affiliated to PUDEMO and remains a member to this day.

https://link.medium.com/1NwgmTddxnb

09/02/2022

09/02/2022

NO to Chinese colonialism!

09/02/2022

09/02/2022

HOW ONE COUNTRY CAN SHOW THE AFRICAN CONTINENT HOW NOT TO FALL INTO THE CHINESE DEBT- TRAP

BY SIBONGILE NXUMALO

When Zambia, at the end of 2020, opted out of a $42.5 million repayment, it became the first African nation to default on debt against the backdrop of the pandemic. Economists across the region and beyond rushed to understand what lay behind the default and whether it could affect other African nations affected by the pandemic.

A growing number of experts have pointed out to the undervaluation of Zambia’s debt owed to China, known as the Chinese debt-trap. According to AidData, a research institute that seeks to make development finance more transparent, accountable, and effective, there are 38 African countries that have debt to the Chinese government worth more than 10% of their economies. Ten other countries have hidden debts to Chinese banks amounting to more than 10% of their GDP.

These countries, whose economies are collapsing under the cost of the pandemic, are at risk of succumbing to a combination of sovereign debt and hidden loans.

African countries, it seems, less than a century after the collapse of colonialism, are falling like dominoes to be owned by a foreign power. However, there is one nation in our whole continent which has yet to succumb to China’s lure, and in their plucky fight, we might learn how to reverse this worrying trend.

Despite tremendous pressure, Eswatini recognized Taiwan over China in 1968 and has maintained formal diplomatic relations ever since. In May 2018, Burkina Faso switched to recognize China, thus ending diplomatic ties with Taiwan, making Eswatini the only hold out to China’s advances in Africa. This is a situation that China has long hoped to rectify.

Even though Eswatini is one of the smallest economies in the region, China sees it as a matter of pride and honor that fewer and fewer nations have relations with Taiwan and sees Eswatini’s position as an ongoing challenge. Chinese officials have threatened to “cripple” Eswatini’s business and economic development should it not switch its allegiance from Taiwan to China.

Nevertheless, Taiwan has become one of Eswatini’s closest and most reliable allies and a vital development partner, with dozens of Taiwanese investors backing businesses providing tens of thousands of jobs across the country. Already, apart from direct investment, relations between the two countries have brought about greater interest from Western countries who want to take advantage of this rarity in Africa. Trilateral partnership agreements are starting to spring up with nations like the U.S. whose own economic battles with China have meant that it seeks to assist those nations not in the Sino orbit.

While any nation should look out with caution at any foreign attempts to invest, the difference between the way China and the West use collateral could not be starker.

China’s global infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative has caused dozens of lower- and middle-income countries to accumulate $385 billion in “hidden debts” to Beijing.

However, countries like the United States have tried to adopt more equitable practices of investment, launching a worldwide “Global Gateway” program, as they look to challenge China’s massive financial and geopolitical influence in the developing world.

So, while China offers debt, the West offers aid.

Let’s not be in any doubt, the West is not offering free money out of the goodness of their heart. It is all part of the newly developing “Cold War” between the U.S. and China.

Nevertheless, as in all crises, there remains an opportunity.

Eswatini is today acting almost as a beacon of light to its neighbors, showing them that there is another way. That it is possible to reject the lure of the Chinese yuan and survive.

Eswatini is not some sort of economical paradise, but it is in a much better place to bounce back economically once the pandemic has subsided.

If we look at national debt to GDP across Africa in 2020, before COVID, Eswatini’s was 15.49%, amongst the lowest on the continent. In contrast, some, like the Republic of Congo, Angola, Cape Verde, and Mozambique, are showing results of over 100% of its government debt to GDP, with the latter’s ten times that of its neighbour to the West.

Regardless of what China places on the table, the debt eventually must be paid, and the bill usually falls on the average citizen, unaware of the deals that are being made above their heads. The example of Sri Lanka should be a cautionary tale for all. There are fears that the island nation may soon become a Chinese colony, because of its crippling debt.

Africans should not accept the possibility of being colonized once again, not by foreign powers and not economically. Eswatini provides a possible antidote to this worrying but increasing reality and a path to a different future.

https://intpolicydigest.org/how-one-country-can-show-the-african-continent-how-not-to-fall-into-the-chinese-debt-trap/

01/02/2022

DISHONOURABLE, DESPERATE GAWUZELA SPEADS FAKE NEWS

SWALIMO president Mduduzi Gawzela Simelane has resorted to spreading outright lies in a bid to coerce students to embark on class boycotts.
This afternoon Simelane has shared an old video of protesting students, claiming that the footage was from today at Swazi National High school in Matsapha.
With this lie he is trying to counter an earlier genuine video of students from the school chasing out political activists who had come to recruit them to join protests following the arrest of SNUS president, Colan Maseko.
Gawuzela posted this fake news video in SWALIMO groups.
Our sources around Kwaluseni have confirmed to us that as of 30 minutes ago pupils at Swazi National High were in class and all was quiet at the school