Culture and Resistance: Swaziland 1960-2011
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CULTURE AND RESISTANCE: SWAZILAND 1960-2011 By Teresa M. Debly Bachelor of Arts, University of Prince Edward Island, 1983 Bachelor of Education, University of New Brunswick, 1985 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Interdisciplinary Studies in the Graduate Academic Unit of Interdisciplinary Studies Supervisor: Robert Whitney, Ph.D. History Examining Board: Carolyn Bassett, Ph. D. Politics Joseph Galbo, Ph. D. Sociology Leslie Jeffrey, Ph. D. Politics This thesis is accepted by the Dean of Graduate Studies THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK September, 2011 ©Teresa M. 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Canada ABSTRACT “Culture ” and “tradition ” are used by the royal family of Swaziland to maintain its position o f power in the Kingdom; however, over the past forty-one years various forms o f "resistance" to this domination have emerged. In response to the refusal o f people to be loyal "subjects ”, the regime has introduced draconian laws that prohibit political parties, free speech and any form o f opposition. This thesis will examine the role ofprotest songs and funerals as new sites o f political dissidence within Africa’s last absolute monarchy. Table of Contents ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................................ii Table of Contents........................................................................................................................ iii Glossary....................................................................................................................................... iv Introduction................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1........................................................................................................................................ 9 Chapter II.................................................................................................................................... 34 Chapter III...................................................................................................................................50 Chapter IV...................................................................................................................................63 Chapter V .................................................................................................................................... 94 Appendix 1 ..................................................................................................................................99 Appendix II ............................................................................................................................... 103 Bibliography.............................................................................................................................106 Curriculum Vitae Glossary ANC African National Congress AUDP African United Democratic Party CET Commonwealth Expert Team COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions CPS Communist Party of Swaziland INM Imbodvko (grindstone) National Movement LCC Labour Co-ordinating Council NNLC Ngwane National Libratory Congress Observer Swazi Observer/Weekend Observer (Newspaper) PUDEMO People’s United Democratic Movement RSP Royal Swazi Police SACP South African Communist Party SDA Swaziland Democratic Alliance SFL Swaziland Federation of Labour SFTU Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions SUDF Swaziland United Democratic Front SWAYOCO Swaziland Youth Congress SWAPLA Swaziland People’s Liberation Army, Umbane (Lightning) SNEMWA Swaziland National Ex-Miners Workers Association SSN Swaziland Solidarity Network Times Times of Swaziland/Swazi News/Sunday Times (Newspaper) TUCOSWA Trade Union Congress of Swaziland iv USDF Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force siSwati Terms INCWALA - rain ceremony INDLOVU or NDLOVU - “she elephant” or queen mother INGWENYAMA or NGWENYAMA - “lion” or king LIQOQO - inner circle of king’s advisors LIBANADLA - the Swazi National Council, all adult Swazi men TIBIYO TAKANGWANE - royal trust fund TINKHUNDLA - (plural of inkhundla) local constituencies and “parliamentary” form of government since 1978 TOYI TOYI - (southern African term) form of protest action where a militaristic style exercise drill is performed while singing UMHLANGA - reed dance UMCWASHA - chastity rite v Introduction The “Cultural” Gap between the Palaces and the People The Kingdom of Swaziland is often described as the “Switzerland of Africa,” which conjures beautiful images of magnificent mountain scenery and lush green pastures (SIPA, 2008: 6). Even place names, such as Ezulwini (the valley of heaven - home to the royal family), depict an African Shangri-La. These euphemisms portray only a single dimension of the country and do not look beyond physical geography. They are strictly a view from above and used by government, business and tourist offices to present the image of an idyllic place. Rwanda, another small but turbulent mountainous country which “on the surface... [had] rolling hills and polite people” also had the distinction of being called Switzerland of Africa (Orbinsky, 2008: 43). That was before Rwanda’s civil war and genocide. Close-to-the-ground in Swaziland, however, life is not so idyllic. The contrast is stark. For example, in August 2008 Forbes magazine named king Mswati III of Swaziland the second richest man in Africa, while the United Nations’ World Food Programme “keeps a record 600,000 Swazis alive - more than 60% of the population” (Hall, 2008). Also in 2008, the United Nations Development Program reported sixty-nine percent of the population living below the poverty line while the king has between fourteen and twenty wives and concubines, more than forty children and has built over a dozen palaces (to accompany the single one his father Sobhuza II had built). Four years prior, Swaziland obtained the dubious notoriety of having the world’s highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS (Lewis, 2005: 179). There are estimates of between fifty-five and eighty- 1 six thousand children orphaned because of the pandemic in this country of 1.14 million (UNICEF, 2011). Life expectancy declined from 57 years in 1990, to 44 years in 2002, and 31 years in 2009 (World Bank, 2005: 203; Index Mundi, 2010). It is within this socio economic context that a political/cultural crisis also exists. Political parties have been banned since April 12, 1973. A government sponsored ideology of cultural traditionalism has dominated the country for thirty-eight years and a State of Emergency has never been lifted. Political activists and lawyers argue decades of constitutional talks, and a new Constitution introduced in February 2006, changed nothing because the king retains absolute power over the legislative, judicial and executive branches of government. The cultural discourse is a maze of euphemisms (“valley of heaven”, “unique democracy”, and the “mouth that tells no lies”) that confound and confuse. They seek to mask and legitimate what is a rather naked and authoritarian exercise of power. Yet, fractures in the state have emerged as forms of resistance continually evolve. Struggles over “culture” play a prominent role in Swazi politics and “resistance” to the monarchy’s cultural claims is a central theme of this thesis. It is not the intent of this thesis to reify culture into a "thing," into an amorphous, abstract power above or outside society. Cultural meanings whether from the elites or from subaltern groups are always worked out within the context of specific