After ‘verbal attack’ by journalist, Eswatini plans ‘redesign’ in how citizens are to be informed

Eswatini Prime Minister Russell Dlamini. (Russell Mmiso Dlamini/Facebook)

The Eswatini government says the prime minister was verbally attacked by a senior journalist.The government will now seek to review how it communicates with the public.The journalist says there’s a long-standing battle between the government and the media.

The Eswatini government is contemplating shutting down the country’s Editors Forum after a senior journalist had a verbal showdown with Prime Minister Russell Dlamini on Friday.

In a statement, government spokesperson Alpheus Nxumalo said the editor of The Nation magazine, Bheki Makhubu, “meted a verbal attack” and, in the process, brought the name of King Mswati III into a discussion that had nothing to do with him during the Editors Forum breakfast meeting.

Nxumalo added that it was not the first time Makhubu had behaved in such a manner towards Dlamini.

“To protect the office of the prime minister, the government has taken a decision to redesign how the public will be informed about government business and issues of national importance going forward,” Nxumalo said.

In an interview with News24, Makhubu said the government was at loggerheads with the media, and that the vindictiveness towards journalists extended to the courts.

“There’s an ongoing fight between the state and the media over freedom of speech. It’s a battle that’s been going on for a while now and it includes the courts, which are extremely hostile towards the media. The authorities want the media to operate on their terms, so some of us are resisting that,” he said.

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Makhubu said that, during the Friday meeting, Dlamini told journalists to “be patriotic and report only positively on the government”, said Makhubu.

“This was our third interaction with him on this forum since he was appointed to office and we have realised that not only is he very hostile to the media, he is contemptuous of journalists.

“My outburst was a reaction to his very patronising attitude.”

Makhubu also drew parallels with King Mswati III’s 38-year rule.

“I said to him, even King Mswati III, who has ruled this country for 38 years, has never treated us the way the prime minister does. That is why I asked him who he thinks he is,” he said.

In 2014, Makhubu and the late human rights defender, Thulani Maseko, were jailed in connection with separate articles each had written that criticised the late Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi.

They were sentenced to two years each, in what the courts said was a deterrent sentence for would-be offenders. 

Makhubu spent 447 days in jail.

In February this year, Dlamini began his term of office with a threat to regulate the media. He vowed to enact the Media Commission Bill to maintain a tight grip on the media space.

According to Reporters Without Borders, Eswatini, as an absolute monarchy, prevents journalists from working freely and independently.

The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.

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