WHO LIES THE MOST; THE PROGRESSIVES OR THE GOVERNMENT?
Dh
One of the most disturbing features of eSwatini’s political landscape, both within the state and the opposition, is the culture of lies, exaggeration, and deceit that has taken root as a tool for political warfare.
It is a tragedy that what began as a noble struggle for freedom and justice has been corrupted by a toxic addiction to misinformation, name-calling, and moral recklessness. Today, truth has become a casualty in the tug-of-war between the government and the mass democratic movement (MDM).
Both sides lie brazenly, routinely, and without remorse. While the government created the environment of secrecy, opacity, and spin-doctoring that made dishonesty thrive, the opposition has perfected the art of manipulation and distortion.
The result is a society that no longer trusts anyone or gullible enough to accept anything as true. The progressive movement in eSwatini — once admired for its bravery — now finds itself discredited in the eyes of international observers and people of sane mind.
For years, human rights bodies and foreign media have had to “fact-check” information coming from eSwatini because too many claims have turned out to be exaggerated or entirely false. It should not be this way. The truth about eSwatini’s oppression is already bad enough; it does not need embellishment.
King Mswati III. Writer says he is about too much.
Yet, to many within the MDM, propaganda has become an acceptable substitute for truth, as long as it is directed at the King or the royal family. Take, for example, this South African-based organisations that for years peddled the lie that King Mswati “rapes” young girls or that maidens are forced to attend Umhlanga.
These are falsehoods that any honest Swazi knows are untrue or grossly overstated. While there are cases of social coercion at the chiefdom level, to claim that all girls are forced is dishonest. Yet such sweeping fabrications are repeated as “activism,” only to collapse when verified — damaging the credibility of the entire democratic movement.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media as well as some prominent activists “killed” King Mswati several times. During the 2021 uprising, some local media platforms declared that the King had fled the country. International media houses picked up the story, only to later retract it in embarrassment.
But as Swazis, we had gotten used to being lied to as long as the target was the government or the King. We justified this as “activism.”Slowly, the nation was being conditioned to use lies and deception as a mobilising tool. Then came the rumours that Prince Sicalo had been killed by the King, that the monarch was dying of cancer, or that one of his youngest wives had fled to KwaZulu-Natal recently.
None of this was true. But in the logic of the MDM’s propaganda machine, so long as the lie hurts the King, it is legitimate. In fact, it seems that to be a “progressive,” one must be foul-mouthed, brash, and lack credibility among ordinary people.
Worse still, this culture of slander has turned inward — devouring its own. It started subtly, with attacks on “captured” journalists (some not without justification), calling the King insultive names like "macwatsa", accusing dissenting voices within the MDM as being “pro-regime.”
Swalimo President Mduduzi Gawuzela Simelane. He has been a subject of insults.
For example, when Swazi Observer Managing Editor Mbongeni Mbingo was vilified online, few dared to speak up. It felt justified because many “hated” him and didn’t care whether what he was accused of was true or false.
For weeks we watched him being lynched online with no one coming to his defence based on lies. Then came the lies and insults against PUDEMO president Mlungisi Makhanya. For months, Makhanya endured relentless online abuse accused of being a spy, of killing Bheka, of eating donor money, and of betraying the cause.
None of these accusations were ever substantiated, but that did not matter. In fact, Makhanya was insulted so much kwahhedletela ngisho to his staunch enemies. It didn’t matter that Makhanya or Mbingo had families or even children. Some even celebrated that Makhanya was almost killed.
Thats how cold hearted the people who promise change are. Soon after, the campaign of deceit turned sharper and went deeper within the MDM, this time targeting Swalimo. Respected figures like Mduduzi “Gawuzela” Simelane were not spared. Falsehoods about his personal life, his wife, and his finances were circulated with chilling malice.
These were not the tactics of freedom fighters but the methods of character assassins. At one point he was even accused of sleeping with his own child, something so blatantly false and degrading it annoyed any decent a person. No one stood out to say this is where we must draw the line.
One activist sympathetic to Simelane has even built an entire polifical profile (read social media page) to insult any one who dares questions Swalimo. Ironically, his sharpest sword has been directed to his former comrades, now called "deserters" like Thantaza Silolo and Sydney Maseko.
To his credit though, Sydney has used his facebook to call out the politics of lies and insults. Sadly, he he is alone and is dismissed as bitter or "pro regime". No one from the leaders has had the moral courage to stand up against the lies or insults, even if it means saying "not in our name". Why should they because they benefit from the lies.
Another discredited activist, perhaps trying to impress his political principals, lied about Mandla Hlathswayo, the respected businessman and activist, over alleged shenanigans in his organisation. Sadly he had a willing megaphone in one media house whose discernment or fact checking is always found wanting.
Mbongeni Mbingo, Swazi Observer Editor
Who can forget the “Facebook Lives” in mid-2021 by Bonginkhosi IB Dlamini, where he would throw insults indiscriminately — from the King to his own comrades — whom he accused of “eating donor money” without a shred of evidence.
No one questioned or asked for civility and cordiality in political engagements. As one German preacher famously said during the Holocaust, “First they came for the communists, and I said nothing.... then they came for me and there was no one to speak…”
The same principle applies here. The failure to call out lies when they were directed at opponents of the King emboldened a culture where no one is safe from slander, not even within the democratic camp itself. In fact, in today’s opposition activist circles, accusation equals guilt — no nuance, and definitely no context.
TUCOSWA Secretary General Mduduzi Gina has equally endured abuse as a state captured leader by mostly SNAT leaders. However, no one questions how the same union fraternises with Minister Owen Nxumalo and that is not called state capture of union leaders.
The recent defamation lawsuit filed by Gina against SNAT Secretary-General Lot Vilakati illustrates how far the rot has spread. Vilakati falsely claimed that Gina “sent police on workers,” a statement that not only endangered Gina’s reputation but also deepened divisions within the labour movement.
PUDEMO President Mlungisi Makhanya
The case exposes the moral bankruptcy that now defines political discourse, where defamation is weaponised, and gossip is presented as truth. It is a painful reminder that when dishonesty becomes normalised, comrades turn on comrades, and the struggle eats its own children.
Of course, the government bears heavy responsibility for this moral decay. It is the state that perfected the art of concealment and lying about everything from royal finances to crowd sizes. We have all heard absurd claims that 15,000-capacity venues hold 100,000 people. We have seen the government insist that the King’s private jet was a “gift” from an anonymous donor.
We have watched them downplay public expenditure, manipulate statistics, and operate in total secrecy. By refusing transparency, the state made lies a way of life and rumours the source of news. The opposition simply learned to play the same game.
The consequence is catastrophic: truth itself has lost its moral power. When government lies, the people shrug. When activists lie, the world doubts. In the end, the losers are ordinary Swazis who are trapped between a dishonest state and a discredited opposition.
The fight for freedom cannot be built on falsehood. The progressives must rediscover their moral compass, reclaim honesty as a weapon, and restore dignity to the word “progressive.” Because when both the rulers and the rebels lie, the truth dies — and so does the nation.