“Don’t be a sadack”

There was some interesting discussion at the ACTSA AGM and Annual Conference this weekend. I wrote earlier in the year of the failure of SADC – the Southern African  Development Community – to play a role where most needed in the democratic development of the region. There was amusement in the conference hall when Vimbai Mushongera, Parliamentary and Advocacy Officer of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), told us that Zimbabweans were now using SADC (pronounced ‘sad-ack’) in general language to describe something or someone irreponsible or unreliable; as in “Oi Dave, don’t be a SADC.”

But there’s a serious point within and she was quick to point out that the exclusion of the people and the evasion of accountability of SADC was not helpful to their struggle in Zimbabwe. Nor to comrades in Swaziland. Vincent Dlamini, Deputy Secretary General of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU), was clear to the audience that what would be most useful to their democratic fight would be the building and strengthening of organisation-to-organisation relations, be that trade unions, student unions, or NGOs. Unfortunately, he offered little by the way of an update on how the civil society, pro-democracy coalition, SUDF were getting on. Since I met the SUDF back in June, they have seen the acquittal and release from detention of Mario Masuku, leader of PUDEMO, the banned Swazi political party. But there is a long way to go in the fight for multi-party democracy and the end to Africa’s only autocratic absolute monarchy. Tony Dykes, Director of ACTSA, set out not only the importance of pressure coming from below but of the lead coming from Zimbabwe and Swaziland – we in Britain, and elsewhere in the democratic world, must then pick up that lead to assist their struggle.

Good conversation too on how ACTSA can use World Cup 2010 in South Africa as a hook for their campaigning work. You can find out more about what ACTSA do – and, in due course, their work around the world cup – by visiting their website, www.actsa.org.

UPDATE: ACTSA are holding an event at SOAS this Thursday, 5th November, which all Young Fabian members are invited to.

Southern Africa: Democracy and development 7:00 – 8:30 pm, Room G50, Russell Square Campus, School of Oriental and African Studies, Russell Square, London. Featuring Vimbai Mushongera (Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions), Vincent Dlamini (Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions).

Email info@actsa.org to reserve a place.

Swaziland: More questions than answers

The latest update from Adrian Prandle, Young Fabian International Officer, on the ACTSA delegation to southern Africa.

A busy time in Swaziland saw meetings with the Swaziland National Union of Students, Luvatsi (a youth empowerment organisation), the EU Commission delegation to Swaziland, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF), as well as a day spent in the field seeing the work of SWAPOL (Swaziland for Positive Living).

It’s hard to take one clear message from such an extensive programme and harder still to reconcile with our own experiences in the UK. The youth organisations face similar challenges to the Young Fabians, such as operating within a tiny budget, yet deal with the much bigger problems of recognition and ability to engage with government and decision-makers.

This is primarily because Swaziland is an undemocratic one party state controlled by the monarch, King Mswati III. His spending is focussed on himself and his coterie rather than addressing the needs of the population. The lack of investment in infrastructure – i.e. school buildings and teachers – is preventing the court-enforced commitment to free primary education from being rolled out with any speed. The SUDF is a coalition of banned political parties, trade unions and civil society organisations fighting for a multi-party system. Whilst passionate for their cause, the SUDF is in its early stages and has much to do to engage with the wider population of Swaziland, let alone be seen by the King as a serious force in curbing his lifestyle and pushing for democracy.

In terms of impact from outside of the country, there is one major stumbling block and a devastating chain that exacerbates it. Swaziland is a middle income country, meaning it is not a high priority for aid and meaning that conditional aid is limited in its effect – ultimately because the King doesn’t rely on this money, so does not feel pressured to change behaviour or spending. Swaziland’s per capita income is going up in tragic circumstances: high HIV/AIDS rates mean Swaziland has a decreasing population, hence the appearance of greater wealth.

Gender was an issue constantly raised over these few days. There is a philosophical debate to be had about moral and cultural relativism, but it is fair to say that there was reasonable consensus at an organisational level from our meetings, that the role of men in sexual relationships had a major impact upon being able to tackle the spread of HIV/AIDS - responsibility, yes, but combined with the culture of polygamy and having multi-concurrent sexual partners. SWAPOL’s work seeks to educate around HIV/AIDS at a community level and promotes and facilitates sustainable projects to enable meaningful living with HIV/AIDS. In a country lacking basic education for all, generational change though is difficult to guarantee.

The theory goes that multi-party democracy would enable a reduction in inequality through fairer distribution of financial resources, particularly aimed at health and education. But there’s a long way to travel – which is perhaps why these Swazi organisations were so keen to meet with us. This peaceful battle is on uncertain ground, notably due to King Mswati’s position in the region. SADC, the South African Development Community, has pretty much failed to stand up to Mswati’s hypocrisy in using his position as chair of SADC’s Troika of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation to criticise the state of Madagascan democracy whilst his own country has jailed the leader of PUDEMO, the banned opposition party. The friendship between South African President Jacob Zuma and Mswati does not leave Swazi activists with much confidence that help in their struggle will come across the border any time soon.

Amidst an EU Commission Delegation that appeared to me to be hamstrung or dispassionate about its mission, I leave you with questions rather than answers: How should a responsible international community deal with inequality in a middle income country? And how can we, as British citizens and/or Young Fabian members, highlight the tragedy of a country getting richer whilst its population suffers and dies?