Swaziland News, the King’s Armchair Referee

How often should His Majesty King Mswati III travel outside Eswatini for diplomatic reasons? How many delegates should he take to assist him in his diplomatic work? How should these delegates be picked? How should budget allocations for diplomatic trips be determined?

If you are being honest with yourself, you don’t know because the answers to these questions require a lot of research and work. But have no fear, Eswatini Government’s armchair referee Swaziland News will tell you what you should believe because you don’t have time to think for yourself.

“R65MILLION TRAVEL ALLOWANCES AMID SHORTAGE OF DRUGS IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS:King Mswati, a symbol of death and looting of public funds.”

This the headline of one of the articles published by Swaziland News this week, designed primarily to tarnish the reputation of His Majesty King Mswati III. The way the headline is written is such that you have to believe that E65 million has been used to facilitate work trips, instead of being used to buy drugs for hospitals. To put the nail on the coffin, the headline also declares it as a fact that the King is a symbol of death and public looting. Spoiler alert, there is no proof given for these labels, but that’s OK because as a Swaziland News reader, you are used to being told what to believe without any hard evidence.

So, you keep reading.

“It is therefore surprising to see King Mswati who always portrays himself as a Head of State who loves his people, opting to use international trips just to loot public funds with his children, brothers and sisters including loyalists while ordinary citizens who can’t afford Medical Aids die within the public hospitals amid shortage of drugs. The consistent international trips are a systematic way of looting public funds with Mswati at the centre of this stealing of taxpayers money. In the trip to South Korea and Singapore, the King’s delegation will share over R65million public funds, this money could have saved lives if it was utilized to purchase drugs in hospitals”, continues Zwemart in the article.

As a master propagandist, Zwemart lets you know again and again in the article that what you must believe is that the King of Eswatini travels outside the country solely for the purpose of looting taxpayer money. It doesn’t matter that every government has a budget for diplomatic relations, as there is also a separate budget for health — don’t use your brain, for Swaziland News has spoken.

The fact that His Majesty and government officials were attending important events in South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore does not matter once Swaziland News has determined that it is wrong. Once again, don’t be tempted to think about it any further, Swaziland News has determined that Eswatini should stay out of international relations and cooperation by not participating in any of the significant developments in the world. Forget the Korea-Africa summit, and you might just as well forget participating in the United Nations, because as a Swaziland News reader you have been told that international trips are nothing but a way for the country’s leaders to loot public funds.

But, you haven’t been brainwashed enough, so the article continues.

“Clearly, King Mswati does not in anyway, represents peace in this country but killing of poor civilians through various means including the rampant looting of public resources with intent to completely destroy the health system” —there is no real information there, it is just that as a Swaziland News reader, you probably do not have a good memory so you are reminded what you were told in the headline (i.e. King = bad, International trips = looting and deaths in hospitals). Life is that black and white for you as a Swaziland News reader, there is no nuance that requires critical thinking, so you continue reading.

“That SwaziPharm Director Kareem Ashraff travelled to South Korea and Singapore as part of the King’s delegation suggests that, Mswati might have been complicit in the looting of billions within the Ministry of Health. It cannot be justifiable to see an alleged criminal like Ashraff who allegedly looted over R1billion public funds, flying to South Korea and Singapore as part of the King’s delegation, Ashraff is supposed to be in prison.”

Of course you have read the allegations by Swaziland News that Kareem Ashraff, the honorary consular general for the Republic of Indonesia in Eswatini, has looted over a billion Emalangeni in public funds earmarked for the healthcare system.

“Kareem Ashraff is an alleged corrupt criminal who is now running the Government with his remote control in Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini while looting public funds that he then share with Mswati,” says Zwemart, with absolutely zero proof once again, in case you missed it the first time.

Some members of the King's Delegation

As a Swaziland News reader, you wholeheartedly believe two opposing facts that Swaziland News presents to you. In this article, you are told that there is no reason Ashraff should be in the Eswatini delegation visiting three Asian countries, while you are also told that he holds a diplomatic position for an Asian country in Eswatini.

You are told that Ashraff is part of the delegation spending E65 million for these trips with His Majesty, while in a different article you are also told that he is independently catching flights to catch up with His Majesty’s delegation so that he can bribe the King. But you don’t worry about the finer details because, as a Swaziland News reader, you have received the main message drilled into your head again and again (King = Bad).

Last, but not least, you are told that Ashraff loots money for His Majesty, and you are also told that His Majesty is actually avoiding meeting with Ashraff, even though the two realities do not make sense at the same time. But alas, making sense of reality is not why you read Swaziland News, you read Swaziland News to reinforce any negative beliefs you might have about the King or the government of Eswatini. And, like a good armchair referee who has never played the sport, Swaziland News will give you a very emotional rundown of the game for free if you’re willing to listen. Just don’t think about it too much, you might find yourself actually seeing Swaziland News for what it is, a propaganda tool to fuel hate against buSwati, Emaswati, as well as His Majesty King Mswati.