There is nothing African about the tinkhundla system of Swaziland / Eswatini

When the Mswati regime banned the highly anticipated “spells and magic competition” for Swaziland’s tinyanga, relying on an archaic and colonial era Crimes Act of 1889, I was reminded of an observation I have communicated in many platforms; There is nothing African about the tinkhundla system! The government’s spokesperson went to the extent of referring to the competition as “voodoo”, stating that it amounted to “illegal and weird practices”, and put his foot down against it.

From the outset, I disagree with the definition of “tinyanga” (singular: inyanga) preferred by the Swazi media and Mswati’s government. Like many people, they wrongly define “tinyanga” as “traditional healers” and/or “witchdoctors”. In reality, tinyanga are healers, period! Their task is to heal people. There is nothing “traditional” or “witchy” about them! (PS: For those interested in other definitions of “witch”, the 8^th edition of the English Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines “witch” as “a woman who is believed to have magic powers, especially to do evil things”. Yes, a woman!)

Mswati’s regime obviously did not care about the interests of the organisers, or even tinyanga thereof. This is one example why I have continuously opposed many Africans, including, especially, leaders and members of former liberation movements, who keep claiming that the best thing about the tinkhundla system is that it is truly African, indigenous, and thus we must not seek to overthrow it as it represents the last image of how Africa was and ought to be. They are totally misled, that is why they will keep losing elections in their countries! Nincompoops!

Nothing African or indigenous about the tinkhundla system

Just like there is nothing inherently and exclusively African about monarchies, there is nothing African, nor is there anything indigenously African, about the tinkhundla system. In fact, when we investigate the history of monarchies world over, we find massive appetite for absolute power. This is why today the Swazi monarch is an envy of many monarchies across the world. They all wish to wield absolute power like Mswati. They wish to enjoy, to the fullest, the so-called divine right of kings to rule, along with absolute control over the land, not for the people’s benefit, but to quench their royal selves. Thankfully, the people of France guillotined their king and resolved the feudalist problem!

To see Swaziland’s tinkhundla system as originally African would mean that it is inherent in African values and principles that the majority of the population should work the hardest, sweat and grow the economy, while the fruits of their labour are enjoyed by one family. It would also mean that it is inherent within the African values system that the majority of the people should languish in poverty while one family enjoys the riches of the country, as it happens in Swaziland.

According to the very regime which presents itself as a truly African one, close to 70 percent of the people of Swaziland live below the poverty line. Public clinics and hospitals have run out of even basic medication, with the government pleading poverty. Is it a core African principle that the people should go for years without drugs in clinics and hospitals, die of treatable and curable diseases, as it happens in Swaziland (Mswati’s Eswatini), while Mswati’s family and friends enjoy top quality medical care, especially in Europe, Asia, USA and South Africa, at the expense of the dying poor? But this is inherent in the tinkhundla system!

Meanwhile, Mswati keeps spending on his extravagant parties. In 2018 his party cost over E1 billion (over US$70 Million). The budget was originally E20 million, apparently. He bought himself a millions-worth birthday attire beaded with flashy diamonds. On his wrist he had a watch costing over E21 million (about US$1.6 million). As if that were not enough, he also gifted himself with a second huge private jet costing E500 million (about US$35 million). Needless to say, more money was also spent on his many wives and children, his siblings and friends.

To fund his birthday party, he transferred money that had been budgeted for people living with disabilities, elderly grants and also dipped his royal hands into the pension fund. The same happened this year, 2019. Is this the “truly African” system that these African commentators keep claiming Swaziland’s tinkhundla system represents?

We see also that the tinkhundla regime is not anti-imperialist. It has presented the smokescreen of a home-grown anti-imperialist democracy but has actually been the direct opposite. The Mswati regime works hand in hand with imperialist forces to preserve its power over the people. The very idea of the tinkhundla system is partly linked with the apartheid regime and other European forces which were keen on destabilising and squeezing the space for the South African liberation movement. When Sobhuza II, who was interestingly honoured by the African National Congress, abrogated the 1968 constitution on 12 April 1973, banning all political parties and activities, it was the apartheid regime’s media which rushed ahead of everyone to give him prime coverage and applause for the heinous act. This is why after the abrogation of the constitution, uMkhonto WeSizwe operatives and members of the South African liberation movement who were exiled in Swaziland began to face arbitrary arrest and detention. Others were murdered, with some abducted and smuggled into South Africa to face trials for their involvement in the anti-apartheid struggle. All this was with the full cooperation of the tinkhundla regime. These got worse in the 1980s after the death of Sobhuza in 1982. African, right?!

Thus, if anyone ever tells you that the tinkhundla system is a truly African, pre-colonial, system, always ensure to remind them of the realities shown herein. There is nothing African about the tinkhundla system!