MBABANE – Political antagonists who have an interest in Eswatini politics are abusing and piercing some South African media houses to plant anarchy, as claimed by Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo.
This claim by the government of Eswatini spokesperson emanates from a radio interview that he was requested to do on the Afrobarometer report purporting that ‘People are not happy with King Mswati III’. Channel Africa, an international broadcasting service of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, through its Journalist Tracey Boomgaard, extended the invitation to Nxumalo for the interview, which never transpired. This was after Nxumalo, as the latter revealed, had made a precondition demand that Channel Africa preambles the interview with a video/audio clip of His Majesty King Mswati III when entering Sibaya on July 11, 2023.
This is the same occasion wherein the King dissolved Parliament in preparation for the ongoing general elections under the Tinkhundla System of Government. Nxumalo revealed that Boomgaard first made an excuse that she would be unable to play the video clip on a radio show. Then Nxumalo made a sound clip of the masses adoring and appreciating His Majesty King Mswati III and sent it to Boomgaard and on receipt of same; she only responded with a smile and purportedly aborted the interview she actually initiated.
Duck
“For her to duck and dive from this interview, leaves a lot to be desired and with unanswered questions such as - are there sinister and obscure forces that try to undermine Eswatini and its authorities through and by abusing some news channels and platforms in South Africa and elsewhere,” wondered Nxumalo.
He said secondarily, the so-called Afrobarometer report on Eswatini was nothing but a fallacy and wishful thinking of some publicity hungry lobbyists who didn’t really know what Eswatini and emaSwati were about in respect to the institution of the monarchy and the King. He said these were the most strategic and vital national interests for emaSwati to begin with. “The fictional, novelty and imagined reports such as the latest on the people of Eswatini by the Afrobarometer, must be pushed to the dustbin of history where they rightfully belong by all sundry,” said Nxumalo. Boomgaard, when questioned on why she purportedly aborted the proposed interview, said Nxumalo didn’t give her a direct yes or no, only that he played the sound as the preamble of the interview.
Invited
“It really had nothing to do with the sound; however, I needed to have context to the sound and would have had to figure out where I could play it. We had also invited Afrobarometer for an interview but we didn’t do both angles,” she said. Boomgaard further explained that Channel Africa was a Pan-African station, which only wanted the best for Africa. “That is why instantly when they said we must do the Afrobarometer story I asked him for the interview. He should know by now I will always give him a right to reply and if there is a story he wants us to do, I will always try and accommodate it,” she said.
Nxumalo made it known that he was growing tired of some of the journalists in the neighbouring country, because he had observed over time that there was a trend, that when they were inviting him for an interview, it appeared as though they had consultations with some forces from somewhere.
“Upon seeing that I’m not waved or they can’t get an entry point, they tend to disappear and that is not good because by so doing, I get the impression that these guys are being used or abused by certain people. That is not the impression I should get when dealing with a journalist,” he said. Nxumalo said he rarely got the impression that he was being engaged on a fair basis, where he could effortlessly address whatever queries the media had, without any suspicions.