Religion and Politics in Swaziland

Front matter

RELIGION & POLITICS

IN SWAZILAND

The contributions of Dr J.B. Mzizi

Contents

DEDICATION: -isiin an e aa ean aa eaaa EEU AAAA DEFINITION OF SWAZI TERMS -iiiciciieisnciecct tected cava skini a anyi e ACRONYMS sic feveccssatcevetnnctctsnewensseehieretasceTecevedeetuvds noche AEE a PREFACE n ren a e a ea EEE EAE

— SECTION ONE —

Rationale, textual notes, selection, sources arrangement and SUCIU siveesdicceveucscccisasestecies aiaa s a E estes ee nice papi i aa aiii

Part 4

MONARCHY: THE DOMINANCE OF THE SWAZI MONARCHY AND THE MORAL DYNAMICS OF DEMOCRATISATION OF

THE: OWAZIS TATE aineinin Rh dhe ih oie ode dieiinnieaiiiade IMFO DUCTION eiiieaen a Ea ETNEA TRUM ph Of tradition eds cccel oe heeds oclieeivcseedaeventnci diese sels eecvaencilen Images of Kingship: Somhlolo’s VISION 0.0... ee eee teen eeeeneeeteneeeee Uneasy lies the head that holds the Crown o.oo... eee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees The King should be above politics oo... eee ceeeeeeneeeeseneeeeeseeeeeaees King Mswati; a political NOVICE segini nenon Ta

There is more than what meets the eye in the removal of the

Reflections on the King’s birthday «0.000... cece cece eeeeeeeeeneeeneeeeee Tell the King: “Your Majesty, you are without clothes” ssec

Princess Sikhanyiso and the Umcwasho ceremony: When hip-hop ANd Swazi Culture Collide: sericis tiderna ieiti oiii

The political economy Of UMCWASHO oo... eect eeetee renee etnneeeeeneeeeenaees

ON HUMAN RIGHTS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND THE

TINKUNDLA SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT nsere What is the Tinkundla system of government? ecer Is there freedom of expression in Swaziland? „eeen What happened to good conscience for public leaders? n...

Comrades indeed are also Comrades in truth ereere Say "yes" to peace and "no" to conflict! oo. eee ee eneeetenteeeeeaees Weare HIVING alio. sereme ane a En e n a EEA

The culture of violence against the people by the police brutality iS being SOWN iN thiS COUNTY oe eee cere ee sents ii dera eie

Part 6

TRADITION AND POLITICS 0.00... ee eeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeeeeseeeseaeeseeeeeneeeenees Too much eating, too little talk: When tradition becomes our

Between radical and moderate politics: A dialogue with DIVE! SIVINGADA? 6 covsniciessvasaischandeevecesvacdanssts hecidncaibastevadesnerdanseeeaieteahudbned susie

Reflection on the elections and challenges facing the monarchy in setting Up- QOVEIMIMENE ie ccisascervacereccavtecesestecacinedsnouscresekecaracencxesenenadacrens

Our independence is not something to be proud Of eseese

The centre cannot hold as Swaziland is ushered into the dungeon Of GOath E E E ieee dt iiendusieesdiedes ieee

Let reason and peace Save US from ourselves oo... ceeececcccceceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeess The Judiciary in Swaziland and the rule of laW „s.es

Political control of the Swaziland Television and Broadcasting COMPO ON AU ON ae oe vases ceeds dae ads ge a sex nee cee en A E

The need for social transformation in Swaziland -eec Mathendele Dlamini and the Tinkhundla system „senceres Government and the prosecution of justice oe eee eeeeeeeeteeeeneees Stumbling blocks in Swazi POlitiCs 0... eee eee ee eeneeeeeneeeeenanees

United you stand and divided you fall: A warning to the Trade Union MOVEMENT 2: sci sscsenceeteeds seeds necne a E debe duneetey

Who will save us from biased journalism? sesers

CHURCH AND STATE IN SWAZILAND IS SOMHLOLO’S DREAM

Section 4 of the 2003 Draft Constitution... cceeeeeeeeeteeeeeeeeeeeteeetees 244 CONCIUSION: sisri pnan ciara deacteae a a 245 Civil religion and the Bible in Swaziland ....eesseeeeeseeerriserrrrrrernerrnen 246 Untangling the riddle of Somhlolo’s VISION eessen 249 The conflict between Christianity and African Religion eseese 252 Swazi preachers should not be silly apologists to colonial GħriStianNity scsi See Vesey sete landanna kaeaea inana eaS raa Eiaa eens 254 Indilinga was the bullet while Umculu was learning „eseese 257 Public peace results from social justice, Christians must ask What: peace IS! sash ircastevedecseviateratn cue! heuete duet vseLacestecevidaeauentavexbanedlaceseeenenacs 264 The church failed to address the status QUO „eese 270 The church has a role in the mass stay-away in January „eee 276 Between God and Ceaser: The relationship between the King Theological dialogue and tolerance is better than directionless debate eter etre ren eer enter te creer re etre reer re Teer errr ere tree ree ere 287 Accept others as you would that they accept you (1) eseese 289 Accept others as you would that they accept you (2). 292 Dushu Maguga ... You! You can be a Shembe follower! eee 294 Now is the time that the church should unite and embark on a prophetic TiNISty sessies eraen a aeaea ene aae 296 PART 7 - CELEBRATING HEORES OF DEMOCRACY AND GOOD: GOVERNANCE sirsenis nsina aaae eania aE NE O ENEE ienaa 300 Tribüte tó Vusie Thwala ssrin ein ah deed Ades A 300 Prime Minister Sibusiso: Is he Africa’s dictator of the human TIQHtS violation? astaci eenn sas oaa aa aianei 303 The wise words of Martin Luther King Jr. occ eeeeeeeseeeeeseeeeeeseeeeeenaees 307 Bishop Ncamiso Ndlovu: The prophetic VOICE „s.es 313 — SECTION FOUR —

Part 1 - A Prophet And Liberator Of Modern Swaziland |

BY COMFORT MABUZA wiissccscissccessisccetssercsvaicgeanseccenesoeconagibeteasticaees

Mzizi the student oo... ceeccccceseecccseeeecceceeueueeueeeueseesueeueeeeeuaeeeeeseaneeeees 320

MiZiZi the teacher wo... cece ceecccccceeecccseeeuceeceeeeeeeueuauucecsueeueeeueuaeeeeeeeaneeeeees 321

Mzizi the scholar = theologian «0.0... eecsesscseeeeteeeseseeeeseseeeeseeeeesensenerees 321

Mzizithe tamy in asai a 324 PART 2 - THE HUMAN SIDE OF AN AFRICAN POLITICAL THEOLOGIAN |

PART 3 — HE WAS A MAN OF HONOUR | BY BHEKI MAKHUBU oneee 328 PART 4 - HE STOOD FOR THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS |

BY BHEKI MAKAUBU isimin E E 330

PART 5 - HE WAS A TEACHER AND ROLE MODEL FOR ALL ASPIRING

PART 6 — J.B. MZIZI: THE FACE AND SPIRIT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT OF SWAZILAND | BY VELAPHI MAMBA „oee 334

— SECTION FIVE —

THE LEGACY OF A POSTCOLONIAL SWAZILAND. ...0....ccceeceeeteteeeeeteeteteeeteeeeees 339 IntClSCtUAl-ACtIVISE sisisi itir iyaa anaa aa adia aa aiaia 339 The role of the University in political development „~s... 340 Liberation and human rights go together «0.00... eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeees 342 On church and state relations ecs usienio aa 342 On African Traditional Religions and Africa Initiated Church’s views ON POitiCS ANA GOVEFMANCE 1... eeseseecesneeeteeeeeseseeeeseensesesetesesiseeseneness 343 On Somhloloism in a democratic pluralistic Society 0.0.0... ees 346 CONCIUSION oasen onida ansaa a Aaaa aa E 351

DEDICATION his book is dedicated to the memory of the

late Joshua Bhekinkosi Mzizi who heeded

the call to serve his country and people as a public intellectual and proponent of Liberation Theology. This call earned him friends and foes but he remained steadfast until his death. When he died, Swaziland lost one of her greatest intellectuals and Africa one of her greatest sons. It is also dedicated to all the freedom-loving people of Africa who dare to believe that a new and democratic Swaziland is indeed possible — a Swaziland where people will not be judged by the ethnic identity that history gave them, the political party they belong to and the gender orientation creation imposed on them, but by the content of their character and the depth of their love for freedom and human dignity.

Theologically speaking only God can bring about the spirit of freedom. | am talking about total and holistic freedom, not the kind that frees one’s soul, which suddenly realises that the body is trapped in the endless human agony. God’s freedom is absolute, complete — not relative. Relative freedom is the kind that overemphasises the salvation of souls at the expense of socio-economic and political freedom. Freedom cannot be relativised and God cannot be compartmentalised. - J.B. Mzizi

DEFINITION OF SWAZI TERMS

Emabandla Emabutfo Emadloti Emalangeni Imvunulo Indilinga Incwala Ingwenyama Indlovukazi Kubulawa Kuncoma Mkhulumnchanti Mvelinchanti Labadzala Libandla Liqoqo Tinkhundla Tinkhundlacracy Sibahle Sinje Sibaya Siswati Somhlolo Somhloloism Swazi Umculu Umphakatsi Umhlanga

Vusela

Denominations

Regiments

Ancestors

Those who belong to the Dlamini dynasty, also refers to the currency Swazi traditional regalia

Coin

The Swazi festival of first fruits and traditional prayer of the nation The lion, symbolical name of the King

The she-elephant, symbolical title of the Queen Mother

Royal appointment to a particular position

To prenominate

The First Being

Supreme Being, the one who was there in the Beginning of things The elders, refers to those who belong to the royal house and council Council

The Swazi National Council

Regional centres comprising chiefdoms

The Swazi-specific political system

A cultural and political movement in Swaziland

Kraal

Language of the Swazi people

The kingship name given to Mswati |

The doctrine that the gospel came through Somhlolo’s dream The people of Mswati

Book

Chiefdom

Reed Dance ceremony performed by teenage girls

Review

ACRONYMS

AEC

ANC AGOA BOLESWA CANGO CDC

CRC

CSC

DPM DPMF EISA ESRA INCOSCM HIV/Aids

HUMARAS HURUDISWA ILO

LACS MCSA MISA

MP

NDS NGO NNLC OSISA PM PUDEMO RSP SADC SADCC SCCO SCCUC

Alliance Evangelical Church

African National Congress

African Growth and Opportunity Act

Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland

Coordinating Assembly of Non-Governmental Organisations Constitution Drafting Committee

Constitutional Review Commission

Council of Swaziland Churches

Deputy Prime Minister

Development Policy Management Forum

Electoral Institute of Southern Africa

Economic Social Reform Agenda

Inter-Collegiate Student Christian Movement

Human Rights Association of Swaziland

Human Rights and Democracy Institute of Swaziland International Labour Organisation

League of African Churches in Swaziland

Methodist Church of Southern Africa

Media Institute of Southern Africa

Member of Parliament

National Development Strategy

Non-Governmental Organisation

Ngwane National Liberatory Movement

Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa

Prime Minister

Peoples United Democratic Movement

Royal Swaziland Police

Southern African Development Community Southern African Development Coordinating Conference Swaziland Concerned Civic Organisations,

Swazi Christian Churches United in Christ

SCC SCM SFTU SNAT SNCSC STR

SSN SWAGAA SWAYOCO TRC UBLS UCCA UDI UNISA UNISWA USDF WCC WHO WLSA vi

Swaziland Conference of Churches

Student Christian Movement

Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions Swaziland National Association of Teachers Swazi National Council Standing Committee Swazi Traditional Religion

Swaziland Solidarity Network

Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse, Swaziland Youth Congress

Tinkhundla Review Commission

University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland United Christian Church of Africa

Unilateral Declaration of Independence University of South Africa

Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force

World Council of Churches

World Health Organisation

Women and Law in Southern Africa

PREFACE am deeply humbled and honoured to present this volume of Joshua Mzizi’s articles and

short essays to the public. In preparing this book for publication, | am particularly grateful for

the support | have received from the Mzizi family. Special thanks therefore go to his widow, Mavis, and the children. Their generosity in supplying information and general support has enriched this book beyond measure. Thanks also go to Martin Dlamini Managing Editor of The Times of Swaziland, Musa Ndlangamandla, editor of The Swazi Observer and Bheki Makhubu, editor of the Nation, who each willingly gave their permission for the use of articles that Mzizi had published in their respective newspapers and magazine. Comfort Mabuza, Mzizi’s great friend and comrade, was most supportive. Nonhlanhla Vilakati, Mzizi’s colleague and friend, made available Mzizi’s personal papers, so that we could glean valuable data. Special mention should be made of Mzizi’s colleagues at the Coalition of Non-governmental Organisations (CANGO), especially Thembinkosi Dlamini as well as Lungile Magongo formerly of the Council of Swaziland Churches, for not only establishing the J.B. Mzizi Memorial Lecture, but also for putting into motion the process that culminated in the writing of this book.

| am also grateful to my research assistants, Rogers Ndawula and Herbert Moyo, who scouted for data, reading thousands of pages and transcribing many of them for inclusion in the manuscript. | also want to extend a word of gratitude to my colleague and friend, Rosinah Gabaitse, for collecting data on Mzizi from the University of Botswana archives and BOLESWA journals. My grateful thanks also go to SUN MeDIA Bloemfontein for publishing this book. Last, but not least, to my wife Lovey and our four children (Lesego, Thembinkosi, Junior and Mfundo) for their devotion, support and understanding during the many months of research and writing.

By the end of this book, it should become clear that Mzizi was a phenomenon not only for Swaziland, but also for the entire continent of Africa. He was able to forge his way through to the academic world, and thereby ensure that his voice could be heard throughout the world, through his pen. It is an honour for me to contribute to the preservation of the ideas he espoused and the convictions he stood for. His dream was for a Swaziland where people would be judged not by the blood (royal) that runs through their veins, or the clan name that history imposed on them, but by the right they hold to their citizenship, the depth of their intellect, purity of their hearts, greatness of their minds and ability of their hands. As with Mzizi, | too share this vision and believe that a new Swaziland is indeed possible.

R. Simangaliso Kumalo

27 April 2013 (Freedom Day) University of KwaZulu-Natal Pietermaritzburg, South Africa vii

Section One

THE PALACE, THE PARISH AND THE POWER: POSTCOLONIAL PERSPECTIVES ON J.B. MZIZI’S WORKS oshua Bhekinkosi Mzizi or simply known as J.B. Mzizi; is best known as the public

theologian who became the voice of the progressive movements in Swaziland for just

over a decade. There had been a few other Swazi academic theologians since the country gained its independence in 1968. However, they are not more than ten in total. The question is what made him to stand out and to be deserving of a book as a collection of his writings? | contend that Mzizi is one of the best theologians in the rich and prolific Southern African tradition of liberation theologians, and he is one of the very few to have come out of Swaziland in the postcolonial era.' The main reason for publishing this book is to share, preserve and pass on to future generations his message and legacy. It is also to stimulate more research on Mzizi, his times, themes such as theological and social history, and the history of religion in Swaziland and the socio-economic dynamics of the country. Mzizi was viewed by some as a liberation theologian, patriot, activist-intellectual, prophet of democracy and protagonist of human rights in Swaziland, whilst others saw him as rabble-rouser, an enemy of His Majesty’s government and the church. While young, educated Swazi women and men left the country in search of economic opportunities elsewhere, especially South Africa, Mzizi remained in Swaziland, and his presence there was very powerful. He represented a part of the population of Swaziland that searched for words to express their quest for freedom in a postcolonial country still trapped in

1 Others include Dr Hebron Ndlovu and Ms Nonhlanhla Vilakati.

pre- and colonial systems of governance. The authorities in Swaziland did not like him or his message. Not only was he detained by the police, but an attempt was also made to deport him from the country of his birth.

A POSTCOLONIAL READING OF MZIZI’S WORKS

For us to explore, understand and appreciate Mzizi’s works, we need to establish a relevant theoretical approach. Most contemporary social sciences scholars see in postcolonial theoretical critique a development in the methodology that can be used to analyse the development of ideologies in postcolonial Africa. The question that may be asked is what do we mean by ‘postcolonial theory’? One of the key thinkers of postcolonial theory is Gayatri Spivak. She defines postcolonial theory as “the problematising of repressive cultural and social relations in a colonising context” (Spivak, 1992:3). This enables us to unpack the colonising cultures and social relations amongst people especially the relationship between those in power and their subjects in order to see the power dynamics that are at play. Understanding the power dynamics may enable us to gain insights to liberating knowledge and activities. In other words, postcolonial theory can be understood as a theory that is used to critically engage imperialistic and hegemonic operations in different forms and levels of society. Jeremy Punt (2013:1) has asserted that:

Postcolonial theory is a critical theoretical approach that is considered to engage the complex aftermath of colonialism, and to theorise without excluding the colonial itself. This theory has been largely shaped by histories of repression and repudiation, reclaiming and celebrating the indigenous in particular, but also and in complex ways by the attraction afforded by colonialist, imperialist endeavours, as well as relations with and reactions to them.?

| embrace Punt’s definition of postcolonial theory and | see the theory as important for the working of critically analysing the complex system of governance in Swaziland in a postcolonial era. Punt (2013:2) also notes that “Postcolonial theory tries to criticise both the colonial thinkers and the anti-colonial thinkers.” Therefore, | understand postcolonial theory to mean a critical interpretive tool that can be used to engage the complex issues, systems and structures that were put in place during the colonial era and to do this by including the colonial itself, with the aim of reclaiming and celebrating incipient knowledge, and agency to define them, and shape their destiny. David Huddart (2008:4) noted that:

Postcolonial theory, in displacing universalised subjectivities associated with Western thought, wants to emphasise how one universalisation of subjectivity has always excluded other modes of subjectivity. In other words, it wants to show how best other subjectivities are admitted to consideration in order to bolster sameness.

In simple terms postcolonial theoretical critique refers to a theory that seeks to analyse social dynamics of power relationships between colonisers and the colonised by standing on the

2 Jeremy Punt, Possibilities and Prospects of Postcolonial Biblical Interpretation: A South African Perspective. Paper read at the Summer school on Postcolonial Theology on the 1* June 2013 at Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany, 1.

postcolonial era, looking at conditions that have historical and contextual dimensions coming from the intellectual traditions of resistance to colonisation. Therefore, postcolonial theory tries to criticise both the colonial thinkers and the anti-colonial thinkers. They are trying to synthesise both the colonisers and the coloniser’s strategies of response to oppression. However we must learn from Edward Said (1993:9-10) who makes a clear distinction between imperialism and colonialism. Imperialism was an imposition of a country’s culture, tradition, language and ideology to another. Colonisation is a control of people’s minds, way of life, tradition, ideology and resources. It does not need to be from an outside country or power; it can also be practiced by those in power over others within a nation. Postcolonial theory looks at the colonisers as they oppress and the colonised as they resist colonisation and see what is happening and give a new episteme (knowledge) which goes beyond the mimicry and resistance to a new solution, providing new foundations for the generation of knowledge that is contextually relevant. Postcolonial theory has to be critically applied to the lived experiences of people, so that it can help with analysing the situation for the development of new insights. Postcolonial theory scholarship is a self-critical exercise. It seeks to identify and remove the relics and remnants of imperialism by foreign powers and to decolonise people any powers that dominate them whether they are foreign or local.

Scholars of postcolonial thinking have often identified it with references to notions or concepts such as representation, identity, power, orientalising, ambivalence, de-essentialisation, hybridity, mimicry, dialogue and some other critical terms.° Of importance is to note that in this paper postcolonial is understood as a psychological and social term related to consciousness. Through the application of these characteristics, scholars synthesise both the colonisers’ strategies to dominate and the colonised attempts either to survive within the domination or to resist it. | am going to discuss ten notions of postcolonial theory in the light of the situation in Swaziland to shed light on King Sobhuza’s attempts to develop an ethno-religious identity and demonstrate how Mzizi responded to this through his writings. The immediate question that may be asked is what do we mean by postcolonial theoretical analysis in the context of Swaziland? And how does it manifest itself in the country’s religio-political systems? What are the power dynamics at play in this system between the leaders and the rest of the citizens? Answers to such questions depend on who is asking them and the reason for their inquiry. In response to these questions, these are representation, power, identity, hybridity, conscientisation, etc.

First, one of the key characteristics of postcolonial critical analysis is that it takes special interest on the representation of the marginalised. It tends to ask the question of who is missing in this process, who is not included and why? This means that it tends to have interest on the excluded and marginalised. Michel Foucault refers to the powerless and marginalised as the subaltern. Discussing bio-power as he referred to power and its effects on people, Foucault (in Sinellart, 2004:1) argued that:

It is a number of phenomena that seem to me to be quite significant, namely, the set of mechanisms through which the basic biological features of human species became the object of a political strategy, of a general strategy of power, or in other words, how, starting from the eighteen century, modern Western societies took on board the fundamental biological fact that human beings are a species.

Writing from a biblical interpretation perspective Pui-lan (2005:37) observed that “a postcolonial approach deliberately forms a counter-hegemonic discourse, paying attention to hidden and neglected voices” as well as the voices of protest or opposition. Punt takes this argument further by observing that a postcolonial theoretical approach:

Includes and gives voice to the voiceless, the muted voices colonised, the marginalised, and the oppressed. It addresses disproportionate power relationships at geo-political as well as subsidiary levels, at the level of the empire and the relationship between the imperial and the colonial, but also at social and personal levels of the powerful ruler and the subaltern, to the extent of investigating relationships and interaction between centre and periphery (Punt, 2013:7).

For Foucault it matters how the knowledge and decisions we take impact upon those who have been excluded. This is because he believes in their agency, their ability to develop their own knowledge, envision their future and shape it to be consistent with their own aspiration. Foucault’s confidence on the epistemological agency from below is also held by Giyatri Spivak. She (1992:11) asserted that:

We must keep alive the possibility of learning from below, if only moral dilemmas and questions such as the following, with the long-term pedagogic goal of making them responsibly accessible, accessible in order that responses may be practically made and unmade even as their theory and shifts with, the rhythms of history.

The main argument here is that marginalised people have to be present or at best be fully represented in meetings that are deliberating on their situation. Leadership systems and process should allow for full participation of all affected in decision-making processes. As a liberation theologian, Mzizi believed in the same values. In his analysis of the situation in Swaziland, Mzizi argued that the majority of Swazi were voiceless. As a result, he titled his thesis, “Voice of the voiceless”.

Second, Foucault also reminded us that postcolonial analysis takes special interest in the “relationship between power and domination and their effects” (1983:208). It exposes how power dynamics between the powerful and the powerless in society were constructed. This it does, by going behind the ideas, power and language that was used to structure current systems thus enabling us to understanding how the power of the dominant or leaders was constructed and how it should be deconstructed. It also shows us how the colonised responded to the domination, so that we can critic this response with the aim of improving it. We are aware that every oppressive power triggers a power that comes from resistance. This has been demonstrated eloquently in the discussion of the Hidden Transcripts (Scott, 1990:18). This point means that by analysing how the powerful dominated the powerless, we can also understand how the powerless responded to this oppression. This theory encourages us to analyse the power relations in society between the powerful and the powerless. It looks at how power has been acquired by those who have it over others, how the powerless lose their power. It also looks at the ideologies, systems and structures that are used to maintain the power relations. Its aim is to change the power relations for the better so that it is not used to disadvantage those who are from the underside. It is important to note that Michel Foucault noted that power on its own has no value judgement, meaning that it is neither good nor bad. What matters is how people use power? In a nutshell, power is a tool in the hands of people — especially the powerful. It can be used for the benefit of all people especially the disadvantaged, but it can also be used to their detriment. Foucault (2004:2) observed that:

This analysis simply involves investigation where and how, between whom, between points, according to what process, and with what effects, power is applied. If we accept that power is not a substance, then this analysis could and would only be at most a beginning of theory, not of a theory of what power is, but simply of power terms of the set of mechanisms and procedures that have the role or function and theme, even when they are unsuccessful, of securing power.

In the case of Swaziland this theory would help us to understand how the current form of government through its leaders, accumulated its power, how it developed its ideology of the absolute monarchy, and built its system and structures that maintain it. It will also help us to see what the reactions to the colonial power were.

In all situation of governance, the fact that those in government have power is not a bad idea by itself. Of primary importance here is to look at how power is attained and used. If it is used well that would lead to the benefit of all. The problem is when it is not being used well and it ends up working against some people. It is in this case that people have to use their agency, to resist power. However, for this to happen people need to be conscientised, this is when one approaches this from a Freiran approach. There is a need to awaken people to their situation of oppression so that they stand up and oppose the system that works against them. Freire refers to this as a process of critical consciousness which means “the deepening of the attitude of awareness characteristic of all emergences” (1996:109).

Third, postcolonial theory propagates a shift from cultural exclusivism to cultural plurality. This means that there must be an accommodation of indigenous, marginalised and colonised individuals into the main stream. Writing from a postcolonial theoretical perspective Gayatri Spivak noted that:

As the varieties of nation-state-style unification programmes collapse all around us, what is emerging is the old multi-ethnic mix (2000:76).

Fourth, the other important aspect of postcolonial theory is that it affirms the agency of the historically oppressed. It brings those in the margins into the centre of discussion and liberating activities. It encourages the voices of protest and redemptive participation of the marginalised as they seek to push the frontiers of their oppression. All people have agency, especially the poor and oppressed, can liberate themselves, and can work out their freedom and leadership.

Collective agency, e.g. the United Democratic Front in South Africa and CANGO in the context of Swaziland, means that when the people work together they can liberate themselves. This means that the poor have to form solidarities with other groups who are concerned about domination. Linked to the aspect of agency is the concept of Performativity. This means that dominated people can still act decisively to subvert the power that limits them. This is important if they are to get out of the situation of domination. The question is to whose agenda and benefit will they perform? However, they need to be critical of their performance, by asking question such as “On whose agenda am | performing?” “Is my performance not perpetuating my domination and oppression by the powers that be?” “Is it not benefitting the oppressor, is it helping me to get out of the oppression?” At the same time, the dominated cannot use the oppression as a reason for not performing. They need to apply their agency and make their contribution to the improvement of life for all. As a student of Liberation Theology Mzizi was an advocate of the agency of the ordinary citizens of Swaziland.

Fifth, another key notion of the postcolonial analysis is identity and hybridity. Postcolonial critic highlights the necessity of attaining a new or at least a different identity from the dominant one, which was acquired as a result of the colonial dynamics. Punt (2013:9) notes that:

Postcolonial hermeneutics highlights the acquisition and propagating of new or different identity. Realising the importance of hybridity. Identity is understood as hyphenated, fractured, multiple and multiplying, as it exists within a complex web of negotiation and interaction, forged by imagination redeploying the local and the imported elements.

Postcolonial theory takes into account a variety of factors; the experienced reality, the religions and the culture of the people; their history, political and systems of governance. However, its main aim is to analyse these in order to find out the liberative direction that it needs to take. Postcolonial theory emphasises that this is important where people are aware of all the factors that form their identities. The expectation is that people do not have to adopt the essentialism of any particular single identity to describe themselves. But rather to recognise the different identities that define them. It is also important that in the formation of identities we do not adopt the notion of exclusivism, where we see ourselves and reject others with different identities. It calls for being open to other identities. In the early nineteenth century when Swaziland was colonised by the British, Labotsibeni brought together the Swazi culture, traditional religion, English culture and Christianity to form what today is known as Swazi culture; or hybridity. Mzizi credits this to the wise leadership of King Sobhuza’s grandmother Queen Labotsibeni Mdluli and King Sobhuza II. Mzizi (2004:3) said that:

Swazi kingship survived the hardship of colonialism thanks to the formidable and gallant attempts first of Queen Labotsibeni Mdluli and later Sobhuza Il, her grandson. The Queen, while sensitive to the inevitable process of change, asserted strong regency that prepared the new King to fit into both the old and the new worlds with an agenda to either strike balance between the two or to employ elements of the old to dominate the new.