AFRICA/ESWATINI – Bishop of Manzini: “Media are used as weapons. Who fuels the violence?”
Mbabane (Agenzia Fides). – “Fear seems like another element that has become a part of our everyday lives”, writes Agenzia Fides Msgr. José Luis Ponce de León, IMC Bishop of Manzini, in the kingdom of eSwatini (formerly Swaziland), in offering testimony on a crisis largely ignored by the rest of the world.
Msgr. Ponce de Léon, recalls that the crisis that began in June 2021 is centered on the lack of dialogue between the government, the opposition and civil society. “There seems to have been a common agreement that a nationwide dialogue is necessary,” writes the Bishop. “I believe that all voices since June 2021 (government, political organizations, churches) have been heard.
NGOs…) repeated the same appeal”. These appeals, however, have been ignored. Violence is filling the void. Not only the army, which has now joined police, but also the Swaziland Solidarity Forces(SSF), an opposition armed group that claims to want to “free the country from King Mswati”.
Msgr. Ponce de León. Their members “threaten killing or setting alight the property of those who do not follow their orders.” We are not sure who they are or how they are funded. These questions – important as they are – are hardly asked”.
Thus, the population is caught between two flames: the police officers and the SSF members. In this climate of fear and uncertainty the media’s crucial role is essential. “This is another area in which we have seen positive changes. “I used to say in past that very little could be found on social media about eSwatini,” says the Bishop. “There was a certain amount of self-censorship in many: It is better to not talk’. Information is hardly “independent” and “impartial” as media houses proclaim”. “We all need the courage to question what is being said and not. While it is true that the state media limits the reporting on violence, the same could be said for those who choose to not report any positive actions taken by the government. It seems important to portray the other side as the enemy that must be dealt with. “Both sides say things on social media that have not been proven and which – the other side – denies being true: “mercenaries have come into the country” and “there are foreigners among the soldiers in our army” are two familiar examples”.
The Bishop states, “Violence is a natural part of the media.” “Information can be used to instill anger fear and violence. It is important to ask who is paying for it. Sometimes on Twitter it is possible to find the same posts from different “people” who most probably do not exist. It was created with one goal in mind: to support one side or another and to influence how people interpret the situation,” says Msgr. Ponce de León who concludes with a reflection on the global media: “These days it is interesting to see the lack of information on eSwatini from beyond our borders. Media, which used to report so much about unrest in the past, now keeps silent. There seems to be little interest in what is going on here. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 23/11/2022)
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Source: fides.org
