By Zweli Martin Dlamini

Even if King Mswati wanted Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo back, Civil Service Commission(CSC) Chairman was supposed to advise him that, at least he must be re-engaged after being acquitted by the courts not at the peak of his rape criminal trial.

It might be true that, the absence of Alpheous Nxumalo is being felt, he performed very well in defending the Tinkhundla cruel and undemocratic system of Government and some of us, despite our political differences, would like to see him back because he was indeed a newsmaker and would sometimes commit political blunders thus giving us something to write about.

Now, we are grounded with a very ‘boring’ Acting Government Spokesperson Thabile Mdluli, having worked with her at the Swazi Observer in 2009 where she was a “Proofreader”, Mdluli is good at writing press statements and checking grammatical errors, she cannot match or come near Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo in terms of a commanding voice and of course, understanding the dynamics of the ruling Tinkhundla system of Government.

Indeed the absence of Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo is being felt, some of us are used to challenging political giants, we are getting bored there’s absolutely no vibrant political engagements dominating the public discourse and within the broader political spectrum.

But having said that, issues of rape and the rights of women are very sensitive, the Civil Service Commission was supposed to allow the courts to deal with the matter and if acquitted, Alpheous Nxumalo could have retained his position as per the wishes of the King because it’s clear that, it’s Mswati who commanded Nxumalo’s contract renewal.

But as the situation stands, the whole Government has been subjected to a rape trial because whenever we report about the criminal case “Nxumalo is being referred to as the Government Spokesperson”.

Like the body of a human being identified with the face, a Government Spokesperson is one of the faces of any Government and, if the face is dirty, the whole body is perceived dirty.

CSC Chairman Simanga Mamba is a lawyer by profession and, he rushed to quote the “presumption of innocence until proven guilty principle” in defense of his decision to renew Alpheous Nxumalo’s contract.

But the CSC Chairman failed to understand that, there’s a court handling Alpheous Nxumalo’s rape case and then, there’s a court of public opinion that uses all necessary information at its disposal, to trial public figures and then acquit or convict them.

In principle, Nxumalo is innocent until proven guilty by the court of law but, there are possibilities suggesting that, he was long convicted in the court of public opinion.

CSC Chairman Simanga Mamba is one of the King’s most trusted servants, perhaps Mswati commanded him to handle this matter based on trust but, he rushed to mess it up by renewing Nxumalo’s contract at the peak of his rape trial thinking that, all of us will understand his lousy explanation suggesting that, “Alpheous Nxumalo is innocent until proven guilty”.

But in terms of the law, there’s a basic principle governing criminal investigations, under normal circumstances, the police launch an investigation based on reasonable suspicion that, a crime has been committed, that’s the first stage of a criminal investigation for prosecution purposes.

The second phase; a suspect in this regard, Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo, is charged based on reasonable belief that a crime has been committed.

This is normally done after wide consultations with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions(DPP) and, after the Chief Criminal Investigator engaged his investigation team and received the necessary and comprehensive investigation report.

Therefore, the presumption of innocence until proven guilty is merely based on the principles of natural justice or fairness and the fact that, the veracity of the evidence that resulted to the suspect being charged, is yet to be tested by the court of law and, be subjected to cross examination.

The problem with CSC Chairman Simanga Mamba is that, after his alleged meeting with King Mswati on Alpheous Nxumalo’s contract renewal, he turned the Civil Service Commission into a court of law with him acting as both the defense lawyer and a ‘Judge’.

As a result, in his own world of imagination, he acquitted Alpheous Nxumalo and subsequently renewed his contract thinking that, all of us will understand his “presumption of innocence until proven guilty” legal opinion on the subject matter.

The presumption of innocence until proven guilty principle as I’ve just alluded, is standard legal principle that seeks to treat suspects fairly but, without disregarding the fact that, the suspect has been charged and, has a case to answer.

It was therefore, absurd for CSC Chairman Simanga Mamba to rush and renew the contract at the peak of the criminal trial.

Now even if Alpheous Nxumalo could be acquitted by the court, it would appear as if, “Judges were ordered to found him not guilty because King Mswati wants him back as a Government Spokesperson”.