On the day of the 18 March Protest, far from the proposed protest itself, a vehicle I was travelling in was stopped by officers dressed in correctional services gear. They were searching cars. Over the past couple of days, correctional services officers were again very involved in the heavy state presence that clamped down on protestors.
Looking at the statutes, it appears that there is no legal basis for His Majesty’s Correctional Services being given police powers and being in any way involved with civilians. The Prisons Act No 40 of 1964 states that a ‘prison officer’ may be given “lawful directions in respect of the execution of his office” (s 7). They also “have all the functions and protection of a police officer” in connection with any prison or prisoner (s 9). They may stop and search people or vehicles but again solely and quite strictly in connection with prisons (s 10). And they are authorized to use force “against a prisoner” (s 11).
Section 25 of the same act allows police to be assigned to prisons in cases of need. But there is no corresponding provision (allowing correctional services officers to act as police officers) in the Police Act No 29 of 1957. Nor is there any such provision in the Emergency Powers Act, the 1973 Decree or the 2005 Constitution. The Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Order No 10 of 1977 makes specific provision for permanent (ie, non-reserve) members of the army to be given police powers (s 7), although this probably relates only to military offences and the enforcement of the army’s Code of Conduct.
The Public Order Act No 17 of 1963 does enable police and what it calls ‘administrative officers’ to break up or prevent unlicensed public gatherings. Reading the relevant statutes together, it is doubtful whether ‘prison officers’ are contemplated within the meaning of the Public Order Act. But even if they are, such ‘administrative officers’ are limited to ‘giving orders’ or ‘using force’ to disperse meetings (s 3). This is a far cry from what prison officers are being authorized to do in Swaziland. Instead, for the past few weeks, they have been manning road blocks, doing search and seizures, guarding street corners, and arresting civilians.
This issue is important not just because governments should follow the laws. I don’t know the figures, but the use of correctional services has dramatically increased the presence of the state here. Prison warders with police powers all across the country may be the government’s idea of keeping its civilians safe, but from the civilian side it may just look like the whole country is becoming a prison.
