An Unlikely Freedom Fighter

Maxwell Dlamini seemed an unlikely freedom fighter. I met him in 2010 when I was involved with a Danish NGO, Africa Contact. They had invited Maxwell to Denmark to raise awareness about his struggle for democracy as leader of the Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) and to convey what life was like in Swaziland. I had taken a day off to show him around town and to hear his story. One might imagine a freedom fighter to be larger than life, speaking in quotable monologues, but Maxwell was small, reserved and polite. He spoke so quietly it was difficult to hear what he was saying without intense concentration. 

He didn’t look like he had suffered in any way, nor like he held any grudges. He certainly didn’t look like someone who was fighting against injustice wherever it might exist. In fact, I was doing all the talking. After several hours of wandering, I realised how much I had said and how little he had said, so I asked him if he wanted to see more of the city or go home to my place and get some food. He chose the food.

We bought some pizzas and went to my apartment. When we reached my front door, he entered first so I could only see his back when he was walking through the hallway. I immediately sensed that something in his maner had changed. We didn’t talk as we headed toward the living room. He was walking slowly through the apartment, looking at the posters and paintings on my walls. 

After having studied the images of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghandi, Mandela and the Chinese student staring down the barrel of a tank in Tiananmen Square, he turned around to face me with a great smile. “So you are one of us,” he declared. I nodded in acknowledgement. Then he started to speak. 

He was only 20-years-old at the time and had just been elected leader of the SNUS. This union, he said, was working to create a democratic Swaziland and better living conditions for the Swazi population, who for too long had suffered under the rule of King Mswati III.

Since independence in 1968, pro-democracy activists have struggled against the monarchy. Maxwell Dlamini is one of them. He told me that he had been arrested so many times that he couldn’t remember the exact number. He said he had been beaten up and subject to inhumane interrogation methods. He constantly lived with the risk of being captured by government officials. 

While he spoke, I saw flashes of that classic old image of the freedom fighter. He constantly referred to Steve Biko. He had read a huge amount on resistance - armed as well as unarmed. He claimed that he did not want to lead, but that he had to because “the people want me to. They need me to”. “Soon, we will be free," he continued. "But we need to become a priority in the international community. We need to show them what is happening to us. How we are suffering while others are living on our expense." 

I asked him if he would pursue his goal with violent means. He answered that the pro-democratic movements in Swaziland had been employing non-violent techniques of resistance for a long time, but admitted that armed resistance might be the only way to obtain the ultimate objective in the near future. He was obviously frustrated with the lack of progress. 

Then he looked me in the eye and said, as only people like him can, “But do not forget how you got your freedom, your democracy. Just as you got yours, we want our freedom. We want democracy.” His words had such depth. Fighting for freedom in Swaziland is a dangerous occupation, yet it was a risk he seemed to accept. And astonishingly, despite the seriousness in his voice, he possessed great warmth. He was happy.

Despite all the hardship he had experienced and was still going through - and all the people who had done him and his people wrong - he maintained a fundamental belief in the inherent goodness of human beings. And despite all the sacrifices the pro-democracy movement was making for its cause, there was no doubt in his mind that freedom was coming, that it was just a matter of time. I felt lucky to have met such an individual. 

On April 12, 2011, Maxwell was arrested at a pro-democracy protest. He hasn't been seen since. The Maxwell I came to know would gladly give up his own freedom for that of his people. I send him all my best wishes and hope that he may succeed and lead the population, which desperately needs him. Despite Africa having been liberated from colonial rule, many Africans are still fighting for their liberty today. He is a symbol of this struggle.

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