{"id":437431,"date":"2011-06-07T10:57:50","date_gmt":"2011-06-07T10:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/06\/07\/newspaper-publisher-says-democracy-not-needed\/"},"modified":"2011-06-07T10:57:50","modified_gmt":"2011-06-07T10:57:50","slug":"newspaper-publisher-says-democracy-not-needed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/07\/newspaper-publisher-says-democracy-not-needed\/","title":{"rendered":"Newspaper Publisher Says Democracy Not Needed"},"content":{"rendered":"<div readability=\"70.6942098914\">\n<hr class=\"thin clear\" \/>\n<hr class=\"thin clear\" \/>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.swazimedia.blogspot.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Swazi Media Commentary<\/a> (Swaziland)<\/p>\n<p>Richard Rooney<\/p>\n<p>7 June 2011<\/p>\n<hr class=\"thin clear\" \/>\n<p>Paul Loffler, publisher of the Times of Swaziland newspapers, says Swaziland doesn\u2019t need democracy.<\/p>\n<p>He is quoted by a South African newspaper today (5 June 2011) saying the Swazi cities are clean and the local municipalities work fine, so there\u2019s little to complain about.<\/p>\n<p>Loffler, who with his family is based in Namibia, was quoted by the Sunday Times newspaper in South Africa.<\/p>\n<p>It was reporting on how Swaziland was \u2018open for business\u2019 despite the recent increases in protests from workers demanding democratic reforms in the kingdom ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s last absolute monarch.<\/p>\n<p>Loffler owns the only major media in Swaziland that is not under state control or in effect owned by King Mswati. His titles are the Times of Swaziland, the Swazi News and the Times Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>He was quoted by the Sunday Times saying, \u2018Swaziland doesn\u2019t need democracy. We\u2019ve never had a genocide, we\u2019ve never nationalised farms, our municipalities run like clockwork, the cities are clean, there are no potholes &#8211; or not many &#8211; and we have little violent crime.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The newspaper went on to report that \u2018he admitted, there is room for improvement, particularly regarding the profligate spending on unnecessary items in the face of dire poverty. The king\u2019s proposed jet, for example &#8211; rumoured to cost in the region on $45-million &#8211; is a sticking point for many, as are the palaces, expensive cars, overseas holidays and extravagant shopping trips for the king\u2019s wives and children.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Lofler inherited the Times newspapers from his father Douglas Loffler.<\/p>\n<p>In March 2010, Paul Loffler announced that he was to sue a tiny independent newspaper in Swaziland, the Swazi Mirror, after it reported that Loffler paid himself E1 million a month from his newspapers, while his staff worked for low wages. His lawyers said the report \u2018implied our client is greedy, selfish and has no regard for the employees\u2019 welfare\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>The Times group has a long history of kowtowing to King Mswati. In March 2011 it censored coverage from foreign media that criticised the king\u2019s undemocratic regime; in August 2010 it censored a paid advertisement that drew attention to the king\u2019s publicly-stated refusal to engage in dialogue with democracy advocates.<\/p>\n<p>In 2009, it dropped the column written by Mfomfo Nkhambule that was mildly critical of the royal regime in Swaziland; in May 2009 Loffler personally grovelled publicly to the king after his newspaper reported truthfully that the king had purchased a fleet of Mercedes cars.<\/p>\n<p>In March 2007, the Times Sunday published a report from the international news agency Afrol that criticised King Mswati and included a reference to the king\u2019s spending, \u2018Swaziland is increasingly paralysed by poor governance, corruption and the private spending of authoritarian King Mswati III and his large royal family.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The article went on to say, \u2018The growing social crisis in the country and the lessening interest of donors to support King Mswati\u2019s regime has also created escalating needs for social services beyond the scale of national budgets.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<fieldset>\n<legend align=\"center\"><strong>More News on allAfrica.com<\/strong><\/legend>\n<\/fieldset>\n<p>AllAfrica &#8211; All the Time<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>Continue Reading:<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/stories\/201106070743.html\" title=\"Newspaper Publisher Says Democracy Not Needed\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Newspaper Publisher Says Democracy Not Needed<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> Swazi Media Commentary (Swaziland) Richard Rooney 7 June 2011 Paul Loffler, publisher of the Times of Swaziland newspapers, says Swaziland doesn\u2019t need democracy. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":437432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-437431","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - 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