South African Press Agency

SWAZILAND:Swazis want speedier executions

Swaziland's Senate on Monday moved a motion calling on its constitutional affairs and justice minister to speed up the execution of 12 inmates on death row.

The motion said the minister, Maweni Simelane, should report back to parliament within 5 months on why death sentences were not being meted out. Senate members argued that death row inmates were an expense to the state. "We move that the honourable minister of justice and constitutional affairs should explain the issue of the delayed execution of inmates awaiting the sentence of death, with reference to the recruitment of the hangman and execution dates for those awaiting death," the motion said. Simelane said the country could not afford a full-time executioner, as there were too few people on death row.

 He said however that his office was "flooded with applications". The last person to be hanged in Swaziland was Phillipa Mdluli in 1981 for a ritual murder. All of the 12 prisoners on death row were convicted of murder.