SwaziLII Launches the Freedom Toaster, 31 May 2012

28 June 2012 · AfricanLII

On 30 June 2012, I travelled from OR Tambo International to Sikuphe International in Manzini, Swaziland. A short flight from Johannesburg (barely enough time for a cup of coffee!) but quite far removed from Jozi’s mad pace.

The occasion for the travel was the launch of the SwaziLII Freedom Toaster. I was particularly excited because my colleagues and I had been bothering funders literally for years to fund a Freedom Toaster!

The Freedom Toaster was originally conceived and developed by the Shuttleworth Foundation as an initiative to deliver open source software to all. While most of the software is available on the internet, across Africa, restrictive bandwidth and the “pay-per-megabyte” telecommunications structure makes it impossible for many people to obtain information without paying for it. The original Freedom Toaster concept was necessarily expanded to enable the machine to become a delivery point for any open information. This was the purpose which we envisaged for the LIIs. Making information available free of charge, free of bandwidth restrictions on the Freedom Toaster is part of a greater effort to bridge the digital divide, empower people and – in this instance – provide access to the law for all.

And finally, Freedom House came through, funding not one, but three Freedom Toasters: one in Swaziland and two in Lesotho. Let me say it here so that there can be no mistake: these are the first Legal Information Institute Freedom Toasters in the world!

The SwaziLII team consisting of the Board[1], Nosisa Hlophe and Thoko Langwenya, had within the space of the 2 weeks since the installation of the Freedom Toaster, organized a wonderful launch event at the Royal Swazi Spa in Ezulwini (very appropriately meaning ‘Heaven’). Paul John Gioio from Breadbin Interactive had arrived a day earlier to move the Freedom Toaster from the High Court to the launch venue.

Figure 1: I loved the SwaziLII branded water. Sadly my bottle did not survive the airport security checks!

The event was well attended by the media and representatives from the legal community in Swaziland, including the Attorney General’s office and various ministries, the SwaziLII Board, Judges of the Supreme and High Courts of Swaziland, and Kerryn Shewitz from Freedom House. Proceedings were managed by Justice Nkosinathi Nkonyane who is also the chairman of the SwaziLII Board. Speakers at the event included:

The Deputy President of the Law Society, Ms Gigi Reid;

Kerry Anderson for AfricanLII;

Mr Majahenkhaba Dlamini, the Attorney General;

Chief Justice Michale M Ramodibedi.

A highlight of the event for me was when Ms Reid of the Law Society proclaimed the Freedom Toaster to be ‘Madame’ Freedom Toaster – surely anything this useful has to be feminine!

It was particularly significant for SwaziLII as well as the launch of the Freedom Toaster, that the Chief Justice attended and delivered the key note address. The full text of his speech is available here: http://www.swazilii.org/speech/speech-chief-justice-kingdom-swaziland-his-lordship-mr-mm-ramodibedi-during-official-launch-f .

The Chief Justice noted the launch of the Freedom Toaster as a milestone event since the inception of SwaziLII. At AfricanLII we are hoping this milestone event will also serve as the beginning of the rollout of LII Freedom Toasters across the region.

Thank you Freedom House for your vision.

Thank you Breadbin Interactive for your wonderful product and dedicated team.

Thank you Paul John Gioio for magically transforming problems into adventures.

Thank you SwaziLII for embracing the opportunities presented by this innovative technology.

Figure 2: The SwaziLII Launch Team

[1] Judge Nkosinathi Nkonyane (chairman), Mr Mpendulo Simelane (secretary), Mr Selby Gama, Mr Bheki Tsabedze, Mr Mndeni Vilakati, Mr Mbuso Simelane, Ms Elizabeth Matsebula, Ms Nonhlanhla Shabangu

AfricanLII

About the author

Recent articles by AfricanLII

Inaugural meeting and conference of African Network of Judicial Trainers

24 January 2024
AfricanLII

The work of the Judicial Institute for Africa (Jifa) and the African Legal Information Institute (AfricanLII) was showcased at this week’s inaugural three-day AGM and conference of the African Network of Judicial Trainers (ANJT), held in Zanzibar. A number of important projects were launched or unveiled at the event, including an inaugural project to draw up a shared ethics manual on judicial training for trainers.

Pocket Law: Legal Information In Your Pocket

23 January 2023
AfricanLII

Do your users struggle to connect to the Internet? Pocket Law lets you search for cases and legislation off-line. It is a USB stick loaded with an LII website, which works off-line and updates with new content once users are in Internet coverage.

Pocket Law

23 January 2023
AfricanLII

The Community Land Act in Kenya Opportunities and Challenges for Communities

15 December 2021
AfricanLII

Kenya is the most recent African state to acknowledge customary tenure as producing lawful property rights, not merely rights of occupation and use on government or public lands. This paper researches this new legal environment. This promises land security for 6 to 10 million Kenyans, most of who are members of pastoral or other poorer rural communities. Analysis is prefaced with substantial background on legal trends continentally, but the focus is on Kenya’s Community Land Act, 2016, as the framework through which customary holdings are to be identified and registered. A main conclusion is that while Kenya’s law is positive and even cutting-edge in respects, legal loopholes place communities at risk of their lands not being as secure as promised ahead of formalization, and at risk of losing some of their most valuable lands during the formalization process. This is mainly due to overlapping claims by the national and local government authorities. Political will to apply the law is also weak. The truism that the law is never enough on its own to secure social change is illustrated. With or without legal protection, the assistance of non-state actors will be needed to help communities secure their lands under formal collective entitlements. The need for judicial interpretation of disputed legal provisions may also be required to ensure new constitutional principles are delivered.

Kenya and Botswana: why were their recent sodomy judgments so different?

2 March 2020
AfricanLII

In this post from the website of the International Association of Constitutional Law , blogger Aditendra Singh of the National Law University, Delhi, compares two similar cases from Kenya and Botswana. He poses the question: What made the courts adjudicate the matters so differently?