Swaziland
Newsletter No. 911 – 23 January 2026
News from and about Swaziland, compiled by
Global Aktion, Denmark (www.globalaktion.dk)
in collaboration with Swazi Media Commentary (www.swazimedia.blogspot.com),
and sent to all with an interest in Swaziland - free of charge. The newsletter
and past editions are also available online on the Swazi Media Commentary
blogsite.
80% women neglect children for jobs
By Nokuphila Haji,
eSwatini Observer, 16 January
2026
The deputy prime minister’s
office has revealed that 80% of the cases handled under the Asibambaneni
SibeNgumndeni programme involved women who had neglected their children while
seeking employment opportunities.
This is contained in findings
from a report compiled by the office, following visits to affected families.
When speaking during an
Eswatini TV Programme, Kusile Breakfast Show, Senior Gender Analyst Thandwa
Dlamini said the findings showed that many families were experiencing severe
economic hardship, forcing caregivers to seek employment away from home.
She said women, who
traditionally carry the burden of caregiving, often face difficult choices
after childbirth, including leaving children behind in search of work.
She said 80% of the cases
involved women neglecting their children, noting that the analysis revealed
widespread struggles among women in communities to adequately care for their
children.
Dlamini added that, in many
cases, this neglect was a survival strategy, as women who lacked the means to
support their children often took them to their grandparents, who then became
the primary caregivers.
“There is also a gender-based
violence component, because in most cases women who are abused run away from
perpetrators, leaving the child behind becomes a form of protection for
themselves and the child from future abuse,” she said.
To read more of
this report, click here
https://eswatiniobserver.com/80-women-neglect-children-for-jobs/
eSwatini’s health
workers call medical delivery drone network ‘revolutionary’
By Zimkhitha Mbulawa,
Gavi, Vaccines Work, 21 January
2026
Health
worker receives drone-delivered medications in Eswatini. Credit: Nkwe
Eswatini has joined the
growing roster of African countries relying on medical drones for delivery of
vaccines and other health commodities to their remotest communities.
But the Nkwe Drone Network
comes with an important difference. Rather than dropping their payload by
parachute, Nkwe drones land – meaning they can pick up sensitive cargo, such as
blood samples, at the last mile.
Representatives of the
organisation behind the Nkwe Drone Network say drone flights are typically six
times faster than grounded medical transport, at a competitive cost.
Eswatini’s remotest districts
are not only under-served in terms of hospital infrastructure: the delivery of
vaccines, meds, antivirals and emergency bloodwork samples is constrained too.
During the annual flood-prone seasons, things get dire.
That’s where Nkwe Drone Network – the kingdom’s first authorised
medical drone network, which did over 600 flights in just its first year –
jumps in.
The name “Nkwe” means “sprint”
in siSwati, and was conferred upon the unmanned fleet by the kingdom’s health
minister, Mduduzi Matsebula, at the official launch ceremony in June 2024.
“[Using] drone deliveries
instead of roads has really helped a lot of us as a clinic in the vaccination
of kids, adults, treatments, HIV tests, urgent bloodwork,” said Lomalungelo
Mavuso, a community health worker who has served at Ngculwini Nazarene Clinic since 2017. Ngculwini is a
rural healthcare centre in the northwest of Eswatini.
The people behind the drone
initiative are The Luke Commission (TLC), a US-founded non-profit healthcare
organisation operating in Eswatini for the last 20 years, and providing
everything from cataract surgeries to HIV care.
To read more of
this report, click here
Scramble to seize control of the media is a new
‘political corona virus’ affecting Swazi journalism but, it’s curable
Opinion by Zweli Martin Dlamini, Swaziland News,
18 January, 2026
It is public knowledge that my
journey as a journalist has been going through a rough road of course, with
potholes that smooth surfaces but, I’ve learned that “being hated by a
dictatorship Government automatically gives one credibility in the eyes of the
international community”.
The credibility arose from
fact that, most international organizations are fully aware that, any
undemocratic Government that strives on secrecy perceives the independent media
as an enemy because, sometimes it reports critical news that does not favour the
State.
It is for these reasons, the
more the independent media is rebuked by the Eswatini Government, the more it
gains international recognition and support because, most international
organizations wants diversity of news and, those news cannot be disseminated in
a more diverse way, if all publications are controlled by the State.
The media is facing challenges
not only in Eswatini but within the African continent, it’s just that in
Eswatini you find even very stupid people like King’s Interpreter Sihle Dlamini
telling the media what to write, these fools think just because they work with
King Mswati, then they have all the powers to tell journalists how to do their
job.
The media is actually facing a
political ‘corona virus’ but it’s curable.
It’s not only Sihle Dlamini,
even “Sibutseki from eMalawini nasifake emajobo nje nemhelwane locotfukile” can
just invade the newsroom claiming to be there to deliver an order from the King
and block a story.
But maybe there’s nothing
wrong with these royal lunatics invading Eswatini newsrooms to block stories
because some media companies are owned by royalty or the Government, but the
problem starts when they demonstrate a political appetite to control even the Swaziland
News that is registered and operating in South Africa.
It should be noted that, there
was a strategic reason why this publication was registered in the neighboring
South Africa, one of the reasons was to force anyone seeking to challenge it in
court, to approach the South African independent courts not the Swazi courts
and if that person has a genuine case, that matter will be handled by
independent Judges.
Eswatini Government lost a
case against this publication at the Mpumalanga Court, there’s no way in South
Africa where lunatics can just wake-up in the morning and decide to silence the
media, maybe in the Spaza Swazi courts.
The Swaziland News will report
anything critical about the Eswatini Government and the royal family, lunatics
like King’s Interpreter Sihle Dlamini will do absolutely nothing to silence
this publication except to read and enjoy critical articles.
Why those who claim to be
ignoring this publication are the first ones to know what the Swaziland News
has published and, other platforms learn through Sihle Dlamini’s platform that
some public figures are responding to this publication.
This means Sihle Dlamini is a
loyal reader of this publication, almost every five (5) minutes he is reading
this publication.
Now that Facebook has approved
Swaziland News to earn money through articles, Sihle Dlamini will
contribute to the online revenue generation for this publication. Siyabonga
kuMtukulu weMtukulu, we-Mntfwanenkhosi Njebovu.
Why attend? Tariff hike will happen anyway - residents
By Khulile Thwala, Times of eSwatini, 21
January 2026
NHLANGANO: Poor attendance
marked the electricity tariff consultation held at Bethesda Church in
Nhlangano, with residents attributing the low turnout to public fatigue.
Despair and a growing belief
that tariff hikes are implemented regardless of public submissions were also
attributed to the low numbers.
The tariff hike proposal
public hearings are being hosted by the Eswatini Electricity Regulatory
Authority (ESERA) in conjunction with the Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC).
Nhlangano-stationed Pensioners
Association representative Ntombi Dlamini pointed out that it was unfortunate
that many people failed to attend a consultation dealing with an issue that
directly affected their daily survival.
“When I tried to raise this
issue and encouraged people to attend the consultations, many of my colleagues
and acquaintances accused me of financially abusing them,” said Ntombi.
She explained that even when
she contacted pensioners ahead of the consultation to remind them to attend,
the response was largely negative.
“They told me that these
consultations are harassment, and by pressuring them to attend I was abusing
them because they cannot afford the proposed electricity hike,” she said.
According to Ntombi, this
sentiment explained the poor attendance at the meeting.
“I attend these consultations
regularly, but today there is an evident poor turnout because people are now
shunning these sessions,” she said.
She stressed that pensioners
were adamant that they would not cope should the proposed tariff hike be
implemented.
Ntombi lamented the meagre
monthly income some pensioners received, stating that it was already
insufficient to meet basic needs, even before factoring in increased
electricity costs.
“If the little we earn is
already pinched just to make ends meet, where will we get money for more
expensive electricity units?” she asked.
To read more of
this report, click here
eSwatini records world’s highest cervical cancer death
rate
By Sibusiso Dlamini, eSwatini Observer, 18
January 2026
The country’s health system is
facing another grave test.
As the kingdom grapples with
an acute drug shortage crisis while being named among those with the highest
suicide rates globally, new data now places the country at the very top of a
far more lethal league table: cervical cancer deaths.
According to statistics drawn
from World Population Review figures for 2026, the country records the highest
cervical cancer burden in the world, with an incidence rate of 57.8 per 100 000
women.
The country’s crude incidence
rate far exceeds that of neighbouring states already considered high-risk.
Lesotho follows at 49.9,
Malawi at 42.8, Zimbabwe at 39.2, and Comoros at 38.8. South Africa, by
comparison, records 35.6.
Even more alarming is the
cumulative risk, as a girl born in the country today faces an 8.6% chance of
developing cervical cancer by the age of 74 if current trends persist. This is
among the highest lifetime risks recorded globally.
All in all, Southern Africa
dominates the list of countries with the highest cervical cancer rates,
reflecting shared challenges. Malawi (42.8), Zimbabwe (39.2) and Mozambique
(33.1) all feature prominently, as do Zambia and Tanzania further north.
In public health terms, these
figures, according to medical doctor and Ekuphileni Clinic Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) Dr Advocate Dlamini, place the country in a category of extreme
vulnerability.
Dr Dlamini’s explanation for
the country’s alarmingly high cervical cancer death rate is that too many girls
are being exposed to sex far too early, when their bodies are not ready to
fight the virus that causes the disease.
“Cervical cancer is caused by
a sexually transmitted virus known as the human papillomavirus (HPV). Not all
HPV types are dangerous, but types 16 and 18 are responsible for most cervical
cancer cases worldwide. Once the virus enters the body, it can quietly damage
cervical cells over time, eventually turning them cancerous,” he explained.
To read more of this report,
click here
https://eswatiniobserver.com/eswatini-records-worlds-highest-cervical-cancer-death-rate/
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