Swaziland Newsletter No. 888 – 1
August 2025
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.
Amnesty International declares eSwatini MPs ‘prisoners
of conscience’ amid deepening crackdown on dissent
Kareem Assaf, Jurist News, 27 July 2025
Four years after their arrest
for peacefully advocating for political reform, two members of the Eswatini
Parliament, Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube, have been declared “prisoners of conscience” by Amnesty
International. Friday’s designation highlights mounting concern over the
country’s intensifying repression of dissent and misuse of the justice system.
The two MPs were arrested on
July 25, 2021, following their vocal support for legal reforms and
constitutional change. They were convicted on charges of terrorism and sedition
and sentenced by the High Court on July 31, 2024, to 85 and 58 years in prison,
respectively.
“By designating Bacede Mabuza
and Mthandeni Dube as prisoners of conscience, Amnesty International affirms
that they should never have been arrested in the first place,” said Tigere
Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern
Africa. “Their continued arbitrary detention shows Eswatini’s deepening climate
of repression and misuse of the justice system to punish those who dare
criticize the government.” Amnesty International previously raised alarm over ongoing delays in the appeal hearing
for Mabuza, warning that it threatens judicial independence and undermines the
right to a fair trial.
The crackdown on Mabuza and
Dube takes place in a wider context of political repression in Eswatini. In
September 2024, Eswatini’s main opposition party, the People’s United
Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), alleged that its leader, Mlungisi Makhanya, was poisoned
in an “attempted assassination” at his South African residence. While the
Eswatini government denied any involvement, the incident drew global attention
to the regime’s ongoing suppression of political opposition.
This followed the
still-unsolved murder of prominent human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko
in 2023, which fueled concerns over the state’s role in targeting activists.
PUDEMO, though legally allowed to exist, remains banned from contesting
elections under decades-old restrictions.
King Mswati III continues
to hold unchecked power in Eswatini, appointing key
officials and holding ultimate authority over all branches of government.
Amnesty has warned that “the imprisonment of MPs simply for speaking out is a
red line that must never be crossed. Authorities must quash their convictions
and sentences, and immediately and unconditionally release them.”
See also
Imprisoned
activist MPs in Eswatini highlight a growing crisis of civic freedoms
across Africa (Daily Maverick)
DPM sounds alarm:
Drug lords targeting kids
By Sabelo Majola, Times of eSwatini, 31 July
2025
LOBAMBA: Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Thulisile Dladla has
registered concern about the existence of drug lords in Eswatini who are
selling their merchandise to children.
Dladla raised this concern
yesterday while presenting her office’s portfolio committee’s first-quarter
performance report for the financial year 2025/26 in Parliament. She
highlighted the growing number of children consuming hard drugs like cocaine
and dagga.
During her preamble to the
Senate Portfolio Committee, Dladla suggested that the country is actively
experiencing drug lords supplying hard drugs, which are consumed not only by
adults but also children. She remarked: “umtfwana longawatsatsi ema-drugs kulamalanga
ngumkacoco,” meaning, “drugs have become the in-thing and fashionable to
consume among children.”
The issue of drug lords
operating in the country is not new, having been raised by Senator Lindiwe
Ngwenya in Parliament earlier this year. This publication previously reported
that a high-stakes investigation was launched into the activities of two prominent
drug lords operating within Manzini, following serious allegations of police
complicity and widespread community concern.
The investigation was
initiated after Senator Ngwenya raised the alarm over Manzini’s burgeoning
status as a drug hub, accusing certain individuals of operating with impunity.
Notably, she highlighted a foreign national and a well-known local woman, both
alleged to have been deeply involved in drug trafficking for an extended
period, seemingly untouchable to law enforcement.
“Manzini seems to be
becoming a drug hub,” Senator Ngwenya stated during a Senate committee session
in March this year. “What is particularly concerning is the apparent lack of
concern from the police, because when reports are made, no arrests are carried
out. There are drug lords in Manzini who have been operating for years.”
Concerns are particularly
heightened regarding foreign nationals’ alleged residence near Manzini Central
schools, raising fears that pupils may be among their clientele. Investigations
suggest these drug lords are suspected of dealing in cocaine, brown sugar and
rock. Additionally, woman drug lord is said to operate from Fairview.
Meanwhile, while presenting
her preamble to the senators in Parliament yesterday, Dladla highlighted that
the National Children Services Department focused intently on safeguarding
children’s rights.
She said the office initiated
the establishment of 10 Community Child Justice Committees and actively
contributed to Eswatini’s second State Party Report on the African Charter.
She revealed that a crucial
interfaith leadership meeting was convened to integrate spiritual capital into
efforts to end violence against children, alongside the development of VACS
2022 data info-graphics.
“The department distributed
school uniforms and food parcels to vulnerable children and coordinated the
Children’s Month and Day of the African Child commemorations, advocating for
improved child financing,” she said.
Deputy Prime Minister Thulisile Dladla
Mbabane Govt
patient intake down to 50 daily
By Nomalungelo Phiri, eSwatini Observer, 30
July 2025
The health crisis in the country continues to worsen as the country’s major
hospital now attends to only 50 patients a day, a concerning decline to the
average intake of over 200 patients per day.
This development has seen
hundreds of patients flocking the referral hospital being turned away, adding
to the already concerning situation at the hospital.
According to the Ministry’s first quarter report, Mbabane Government had the highest volume facility with 79 964
annual OPD visits. This translates to about 220 people attended per day on
average.
Some patients found queuing in
the hospital’s Outpatient Department (OPD) said they were shocked to learn that
the hospital had now reduced the number of patients attended to per day. They
claimed that they arrived as early as 6am so as to secure a spot for the day,
only for some to be turned back.
“I was informed that I should
make sure that I arrive on time so that I will be among the 50 patients that
are attended to daily,” said one of the patients.
Another patient, Melusi Dlamini shared his frustration about the situation,
stating that his mother was turned away after arriving at the hospital at
around 9am.
“We were told that the daily
patient limit had already been reached and were told to go to Mankayane for
assistance. As a result she ended up not getting any assistance and had to go
home,” he said.
Similarly, Sihle Dlamini, another patient in the queue shared that she arrived
at the hospital at 6am in a bid to increase her chances of being attended to
and was lucky enough to make the cut.
At approximately 9am yesterday
a security officer, who was assisting patients in the OPD confirmed the
reports.
“The 50 tickets have already been taken. I issued the last ticket just a few
minutes ago,” the officer said.
Mbabane Government Hospital
Chairperson Musa Shongwe claimed that he had not been informed about any
significant changes in patient admissions.
“We have not been notified of any change. The last time I checked, they
mentioned that they were working on a policy document that would guide how the
hospital operates, other than that, I know nothing about any implemented
change,” he said.
Meanwhile Communications
Officer in the Ministry of Health Nsindiso Tsabedze clarified that the hospital had requested a reduction in patient
numbers, but the ministry
did not approve such.
“They raised the usual concerns about the need to scale-down, citing drugs
shortage, but nothing significant changed. The ministry is not aware of any
issues related to a limited number of patients being seen daily,” Tsabedze
explained.
Questions swell in
eSwatini over five men deported from US
AFP, 27 July 2025
In the small African kingdom
of Eswatini, the arrival of five men deported from the United States under
Washington's aggressive anti-immigrant measures has sparked a rare wave of
public dissent.
The five, nationals of
Vietnam, Laos, Yemen, Cuba and Jamaica, were flown to Eswatini's administrative
capital of Mbabane on July 16 on a US military plane and incarcerated after US
authorities labelled them "criminal illegal aliens".
The US Department of Homeland
Security said the men were convicted of violent crimes "so uniquely
barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back".
The government of Eswatini,
formerly known as Swaziland, has confirmed their presence.
But spokesman Thabile Mdluli
said they would not stay permanently, and "will be repatriated in due
course to their different countries".
That assurance, though, has
not quelled a tide of questions and concerns that has risen within the kingdom
about the operation.
Civic and rights groups are
wondering whether further deportees from the United States will arrive, and
what rights the five men detained have.
Public outrage at the lack of
transparency led to 150 women protesting outside the US embassy in Mbabane on
Friday.
The protest, organised by the
Eswatini Women's Movement, demanded the prisoners be returned to the United
States and queried the legal basis Eswatini relied on to accept them.
The five men are being held in
the Matsapha Correctional Centre, 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of
Mbabane.
The facility, notorious for
holding political prisoners and overcrowding, has been undergoing renovations
and expansions since 2018, reportedly funded by the United States as part of a
program covering all 14 of the country's penal centres.
Solitary confinement
Sources within the
penitentiary administration said the men were being held in solitary
confinement in a high-security section of the facility, with their requests to
make phone calls being denied.
The sources said the men have
access to medical care and the same meals as the thousand other inmates, as
well as a toilet, shower and television in their cells.
Prime Minister Russell Dlamini
has dismissed calls by lawmakers and from other quarters for the secrecy
surrounding the agreement with Washington to be lifted.
"Not every decision or
agreement is supposed to be publicly shared," he said.
Eswatini is the second African
country to receive such deportees from the United States, after South Sudan
earlier this month accepted eight individuals.
The situation has sparked
concerns about the potential implications for Eswatini, a country already
grappling with its own challenges under the absolute monarchy of King Mswati
III.
The 57-year-old ruler has been
criticised for his lavish lifestyle and has faced accusations of human rights
violations.
US President Donald Trump has
used the threat of high tariffs against other countries, such as Colombia, to
coerce them to take in people deported from America.
Eswatini is currently facing a
baseline US tariff of 10 percent -- less than the 30 percent levelled at
neighbouring South Africa -- which the government has said will negatively
impact the economy.
Trump has directed federal
agencies to work hard on his campaign promise to expel millions of undocumented
migrants from the United States.
His government has turned to
so-called third-country deportations in cases where the home nations of some of
those targeted for removal refuse to accept them.
Rights experts have warned the
US deportations risk breaking international law by sending people to nations
where they face the risk of torture, abduction and other abuses.
See also
Amount of money
paid by United States for dumping dangerous criminals in eSwatini remain a top
secret, Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini says ‘US paying for hosting of
deportees’. (Times of eSwatini)
https://swazilandnews.co.za/fundza.php?nguyiphi=9590
Spokesperson Percy
Simelane clarifies reasons that might result to removal of Prime Minister
By Zweli Martin Dlamini, Swaziland News, 28 July,
2025
MBABANE: King Mswati is
allegedly concerned about the conduct of Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini
but sources within royalty say, the King might not remove him anytime soon as
that would portray him as a person who did not apply his mind when appointing
the PM.
A royal insider told this Swaziland
News that, the King was concerned that, since the appointment of the
current PM, he hasn’t seen any service delivery but only ‘badmouthing’ among
Cabinet Ministers.
“Inkhosi ikhala ngekutsi kute
lokusetjetwako lapha e-Cabinet, Ndvunankhulu nakafika kuye utela kutohleba
bo-Minister, nabo-Minister bahleba Ndvunakhulu.Itsi ngabe seyimsusile manje
seyesaba lesive kutsi sitawutsi kani bekabekani kulomuntfu lona,” said a royal
insider.
The royal insider further
said, according to the King, a Prime Minister must be given at least three (3)
years to familiarize himself with Government operations and if he fails, he can
be removed.
“The King takes time to
analyze things, he is not like us who want things done now. Even on the issue
of the Army Commander uvele akutjele kutsi “yebo sekubonakele kutsi uyaganga
kodvwa noma bangamemeta labanye batsi nayo imbuzulwane Ngwenyama lapho emasendzeni
akho, wena mnikati wemasendze ngeke utsatse sandvo uyibulale, ungamane ucunuse
ikuluma-lume wente kungatsi awuyiboni kani usayicabangela kutsi uyisusa njani,
kumbe uve unatsa imbita itovele ihhohloke itifele, ngoba wayishaya budlabha
itawufa nalomnikati wemasendze (meaning: even if they can scream saying be
careful a mosquito has landed in your testicles, you must not be rough when
removing it, otherwise you and the mosquito will die,” said the royal insider.
Acting Government Spokesperson
Thabile Mdluli declined to comment about the matter.
Responding to this Swaziland
News, King Mswati’s Spokesperson Percy Simelane said, the King normally
consider failure to act or deliver in best interest of the Nation when removing
a Prime Minister.
“Our experience is that the
King considers failure to deliver in the best interest of the country. However,
his decision is informed by a host of advisory structures, including
Parliament and the Supreme Council of State”, said the King’s
Spokesperson.
The PM is currently failing to
address the health crisis and other social challenges, he is also accused of
dividing Cabinet.
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