Swaziland Newsletter No. 901 – 31
October 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.
eSwatini: No Justice for June 2021 Security Force
Violence
By Human Rights Watch, 30 October 2025
JOHANNESBURG: Eswatini has
failed to conduct an effective investigation and to ensure justice and
accountability for the students, activists, and passers-by killed and injured
by security forces’ use of disproportionate and lethal force during the June
2021 pro-democracy demonstrations, Human Rights Watch said today. Instead, the
government has intensified its crackdown on dissenting views by arresting
government critics on spurious charges, hindering peaceful assembly, and
ignoring longstanding calls for democratic reforms.
The 26-page report, “You’ll Die Waiting for Justice,” confirms that the Royal Eswatini Police Service and
the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force improperly used tear gas, and rubber
bullets, and physically assaulted civilians during the June 2021 unrest. The
security forces also shot indiscriminately at protesters and passers-by with
live ammunition, killing scores of protesters and injuring hundreds more,
including children. The findings shine a spotlight on the absence of
accountability since then and the precarious and desperate situation for the
victims, requiring urgent action to remedy their situation.
“It is appalling that more
than four years later, the victims and survivors are living with the
consequences of the brutality they suffered without any remedies for their
rights violations” said Nomathamsanqa Masiko-Mpaka, Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The
government of Eswatini should promptly embark on effective and comprehensive
investigations into all unjustified and disproportionate use of force against
civilians by police and military officers implicated in the June 2021
protests.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed
15 people in-person, 6 women and 9 men, in April 2025. The individuals
interviewed are all Swati nationals, ages 18 to 68, who were 14 to 64 at the
time of the protests. Three of those interviewed had lost loved ones, while 8
were direct victims of security force violence.
Human Rights Watch also
interviewed four key stakeholders in Eswatini’s political landscape, including
a trade union representative, a representative of a political party, a
businessperson, and a human rights lawyer. These four stakeholders, and one of
the victims interviewed, fled Eswatini to escape persecution for their
political activism and are living in exile in South Africa.
To read more of
this report, click here
Youth in eSwatini seek jobs abroad, says Afrobarometer
By Adekunle Owolabi, Independent News,
eSwatini, 27 October 2025
MBABANE: More than half
of Eswatini’s youth aged 15 to 35 are struggling to find work, with 56 percent
reported unemployed according to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s
2023 survey. Despite government initiatives and support from development partners,
including the Eswatini Youth Development Programme and the Youth Enterprise
Revolving Fund, young Emaswati are increasingly looking abroad for better
opportunities.
The Eswatini Youth Development
Programme targets both graduate placement and artisanal training while the
Youth Enterprise Revolving Fund offers collateral-free loans of up to E200,000
to assist aspiring entrepreneurs. Nevertheless, the economy’s slow growth
limits employment opportunities. Each year around 25,000 young people enter the
labour market but only 1,000 new jobs are created according to the World Bank.
More than one in three youth 36.5 percent are neither in education, employment,
nor training.
The 2023 Global Youth
Development Index ranks Eswatini 155th out of 183 countries placing it ahead of
regional neighbours Malawi, Zimbabwe, Angola, Lesotho, and Mozambique but
behind Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, and Zambia.
Afrobarometer’s 2025 survey
conducted in Eswatini by QA Strategic Information with a nationally
representative sample of 1,200 adults shows a generational gap in education and
employment. Nine out of ten youth aged 18 to 35 have secondary education 66 percent
or post-secondary education 24 percent compared with 51 percent to 80 percent
of older adults. Yet more than half of youth 53 percent are unemployed and
actively seeking work. Barriers include lack of experience 25 percent, mismatch
between education and job requirements 21 percent, reluctance to work in tough
sectors such as agriculture or manual labour 17 percent, and inadequate
training or preparation 13 percent.
Half of young Emaswati express
a desire to start their own businesses. Job creation tops their priorities for
government support followed by vocational training 20 percent, access to
business loans 17 percent, education 10 percent, and social services 3 percent.
On top issues including unemployment, health, wages, education, and
infrastructure, majorities of youth rate government performance negatively with
89 percent disapproving of efforts to keep prices stable and 86 percent
dissatisfied with job creation initiatives. A slight majority 54 percent say
Eswatini is moving in the wrong direction and assessments of the country’s
economic situation are bleak with only 11 percent satisfied with national
conditions and 23 percent satisfied with their personal living conditions.
The survey reveals that countries such as South Africa, England, Ireland, and Taiwan are attractive destinations for young Emaswati seeking stability and better employment. Half of youth have considered emigrating with 71 percent citing jobs as their main motivation. Other reasons include escaping economic hardship 12 percent and pursuing education 5 percent. Compared to 2018 consideration of emigration among youth has risen by 10 percentage points.
Anti-HIV
jab arrives in November
By
Khulile Thwala, Times of eSwatini, 28 October 2025
MBABANE: Eswatini is set to
receive its first batch of a new HIV injection next month.
This marks a major milestone
in the country’s fight against new infections. In this groundbreaking move,
Eswatini has become the second country to receive the HIV prevention injectable
drug, Lenacapavir, which is expected to arrive in November.
According to credible sources,
the twice-a-year HIV prevention injection’s first 500 vials are expected to
arrive ahead of the official launch on December 1, 2025 during the World AIDS
Day commemoration.
The sources have further
revealed that Eswatini will subsequently receive a larger consignment of about
E11 million vials in January 2026.
Eswatini follows in the
footsteps of South Africa, which became the first country yesterday to announce
the official registration of Lenacapavir.
The Coordinating Assembly of
Non-Governmental Organisations (CANGO) is said to be playing a central role in
coordinating this milestone achievement.
The jab is said to be targeted
at high risk populations as defined in the National HIV Strategic Framework
including adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), young women 25-34, pregnant
and breastfeeding women, key population, high risk men and HIV negative people
who are interested in an HIV prevention option.
To read more of
this report, click here
See also
eSwatini’s HIV
success applauded, but PM warns of ongoing challenges (eSwatini Positive News)
UNESWA report: Animosity between vice chancellor,
registrar
By Nokuphila Haji, eSwatini Observer, 30
October 2025
The task team looking into the
state of the University of Eswatini has found that there had been animosity and
misunderstanding between the former registrar (now retired) and the vice
chancellor regarding their respective roles.
According to the team, the
registrar viewed himself as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the
university, while the vice-chancellor was seen as having an external role
focused on marketing the university and raising funds.
The task team stated that the
registrar had effectively usurped powers to run the university, claiming he was
recalled after having left the institution by the former chair of council.
“UNESWA is one university where the registrar has an overreach even into the
portfolio of the vice-chancellor, not to mention the roles of deputy
vice-chancellors, which are loosely captured as ‘administration’,” the report
noted.
The report also cited
administrative inefficiencies, such as delays in approving new programmes, poor
resource allocation, and excessive bureaucracy, which hinder the university’s
ability to respond to emerging challenges. These inefficiencies, according to
the report, cause UNESWA to lose out to other universities that have more agile
approval processes.
The report further revealed a
lack of a coherent strategic vision to address the university’s challenges and
align its operations with national and regional priorities. The report also
added that the third-stream income initiatives such as the UNESWA Foundation
and Chakaza Holdings have failed to generate significant revenue due to poor
oversight and weak leadership by senior management.
Furthermore, the report stated that the absence of strategic planning has left
the university ill-prepared to navigate its financial and operational crises.
To read more of
this report, click here
https://eswatiniobserver.com/uneswa-report-animosity-between-vice-chancellor-registrar/
See also
UNESWA task team
report out: Wage bill takes 90% of budget (eSwatini Observer)
https://eswatiniobserver.com/uneswa-task-team-report-out-wage-bill-takes-90-of-budget/
UNESWA Task Team recommends forensic,
8 other reforms (Times of eSwatini)
UNESWA closed as
students protest, journo assaulted (eSwatini News)
By Musa Mdluli, Swaziland News, 27 October,
2025
MBABANE: [Swaziland News] Editor Zweli Martin Dlamini has called for a high level investigation into the death of Russell Nxumalo, the Commissioner of Cooperative Development in the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade.
The editor said Nxumalo’s
death leaves a lot of unanswered questions particularly because, he was
fighting corruption facing a dangerous mafia within Cooperatives and therefore,
his sudden death should be investigated.
“I’ve known him for close to
twenty (20) years as a man of integrity who hates corruption and his death
shocked me. He recently sent me a message saying he wants us to discuss
something so now I’m left with unanswered questions regarding what he wanted to
say considering the corruption within Cooperatives,” said the editor.
The editor urged the police to
investigate Nxumalo’s movements between Friday and Sunday and the people he was
enjoying drinks with a few hours before he died. He then sent condolences to
the family, the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Mancoba Khumalo and
the Government, relatives and friends following the death of the
Commissioner-Cooperative Development.
|
The late
Commissioner of Cooperative Development in the Ministry of Commerce, Industry
and Trade Russell Nxumalo (pic:EBIS) |
See also
Condolences pour
in for Russell Nxumalo (Independent News, eSwatini)
https://independentnews.co.sz/30038/news/condolences-pour-in-for-russell-nxumalo/
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