Swaziland
Newsletter No. 951 – 6 November 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.
Over
E88m in health project funds unspent
By
Mnelisi Dlamini, Times of eSwatini, 4 November 2026
LOBAMBA: More than E88 million released
for Ministry of Health capital projects remained unspent during the reporting
period.
Matsanjeni South MP Sabelo Ndlangamandla
questioned the ministry’s financial management after figures presented to
Parliament showed that only E12.6 million of more than E101 million released
for capital projects had been spent.
The figures indicate that less than 13 per
cent of the released funds had been used.
Ndlangamandla raised the issue during
debate on the ministry’s performance report.
He questioned why the ministry had spent
so little of the money released for capital development while expenditure on
staff recalls continued.
“Why is there expenditure like that?” he
asked. “Because the report says it was fully released, but this is what is used
E12.6 million out of over 101 million.”
The MP also questioned the ministry’s
recurrent expenditure, particularly the amount spent on recalling personnel.
However, the figures provided during the
debate did not specify how much the ministry had spent on staff recalls.
Ndlangamandla urged government to
prioritise capital projects, saying they could stimulate economic activity and
create employment opportunities for emaSwati.
His concerns centred on the difference
between funds released for capital development and the amount spent during the
reporting period.
LOBAMBA –
Some patients travel up to 48 kilometres for treatment, only to find prescribed
medicines unavailable, Parliament heard.
Matsanjeni South MP Sabelo Ndlangamandla
raised concerns about patients with non-communicable diseases who travel long
distances to public health facilities but cannot obtain their medication.
He called on the Ministry of Health to
prioritise medicines for chronic conditions and improve their availability at
public facilities.
To read more of this report, click
here
https://times.co.sz/47815/news/over-e88m-in-health-project-funds-unspent/
See also
MP fears patients may go hungry (Times
of eSwatini)
https://times.co.sz/47819/news/mp-fears-patients-may-go-hungry/
Police
recruitment: MPs inundated with job pleas
By
Nomalungelo Phiri, eSwatini Observer, 4 November 2026
Members of Parliament (MPs) have raised
concern over the country’s growing unemployment crisis.
They revealed that they now receive
desperate calls from young people seeking assistance to secure jobs in the
ongoing Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) recruitment exercise.
This was during the ministry of public
service second quarter performance report debate in the House of Assembly
yesterday.
Sigwe MP David ‘Cruiser’ Ngcamphalala said
unemployment had become a serious concern in every constituency, with young
people constantly approaching MPs for help to find employment.
Ngcamphalala said the situation was
worrying, especially considering that some government ministries still had
hundreds of vacant positions that had not been filled.
He cited the ministry of public works,
which reportedly has about 422 vacant posts, questioning why government had not
filled these positions while thousands of Emaswati remained unemployed.
“When are we going to address the issue of
ministries having such a high number of unfilled positions while the country is
facing unemployment?,” he questioned.
The MP said MPs were struggling to respond
to the growing number of young people who called them, asking for assistance to
secure jobs in the ongoing police recruitment exercise.
He described the situation as unhealthy
for the country, adding that thousands of young people had graduated from
different institutions but remained without employment.
He called on government to develop clear
plans to address unemployment and ensure that vacant positions in ministries
were filled.
Lubombo Regional MP Futhi Ngcamphalala
also raised concern over the overwhelming number of locals seeking employment
through the police recruitment exercise.
She said the number of applicants was
alarming, noting that some aspirants started arriving as early as 3am to submit
their applications.
“Thousands of people were turning up
daily, including applicants holding degrees and PhDs, showing how serious the
shortage of employment opportunities had become,” she said.
To read more of this report, click here
https://www.eswatiniobserver.com/mps-inundated-with-job-pleas/
See also
Throngs of young people in race for
police jobs (eSwatini Observer)
https://www.eswatiniobserver.com/throngs-of-young-people-in-race-for-police-jobs/
245
injured, 7 dead in 3 months – Buthelezi raises alarm on worker safety
By
Sicelo Maziya, eSwatini Positive News, 3 November 2026
MBABANE: The numbers are shocking – 245
workers injured and 7 dead in just three months. That was the grim report
Minister of Labour and Social Security Phila Buthelezi tabled in Parliament.
Presenting his ministry’s second quarter
performance report, Buthelezi said the state of health and safety at workplaces
is now a cause for concern.
“The workman’s compensation is being
overstretched with huge numbers of injuries at work,” the Minister said. “We
have recorded about 245 injured and 7 fatalities in just 3 months.”
He said it is not only the private sector
where workers are at risk, but even in government there is a need to ensure
employees are protected.
On labour inspections, Buthelezi painted a
painful cycle. He said labour inspections have been done, but violation of
workers continues to be a challenge. When violations are reported, workers are
fired, and at the next inspection, that employee is gone.
“The Asian community is a challenge. My
friends are not improving on labour violations,” Buthelezi said, referring to
some textile factory owners. “We engage them, but the violations continue.”
He reported that the textile sector was
the first to finish its wage negotiations and allowed for enquiries, but said
his ministry is now about to finalize a gazette for the sector.
MPs have long complained about poor
working conditions in factories, from low wages to lack of protective clothing.
On a brighter note, Buthelezi shared that
a number of students have received scholarships after his ministry was able to
get supplements from the graduating cohorts.
He however expressed concern that some
students jumped the gun, which resulted in university closures, as they
protested before processes were finalized.
“We are trying to help, but students must
also allow processes to unfold,” he said.
The Minister’s report left the House with
a clear message – behind every injury statistic is a worker who went to work to
feed a family and returned injured, or did not return at all.
Royal
salaries; we reveal the pay slips of the royal committees and emabandla
By
Swazi Bridge, 2 November 2026
A recently issued Gazette by Finance
Minister Neal Rijkenberg, the eSwatini Government Gazette Vol. LXIV, No. 92, of
Friday 30 October 2026, has laid bare exactly how much is earned by the many
royal committees, and it confirms everything we have always feared. Legal
Notice 153, the Prescription of Statutory Salaries and Allowances of Emabandla,
Commissions and Boards (Amendment) Notice, 2026, is, in plain terms, the
literal pay slip for the rulers of this country. It runs into the millions
every year, and into the hundreds of thousands of emalangeni every month.
Every package has the same building
blocks. The basic salary is the headline figure. Then come the extras: housing,
entertainment, a car, communication for airtime and data, and utilities for
water and power. On top of that sit medical aid, a pension and, for the top
bosses, household staff and security. Swazi Bridge added up only the cash
items, so the real value is higher once medical aid, pension, staff and
security are counted.
This group covers the Liqoqo, the Royal
Board of Trustees and the Ludzidzini Council. The chairperson of the Liqoqo and
the chairperson of the Ludzidzini Council each earn a basic E1,427,736 a year.
Add E356,934 for housing, E142,774 for entertainment, E60,000 for communication
and E42,832 for utilities, and the cash package passes E2 million, about
E169,000 a month. They also get a housekeeper, a gardener, a driver and 24-hour
security. Secretaries earn a basic E1,007,812, plus E100,781 for carrying extra
responsibility, about E1.48 million in total. Ordinary members, including Royal
Board of Trustees members, earn a basic E1,007,812 and about E1.38 million in
total, which is E114,800 a month.
To read more of this report, click
here
https://swazibridge.com/article/index.php?iywtrre=d1Ko
See also
Liqoqo, Ludzidzini
chairs to each pocket over E1.4 million annually (eSwatini Positive News)
Makhanya,
Zweli coordinated unrest over phone – State
By
Kwanele Dlamini, Times of eSwatini, 30 October 2026
MBABANE: The police allege that Mlungisi
Makhanya and Swaziland News Editor Zweli Martin Dlamini coordinated
activities during the 2021/22 unrest by phone.
Makhanya is the President of the People’s
United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), which is a proscribed entity.
The allegation is contained in court
papers filed in support of Eswatini’s application for the provisional arrest
and extradition of Ntokozo Kenneth Vilakati, popularly known as ‘Putin’, who is
reportedly under arrest in South Africa over an allegation that he was in that
country illegally.
In the papers, Assistant Superintendent
Bhekani Shiba of the Royal Eswatini Police Service’s Organised Crime Unit, the
investigating officer in the matter, alleges that firearms stolen from
different places during the unrest were surrendered to Makhanya.
“Mlungisi Makhanya and Zweli Martin
Dlamini were coordinating everything over the phone by giving instructions to
those who were on the ground. All the firearms that were stolen at different
places were surrendered to Mlungisi Makhanya,” Shiba states in his affidavit.
The allegations place the two men at the
centre of the police account of the activities of a group described in the
papers as the ‘underground solidarity forces’.
The investigator links the group to
offences allegedly committed in the country’s four regions during the period of
unrest between 2021 and 2023.
According to Shiba, Vilakati was a member
of the group and allegedly acted on instructions from Thabo Kunene, whom the
investigator identifies as the group’s commander, as well as other individuals,
including Makhanya.
The allegations form part of the evidence
presented by the director of public prosecutions (DPP) in seeking Vilakati’s
provisional arrest pending extradition to Eswatini to face prosecution.
These are allegations contained in an
affidavit whose veracity is yet to be tested in court.
Shiba links Vilakati to a number of
alleged operations, including incidents at Dumako, the homestead of the late
Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala and properties in and around Pigg’s Peak.
The investigator alleges that there was a
plan to go to Dumako, where people were reportedly shot and killed. The papers
also refer to a plan to proceed to the late chief justice’s homestead, where
cattle were allegedly shot and killed and several houses burnt.
Vilakati is alleged to have participated
in the operation at the homestead.
Shiba further states that there was a plan
involving Rockland Company, a privately owned business. According to the
investigator, a witness overheard Vilakati and Sibusiso Nxumalo discussing the
burning of a truck belonging to the company.
The two allegedly travelled to Rockland in
a vehicle belonging to Vilakati’s nephew, with registration number USD 584 BH.
The investigator states that trucks and a forest were burnt that night.
Shiba further alleges that the witness
overheard the pair discussing the burning of other places around Pigg’s Peak.
The following morning, the Central
Transport Administration (CTA) block, which houses a government department, and
the Pigg’s Peak Magistrates Court were allegedly burnt.
The investigator states that, when
Vilakati was asked why government and privately owned property should be
destroyed, he allegedly responded that Peak Timbers belonged to the Minister
for Finance, identified as Neal, and should, therefore, be destroyed.
Shiba says Vilakati is linked to other
offences through circumstantial evidence. The allegations concerning the
different incidents form part of the investigator’s account of the activities
attributed to the group.
Meanwhile, in her affidavit, Acting DPP
Lomvula Hlophe describes the period of unrest between June 2021 and June 2023
as one characterised by serious damage to property, arson, deaths and injuries.
She submits that attacks during the period
were directed mainly at members of the security forces, judicial officers,
prosecutors, traditional authorities, regiments, Members of Parliament and
members of the public.
To read more of this report, click here
https://times.co.sz/47413/news/makhanya-zweli-coordinated-unrest-over-phone-state/
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