Swaziland
Newsletter No. 932 – 26 June 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.
eSwatini
unemployment falls to 33.5 percent
APA,
23 June 2026
Eswatini has recorded a decline in
unemployment over the past two years, with the 2025 Labour Force Survey showing
joblessness easing from 35.4 percent in 2023 to 33.5 percent in 2025,
signalling a modest improvement in the country’s labour market.
Labour and Social Security Minister Phila
Buthelezi released the survey findings on Monday, noting that the latest data
reflects progress in efforts to expand economic opportunities and strengthen
livelihoods.
Youth unemployment dropped from 56 percent
to 52.2 percent while female unemployment declined from 37.6 percent to 36.4
percent, offering what officials described as early signs of recovery in a
labour market still under pressure.
Officials say the findings will guide
evidence‑based policies aimed at accelerating job creation and reducing
vulnerabilities that can fuel social unrest.
eSwatini’s
civic freedoms on trial in landmark LGBTI rights legal battle
By Khanyo
Farisè, Daily Maverick (South Africa), 22 June 2026
For seven years the Eswatini Sexual
and Gender Minorities group has fought the Swazi government for its citizens to
have the right to freedom of association. But this is a hard fight against a
government and king who believe LGBTI people have no place in the kingdom and
who are trying to restrict the power of civil society organisations.
In Eswatini’s second biggest city of
Manzini, Sisanda Mavimbela is once again preparing for court.
As the Co-Director of Programmes and
Advocacy for Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities (ESGM), a group which works
to advance LGBTI rights, Sisanda has become all too familiar with the ritual of
gathering documents, revisiting judgments, speaking to lawyers and asking the
courts, again, to affirm what should never have been in dispute: that everyone
has a right to freedom of association.
ESGM has been fighting in the courts for
this constitutional right since 2019, when its application to register as a
non-profit organisation was first rejected. After challenging the decision in
the high court, ESGM eventually secured a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 2023
which declared that the registrar’s approach was unconstitutional and ordered
the relevant minister to reconsider the application.
In his reconsideration, the minister of
commerce, industry and trade in September 2024 declined ESGM’s application on
the basis that Swazi “customary law does not recognise same-sex relationships”.
In August 2025, ESGM again approached the
courts challenging the minister’s grounds for rejecting its application. The
matter is still before the courts, but ESGM has made it clear that it has no
intention of backing down.
Under international human rights law,
the right
to freedom of association guarantees
the rights of all individuals, without discrimination, to form associations and
to jointly carry out activities or pursue common goals. Restricting this right
is a repressive tactic that undermines human rights in general and, in this case,
with a discriminatory impact. The government in Eswatini has used such tactics
to restrict civil society organisations which play a vital role in scrutinising
state power, documenting abuses, and mobilising public debate.
In Eswatini, the struggle for LGBTI rights
is also a struggle for civic freedom. As the government intensifies its attacks
on civic space, LGBTI groups are once again being presented as a threat to
culture and national identity. King Mswati III and other senior officials have
repeatedly denounced LGBTI people in the name of preserving “Swazi culture”.
To read more of this report, click
here
See also
eSwatini’s civic freedoms on trial in
landmark LGBTI rights legal battle (Daily Maverick)
Alleged
illegal foreigners fleeing to eSwatini ahead of June 30 ‘March and March’
protests in South Africa
By
Musa Mdluli, Swaziland News, 20 June 2026
MBABANE: State security officers working
and patrolling the Eswatini border with South Africa are reportedly arresting
more foreigners trying to cross over to the tiny Kingdom ahead of the “June 30
March and March” deadline.
As a result, Eswatini might face yet
another influx of foreigners crisis a few weeks after the police arrested about
two hundred (200) Chinese nationals who entered the country illegally and
engaged in illegal gambling and extortion.
According to sources within the Army, this
coming week, more arrested foreigners will appear in court after being caught
crossing the border illegally to the Kingdom of Eswatini.
Acting Government Spokesperson Thabile Mdluli was not immediately available for
a comment.
Eswatini has been facing the influx of
foreigners for some time now and recently, about 200 Chinese nationals appeared
in court, they were charged and subsequently convicted for entering the country
illegally.
See also
First group of foreign nationals
deported (Times of eSwatini)
FPE
grant delays push primary schools into crisis
By
Mnelisi Dlamini, Times of eSwatini, 19 June 2026
MBABANE: Public primary schools across
Eswatini are facing a severe financial crisis following the Ministry of
Education and Training’s prolonged delay in disbursing free
primary education (FPE) grants specifically designated for Grade 1 pupils.
The ongoing funding hitch has left head
teachers stranded midway through the 2026 academic calendar. Compounding the
crisis is government’s crackdown on top-up fees, leaving school administrators
barred from requesting emergency contributions from parents, yet they lack the
funds required to keep their institutions running.
Under the Free Primary Education Act of
2010, government is constitutionally mandated to cover tuition, stationery and
learning materials for all primary school pupils. While the ministry recently
announced successful FPE rollout for higher grades, Grade I disbursements have
faced systemic delays, starving schools of critical early-year operational
capital.
Speaking on condition of anonymity in fear
of professional reprisal, one head teacher said: “We are effectively running on
empty. Grade I represent our largest intake this year. Without their FPE
grants, we cannot buy fundamental items like exercise books, chalk, or even
basic cleaning detergents. I have had to beg local suppliers to give us
cleaning chemicals on credit just so we can maintain proper hygiene in the
ablution blocks.”
The financial squeeze is felt just as
acutely in rural communities, where alternative resources are non-existent. A
head teacher from a community school in northern Hhohho explained how the
funding delay has crippled daily operations.
“The ministry expects us to run schools
like standard businesses, but they have cut off our working capital. We cannot
pay our electricity bills or maintain our school feeding programme kitchen
properly. When we try to explain this to the regional education office (REO),
we are simply told to wait. But the children cannot wait to learn, and the
bills certainly do not wait.”
Correctional
facilities overcrowded, there’s shortage of officers – Minister
By Melisa
Msweli, eSwatini Observer, 20 June 2026
Minister of Justice and Constitutional
Affairs Prince Simelane has reported that the country’s correctional facilities
remain overcrowded and in a dilapidated state, adding that the cramped
conditions could easily facilitate the spread of airborne diseases should an
outbreak occur.
Reporting to His Majesty King Mswati III
during the Correctional Services Day celebrations held at His Majesty
Correctional Services Staff College, Prince Simelane said the correctional
system continued to face a number of challenges, chief among them being
inadequate infrastructure and a shortage of correctional officers.
He said the shortage of officers was a
matter of concern, describing correctional officers as ‘the fence of the
country’ and emphasising that they were critical to maintaining safety and
security within correctional institutions.
The minister further reported a shortage
of staff housing for correctional officers, saying this remained one of the
issues requiring urgent attention.
Despite these challenges, Prince Simelane
expressed gratitude for the peace prevailing in the country, noting that
national events such as the Correctional Services Day were possible because of
the stability enjoyed by the country.
To read more of this report, click
here
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