King Mswati accused of delaying Eswatini national dialogue

It’s been almost a year since Swazi King Mswati III met President Cyril Ramaphosa in Eswatini and agreed to launch a national dialogue to address the kingdom’s growing political crisis.

Several regional summits and fact-finding missions later, amid growing tensions in the country, no dialogue has begun. And last month the Southern African Development Community (SADC) decided to convene yet another summit and send yet another fact-finding mission to the country, adding further to the delay.

Eswatini’s political opposition, under the umbrella of The Multistakeholders Forum (MSF) has mildly rebuked SADC leaders for “reinventing the wheel” by agreeing to the new summit and fact-finding mission. It has accused Mswati of dragging his feet and has warned SADC leaders not to be hoodwinked by the king into believing the crisis in Eswatini is a security rather than a democracy issue. They insist that the growing insecurity in the country is the result of Mswati denying democracy.

SA lawyer expelled

The Swazi government is in the meantime showing no signs of creating an environment for dialogue by allowing more democratic space. Last week, on the contrary, it expelled South African lawyer Sicelo Mngomezulu who is representing two jailed, pro-democracy members of Parliament, Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube.

Government spokesperson Mlandvo Dlamini said in a statement that this was because Mngomezulu had called on Swazi maidens not to attend the annual traditional Reed Dance to be held on 5 September. The government said it was against the national interest as it had contradicted a call by the country’s authorities. Mngomezulu had therefore violated the Public Order Act.

The Reed Dance has become a political issue this year, probably because it is strongly supported by the Palace as part of the country’s traditional culture. But critics say it demeans the young women for the prurient pleasure of men.

Mngomezulu denied calling on the maidens to boycott the Reed Dance and said the government’s real reason for effectively banning him was that he had publicly supported the two MPs in calling for democratic reforms in Eswatini.

The two MPs — and a third, Mduduzi Simelane, who fled Eswatini before he could be arrested — last year allowed their constituents to petition them with grievances, including a call for the country’s prime minister and executive to be elected by Parliament and not appointed by the king.

When the government banned these petitions, it sparked protests which spiralled into rioting in June 2021, widespread destruction and the deaths of scores of people, mostly protesters shot by security forces. The government accused the MPs of inciting the violence.

It was this violence which prompted SADC to address the crisis and send three fact-finding missions to the country. In early November 2021 Ramaphosa — then heading SADC’s security organ — visited Eswatini and met Mswati who agreed to convene a national dialogue to plot a way out of the crisis.

But this has stalled. Part of the reason has been that Mswati and the political opposition have widely divergent views on how the dialogue should unfold. Mswati and his ministers have made it clear that they want it to be framed entirely as “Sibaya” which is a traditional consultation — enshrined in Eswatini’s constitution — which the king occasionally holds with his people.

Democratic governance