Earlier today, protestors gathered outside the South African High Commission near Trafalgar Square to call on the SADC (South African Development Community) to support their efforts to bring democracy to Eswatini (formerly Swaziland).
The peaceful protest follows a turbulent year for Africa’s last remaining absolute monarchy, during which, according to Amnesty International, ‘dozens of people have been killed and many others tortured, detained or abducted.’
Today’s protest was organised by Swazi Lives Matter UK, a group set up by UK-based members of the Eswatini diaspora to raise awareness of the situation in Eswatini and to help further the case for democracy. The group is apolitical and unaffiliated to any political parties in the country.
Despite having a partially elected parliament, the responsibility for appointing the country’s prime minister and executive government lies solely with the King, Mswati III.
Pro-democracy protests started in Eswatini in June 2021 after the mysterious death of 25-year-old law student, Thabani Nkomonye, who is widely believed to have died at the hands of the police. Then, in late July, two Swazi members of parliament, Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube were arrested under the ’Suppression of Terrorism Act’.
Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa described the arrests as a ‘travesty of justice.’
After an hour of good-natured singing and chanting at the peak of the hottest day ever recorded in the UK, the group were able to hand-deliver a petition to a representative of the High Commission, who came out of the building and spoke with the protestors for more than thirty minutes.
The representative also listened to a powerful and impassioned speech from Eric “Gawuzela” Simelane, an MP in the Eswatini parliament who is currently living in exile, and who told me he fears being arrested or murdered should he set foot in his home country.
Describing the imprisoned MPs Mabuza and Dube as his ‘brothers’, Simelane (see video below) said it was his duty to bring the world’s attention to the situation in Eswatini, where many people are going without food or medical treatment while the King lives a life of luxury.
A Le Monde article in October 2018 claimed that the country only has twelve public ambulances, for a population of 1.3 million; that most elementary schools are no longer able to provide food; and that pharmacies are disappearing.
The article also says that a circle of 15,000 businessmen take most of the country's wealth, while King Mswati III receives eight percent of the national budget for ‘official expenses’, and the armed forces and the police force receive five percent each.
On Thursday, King Mswati III will meet with Cyril Ramaphosa, president of South Africa. Simelane said that the Swazi people are praying that Ramaphosa will listen to their pleas and bring the King to task.
Eswatini is bordered by South Africa to its north, west, south, and southeast. Its much larger neighbour accounts for 90% of its imports and 70% of its exports.
‘When South Africa sneezes,’ said Simelane to the representative for the High Commission, ‘Eswatini catches a flu. A problem for Eswatini is a problem for South Africa.’ Then, adapting Martin Luther King Jr’s famous words about injustice, he added, to a loud show of support from the crowd, ‘Dictatorship anywhere is a threat to democracy everywhere.’
In an upcoming episode of The Leaders Council podcast I’ll be speaking to Simelane directly about his mission to free his fellow MPs and to bring democracy to Eswatini.
