eSwatini: Cloud of silence from monarch greets protests against absolute power
Queueing to buy food at a supermarket in Mbabane, eSwatini, on July 1, 2021. Demonstrations escalated radically as protesters took to the streets demanding immediate political reforms. PHOTO | AFP
The South African government is concerned by a possible spill-over of violence and unrest from the Kingdom of eSwatini, after pro-democracy protesters in the monarchy were met with a brutal police crackdown in the beginning of last week.
The government was forced to do damage control to counter allegations that King Mswati III, Africa’s last absolute monarch, had fled the country after protesters torched public facilities and building housing a brewery run by the royal family.
