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Political activists in Eswatini were being poisoned, and common symptoms among them was loss of eyesight. Fear of being poisoned was the reason that incarcerated former Members of Parliament (MPL) - Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube – do not food served in jail. – Swaziland Solidarity Network spokesperson, Lucky Lukhele.

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Sizwe sama Yende

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Kingdom of Eswatini opposition leader, Mlungisi Makhanya, was allegedly poisoned by a young fellow country man he lived with in South Africa.

The young man, who fled the house and left Makhanya to die about two weeks ago, is still at large. The People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) president has since been discharged from hospital and is reportedly doing well.

Pro-democracy organisations have been quick to blame King Mswati III’s agents for infiltrating their movement.

Swaziland Solidarity Network spokesperson, Lucky Lukhele, told The People’s Eye that Makhanya became very sick after eating food prepared by the young man. “When Mlungisi became weak, the boy took his phones and left the house. He also left with the house keys,” Lukhele said.

Makhanya mustered enough strength in his deteriorating state to find another phone in the house and called for help. “This boy kept telling him that he had finally found him. Mlungisi went to a toilet in his bedroom because of diarrhea and while he was there, the boy locked him. The bedroom door had to be broken to force entry into his bedroom after he called.”

Lukhele said that he suspected that Makhanya pretended he was weaker than he was at that time the boy stuck around to ensure that the poison was indeed working.

“We hope that the South Africa government will take matter seriously and investigate,” he said.

Eswatini government has denied knowledge of this incident to various international media houses.

Lukhele said that political activists in Eswatini were being poisoned, and common symptoms among them was loss of eyesight. He said that fear of poisoning was the reason that incarcerated former Members of Parliament (MPL) - Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube - who were sentenced to prison terms of 25 and 18 years respectively on terrorism, sedition and murder charges, did not eat food in jail.

Mabuza and Dube  were arrested in July 2021 at the height of pro-democracy protests that had spread throughout the country like wild fire. The two MPLs and a third one, Mduduzi Simelane, were targeted after calling for democratic reforms in parliament. Simelane has since gone into exile.

The 2021 protests were by far the citizens strongest show of being fed up against the monarchy. As protestors burned buildings and vehicles – valued at R5billion, King Mswati III unleashed soldiers and police to quell the violence. It is estimated that more than 1 000 civilians were maimed or killed by the heavy-handed soldiers and police.

King Mswati III has since acted against the advice of SADC to convene a dialogue with all the pro-democracy formations in the country. The monarch has steadfastly gone ahead with his isibaya (byre) gathering that for all intents and purposes stifles dissenting voices.

All hope of negotiations was lost when human rights lawyer, Thulani Maseko, was assassinated  by unknown gunmen at his house in Luvengo on January 21 2023.

Maseko was chairperson of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum, which comprised of all political parties and civil rights organisations advocating for democratic rule in the country.

Makhanya’s poisoning is, according to Lukhele, an indication how the Eswatini pro-democracy groupings in South Africa were infiltrated.

In June 2023, former Eswatini police officer and pro-democracy activist Thabo Kunene was abducted in Rustenburg, North-West, allegedly by the monarchy’s security forces who invaded the country.

SSN said then that Kunene was lured to the home of King Mswati III’s South Africa-based henchman under the guise that he would be sold weapons.

The security forces allegedly tortured him and recorded videos while they interrogated Kunene in handcuffs.  Kunene confessed in the video-recording that  he led a team that killed four police officers and 10 civilians during the July 2021 unrest.

 Kunene was allegedly smuggled back into Eswatini through an illegal crossing point to face 43 charges, which included murder (six counts), attempted murder (17 counts), arson (six counts) and contravening section 5(1) of the Suppression of Terrorism Act, 2008.