Pro-democracy activists in Swaziland have accused the state of targeting leaders with fabricated charges in an effort to silence dissent.
The regime in Swaziland has escalated its crackdown on pro-democracy forces, carrying out a wave of arrests, abductions, and targeted repression. Youth leaders and organizers have been particularly singled out, with the latest target being Nontsetselelo Ncamsile Nkambule, treasurer general of the Swaziland Youth Congress and a People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) cadre.
Her designation as “wanted” by state authorities on charges of kidnapping and attempted murder has been widely condemned as fabricated and politically motivated. For many within the Swazi democratic movement, they believe these actions indicate a regime preparing to silence dissent at all costs.
Criminalizing youth leadership
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In a statement, the Swaziland Youth Congress expressed “absolute anger and disgust” at the accusations leveled against their treasurer general, describing them as part of a long-standing pattern of repression:
“We are outraged. This is yet another cowardly and desperate act by the Tinkhundla regime and its police, who have long abandoned any pretense of serving the people. Instead of fighting unemployment, poverty, and the collapse of our education system, this government deploys its security forces to manufacture lies, criminalize activists, and shield the royal family from accountability.”
The organization situates the charges as a move in which dissent is systematically suppressed through intimidation and legal manipulation:
“For 53 years this regime has ruled through fear, brutality, and deception. Today’s false accusations are not about justice; they are about silencing a youth movement that refuses to bow to royal dictatorship. We will not be intimidated. We will not be silenced.”
They link the repression directly to the upcoming royal celebrations, the Youth Congress further states:
“We know that Mswati and his circle are preparing for a wasteful birthday celebration and 40 years on the throne. The police are doing everything possible to ensure there is no voice of dissent against this ceremony, a ceremony that will add no value to the transformation of our people or the development of our society.”
The organization concludes with clear demands and a call to action:
“Our Treasurer General is not a criminal. She is a committed youth leader whose only ‘crime’ is demanding democracy and accountability in Swaziland. We demand an immediate retraction of these false allegations and an end to the weaponization of the police against political activists … The people of Swaziland deserve democracy, not birthday parties for a monarchy that has impoverished them for decades.”
A pattern of abductions and torture
Accounts from activists and organizers point to a disturbing and escalating pattern of repression over recent weeks. Members of the Swaziland National Union of Students have been among the primary targets, facing harassment, abduction, and torture.
Speaking on these patterns on wider repression, Ncamiso Nxumalo, the deputy president of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), the Youth League of PUDEMO told Peoples Dispatch, “In 2021, an uprising led by the student movement marked a turning point in the country’s political trajectory. Today, as the student union regains momentum, there are renewed efforts to destabilize it, including targeted harassment of its leadership.
Read more: One year after a brutal crackdown, the struggle for democracy remains alive in Swaziland
“The regime continues to silence dissent across the board whether from workers’ unions, student organizations, or even the police union itself, while political parties remain banned, including PUDEMO. This reflects a broader pattern of repression that extends beyond specific groups to affect the whole of Swazi society.”
A regime in crisis
Pan-African formations in the continent, including Pan Africanism Today, interpreted the current crackdown as evidence of a regime under pressure rather than one in control. In a solidarity statement, PAT rejects the charges against Nkambule in unequivocal terms:
“She is not a would-be murderer. She is a young revolutionary, and the Mswati Tinkhundla regime knows it. The ‘Wanted’ notice circulated by the Royal Eswatini Police Service … is a fabrication.”
Situating the repression within broader socio-economic and political dynamics, the statement argues:
“This is not an isolated attack. The conditions that produced the June 2021 uprising remain unresolved and have intensified … The criminalization of Cde Ntsetse is not the confidence of an order that is winning. It is the fear of an order that is losing.”
The PAT statement also highlights a longer history of state violence, from the killing of protesters during the June 2021 Eswatini protests, to the assassination of Thulani Maseko, and attempts on the life of Mlungisi Makhanya, arguing that the present moment is part of a sustained pattern of repression.
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Clearing the ground for royal power
The statement, reiterated the Swaziland Youth Congress position that links the targeting of activist and Nkambule to the upcoming royal jubilee:
“In manufacturing criminal charges … the regime now seeks to clear the streets for King Mswati III’s self-celebration of forty years on a throne the Swazi people never chose for him.”
This includes what has been described as coordinated operations to suppress protests in the lead-up to April 24, ensuring that the celebrations proceed without visible dissent, even as poverty, unemployment, and inequality deepen across the country.
Organizers and movements are calling for a firm rejection of the criminalization of activists, insisting that those targeted must be defended and that solidarity efforts be intensified across the continent and beyond.
