A certain holding owned by King Mswati III is taking up much of the fallow land in the country for cattle farming and crop cultivation for his use. Where emaSwati have been found living on the land, they have been evicted, without compensation because the land is seen as private property belonging to the monarch. […]Read More

Even though the Supreme Court issued a judgment ordering that the late Victor Shabangu be buried at his father’s homestead and not the home he had built for himself, his mother does not believe he is resting. She says her son was emphatic that he wanted to be buried in the homestead he had built […]Read More

Minister for Finance, Neal Rijkenberg has a monkey on his back. It is the government wage bill. Despite efforts to freeze the hiring of public service workers and a moratorium on promotions, it just keeps going up. Much of the money goes to the security forces, some of which are not even accountable to the […]Read More

As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps across the country, causing grief amongst families, cattle rustlers took advantage of the lockdowns to wreak havoc on livestock causing farmers losses amounting to millions of Emalangeni, reports VUYISILE HLATSHWAYO COVID-19 has heavily affected emaSwati livestock farmers since the outbreak of the pandemic, as lockdowns have facilitated a marked increase […]Read More

The cost of cross-border cattle rustling involving eSwatini, Mozambique and South Africa grows by the day. It has not only left livestock farmer paralyzed, literally, but also the cost to the economy is frightening, writes VUYISILE LE HLATSHWAYO Jabulani Simelane, of Mzilikazi area in eSwatini, suffered a stroke and was left paralysed after cattle rustlers […]Read More

King Mswati III’s budget allocation this year remains unchanged from that of last year. The last time there was a freeze on the budget for the royal family was in 2010 during the global financial crisis. Minister of finance, Neal Rijkenberg told parliament that the government was beginning to get the fundamentals right on government […]Read More

As governance issues continue to be a thorn in the flesh for many emaSwati, King Mswati III has turned the kingdom into a family affair, appointing his children and close family members in key positions, writes Nimrod Mabuza In a notable act of nepotism, Eswatini’s absolute monarch, King Mswati, has appointed two of his sons […]Read More

Since attaining independence 52 years ago, the position of Prime Minister eSwatini has been the preserve of the ruling royal family. But now, following the death of Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, the feeling is growing that appointing from other clans would be a perfect start for opening the political space, writes VUYISILE HLATSHWAYO In a famous […]Read More

For emaSwati who have been politically muzzled for over 40 years, social media provides them with an opportunity to voice out their frustrations on government and the leadership of this country, in particular the king. But that ‘freedom’ may soon come to an end as government makes an attempt to clampdown on social media, VUYISILE […]Read More