Solidarity with Swaziland on the birthday of King Mswati III, 40 years in power

Today, 19th April, the Swaziland Human Rights Network UK (SRNUK) and Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) stand in solidarity with the people of Swaziland who mark the birthday of King Mswati III, who took over from his father as head of an absolute monarchy 40 years ago next week.

The democratic and human rights situation in Africa’s last absolute monarchy is deteriorating every year. The King’s power is absolute, with unrestricted political authority and veto power over all branches of government. Political parties are banned and civil society – the bedrock of a democratic society – is targeted and silenced ever more each year. The country has previously been ranked the least free country by the Ibrahim Index of African Governance and in 2025 the International Trade Union Congress (ITUC) once again ranked it among the world’s 10 worst countries to be a worker. 

2026 also marks five years since the 2021 uprising which saw the regime shooting dozens of people and injure hundreds more. Since then, despite promises of civic dialogue by the King, the civil space has in fact only been restricted further. Civil society leaders are routinely targeted, arrested, killed or forced into exile. We note the attempts on the life of trade union SWATCAWU General Secretary Sticks Nkambule and the 2023 assassination by masked men of human rights lawyer and civil society leader Thulani Maseko, hours after the King issued threats against those calling for democracy.  

This concentration of power has led to the King amassing a personal fortune of approximately  US$300 million and enables members of the royal family to spend extraordinary sums on luxuries. Meanwhile the country is one of the most unequal countries in the world. The latest figures show that 63% of the population live below the poverty line, the country has the world’s highest HIV prevalence, and women experience systematic discrimination and very high rates of gender-based violence. Public services are at almost non-existent levels.  

The international community and its institutions must come together to support Commonwealth political values of democracy, the separation of powers, rule of law and human rights, which are clearly not respected while those who try and advocate for them are punished and shut down.  

Earlier this year ACTSA and SHRNUK wrote to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) tasked with ‘engaging proactively and constructively’ with countries where the Commonwealth’s political values, such as separations of powers and the rule of law, are at risk.

ACTSA and SHRNUK today together call: 

• on the international community, such as the Commonwealth and the UN, to engage seriously in the highly concerning democratic and economic situation in Eswatini.  

• on the Commonwealth Secretary General and the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) to investigate the situation in Swaziland in the light of its ‘eight situations of grave concern’ that would lead it to consider withdrawing a country’s membership.  

• on the UK government to use all diplomatic and trade tools at its disposal to support democracy and human rights in Swaziland