Meanwhile -- this is, after all, Eswatini -- a South African lawyer representing two jailed pro-democracy Swazi MPs has been expelled for allegedly urging maidens not to attend the annual Reed Dance.
It's been almost a year since Swazi King Mswati III met President Cyril Ramaphosa in Eswatini and agreed to launch a national dialogue to address the kingdom's growing political crisis.
Several regional summits and fact-finding missions later, amid growing tensions in the country, no dialogue has begun. And last month the Southern African Development Community (SADC) decided to convene yet another summit and send yet another fact-finding mission to the country, adding further to the delay.
Eswatini's political opposition, under the umbrella of The Multistakeholders Forum (MSF) has mildly rebuked SADC leaders for "reinventing the wheel" by agreeing to the new summit and fact-finding mission. It has accused Mswati of dragging his feet and has warned SADC leaders not to be hoodwinked by the king into believing the crisis in Eswatini is a security rather than a democracy issue. They insist that the growing insecurity in the country is the result of Mswati denying democracy.
SA lawyer expelled
The Swazi government is in the meantime showing no signs...
