By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE: Naledi Pandor, the South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation said she was disappointed by the eSwatini government that blocked them as SADC Troika Fact Finding Mission from meeting key stakeholders as part of the efforts to resolve the ongoing political crisis.

Speaking to NewsRoom Afrika, the Minister, who was part of the delegation of the Southern African Development Community(SADC) Troika on Politics, Defense and Security said a report was submitted to the  Chairperson Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi but clarified that now that President Cyril Ramaphosa is the Chairperson she awaits a briefing on the next step.

“We were part of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defense and Security and the Chair which was Botswana at the time issued a statement on behalf of the delegation of Ministers. I was quite disappointed by the visit because we were a fact finding mission and what we found when we arrived in Swaziland was that our colleagues in government essentially wanted the government to brief us when we felt we wanted a wider set of briefing and wish to also speak with the broader stakeholders, non-government community in that country so that we could have a full understanding” she said.

The Minister said despite the hostility they received from the eSwatini government, they managed to persuade and met some of the stakeholders. She said now that President Cyril Ramaphosa was the SADC Troika Chairperson, he will engage her on the next step to be taken over the political crisis in eSwatini.

 Government Spokesperson Sabelo Dlamini had not responded at the time of compiling this report.

Eswatini is in the midst of a political crisis and on international spotlight after King Mswati unleashed soldiers to shoot and kill dozens of civilians merely for demanding democratic reforms.

The country is ruled by Mswati as an absolute Monarch with Judicial, Executive and Legislative powers, political parties are banned from participating in elections.