By Zweli Martin Dlamini

When President Cyril Ramaphosa, the then Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community(SADC) Troika announced the appointment of a Panel of Elders to address the eSwatini political crisis, King Mswati and his loyalists were hot under the collar.

Now, King Mswati’s State controlled media is reporting that SADC is coming to address issues of security not politics, this propagated narrative is meant to discourage the Mass Democratic Movement(MDM),so that political activists could blast the SADC.

The truth of the matter is, SADC and other countries within the region are putting pressure on Mswati to democratize but this is done without undermining diplomatic principles and the Sovereignty of the Kingdom of eSwatini.

King’s Secretary Sihle Dlamini was right, as journalists including some international media entities, we have an agenda to influence democratic reforms in eSwatini and we are consistently in touch with our sources including regional leaders to understand SADC's position on the matter.

Democracy and freedom is the foundation of the Universal Declaration of human rights and therefore, the media has a legal obligation to support democracy.

In this regard, we will monitor how SADC handles the eSwatini political crisis.

It should be noted that SADC will never send soldiers to fight pro-democracy activists, SADC might deploy a peace keeping mission to create an environment for a political dialogue.

But the State controlled media is disseminating misinformation to cloud public opinion so that the people could lose hope and think SADC is supporting Mswati.

As the editor, I am fully aware and updated from time-to-time by diplomatic sources who are working on the matter, Mswati is trying very hard to pretend as if the situation is normal yet his Throne is shaking.

The Mass Democratic Movement(MDM) must support SADC in its effort to resolve the eSwatini crisis.

It is within the regional body’s mandate to conduct security assessment before the political dialogue.

The security assessment is a foundation for a political dialogue, however, that doesn’t mean political activists must de-escalate the fight for democracy.

King Mswati opposed the appointment of the Panel of Elders but that doesn’t mean he will get away with it and continue with his dictatorship.

As the political temperatures continue to rise, a SADC Panel of Elders will eventually arrive in eSwatini to try and resolve the political crisis.

Mswati is opposed to the appointment of the SADC Panel of Elders because he fully understands what that means to his Throne.

But if the King understands regional and international politics, he ought to have understood what it meant for President Cyril Ramaphosa to walk out of the SADC meeting in the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) to announce the appointment of the Panel of Elders.

According to our diplomatic sources, there are many ways of dealing with the King including sanctions.

After all the efforts of engaging him peacefully, Mswati might one day wake-up in isolation, his country is fully dependent on other countries like South Africa.

Whether the King is willing or not to democratize, he will eventually bow to political pressure.

The situation in eSwatini is threatening peace and security in the SADC region, security officers are now defecting with weapons, if Mswati thinks regional leaders will allow a dictator to threaten peace in the region, then he is misinformed.