By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE:South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is allegedly mediating between King Mswati and Botswana President Mokgweetsi amid political tension over wanted fugitive Lieutenant General Ian Khama, diplomatic sources told this Swaziland News on Monday afternoon.

This comes after the two(2) Heads of State locked horns publicly, with President Masisi accusing King Mswati of harboring the ex-Botswana President who is wanted for alleged possession of weapons among other criminal charges.

President Cyril Ramaphosa was in eSwatini about two(2) weeks, he subsequently met Botswana President Masisi during an inspection of a bus accident site in the northern Limpopo Province last week.

President Masisi,when addressing Heads of Missions went on to make serious allegations against King Mswati accusing him of plotting with Lieutenant General Khama to overthrow the Botswana Government and turn the Southern African country into absolute Monarchy like eSwatini.

Masisi told the Heads of Missions that Khama was hiding in South Africa with an alternative home in eSwatini, an absolute Monarchy.

“His other home is at the absolute Kingdom,the absolute Monarch,the Monarchy of Eswatini. And it is not a surprise because you know as they say with magnetism,like attract and in his desires of Botswana and in the way that he has conducted his affairs in Botswana, when we look back now.He deeply yearns for an absolute Monarchy for here. And that is why there is such attraction to Eswatini, the only absolute Monarchy fundamentally different from our republic.I say this because I told the King that we are not the same.We will never be the same and that is why we do not tolerate tendencies of absolute Monarchy”,said the Botswana President when addressing the Heads of Missions as quoted by Mnegi newspaper.

But King Mswati,when responding to this Swaziland News through his Spokesperson Percy Simelane hit back at the Botswana  President, accusing him of breaching diplomatic principles.

The King denied that Khama was hiding in eSwatini but confirmed that,he only come as a tourist and a Guest during national events like other current and former Heads of State.

“He appears to be out of order in that he has ignored the UN Protocols on settling disputes and complaints between two countries, particularly clause 1 of the Vienna Convention of 1961 which militates against mudslinging between two countries if there is an issue to be attended to.SADC too has similar Protocols so is the African Union.If he observed any one of these Protocols,we would have been ready to engage Botswana and explain that Eswatini has no record of any aid to their former president Ian Khama.He does not reside in Eswatini either but comes as a tourist,mostly for national events.He is not the only former Head of State who has found time to visit Eswatini or the King.Dr Kenneth David Kaunda of Zambia,Bakili Muluzi of Malawi,Jacob Zuma of South Africa have been here.We would also be ready to tell President Masisi that his claim is nothing more than optical illusion”, said the King’s Spokesperson.

Even though both the Office of the South African President and that of King Mswati did not come clear with regards to the purpose of Mswati’s visit to the Republic of South Africa(RSA),this publication gathered from diplomatic insiders that,Ramaphosa “is trying to, among others”, resolve the tension between the two(2) Heads of State over the issue of Ian Khama.

“President Ramaphosa is trying to mediate between the two Heads of State, actually the eSwatini King does not understand why President Masisi is behaving this way because one day he(Masisi)might also need the help like Khama because politics changes like climate”, said the diplomat insider.

King Mswati travelled to South Africa on Sunday afternoon for the said meeting and the Office of the South African President only published an online statement, confirming the meeting between President Cyril Ramaphosa and King Mswati.

“President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Monday, 15 April 2024, host His Majesty King Mswati III of the Kingdom of eSwatini for a working visit at Mahlamba Ndlopfu, the President’s Official Residence in Pretoria.The visit follows a courtesy visit by President Cyril Ramaphosa to His Majesty King Mswati III in Lozitha, eSwatini on Wednesday, 03 April 2024”, reads the statement in part.

Efforts to seek a comment from the Spokesperson of the Botswana President proved unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.

When asked on Monday evening to clarify the purpose of the latest meeting between the King and President Ramaphosa, King’s Spokesperson Percy Simelane said,he hasn’t received a mandate from his Supervisors to speak about the meeting adding that, the information he was in possession of, “is not official” and cannot be communicated to the media for public consumption.

“There is total information eclipse with regards to the meeting in question.My immediate supervisors have not yet said one word about it.The information I have was not officially communicated to me and may not be transmitted to the media for public consumption”, said the King’s Spokesperson.