By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE: King Mswati allegedly refused to attend a regional meeting proposed by the Southern African Development Community(SADC) Troika on Politics, Defense and Security on Sunday whose main agenda was to discuss the ongoing political crisis in eSwatini and Mozambique.

The Daily Maverick, a South African online publication, quoting a source within SADC,reported on Sunday that Mswati allegedly told President Ramaphosa he wanted to consult internally about the dialogue.

Mswati rules eSwatini as an absolute Monarch with Executive,Judiciary and Legislative powers, he allegedly manipulated the Constitution to place himself above the law.

“Pandor did not explain why Eswatini had been removed from the original agenda of the ministerial meeting, but one official source told the Daily Maverick this had been done at Mswati’s request. He apparently told Ramaphosa he needed more time to consult internally about the dialogue,” the Daily Maverick reported.

Reached for comments by this Swaziland News, human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko, the Chairperson of the Multi-Stakeholders Forum said the King pulled out of the SADC Summit so that he could have more time to brutalize and silence pro-democracy protestors.

“The King is actually preparing for war, he wants more time to brutalize and silence the people, so that he could then go back to the SADC and say the problem they were trying to address has been resolved, there are no more protests,” said the Chairperson of the Multi-Stakeholders Forum.

Two weeks ago, King Mswati unleashed the police to shoot protesting civilians who had gathered in Mbabane to support incarcerated pro-democracy Members of Parliament(MPs) Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube.

Dozens have been killed since the political unrest started in June 2021.

A questionnaire was sent to Thabile Mdluli, the Deputy Government Spokesperson, however, she had not responded at the time of compiling this report.

On another note, the Daily Maverick, quoting an article published by the Swaziland News, alleged that the political resistance to Mswati’s autocratic rule was growing more violent.

“Early on Sunday, the home of Eswatini’s Principal  Secretary  for Defense Prince Sicalo-Mswati’s son-was petrol bombed. According to the Swaziland News website, a shadowy organisation called Swaziland International Solidarity Forces (SISF) claimed credit for the attack,” the Daily Maverick reported.