By Zweli Martin Dlamini

PRETORIA:King Mswati and his wife Inkhosikati LaFogiyane were allocated seats next to re-elected South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Chief Justice Raymond Zondo during the inauguration held in Pretoria on Wednesday.

Worth-noting,the inauguration event was attended by other Heads of State within the Southern African Development Community(SADC) region and former Presidents,King Letsie of the Kingdom of Lesotho was also present.

Reached for comments on Wednesday afternoon,King’s Spokesperson Percy Simelane told this Swaziland News that,the relationship between the eSwatini Monarchy and South Africa particularly,the African National Congress(ANC)dates back during the reign of King Sobhuza’s grandmother Queen Labotsibeni Mdluli.

“The first ANC Congress in 1912 was sponsored by Swaziland,now Eswatini,together with the first ANC delegation to London in the same year.The first typewriter the ANC ever had was also bought by Swaziland(Eswatini).When King Sobhuza II took over from Queen Labotsibebeni at the helm of leadership,he kept the ANC/Eswatini collaboration fire burning.ANC cadres and other South African exiles were not only given refuge but free education and jobs.Fleeing exiles also used Eswatini as passage to other countries abroad.These included former President’s Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma,who were issued Swati passports before they fled to Switzerland after staying for some time in the Kingdom.When King Mswati III took over in 1986 there were still cadres in Eswatini and the support for the liberation struggle in South Africa was still very active up to 1994 when the first democratic elections gave birth to the Rainbow Nation. To the best of my knowledge the King believes the Rainbow Nation has spoken and if there are challenges emanating from the decision the South African made through the ballot box,it is this great Nation that will be expected to polish its collective ballot decision. As short as to tell,Eswatini shall continue to respect the Rainbow Nation's right to decide its leadership through the ballot box”, said the King’s Spokesperson.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is highly expected to announce a Cabinet after announcing the formation of a Government of National Unity(GNU), the President was sworn-in by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.