Eswatini’s main opposition leader has been poisoned as part of an assassination attempt and is being treated in hospital, his party said.
Mlungisi Makhanya, 46, has been living in exile in neighbouring South Africa for two years, fearing for his life in his own country amid a violent crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Africa’s last absolute monarchy.
“Our president has stabilized, but his condition is still critical,” the People’s United Democratic Movement (Pudemo) said.
Eswatini spokesman Alpheous Nxumalo denied state involvement, saying the “government does not kill or poison suspects”.
Pudemo says the attack on its leader comes ahead of planned protests next month calling for multi-party elections.
The country, formerly known as Swaziland, allows independent candidates to run for parliament, but political parties are not allowed to participate.
King Mswati III has been on the throne since 1986 and rules by decree. He has been criticized for his extravagant lifestyle and is frequently accused of not allowing any dissent, allegations his government denies.
Last year, Thulani Rudolf Maseko, a human rights lawyer who opposed the king, was murdered in his home in the capital Mbabanewhich led to widespread condemnation.
In September 2022, Makhanya’s home in Eswatini was set on fire in an alleged firebombing attack by state agents. He now lives with his family in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria.
Makhanya is the leader of Pudemo, one of the main pro-democracy parties that is theoretically allowed to participate in elections but is not allowed to do so.
He was allegedly poisoned in his Pretoria home in the early hours of Tuesday morning by an unnamed “young boy” who Pudemo said was being used by the Swazi government as an “agent with evil intentions”.
Makwanya was rushed to a hospital in Pretoria, escorted by South African police, the Swaziland News website reported. He was later transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in a critical but stable condition, it added.
He reportedly told police and doctors that he had been poisoned and that his mobile phones had been stolen.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Pudemo Vice President Wandile Dludlu said an “extremely dangerous and deadly” pesticide poison had been used in the incident.
“It is encouraging that the president has survived a day,” Dludlu added.
“It was an assassination attempt on the life of our leader.”
This was rejected by the government of Eswatini.
“The government, through its law enforcement agencies – which adhere to a strict code of ethics and professional conduct – only arrests suspects and brings them to justice. They are brought to justice ‘alive’, not ‘dead,’” Nxumalo said in a statement.
The Pudemo Party has appealed for international support to ensure the safety of Makhanya and his family while he is in hospital.
The Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), a group of Swazis living in South Africa, condemned what it called a “brutal attack” and a “clear assassination attempt” against Makhanya.
It called on the South African government to take action against Swaziland state agents who it said were targeting exiled activists fighting for democracy and “fighting for freedom”.
Opposition parties accuse security forces of killing dozens of protesters, blaming the country’s lack of development on the current political system.
In 2021, student-led protests that began over alleged police brutality turned into calls for political change, with at least 46 people killed in a series of clashes between security forces and protesters, Human Rights Watch said.
The government disputes this figure, saying police were responding to violent attacks.
“This is a political struggle between the oppressed masses and the traditional autocratic monarch,” said Dludlu, who vowed that Pudemo would continue next month’s protests as planned.
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