Following reports from SABC and Swaziland News that King Mswati III of eSwatini formally known as Swaziland, has fled the country after political unrests in the Kingdom persisted, eSwatini acting Prime Minister, Themba Masuku said the reports were false and that the King is still in the country.
In a statement this morning, Masuku reiterated that the King has not gone anywhere and is still ruling the Kingdom.
“I would like to take this opportunity to assure emaSwati and the international community that His Majesty King Mswati III is in the country and continues to lead in working with Government to advance the Kingdom goals.” Read the statement in part.
It was reported that the protests, in which trucks were torched and looted, flared up several days ago after the monarchy and government issued a decree banning the delivery of petitions that called for democratic reforms.
The army was reportedly deployed to areas of unrest on Monday night after trucks – some of them belonging to South African companies – were torched over the weekend and shops were looted in the rural town of Siphofaneni, the Times of Swaziland reported.
A video is doing the rounds of a burning truck near Phuzumoya ad protesters using burning tyres to block the road.
The footage showed some protestors offloading cargo – believed to be sugar – before the truck was set alight.
Other videos showed protestors outside a burning building.
The pro-democracy protests escalated after dozens of students marched to eSwatini’s Parliament to demand justice for a young man believed to have been killed by the police.
