The leader of Eswatini’s main opposition party is in a critical but stable condition after allegedly being poisoned in what allies say is an assassination attempt.
Mlungisi Makhanya is in a hospital in South Africa after the alleged poisoning on Monday night at his home in the capital, Pretoria, where he was living in exile from Africa’s last absolute monarchy, said Penuel Malinga, the secretary general of the People’s United Democratic Movement (Pudemo).
“This is a clear assassination attempt by the [Eswatini] state,” Malinga alleged.
Alpheous Nxumalo, an Eswatini government spokesperson, rejected the claim. “It is not in our policy as the government to either kill or poison people who hold a different political view in our country,” he said.
“Mr Makhanya was not wanted in Eswatini,” he said, adding that the allegation against the government “remains without evidence”.
Eswatini has been led by King Mswati III since 1986, when he succeeded his father at the age of 18. Mswati rules the landlocked southern African country by decree and political parties are banned from participating in elections.
Now 56, he is due to take his 16th wife and has been criticised for his lavish lifestyle in a country where most people live in poverty.
Malinga said Makhanya had been served poisoned food and locked in his bedroom by an unnamed cook. Those who came to his aid when he phoned for help had to break the door down, he said.
Malinga said that doctors expected Makhanya, who was currently unable to speak, to recover in around two weeks.
“A case of attempted murder was opened … on 23 September 2024 following a suspected food poisoning incident,” said Brenda Muridili, a spokesperson for South African police in the province, Gauteng. “The investigating team is following several lead[s] and no one has been arrested yet.”
Last year, Thulani Maseko, a human rights lawyer and Pudemo member, was shot dead at home in Eswatini in front of his wife and children. The government promised to investigate, but no one has yet been brought to justice. Makhanya had called it a political assassination.
Hours before Maseko’s death, the king had said activists “started the violence first”, adding: “People should not shed tears and complain about mercenaries killing them.”
At least 46 people were killed by security forces in response to pro-democracy protests in the country of 1.2 million people in 2021, according to Human Rights Watch.
