President Cyril Ramaphosa has, in his capacity as Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organ on Defence, Politics and Security Cooperation, appointed Special Envoys to engage with His Majesty King Mswati III of the Kingdom of Eswatini on security and political developments in the Kingdom.

 

The delegation includes Jeffrey Radebe, a former South African government minister and Candith Mashego-Dlamini, South Africa’s deputy minister of international relations and cooperation, as well as representatives from Botswana and Namibia.

 

The envoys will be accompanied by SADC Executive Secretary Elias Magosi and other senior SADC officials.

 

Ramaphosa spoke with the king by telephone as the violence escalated, Pretoria’s high commission said in a statement.

 

 

Gunfire was heard into the night on Wednesday in the Eswatini capital Mbabane, and the civil servants’ union NAPSAWU said at least one man had been shot dead earlier in the day.

 

“The army and the police killed one person at about 3pm (13:00 GMT) today,” Oscar Nkambule, the president of the union said.

 

 

Fifty of its members were taken to hospital in Mbabane, with another 30 admitted to hospital in the city of Manzini, including some with gunshot wounds, he added.

 

Hundreds of soldiers and police began fanning through both cities early in the day, firing tear gas at even small gatherings of people and unleashing volleys of rubber-coated bullets.