MBABANE —The eSwatini government has denied reports that King Mswati III left the country to flee violent, pro-democracy protests.
SABC and Swaziland News reported that the king fled after the protests erupted.
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, Swaziland News reported.
However, eSwatini acting Prime Minister Thembu N. Masuku said “the reports about the king fleeing are completely untrue and fake”.
“I would like to take this opportunity to assure the 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,” acting PM Masuku, said in a statement released Tuesday morning.
He appealed for calm, restraint and peace from all emaSwati.
Colani Khulekani Maseko, the president of the Swaziland National Students’ Union, previously told reporters that they were demanding the end of police brutality and a multi-party democracy “in which the police are accountable to the people and not only to the king”.
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 offload 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.
Thabani Nkomonye’s body was according to local media found on a field in Nhlambeni, about 10km outside Manzini, on 14 May.
Colani Khulekani Maseko, the president of the Swaziland National Students’ Union, previously told reporters that they were demanding the end of police brutality and a multi-party democracy “in which the police are accountable to the people and not only to the king”.
