Africa-Press – Eswatini. Eugene Dube, the editor of the Swati NewsWeek who is critical of King Mswati and his regime has been evicted from his home at Nyetane, few kilometers from Siteki.
The eviction comes after the former Times and Swaziland News journalist was tortured by Mswati’s, on or around 24 April 2020, he subsequently fled to exile and some of his family members colluded with the Royal Kraal to sell his home.
Speaking to this Swaziland News, the Swati Newsweek editor said when he returned from exile on February 2021 he found that his family land had been allocated to three families.
“I discovered that a family member colluded with the Nyetane royal council to allocate our vast piece of land to three families. I was told I was no longer wanted in the area since I’m wanted by the police for writing critical articles about King Mswati,” said the editor.
Reached for comments, Makhubu Tsabedze, a senior member of the Nyetane royal council confirmed the matter adding that the land was sold by the senior members of the Dube family.
“We only considered what the family had resolved. His uncles met with the royal council before the land was sold and they were given the green light after careful deliberations”, he said .
Traditionalists Elliott Mkhatjwa, the Chairman of the Swaziland Democratic Party(SWADEPA) said Dube’s eviction was in violation of the Constitution.
“The royal council had no right to sell the land without the consent of the original owner”said the SWADEPA Chairman.
Reached for comments, Swaziland News editor Zweli Martin Dlamini advised those who bought Dube’s land to vacate it with immediate effect and demand their money from the Royal Council.
“This is clear systematic persecution to frustrate the journalist, we will report this to international media organizations. Actually, we will do everything we can to ensure that Dube re-claim his land, if it calls to lobby our followers to visit their doorsteps and protest or take legal action, we will do that. This country will soon be liberated, those who are occupying Dube’s land are warned not to waste their money developing structures. If we allow this nonsense, we will be giving the regime a green-light to do the same to other independent journalists”, said the Swaziland News editor.
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