{"id":12950,"date":"2021-07-01T17:51:23","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T17:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?p=12950"},"modified":"2021-07-01T17:27:37","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T17:27:37","slug":"sa-government-expresses-great-concern-over-eswatini-crisis-rights-group-wants-embassy-shut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sa-government-expresses-great-concern-over-eswatini-crisis-rights-group-wants-embassy-shut","title":{"rendered":"SA government expresses \u2019great concern\u2019 over eSwatini crisis, rights group wants embassy shut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Pretoria \u2013 The South African government said on Thursday it had noted with great concern the ongoing political and security crisis in neighbouring eSwatini, insisting that citizens\u2019 rights to peaceful protest should not be curtailed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are particularly concerned by reports of loss of life and destruction of properties. The right to peaceful protest is universally recognised,\u201d the department of international relations and cooperation\u2019s (Dirco) spokesman Clayson Monyela said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe South African government calls on the security forces to exercise total restraint and protect the lives and property of the people, in keeping with the country\u2019s constitutional provisions and laws. In addition, South Africa urges all political actors and civil society to engage in meaningful dialogue in order to resolve the current political challenges facing the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Swaziland Youth Congress (Swayoco) said at least 21 people had been allegedly killed by eSwatini’s security forces during pro-democracy protests. The internet has reportedly been shut down and a curfew imposed, although there are reports of some protesters defying it.<\/p>\n

The protests started peacefully in the Manzini region of Africa\u2019s last absolute monarchy on June 20 when young people took to the streets in a push for the right to democratically elect the prime minister, currently appointed by King Mswati III. They have however since turned violent.<\/p>\n

“We were off-line due to an internet shutdown. We have 21 confirmed cases of Swazi patriots killed by the state security. In honour of our fallen patriots we will soldier on until democracy,\u201d youth movement Swayoco said on its social media platform.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, South Africa\u2019s civil rights movement #NotInMyName called on Pretoria to condemn what it called the \u201cbarbaric actions\u201d of the eSwatini regime.<\/p>\n

\u201cFurthermore the embassy of eSwatini must be closed with immediate effect. We cannot sit still and watch emaSwati die. The struggle is no longer theirs alone. The monarch must stop eating his own,\u201d #NotInMyName secretary general Themba Masango said.<\/p>\n

He said transparency and good governance were fundamentals which must be respected in every nation, particularly on the disposition of state funds and revenue, as well as the decisions taken by those in power.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the regime in eSwatini has reactivated its authoritarian systems to crush dissenting voices: reports state that pro democracy leaders and citizens are being arrested for demanding the monarch to accept democracy as the order of the day, the community lives in constant and persistent fear of prosecution with many arrests and abductions being made public,\u201d said Masango.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is evident that the eSwatini regime is hell-bent on subverting civil liberties and constitution through thwarting and prosecuting dissenting voices.\u201d<\/p>\n

African News Agency (ANA)<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Pretoria \u2013 The South African government said on Thursday it had noted with great concern the ongoing political and security crisis in neighbouring eSwatini, insisting that citizens\u2019 rights to peaceful protest should not be curtailed. \u201cWe are particularly concerned by reports of loss of life and destruction of properties. The right to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":12949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-12950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nSA government expresses \u2019great concern\u2019 over eSwatini crisis, rights group wants embassy shut - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pretoria \u2013 The South African government said on Thursday it had noted with great concern the ongoing political and secur ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sa-government-expresses-great-concern-over-eswatini-crisis-rights-group-wants-embassy-shut\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SA government expresses \u2019great concern\u2019 over eSwatini crisis, rights group wants embassy shut\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pretoria \u2013 The South African government said on Thursday it had noted with great concern the ongoing political and secur ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sa-government-expresses-great-concern-over-eswatini-crisis-rights-group-wants-embassy-shut\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-01T17:51:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/07\/img-60ddfaef27060.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"405\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sa-government-expresses-great-concern-over-eswatini-crisis-rights-group-wants-embassy-shut#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sa-government-expresses-great-concern-over-eswatini-crisis-rights-group-wants-embassy-shut\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"SA government expresses \u2019great concern\u2019 over eSwatini crisis, rights group wants embassy shut\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-01T17:51:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sa-government-expresses-great-concern-over-eswatini-crisis-rights-group-wants-embassy-shut\"},\"wordCount\":457,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sa-government-expresses-great-concern-over-eswatini-crisis-rights-group-wants-embassy-shut#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/07\/img-60ddfaef27060.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sa-government-expresses-great-concern-over-eswatini-crisis-rights-group-wants-embassy-shut#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sa-government-expresses-great-concern-over-eswatini-crisis-rights-group-wants-embassy-shut\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sa-government-expresses-great-concern-over-eswatini-crisis-rights-group-wants-embassy-shut\",\"name\":\"SA government expresses \u2019great concern\u2019 over eSwatini crisis, rights group wants embassy shut - 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