eSwatini, formerly Swaziland, is the last absolute monarchy on the African continent. The country achieved independence from Britain in 1968 under King Sobhuza II, who had led the Swazi nation since 1921. Five years after independence, Sobhuza suspended the constitution and began ruling by decree, banning all political parties and concentrating power in the monarchy. He remained in power until his death in 1982. His son, Makhosetive Dlamini, was crowned King Mswati III in 1986 at the age of 18 and has governed ever since. Political parties remain banned; the King exercises ultimate authority over all branches of government and controls local governance through his influence over traditional chiefs.

Under Mswati III, advocacy for democratic reform has been treated as a criminal act. This was devastatingly illustrated in January 2023, when human rights lawyer and pro-democracy activist Thulani Maseko was shot dead at his home — hours after the King publicly warned that “mercenaries” would deal with those calling for reform. His killing remains unsolved. In July 2024, former Members of Parliament, Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube, who had voiced support for political reform, were sentenced to 85 and 58 years in prison respectively under the Suppression of Terrorism Act, prompting Amnesty International to designate them prisoners of conscience. Freedom House gave eSwatini a score of 17 out of 100 in its Freedom in the World 2024 report, concluding that the country was “not free.”

Check out the following articles to read more on this:

• Amnesty International: Eswatini authorities must quash convictions and sentences of former MPs
• Amnesty International designates imprisoned MPs as prisoners of conscience
• Freedom House: Freedom in the World 2024 — Eswatini
• Freedom House: Freedom in the World 2025 — Eswatini

Freedom of Expression in eSwatini

While the constitution nominally provides for freedom of expression, the government routinely restricts this right using two key laws: the 1938 Sedition and Subversive Activities Act and the 2008 Suppression of Terrorism Act. Critics have argued that these laws are deliberately vague: terms such as “disaffection” invite prosecutorial abuse and contravene Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In a significant setback in August 2024, the Supreme Court overturned a 2016 High Court ruling that had declared several repressive provisions of these laws unconstitutional.

The repression extends beyond the courtroom. In March 2024, Tanele Maseko, widow of assassinated activist Thulani Maseko, was detained without a warrant at the South African border and had her phone and passport seized. She was compelled to attend police questioning multiple times. Citizens, business owners, government officials, and parliamentarians have all been reported to engage in self-censorship out of fear of retaliation; a climate of silence that has intensified since the 2021 pro-democracy protests, during which at least 20 people were killed by security forces.

Check out the following articles to read more on this:

• US Department of State: 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices — Eswatini
• eSwatini’s 20 years of constitutionalism characterised by a crackdown on freedom of expression — Mail & Guardian
• Human Rights Watch: World Report 2025 — Eswatini
• Amnesty International: End the crackdown on freedom of expression in Eswatini

Media Freedom in eSwatini

The media environment reflects and reinforces these structural constraints. The government exercises total control over broadcast media, and the monarchy’s reach into the newsroom is direct: the Minister of Information, Communications and Technology is one of the king’s daughters, and the king’s own speechwriter is editor-in-chief of the country’s oldest and most popular newspaper. The Times of Swaziland and the pro-government Observer are the only daily newspapers. Community radio does not exist.

The personal cost to journalists has been severe. Editor Zweli Dlamini was tortured by police, received death threats from a royal princess, and was forced into exile in South Africa in 2020. In 2022 the government declared him and his Swaziland News a “terrorist entity”. In July 2021, journalists Cebelihle Mbuyisa and Magnificent Mndebele, covering pro-democracy protests for South African outlet New Frame, were arrested at gunpoint by soldiers, beaten, and tortured by suffocation in detention. In February 2022, Nomthandazo Maseko, a reporter for Swati Newsweek, was brutally assaulted by correctional officers. In February 2022, the vehicle delivering the Times of Swaziland was hijacked and set alight in an apparent intimidation attempt. Most recently, in October 2025, Farmers Bank filed a legal application demanding that online outlet The Swazi Bridge take down five stories, a lawsuit the Committee to Protect Journalists described as designed to silence critical reporting. RSF’s 2025 World Press Freedom Index ranks eSwatini 98th out of 180 countries.

Check out the following articles to read more on this:

• RSF: Eswatini — two journalists tortured by security forces 
• CPJ: Eswatini police detain and abuse two reporters from New Frame
• CPJ: Eswatini authorities must investigate assault on Nomthandazo Maseko
• CFE/Daily Maverick: eSwatini declares editor Zweli Martin Dlamini and Swaziland News as “terrorists”
• RSF: Eswatini country profile
• MISA: Press freedom declines significantly in Southern Africa