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An exiled eSwatini pro-democracy activist has told of how she fears for her life after the alleged poisoning of the country's main opposition party president Mlungisi Makhanya.
Makhanya, the president of the People’s United Democratic Movement (Pudemo), was rushed to hospital in Pretoria in the early hours of Tuesday after what his comrades said was another attempt on his life.
A trusted person who lived in the same house with Makhanya was allegedly behind his positioning.
Makhanya was apparently locked inside the house and left to die after the poisoning, with some of his party members saying he was screaming for help.
The incident, according to party members, comes after a few weeks before a planned pro-democracy protest in eSwatini next month, which he had been spearheading.
The activist, who fled eSwatini in September last year, had told Sowetan that when she learned of Makhanya's attempted assassination she feared that anyone could be next.
"For me, they managed to find Makhanya and got to him... and anyone else can be next," she said.
The woman said she started fearing for her life following human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko's assassination last year in January. He was shot through a window at his home while he was with his wife and two children.
"I fear for my life and my family's lives because they are still in eSwatini. There was a hit list in eSwatini and Thulani Maseko was part of the list, I worked very closely with him," she said.
The woman said after Maseko's assassination she received information that her name also appeared on the list while doing advocacy work around Maseko's assassination.
"I had to leave in September last year, after getting reports that it was a dangerous time for me to be there.
"Makhanya made an announcement that in October there would be some kind of action in eSwatini, so it is not a coincidence that he has been poisoned," she said.
The woman said in August she went home "under the radar and I was spotted at the American embassy and all of a sudden there were drones around my house".
According to those close to Makhanya, he was allegedly poisoned by someone he lived with in the house.
The suspect is apparently on the run and is believed to have grabbed some of the Pudemo president’s cellphones to prevent him from calling and asking for help.
Sowetan called Makhanya's cellphone, and while it rang, it went unanswered.
Makhanya's comrades at Pudemo accused the eSwatini regime of being behind his alleged assassination.
The party's national spokesperson, Brian Sangweni, said they were yet to meet with the family to get details of what transpired.
He said he was informed around 1am on Tuesday that Makhanya had been poisoned.
"What we have gathered is that he is stable, and we are hoping he is going to recover soon. The investigations are still ongoing ... we will be relying on SA police regarding information pertaining to the poisoning, but this happens at a time when the president on behalf of Pudemo had announced that in October we would be embarking on a nationwide protest, which was deemed "October Week of Rage".
"We are going to be protesting against the leadership of King Mswati, so we cannot rule out any malice from the state at this point. This is a second attempt on his life. We are certain that the first one has the state's hand on it."
According to sources who spoke with the Swaziland News, police had arrived at Makhanya's home at 12.40 and he was rushed to hospital escorted by the police. But along the way, he tried to name the person who allegedly poisoned him even though, he was slowly losing his speech.
According to Swaziland News, the Swaziland government, through its spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo, has been making threats suggesting that political activists and human rights defenders hiding in SA will eventually be apprehended.
However, yesterday Nxumalo denied the state was involved in Makhanya's illness, saying he too had been poisoned three times in his country and "in all the three occasions I know the state was never involved".
"The government has never attempted to assassinate Mlungusi [Makhanya]. Under what circumstances do you think the government can have so much trauma and anxiety to the point of assassinating Mlungisi.
"What does Mlungisi offer in terms of the political influence or landscape in the kingdom of eSwatini. Pudemo has never been a threat to the governance or even have the ability or capacity to influence the political trajectory in the kingdom of eSwatini."
EFF spokesperson Leigh-Ann Mathys wished Makhanya a speedy recovery, saying the party's international relations desk would make contact with the leadership of Pudemo and Makhanya's family to provide support.
"President Makhanya has been under attack by the oppressive monarch, King Mswati. Back in September 2022 Makhanya’s house was bombed. Comrade Makhanya has remained steadfast in leading the fight for a democratic dispensation in eSwatini despite the terrorism him and his comrades have endured.
"The EFF has long called on African heads of state, particularly SADC [Southern African Development Community], to reign in on the unbridled monarchy of eSwatini. It is the inaction of African leaders that will contribute to more murders and attempted murders of Swazi activists against this dictatorial regime." – Additional reporting by Swaziland News
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