The Kingdom of Eswatini has been rocked by violent conflicts, with the bombing of state infrastructure and attacks against security personnel.
Since May 2021, deadly protests have erupted in Eswatini, with demonstrators demanding democratic reforms and accusing King Mswati III of repression.
Geingob was in Eswatini last Friday, where he held talks with the monarch.
“You do not make peace with friends, you make peace with your enemies, and solutions must be found in the kingdom to whatever challenges there may be. Solutions will not come from outside but from Eswatini,” Geingob said.
The president was in Eswatini in his capacity as the chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.
Geingob, in a statement said it was important to hear from “all sides in order to find common ground, to avert any crisis”.
This would allow Eswatini the opportunity to entrench peace and development for the prosperity of the country and the entire SADC region, he said.
Geingob cautioned that “when diplomacy fails, people go to war”, adding that “it is for that reason that dialogue was necessary for explanations to be provided and for everyone to be heard”.
The Swaziland Multi-Stakeholder Forum, which calls for a transitional executive government, has called on Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders to find a solution to the political instability in the country.
Though they welcomed the regional effort, including Geingob’s consultative visit, the forum questioned the slow pace of consultations and stressed that it has been a year since SADC and king Mswati III agreed to the establishment of a national dialogue forum.
“We welcome the move by the leaders of SADC to allow the chairperson to conduct consultations with the King on the implementation of its decisions,” the forum said in a letter cosigned by co-chairperson Thulani Rudolf Maseko and Nombulelo Motsa of the Political Parties Association.
“But the lingering question is – how many of these consultations shall be held before SADC is decisive on the question of finding a lasting solution to the crisis in Swaziland?
“We have no illusions that the process of dialogue and negotiation can happen with the king and government agreeing on it. We are equally clear that to date the king has shown no signs of willingness to commit to the process,” the forum said.
The forum also appealed to Geingob to push for withdrawal of the army from the streets and communities, and end the state of emergency.
They are also calling for the release of members of parliament – Mthandeni Dube and Bacede Mabuza – and all other political prisoners. They further call for the establishment of an interim transitional authority and a fixed time frame for the dialogue process.
The Presidency, in a statement said Geingob was in Eswatini to introduce himself as the new chairperson of the SADC organ, “having been entrusted with the mandate to deal with the issues of peace and security in the region”.
