Johannesburg – President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose party ANC is facing a tough local government election, will today visit the volatile Kingdom of Eswatini, which has been a scene of weeks of protest for democratic reforms.
Almost a fortnight ago, Ramaphosa deployed a group of special envoys to try foster some consensus between Mswati’s government and pro-democracy groups.
But the protests have continued, as some cracks also began to emerge in the king’s administration over the demands by marchers, who have held strong since May.
The president, accompanied by Naledi Pandor, Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco), descends on the last absolute kingdom to meet King Swati III.
“The audience with King Mswati III follows a visit to the Kingdom by Special Envoys on 21 and 22 October 2021 who had been directed to visit the Kingdom by president Ramaphosa in his capacity as Chair of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defence and Security,” the Presidency said in a statement.
Ramaphosa would engage Mswati III on “political and security developments in the Kingdom.”
On Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku told AFP that there was a need for change in the neighbouring country.
“I would agree with those who say we need to have some change. Because these are the 2000s, it’s not the 1910s,” he said.
“We need to amend certain legal frameworks and the constitution to accommodate the reality of today,” he added.
It was not clear how long Ramaphosa’s working visit would be in Eswatini.
The visit comes a day after millions of South Africans cast their votes in the sixth local elections since the fall of apartheid in 1994.
Ramaphosa’s ANC was facing a challenge to its grip on power in key metros – Johannesburg, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay and Ekurhuleni – some of which the ruling party lost in 2016.
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