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Sonke Gender Justice (Sonke) supports the call for a credible national debate in the Kingdom of Eswatini to address the ongoing protests that have been met with state sponsored violence.
The dialogue must be credible to enable meaningful engagement of all key stakeholders. To this end, we urge that an independent facilitator be identified with agreement from all stakeholders. It is vital that the process is transparent and that the playing field is levelled for all to participate freely.
The use of persistent force continues to intensify, and this was demonstrated when citizens headed to the capital and the state responded violently calling off the protests and shutting down the internet in an attempt to stop the circulation of images of the protests on social media.
According to some reports the 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) envoy travelled to Eswatini last week to meet with the King and civil society groups and we hope that with SADC’s intervention will help the citizens of Eswatini. We therefore urge the governments in the SADC to engage with the Eswatini King and leadership in the hope that this will help eradicate the gross violation of human rights.
In a time when the world is also facing a global pandemic, if left unchecked, the violence will severely exacerbate gender inequality putting women and girls at a disadvantage. Sonke stands in solidarity with the people of Eswatini and we send our unwavering support to the citizens of the kingdom.
We would also like to send our heartfelt condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. We remain hopeful for a speedy resolution of this impasse.
For media enquiries contact:
Bafana Khumalo, Sonke’s Co-Executive Director, 0825784479 or [email protected]
Given Sigauqwe, Sonke’s Communication & Strategic Information Manager, 0739882870 or [email protected]
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