Eswatini is gripped by growing tension and outrage as reports of child abductions and suspected ritual murders continue to shock the nation. At the launch of Children’s Month on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Thulisile Dladla urged the public to remain calm and not allow these tragedies to be used to spark unrest.
Speaking at the United Nations House in Mbabane, Dladla warned that “opportunists are now using the killing of children to instigate violence and cause political instability” in the country.
She confirmed that a suspect is still at large. “The suspect is being hunted as we speak, but there are some opportunists who are spreading misinformation and wrong narrative saying we are killing each other,” she said. Dladla stressed that national unity and calm were essential as police continue their investigations.
Quoting Swaziland News, Dladla stated that those using these tragedies for political purposes were “not helping the nation heal, but rather tearing it apart.”
Swaziland Solidarity Network alleges “State-Sanctioned Terror”
But criticism of the government’s response has been fierce. The Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) released a strongly worded statement condemning the killings and accusing the state of complicity.
“We are extremely devastated and enraged. And we will not remain silent any longer,” the SSN said. “In the last two weeks, Swaziland has been gripped by a nightmare of unimaginable cruelty: a wave of child abductions and ritualistic murders that has left the nation in shock and grief.”
The group alleges that more than six young children have been abducted and brutally killed. “This is not just state failure. It is state-sanctioned terror,” the statement continued. The SSN went as far as to say that silence from authorities “is meant to protect the powerful.”
The SSN also connected the recent child killings to past political violence, including the assassination of human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko and the 2021 killing of 96 protesters. “We refuse to allow the world to look away. We refuse to let the world forget,” the statement declared.
Women’s Assembly Demands Action
The Swaziland Rural Women’s Assembly (SRWA) echoed similar outrage in a separate statement issued on 29 May 2025. Describing the situation as a “direct attack on the most vulnerable,” the SRWA said that women and children are being “mutilated, discarded like refuse, all in the name of patriarchal violence.”
The organization outlined several demands, including:
- Government recognition of ritual killings as a national crisis,
- Increased police presence in rural areas,
- Swift prosecution of those behind the killings,
- Public awareness campaigns,
- And psychosocial support for victims’ families.
“Enough is enough,” the SRWA stated. “We will no longer tolerate the slaughter of our sisters and children. Silence is complicity. We must act now before more lives are lost.”
A Nation in Mourning, A Call for Clarity
While the DPM called for calm, groups like the SSN and SRWA insist that silence and patience are no longer enough. As the country mourns its lost children, citizens, civil society, and the international community are demanding clear answers, urgent action, and justice.
