One Year Since the Killing of Eswatini Activist, Still No Justice

On the one-year anniversary of human rights lawyer and opposition activist Thulani Maseko’s murder, his killers remain free and questions unanswered. Maseko was brutally killed in front of his wife and two young children in their Eswatini home on January 21. He championed democratic reforms and played a key role in transitional political talks amid nationwide protests in June 2021 against King Mswati III’s authoritarian rule.

Despite pledging to prioritize the investigation in December, the government has provided no transparency or justice for Maseko’s family. Instead, it issued a statement accusing his widow Tanele of lies after she accepted a human rights award on his behalf and blamed the King for her husband’s death. Hours before the killing, the King had warned activists that mercenaries would deal with them.

Since Maseko’s brutal murder, organizations have repeatedly pressed Eswatini’s partners to demand an independent, impartial probe. If investigations are actually underway as claimed, the process should offer the family answers, not intimidation, as Tanele rightfully seeks accountability one year after witnessing her husband’s murder. Without justice or closure, Maseko’s legacy of democracy and rights lives on through those continuing calls for reform in his memory.