Eswatini

The law society of Namibia (LSN) may have encapsulated the outrage of the democratic community in Southern Africa when it angrily described the killers of Eswatini human rights lawyer, Thulani Maseko, as ‘demented enemies of justice’.

The LSN was reacting to the assassination-style murder of Maseko on the evening of 21 January. He was shot through the window of his home outside the capital of Eswatini.

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There’s been sharp reaction to remarks by Eswatini’s elections and boundaries commission (EBC). The remarks were to the effect that members of parliament have only ‘limited’ powers and authority, and that these ‘do not extend to the monarchy’.

‘The monarchy is a no-go area,’ the EBC said earlier this week.

Decisive

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The dispute over what legal approach should be adopted by courts in Eswatini arose during the murder trial of Ndumiso Shongwe. He was charged with the murder of a relative whom he believed was a witch. He held her responsible for the death of his parents, and thought she had put a fatal spell on him. As so often in such cases, the victim, gruesomely murdered because she was thought to be a witch, was an elderly woman.