By: Zahid Jadwat

A senior researcher says the Southern African Democratic Community (SADC) has failed to solve the situation in Eswatini and is therefore allowing for potential instability in the region.

“We are breeding a potentially destabilising factor in Eswatini. When people have reached a point where they cannot get recourse even from our own regional board, they tend to fight,” said Dr, Mustafa Mheta, Head of the Africa Desk at Media Review Network (MRN), in an interview on Radio Islam.

Pro-democracy protests have frequently flared up in parts of the southern African nation in recent months, often turning violent as King Mswati III attempts to quash the protests.

Mheta said it is time for democracy to prevail.

“SADC must be man enough and tell the King [to] give these people their democratic rights. All the people are saying is ‘we want to elect our own people to represent us in government. We don’t want appointments’.”

Mheta said SADC has failed to deliver on promises made. This, he warned, could lead to “problems”.

“People want to choose the people they want, and SADC is not doing anything. It’s high time SADC changes the way it does business or else this is going to cause problems,” he said.

Listen to the full interview here: