Imprisoned activist MPs in Eswatini highlight a growing crisis of civic freedoms across Africa

Daily Maverick

4 days ago

Mduduzi Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube's ongoing imprisonment is more than a national tragedy. It is a warning about a dangerous continent-wide trend of unchecked state repression.
This month marks four years since Eswatini's pro-democracy activists and former members of parliament, Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube, were arrested — and one year since they were sentenced under the country's notorious Suppression of Terrorism Act for calling for democratic reform.
During the June 2021 pro-democracy protests in Eswatini, Mabuza and Dube exercised their constitutional mandate by raising alarm over the unrest, calling for national dialogue and participating in the demonstrations.
Rather than heeding calls for dialogue put forward by a number of people, including civil society actors, elders and leaders across the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region, King Mswati ultimately rejected dialogue in favour of brute force.
In response to their activism, the Eswatini authorities subjected Mabuza and Dube to irregular trials and harsh sentences, sending a chilling message to others in the pro-democracy movement. Four years later, they remain behind bars, a harsh reflection of how easily democratic ideals are betrayed when the world looks away.
To push for their release, Civicus added Mabuza and Dube to its flagship Stand As My Witness campaign. Inspired by the global movement to free Nelson Mandela, Stand As My Witness mobilises people around the world to draw attention to jailed human rights defenders and demand their release. Like Mandela, Mabuza and Dube have been imprisoned for daring to speak out against injustice.
But Mabuza and Dube's ongoing imprisonment is more than a national tragedy. It is a warning about a dangerous continent-wide trend of unchecked state repression.
Across Africa, from Eswatini to Algeria, Senegal to Tanzania, speaking truth to power is increasingly treated as a criminal offence. More and more, opposition leaders like Mabuza and Dube, as well as whistle-blowers and civil society voices, are under threat.
A continental crisis
East Africa may be the epicentre of this crisis. Last month, Kenyan blogger Albert Ojwang died in police custody after being arrested for allegedly defaming a senior police official.
Likewise, Rose Njeri, a young software developer, was arrested and charged under cybercrime laws for building a tool that enabled citizens to submit objections to a controversial finance Bill.
In neighbouring Uganda, 11 environmental activists were arrested on 23 April for peacefully marching to deliver a letter to KCB Bank, which supports the controversial East African Crude Oil Pipeline.
Meanwhile, Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu remains in detention following his April 2025 arrest for agitating for democratic reform. He faces spurious charges of treason, an offence that carries the death penalty in Tanzania.
In West Africa, Senegalese pro-democracy organiser Alioune Sané of the Y'en a Marre movement was arrested in late 2023 and released only early this year.
In North Africa, Egyptian human rights lawyer Hoda Abdel Moneim — who is part of the Stand As My Witness campaign — languishes behind bars.
So does Tunisian humanitarian worker Mustapha Jemmali, who authorities detained on spurious financial charges, widely seen as retaliation for his refugee advocacy.
Concern is not enough
These arrests form a broader trend of shrinking civic space in Africa. The Civicus Monitor, which tracks civic freedoms globally, reports that more than 90% of Africans now live in countries where civic space is restricted, repressed or closed.
The global response? Far too often: diplomatic silence, performative concern, or reactive statements after the damage is done. Media coverage is frequently short-lived and quickly forgotten.
But concern alone is no longer sufficient, not when elected members of parliament are behind bars for doing their jobs, and not when ordinary people are arrested for taking to the streets to voice dissent. If repression is becoming the norm, then our solidarity must rise to meet this moment. It must move beyond symbolic declarations to coordinated and sustained action.
Fortunately, we know that international pressure and solidarity work. The Stand As My Witness campaign, as part of sustained global advocacy, has helped contribute to the release of 31 people globally so far, like Algerian human rights defenders Zakaria Hannache and Kamira Nait Said, Burundian journalist Floriane Irangabiye, and Zimbabwean union leader Obert Masaraure.
Knowing that international advocacy can lead to someone's release is why we keep pushing, and why we encourage others to join us. Together, we can make a difference for Mabuza and Dube in Eswatini.
Time to act on Eswatini
Securing Mabuza and Dube's freedom requires serious global action. Eswatini is due to undergo its next Universal Periodic Review at the UN in 2026, so global voices should begin raising the alarm now to shape that process and demand the immediate and unconditional release of Mabuza and Dube.
African institutions, particularly the African Union and the regional blocs, must rise to the occasion. They need to act decisively when member states violate democratic norms. Multilateral pressure cannot be reserved for coups alone — the slow suffocation of dissent warrants equal urgency. To that end, SADC leaders should encourage King Mswati to return to dialogue.
Donor countries and diplomatic partners must also centre civic space in bilateral relations. 'Quiet diplomacy' has too often been a cover for inaction. Governments that imprison critics while accepting development aid must be held to higher standards.
Recent responses to Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act offer a glimpse of what stronger accountability can look like. The United States removed Uganda from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), imposed visa bans on officials and redirected millions in development assistance. The World Bank suspended new funding to the country.
This kind of accountability must become the norm, not the exception, especially when dissidents and elected officials are jailed with impunity.
Protect civil society
Further, donors must support and protect local civil society. These organisations are often the only line of defence for activists, journalists and political prisoners. They provide legal aid, they document abuses and raise awareness, yet many are underfunded, under threat, and increasingly operating in fear.
Finally, people around the world must raise their voices and push their leaders to act for Mabuza and Dube. People power works, but only if we use it. After all, international pressure to release Nelson Mandela did not come from nowhere. It was the result of sustained advocacy around the world at the grassroots level.
Mabuza and Dube need the same.
Indeed, Mandela's legacy is not only about freedom once won, it is about defending that freedom wherever it is at risk. Today, that risk is acute.
Mandela once said: 'To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.'
By that measure, Mabuza and Dube's ongoing detention is not just a local injustice, it is a mirror of our continent's broader retreat from democratic values.
Their story challenges all of us: to speak louder, act sooner, and stand in true solidarity with those behind bars for defending rights we too often take for granted.
It is a test of conscience, one we are dismally failing. We still have time to choose differently. To stand as their witness. And to prove that solidarity is more than sentiment, it is action. DM
Kgalalelo Gaebee is a communications and advocacy professional working on human rights and civic space across Africa and globally.
Dr Paul Mulindwa is Civicus's advocacy and campaigns officer – Africa lead, bringing more than two decades of experience in peacebuilding, governance and humanitarian programmes across Africa. He has a PhD in Governance and International Relations from the University of Johannesburg.