King Mswati III meets SADC Troika Chair

By Ntombi Mhlongo

His Majesty King Mswati III on Friday held a meeting with the Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation and Namibia President Hage G. Geingob.

The meeting took place at the Mandvulo Hall at Lozitha. Speaking at the meeting, His Majesty said he was grateful that Geingob found time to visit the Kingdom of Eswatini as the new chair of the SADC Troika.

“We are also happy that you are coming as the President of Namibia to come and renew and strengthen the relationship with the Kingdom of Eswatini. We are very pleased that you come here to look at how the two countries can strengthen their relationship. We have a lot of challenges in terms of job opportunities and other issues such as climate change. I believe that as members of SADC and the African Union we have to come together to address those challenges,” the King said.

The King said he had informed his counterpart how the Kingdom of Eswatini was working hard to achieve First World status and ensure that the lives of emaSwati get better.

He said it was important for both Namibia and Eswatini to work together to achieve their goals. His Majesty said he believed that both countries could exchange a lot in various sectors including agriculture.
Furthermore, he shared that there have been disturbances in the country and that he had briefed the chair about the situation.

“We look forward to more and more visits of this nature in the country,” His Majesty said.

The working visit is informed by the commitment of President Geingob to implement decisions of the SADC Organ on Politics Defence and Security Cooperation.

The SADC Organ Summit was held on 16 August 2022 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, at which President Geingob assumed the role of the Chairperson of the Organ reinforced the need for the SADC Organ to work for a peaceful and stable SADC Region.

Geingob spoke of the importance of engaging in dialogue and avoiding war. He made it clear that he was in the country to introduce himself as the new SADC Troika Chairperson. He said the organ was closely monitoring the situation in the region and would be meeting soon to discuss the issues.

“We are to call a meeting as Troika and discuss outstanding issues of Southern Africa such as the issue of the DRC and the one for Lesotho and also the issue of Mozambique,” he said.

Geingob mentioned that he was aware of the issues in Eswatini but he had not come to discuss them but to introduce himself. The Chairperson assured that the Troika would formally meet to discuss not only the challenges faced by Eswatini but other countries.

He said engaging was key so that all Member States could solve their problems through dialogue and discussions.

“Sometimes I say people go to war when diplomacy fails. It happens when you do not talk and discuss each other’s problems. I am a strong advocate for dialogue and discussions so that we can solve our problems. I also like to get two sides of a story,” he said.

He emphasised that it was important for SADC member states to engage and deliberate on how they can develop themselves without wars.

“Problems are man-made and people can solve them. We need to find solutions. We do not want war, therefore we must meet and have discussions. We do not want to destroy our countries, they have
suffered a lot, e.g in Zimbabwe and also in South Africa during the Apartheid era,” he emphasised.

He revealed that before visiting the Kingdom of Eswatini, he received information to the effect that certain organisations wanted to see him and said his hands were open.

“I said no, I will not see any other group but the King today so that he can know me as the Troika chair. If they want to come and see me, they are welcome because I want to engage everyone. I will listen because we do not want war, we do not want innocent people to suffer,” he said.