No data on religions in Eswatini

The Ministry of Home Affairs has revealed that Eswatini has no verified record of how many religious institutions or denominations exist in the country.

Minister Princess Lindiwe told delegates that this absence of data makes it difficult for government to regulate or even identify all operating churches.

“There is no actual information or census of how many denominations we have. This makes it hard to manage their registration and prevents us from detecting misconduct,” said the Minister.

Currently, religious groups register as non-profit companies or voluntary associations, creating gaps in oversight. Without central documentation, the Ministry says it cannot track institutions that may be registered abroad or operating informally.

According to the 2017 Population and Housing Census, about 89 per cent of emaSwati identify as Christian, but the number of denominations has multiplied rapidly.

The Ministry says a unified policy will help establish a national database of churches and streamline how new institutions are formed and recognised.

Some members of the church institutions have disclosed their reluctance to affiliate with the designated mother bodies.

This follows the assertion by Minister for Home Affairs Princess Lindiwe, who said the ministry will create a religious institution portal, which will include all the registered churches, as provided by the designated mother bodies each church is affiliated to.

These umbrella bodies are the League of Churches, Council of Churches and Conference of Churches. However, some clergymen are of the notion that affiliating under the aforementioned mother bodies is against their religious principles, citing grievances with the umbrella bodies.

Wendy Dlamini, in her submission, said that there were other affiliate bodies outside of the three designated bodies mentioned by the minister.

“Are we sticking to just those three umbrella bodies and those are the ones that are recognised by government as we move to register churches under the Ministry of Home Affairs? This, I question, as I happen to be aware of other bodies in existence,” said Dlamini.