Eswatini Enabling Environment Snapshot

Reporting period: June 2025 – April 2026

Eswatini remains an absolute monarchy and continues to be classified as a “closed” civic space by the CIVICUS Monitor. The legal and political environment remains structurally restrictive, shaped by laws such as the Public Order Act (2017), Suppression of Terrorism Act (2008), and the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act (1938), which continue to be used to regulate and suppress dissent.

During the reporting period (June 2025 – April 2026), civic space has been characterised by continued enforcement of restrictive legislation, increased securitisation of civic activity, and limited progress on enabling reforms. The proposed Non-Profit Organisations (NPO) Bill (2024) remained under discussion throughout this period, raising sustained concern among civil society due to its provisions for expanded state oversight of registration, operations, and funding.

The period further reflects ongoing targeting of activists, trade unionists, and students, including disruptions of gatherings, arrests, and intimidation by security forces. While isolated developments such as the release of Member of Parliament Mthandeni Dube through royal pardon (during the reporting period) suggest limited concessions, these have not translated into broader structural improvements.

Overall, the reporting period demonstrates a continuity of repression in both law and practice, with civic actors operating under heightened risk and uncertainty.