On September 19, 2025, the usually quiet streets outside the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, became a stage for a passionate protest. About 100 pro-democracy activists from Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) gathered, their voices rising in unified opposition to a controversial deportation agreement between the United States and Eswatini’s monarchy. For these exiled Swazi citizens, the protest was more than just a political statement—it was a desperate plea for justice, democracy, and transparency in the face of what they called a “shadowy deal.”
The heart of the controversy lies in a reported $500 million arrangement between U.S. President Donald Trump and King Mswati III, Africa’s last absolute monarch. Under this agreement, Eswatini agreed to accept migrants convicted of serious crimes—none of whom are from Africa—after their home countries refused to take them back. The first group, five men from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba, and Yemen, was flown into Eswatini on June 15, 2025, and is currently being held in a maximum-security prison. According to AP News, lawyers for the deportees claim they’ve been denied access to their clients, raising alarms about due process and human rights.
For the activists gathered in Pretoria, the deal represents a new low in the long and troubled reign of King Mswati III. Sakhile Nxumalo, president of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), did not mince words as he addressed the crowd: “These billions won’t fight crime or help people. They’ll just sustain the king, his 15 wives, and his lavish lifestyle.” Nxumalo’s frustration echoed that of many in Eswatini, where nearly 70% of the population lives on less than a dollar a day, despite the country’s classification as a lower middle-income nation. As reported by Peoples Dispatch, activists argue that the influx of cash from the U.S. will only further enrich the royal family, leaving ordinary Swazis mired in poverty and unemployment—youth joblessness stands at a staggering 58%, among the highest rates globally.
The protest in Pretoria was not just a Swazi affair. South African solidarity groups, including the South African Students Congress (SASCO) and the youth league of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), joined the demonstration. Their banners and placards called for democracy, the abolition of the monarchy, and the right for every Swazi to have a say in their country’s future. “The people of Swaziland should determine its future, not one man working with the man in the US,” declared a Young Communist League activist, reflecting the deep resentment toward external interference and autocratic rule.
Philile Khumalo, one of the protest organizers, described the deportation arrangement as “a shadowy deal because literally they were dropped with a massive U.S. plane at 2:30 in the morning and parliament did not even know about it. This was never even debated or brought to parliament.” This secrecy, activists argue, is emblematic of King Mswati’s governance style—decisions made behind closed doors, without public input or parliamentary oversight. According to AP News, the activists compared the deal to human trafficking, emphasizing that the arrangement was made without the consent of the people or their representatives.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has defended the deportations, describing the five men as “so uniquely barbaric that their home countries” in Asia and Latin America “refused to take them back.” The crimes cited include murder, robbery, and child rape. However, lawyers for the deportees have disputed claims that their home countries were unwilling to accept them, and the Eswatini government has stated that the men will eventually be moved to their countries of origin. For now, though, the men remain in legal limbo, their fate uncertain, and their lawyers unable to advocate on their behalf.
For many Swazis, this deal is just the latest affront in a long history of autocratic decision-making. King Mswati III’s reign, inherited from his father, has faced unprecedented challenges in recent years. In mid-2021, he fled the kingdom briefly amid an insurrection sparked by violent crackdowns on peaceful, country-wide pro-democracy protests. After the army violently suppressed the uprising, Mswati returned and resumed his near-absolute rule. Today, political parties remain banned in Eswatini, forcing groups like the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) and the Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO) to operate underground or in exile. Public demonstrations inside Eswatini are met with swift and often brutal force.
This climate of repression is precisely why Friday’s protest took place in South Africa rather than within Eswatini’s borders. As AP News notes, “the protesters, including members of exiled pro-democracy groups, said they decided to stage their protest in South Africa because any such protests would be quashed by security forces in Eswatini.” The activists called on neighboring countries in Southern Africa to pressure King Mswati III to reverse the deportation agreement and to support democratic reforms in the kingdom.
The U.S. program that sent the five men to Eswatini is part of a broader effort to deter illegal immigration and to remove individuals with serious criminal records from U.S. soil, especially when their home countries are unwilling to accept them. In addition to Eswatini, South Sudan and Rwanda have also accepted U.S. deportees, and Uganda has reached a similar agreement in principle. For the U.S. administration, these deals are a way to manage difficult deportation cases. But for many in Africa, they raise troubling questions about sovereignty, human rights, and the ethics of using financial incentives to offload unwanted migrants onto countries with little say in the matter.
As the Pretoria protest wound down, the message from Swazi and South African activists was clear: the international community must not turn a blind eye to these arrangements. “The international community must assist us to erase Mswati completely in Swaziland,” Nxumalo insisted, underscoring the activists’ belief that real change will only come with the end of absolute monarchy and the establishment of genuine democracy.
For now, the fate of the five deportees, the future of Eswatini’s democracy movement, and the broader implications of the U.S. third-country deportation program remain uncertain. But the voices raised in Pretoria on that September day have made one thing clear: the struggle for justice and accountability in Eswatini is far from over.
