Maverick Citizen

TRIBUTES TO A FALLEN HERO

Activists, judges and friends remember assassinated Swazi human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko 

Today assassinated human rights lawyer and democracy activist Thulani Maseko will be laid to rest at his home in kaLuhleko village, Swaziland. His memorial and funeral is being attended by activists from several Southern African countries, lawyers, United Nations officials and foreign diplomats. 

It will not be attended by anyone from the government of Swaziland or the monarch. 

They are not welcome. They are being held responsible for ordering his murder. They thought they could extinguish a threat to their power, but they are suddenly more isolated than ever before. 

The memorial for Thulani Maseko which was held at Esibayeni Lodge in Mastapha. The night vigil will also be held at the same hotel where people will then move to the Maseko Homestead early in the morning. (Photo: Supplied)

Thulani Maseko’s partner Tanele in an undated photo at the United Nations in Geneva. Tanele witnessed his murder. (Photo: Supplied)

Thulani Maseko’s murder has shocked the world and been condemned by hundreds of organisations, including: the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights; the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres; the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights; the Africa Judges and Jurists Forum; the Commonwealth Lawyers Association; the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition; the International Commission of Jurists; Freedom House; PEDUMO; the SADC Lawyers Association; the Southern African People’s Solidarity Network; the South African Council of Churches; the Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network; Human Rights Watch; Human Rights Forum; Amnesty International. 

Below Maverick Citizen publishes personal tributes to Thulani from fellow activists which give an indication of the multiple ways in which he touched and inspired many lives. We express our own condolences to his family, friends and comrades and commitment to telling the truth about the ongoing struggle for democracy and human rights in Swaziland.

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Arnold Tsunga.

Thulani did not die in vain!  – Arnold Tsunga, Chairperson Southern African Human Rights Defenders Network

Thulani Maseko’s cowardly cold blooded murder is a natural by-product of the exercise of absolute power, absolute unaccountability and absolute impunity by the highest authorities in Eswatini.

 

The assassination of Thulani

On 21 January 2023, I had a harrowing telephone conversation of 2 minutes and 10 seconds with Mrs  Tanele Maseko, Thulani’s wife at 10.55ETA. I called her after a colleague from Eswatini called to advise that Tanele had asked me to call her as there was a shooting incident at home and Thulani was gravely injured. 

Tanele said that as the family was seated in the lounge watching TV and conversing she detected some movement outside the house through the lace curtains. When she realised that there was an armed person pointing a gun into the house and shouted to alert Thulani  of the threat, the gunman fired shots. Thulani suffered three gunshot wounds in the head and chest and died on the spot in front of his wife and two minor children. 

Tanele’s call broke my heart. It created feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. It also effectively demonstrated how vulnerable human rights defenders and pro-democracy activists in Eswatini are. When authoritarianism expands and democracy is in regression in our societies, civic space is threatened and human rights activists are terrorised. 

Brotherhood

I worked with Thulani Maseko and Judge Thomas Masuku at the International Commission of Jurists for several years and we became brothers. I must say it is difficult to come across a genuine human being full of integrity, love and an acute sense of justice. 

He was literally allergic to injustice and unfairness. 

He had a strong sense of resentment to governance arrangements in institutions or states where anyone had absolute power, absolute discretion and zero accountability. It was his DNA.

Thulani Maseko and Arnold Tsunga. (Photo: Supplied)

He was a very polite person. This politeness and extreme humility easily disguised the steely decisiveness, firmness and commitment to justice and the rule of law that was embedded in each ounce in him. 

It is this unyielding, unbreakable and unshakable commitment to justice, human rights and the rule of law that put him in the line of direct conflict with the Eswatini Tinkhundla system of government. Despite being the most peaceful and non-violent proponent for change in the system of governance, he became paradoxically the most respected and most feared by the highest authorities of the land. 

They sent him to jail for two years after a kangaroo court trial. While in prison, they tortured him and put him in solitary confinement. He was totally unbroken and unshaken coming out of prison in 2015 firing on all cylinders in the quest for a more democratic, just and equitable Eswatini. 

While we knew or at least suspected deep down our hearts that he could be killed as two years of illegal imprisonment had not broken his resolve for fighting for human rights, justice and the rule of law, I have never prepared myself for this barbaric, senseless, cold blooded killing of a friend and mentor. 

Calling for peace and dialogue, answered with extreme violence

As Chair of the Multi Stakeholder Forum (MSF) Thulani persistently called for dialogue to resolve the multi-layered governance crisis in Eswatini. He was convinced that only dialogue and not violence would make Eswatini a better, more inclusive and just society. 

In response to calling for peace, they have now murdered him in the most gruesome manner, in his house, in front of his wife and two children who are still in primary school. If no one can be safe in his own house from people who commit heinous crimes of violence with the acquiescence of the highest authorities, what chance of peace is there in Eswatini. 

Now they have killed the peace ambassador, the fearful question is whether they have killed peace. 

SADC and AU Uselessness or Complicit

While at the office at the ICJ, Thulani kept expressing grave concern that the AU and SADC was a club of presidents and not African people’s institutions. He kept asking why SADC and AU were seemingly toothless when the AU Constitutive Act moved Africa from the principle of non-interference to the principle of non-indifference. 

This is why I am appreciative that both the SADC and the AU were swift in condemning the assassination of Thulani. They need to go beyond mere condemnation into implementing what Thulani was killed for, the assistance of Eswatini to have inclusive dialogue to address the governance question. 

For how long shall the people of Eswatini not have a meaningful voice about how they are governed?

Clarity and Continuity of Thulani’s cause

Thulani the human being has been killed. Thulani, the message of democracy, human rights, justice and the rule of law has been effectively planted and broadcasted by his killers. His message is now on everyone’s lips inside and outside Eswatini. In the immense loss is paradoxically a big sense of optimism that Thulani did not die in vain! 

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Not Yet Hamba Kahle, Thulani – Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Massachusetts

On 18 March, 2014, Mpendulo Simelane, a judge of the High Court of eSwatini, convicted Thulani Maseko and Bheki Makhubu of criminal contempt, sentencing them to 18 months in prison. Both had in separate articles criticized then Chief Justice, Michael Ramodibedi, for various acts of abuse of power.

Invited to speak for himself from the dock before the court sentenced him, Thulani, who was assassinated on 21 January 2023 while relaxing with his family in his home near Mbabane, capital of eSwatini, outlined his mission succinctly: “We deny that the call for a constitutional monarchy is a call to overthrow the monarch in Swaziland. We are calling for a system of government where democratic governance can and will co-exist with a monarchy whose powers are properly limited by law … so that nobody is above the law, but the law is the ruler…”

makhubu eswatini

Journalists Bheki Makhubu. (Photos: Supplied)

Following their conviction, Amnesty International adopted both men as prisoners of conscience. 14 months later, on 30 June, 2015, the Supreme Court of eSwatini set aside the convictions. 

When the King changed the name of the country at a whim to mark his 50th birthday in 2018, Thulani disagreed and sued unsuccessfully to challenge it. It was an extraordinary act of courage in a country where powers over life and death reside in the king.

Born on 1 March, 1971, Thulani qualified as a lawyer in eSwatini in 1997. He undertook graduate studies in human rights law, receiving advanced degrees from universities in Pretoria, South Africa and Washington DC, United States of America. Seven years into a professional life dedicated to fighting for human rights, he founded eSwatini’s Lawyers for Human Rights. 

The cause of creating a more accountable country would increasingly draw Thulani into the vocation of advocacy for democracy and constitutional reform in eSwatini. In 2018, he became the leader of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum, a coalition of civic organisations for constitutional reform in eSwatini. 

In June and July 2021, King Mswati met the peaceful advocacy led by Thulani and the Forum with cowardly brutality, leading to the killing of scores and the disappearance and torture of many more. 

On Saturday, 21 January, the king warned pro-democracy advocates not to “cry when mercenaries deal with you.” Hours later, unknown marksmen shot and killed Thulani in his house. 

Thulani Maseko, was the outstanding lawyer of his generation. His crime was advocacy for a better country. He believed in reforming the country into a constitutional monarchy and forged a formidable coalition to advance this goal. For this, he has given his life. 

His killers and those who procured them believe they can decapitate the movement he led. In this circumstance, it is not right to say Hamba Kahle. Instead, his soul will haunt his killers and his legacy will continue to inspire the living.

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Thulani Maseko at his mother’s funeral, May 2022. (Photo: Supplied)

I have never forgotten Thulani’s selfless act of kindness – Linda Kasonde, Executive director of Zambian NGO Chapter One Foundation Limited and founder of the law firm LCK Chambers

Thirty years ago, I went to a boarding school in Swaziland, now Eswatini, which was founded in the 1960s as part of the resistance to the apartheid government in South Africa. The school, named Waterford “Kamhlaba”, meaning “one world” in Siswati, in line with its multi-racial and multi-religious ethos. It led many anti-apartheid activists, such as the Mandelas, to send their children to the school as a refuge from the segregation and oppression of the apartheid government. 

The school was founded under the reign of King Sobhuza II, a much revered and even beloved monarch of Eswatini. Eswatini has always been an absolute monarchy; but in those days, there existed some “democratic” structures within that system. 

For example, every year the King was required by tradition to meet with his people in an open setting to hear the views and concerns of his people. This is known as the Sibaya.

King Sobhuza II died just a few years before I arrived at Waterford. He was replaced by his then 18-year-old son who was crowned as King Mswati III. So began a reign that descended to extravagance and opulence at the expense of the majority poor.  King Mswati’s reign is now also known for being increasingly repressive. 

Eswatini is also the birthplace of my friend, Thulani Maseko, a human rights lawyer and democracy activist known for his love of the Bible and what anti-apartheid activist, and later President, Nelson Mandela stood for – freedom for his people. If there is one word that summarises what Thulani stood for, it is commitment: a tireless commitment to seeing the liberation of his people and to the protection of human rights and human rights defenders across the region. 

In 2017, I became the beneficiary of Thulani’s benevolence. 

At the time, I was the President of the national Bar Association, the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ). In reprisal for speaking against the Zambian government’s increasing penchant for flouting human rights and the rule of law, members of the ruling Patriotic Front threatened to dissolve the statute that created the LAZ. 

At the height of these tensions, Thulani came to Zambia to meet the Zambian government and to offer his solidarity to LAZ, under a mission from the International Commission of Jurists and the SADC Lawyers Association. Due to local and international pressure, LAZ ultimately was not disbanded. 

I have never forgotten Thulani’s selfless act of kindness. It would not be his last mission to Zambia. 

In December 2020, Zambian activists Laura Miti and Bornwell Mwewa were arrested and detained in Livingstone for offering support to then activist Fumba Chama (also known as “PiLato) who had been detained for holding a meeting in Livingstone to educate the youth on public accountability. Thulani came to Zambia on a mission to observe the trial of these activists, ensuring the court knew that the world was watching. 

Unfortunately, on 21st January 2023, Thulani Maseko paid the ultimate price for his beliefs. Thulani, a gentle, kind, and brave soul is no more. In his own words at the Oslo Freedom Forum, “I refuse to give up, we shall never surrender, for we know there is a price to pay for the truth.” 

His death will not be in vain. To paraphrase Dinos Christianopoulos’ words, they tried to bury him, but they did not know that he was a seed. My deepest condolences to his wife Tanele and his children on this profound loss to them, all who called him a friend, and to the people of Eswatini.

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Thulani Maseko’s talk at the 2016 Oslo Freedom Forum. (Photo: Oslo Freedom Forum/YouTube)

Thulani Maseko: Human rights and pro-democracy giant is alive and his struggle will continue!  – Prof Adriano Nuvunga, Deputy Chairperson, Southern African Human Rights Defenders Network

I first heard of Thulani’s name and work more than two decades before I met him in person in 2015. An egalitarian Swazi, he was talked about as a beacon of human rights and freedom in Eswatini. At that time, it was hard to grasp the magnitude of the winds of change blowing across Eswatini for democracy and social cohesion. 

It was through his recorded and moving speeches forwarded to me through Swazi friends active in the Open Society space that I became more aware of the shocking reality of poverty, inequality, and brutality of the regime in ESwatini. Thulani educated me and many in the region about the cruel reality of repression of freedoms and fundamental rights in Eswatini. 

However, it was not until 2015 that I finally met the great Thulani Maseko. At the time he was a member of a group of brave Eswatini Human Rights Defenders concerned with the growing royal family business in Mozambique. They were concerned that Mozambique was probably helping to sustain a monarchy that oppresses freedoms, with evidence of violations of human rights. 

Always moderate and measured in his words, Thulani spoke the language of peace. He advocated for peace through human rights defending in Eswatini. 

From that time until this unfortunate moment, we have spoken regularly about how Frelimo could be influenced not to turn a blind eye to the political crisis in Eswatini. 

My relations with Thulani were solidified when I took on the role of vice chair of the Southern Defenders, which enabled more face-to-face meetings, including our most recent one in November 2022 in Lusaka, Zambia. 

Thulani, a true and passionate human rights defender, fought for ideas, fought for principles, and fought for values, with integrity – always through peaceful means. He advocated for reforms through constitution and constitutionalism, and other regional legal frameworks for political opening in Eswatini. It was this catalytic role for the democratisation of Eswatini that arbitrarily landed him in prison and often endangered his life. 

Nothing in this world can take away the legacy of the extraordinary life Thulani lived: a life dedicated to the common good and the well-being of the people of Eswatini. This barbaric and cowardly crime targeted the core of the pro-democracy movement in Eswatini and it hit this pillar of the crusade. Nevertheless, Thulani is permanently alive and his struggle for a peaceful and democratic Eswatini will continue! 

In the words of Paul to Timothy, Thulani fought the good fight and he kept his faith. May his soul rest in eternal peace.

My heartfelt condolences and prayers to his beloved wife and children, and the Maseko family. You are not alone. We are here for you! 

Our hearts are still heavy, and while we are focused on honouring his life and legacy, we want justice for Thulani. The perpetrators of this heinous crime are to be identified, brought to a credible justice and severely punished. This apparent state-backed crime cannot be allowed to have occurred without consequence. 

Though you are not physically alive, you are alive in spirit and we shall not backslide on your struggle, leader! 

You have set the foundations of a peaceful, democratic, and inclusive Eswatini. 

In this moment of farewell, brother, go in peace. 

*****

Graca Machel. Photo: Siphiwe Sibeko, Reuters

Rest in the glory of African fighters for freedom – Graca Machel

Please share my respects to Thulani and sincere solidarity and condolences to the family. May Thulani rest in the glory of African fighters for freedom and democracy, and in the embracing pride of his ancestors.

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The regional and international community has failed Thulani and the people of eSwatini – Pansy Tlakula, former Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights,  former Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa

The senseless and tragic murder of Thulani Maseko has not only devastated his family, friends and comrades but has sent shock waves to the human right’s fraternity regionally and internationally. Although Thulani was a well known, respected, brilliant and prolific human rights lawyer, he exuded an air of relaxed calm and humility. He dedicated his life and career to the struggle for human rights and democratisation in his country, eSwatini. 

I met Thulani at one of the sessions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights in Banjul, The Gambia in the mid Two Thousands after my appointment as a member of the Commission and its Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information. Thulani and some of his comrades at the Lawyers for Human Rights attended the sessions of the Commission for many years to highlight the human rights situation in eSwatini.  

Pansy Tlakula, former Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights,  former Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images / The Times / Daniel Born)

During my twelve year tenure at the Commission I came to understand, through my interaction with Thulani, the struggles that he and other human rights activists endured. These included his arrest in 2009 in terms of the archaic Sedition and Subversive Act 46 of 1938 and his much publicised arrest with Bheki Makhubu, the Editor in Chief of the Nation Magazine in 2014, for contempt of court for “violating and undermining the dignity, repute and authority of the High Court” by publishing “malicious and contemptuous statements” in the New Nation Magazine about the case which the King had instituted against Vincent Gwebu. At one point the warrant of arrest which was issued against them was set aside and they were released only to be rearrested. They were sentenced to two years imprisonment. 

In 2014 I travelled to eSwatini to visit Thulani and Bheki in prison. The prison authorities denied me access to them despite the undertaking  I was given by senior government officials that I would be allowed to see them. In 2015 they were released on appeal amidst international outcry. 

Thulani was subjected to harassment by the government for a prolonged period. This did not deter him, instead it strengthened his resolve to fight for a just, egalitarian and democratic eSwatini based on human rights and the rule of law. Unfortunately, it is his commitment to the fight for these ideals which led to his tragic and cruel demise in front of his family.  

Sadly, the regional and international community has failed Thulani and the people of eSwatini. The archives of the African Commission abound with resolutions, press releases and letters of appeal on the human rights situation in eSwatini. Despite these pronouncements, the human rights situation in eSwatini remains the same. 

I hope that Thulani’s comrades will continue to fight for democracy and freedom in eSwatini to  ensure that his death is not in vain.

Rest in power my brother Thulani. Your spirit will live forever.

*****

Former US Ambassador Swaziland Makila James Photo: US Institute of Peace

We have lost a relentless warrior for justice.  But we know his light will continue to guide and inspire us  – Makila James, US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Swaziland 2012-2015

My Dearest Tanele and the Maseko Family,

My heart is so heavy after the murder of our precious and beautiful Thulani.  His senseless murder is such a blow to all of us who struggle to bring justice, respect for human rights, the rule of law, and democracy to Swaziland and all of Africa.  My deepest condolences to you Tanele and the Maseko family, as well as to all Swazis who feel this loss so deeply too.  

Thulani was a servant leader and a source of light and wisdom on the way forward in Swaziland.  We have lost a relentless warrior for justice.  But we know his light will continue to guide and inspire us.  

Thulani taught us the importance of courage, vision, resilience, and love.  He loved the people of Swaziland and paid dearly for his dedication to freedom and justice for his fellow citizens.  We honor him best by keeping the struggle alive and ensuring justice for his family.  

As the great American civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer reminded us “nobody’s free until everybody’s free.”  The struggles in Swaziland are part of the broader struggle across the continent — to ensure dignified, valued, and respected lives for all African people.  Thulani understood that so well.  He was a man of peace, reason, law, and justice – those are the watchwords we must uphold as we continue the struggle he showed us how to wage.

Change is coming.  Change is inevitable. Change must be now.

*****

It pains – Zaina Kombo, Kenya

It’s devastating that such a human could be killed. A peaceful being that called for dialogue to resolve the challenges bedevilling his motherland. I shall learn from your legacy. I shall draw strength from your ultimate sacrifice. Go well senior comrade, lawyer and HRD. 

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Thulani  Maseko (middle with arms folded) with Mary Lawlor (left)  UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders in an undated photo in Swaziland. (Photo: Supplied)

His light shall always keep burning – Bayingana Simon, Uganda Human Rights Defenders

I met Thulani in South Africa in November 2022 during AfricaTrust Baraza. I was inspired by his strong passion for human rights and struggles against injustices of the oppressed communities in Swaziland. His light shall always keep burning and legacy engraved in hearts of the Eswatini and Africa human rights defenders. 

May his soul rest in Power.

*****

‘A true Combatant of Democracy’ – Advocate, Dr Chacha Murungu, LL.D, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

My Colleague the Late Mr Thulani Rudolf Maseko is not dead in my heart and memories! 

“The Native Son” of the Kingdom of Eswatini, was my classmate in the LL.M (2005) at the University of Pretoria. 

Sorely, Thulani will be missed by many great African Luminaries of his stature. But Thulani the most intelligent and sociable being will surely not be forgotten in our minds. His ideals shall be cherished by many of us. I have not only lost a comrade but a true Combatant of Democracy. 

Assassins think that they have silenced and liquidated Thulani. They are wrong! They have come to learn that they have in fact elevated our African Native Son. Son of the Kingdom. 

The assassination of Thulani Maseko reminds me of what could have happened to me on the night of 22.2.2016. I survived assassination attempt on my life as the assassins had besieged me. But God intervened early enough. I learnt to be on a run like a fugitive. Indeed, I sought and found shelter in South Africa temporarily. 

While Thulani’s final breath was on the night of 21.1.2023, mine would have been on 22.2.2016. 

I feel it. His demise has left a chilling effect in me. I have had almost a similar experience. Thulani has not departed in my heart.

Assassins have deprived us of a sociable human being. His widow and children will bitterly miss Thulani’s presence in the family. But God should find a way to avenge his death. Assassins won’t rest peacefully but Thulani will rest in Power. We envisage a progressive democratic development in the Kingdom. Thanks to Thulani.

While you are first before me, I believe God has created a space for you in Heaven. We will meet at some stage in Heaven. See my photo with Thulani taken on the night of 8.12.2011 at Pretoria, South Africa, my last encounter with beloved but demised Thulani. 

Long live Thulani’s visions of rights and democracy.

I pen off now in greater pain and sorrow! May our Good Lord Rest Thulani’s Soul in Eternal Peace!

*****

Thulani Maseko. Photos: Supplied

Rest in Eternal Peace, People’s Advocate – Dr Makanatsa Makonese

I first met Thulani Maseko sometime in 2010. I had joined the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Lawyers Association in April 2009 and in the intervening months, had heard a lot about him. It was therefore natural that when an opportunity arose, I invited him to one of our regional events, held in Johannesburg, South Africa. 

Having heard so much about Thulani and his work in Eswatini and elsewhere in the SADC region and the African continent, I expected to meet a grandiloquent and hard to approach lawyer. To my pleasant surprise, Thulani was unassuming, affable, very approachable and even had an incredible sense of humour. From this very first encounter, I was convinced that Thulani was the kind of lawyer and human rights defender that I wanted to work with, and our relationship started from that day.

Thulani was one person that I could always depend on whenever I needed assistance with my work in Eswatini and in Southern Africa. He was always available, even at short notice to take up assignments in defence of human rights, and never complained or grumbled.

When Thulani was arrested in 2014, there was outpouring support and solidarity from members of the SADC Lawyers’ Association, who offered to and provided support in different ways. At the 2014 SADC Lawyers’ Association Annual General Meeting and Conference held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, a whole session was dedicated to strategies on how to support Thulani and his family following the incarceration. 

That is when it really dawned on me that Thulani was no ordinary lawyer or human rights defender, but a legend and bigger than life icon. I continued to work with Thulani over the years in different capacities including in my current position with the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative.

With his death, a giant tree has fallen, and the human rights defence landscape in southern Africa will never be the same. It is not easy to find selfless and dedicated human rights defenders in the mould of Thulani – selfless and ready to sacrifice their lives for the sake of others. He took bullets in life and in death on behalf of so many of us and for the sake of humankind. May those of us who knew and worked with Thulani carry forward his legacy, and not let his death be a win for those who heinously and brutally perpetrated his assassination. 

To Tanele, his widow – whom I met several times as she traversed the SADC region in support of her husband during his incarceration between 2014 and 2015 – and their children, take comfort in the knowledge that your husband and father died for a higher cause, and will forever be loved and remembered for his sacrifice and the ultimate price that the had to pay for so many of us.

*****

Murdered human rights lawyer Thulani Rudolf Maseko. (Photo: Supplied)

He believed in negotiation and would have possibly expected anyone who wanted to take his life to negotiate and give him a fair hearing before the execution – Justice Thomas Masuku

It is with a heavy heart and profound sorrow that I sit behind my desk to write a short tribute to Mr Thulani Rudolph Maseko. Perhaps to do so, will free my mind and my spirit to take care of other important business I am about. 

To write about Thulani and death – a gruesome one at that, in one sentence is too hard to bear. That said, life teaches us that it is not only the things that we like that we have to do. There are those that are necessary and not only expedient. This is one of those. I will take my liberties as Mr Maseko’s former lecturer and simply refer to him as ‘Thulani’, with no disrespect intended.

On 21 January 2023, at around 03h00, I was gripped by restlessness in my spirit and I decided to wake up. I turned on my data only to receive an ominous message from one of my sons to the effect that Thulani had been assassinated. My head started spinning in disbelief, pain and agony. I am still trying to reconcile myself with the cold fact of his irreversible departure.

I met Thulani as a part-time lecturer in law at the University of Swaziland. If my memory serves me well, this was in the academic year 1998/1999. He was in the final year of his Bachelor of Laws Degree and I taught his class Legal Ethics and Civil Procedure. His class was a very active one and had a number of activists as I soon began to learn as my interaction with them grew.

I was confronted with a baptism of fire when I engaged the class. They were asking very hard questions of me, some of which did not relate directly to the subject of my discourse. I rearranged my approach and decided to take an accommodative style of teaching. To illustrate the nature and size of my difficulties, I remember Thulani asking me about the impediment, if any, that would be in his way if he wished with all his heart to marry a woman who shares the same surname with him.

I was hard pressed to explain the issue from the legal, traditional and religious perspectives but he would just not be moved. For him, his choice, following his heart, had to carry the day and the laws and tradition had to bend their knees in surrender to the dictates of his heart. He was at a formative stage of his young legal life and the questions he posed bore testimony to that. Happily, reason and propriety prevailed and he did not follow through with marrying a possible relative. What was unmistakable, however, was his burning ambition and desire for the observance of human and peoples’ rights. These were at the centre of his life, thinking and action and I dare say, even when he breathed his last.

I was later to meet Thulani and a number of his former colleagues at the High Court of Swaziland after their admission as attorneys of the Courts of Swaziland. It is only natural, I would think, for a lecturer or teacher to have a sense of pride when his or her students make great strides in life. I took personal pride in his admission, together with other former students of mine and I will not mention them one by one. 

I am proud to say that for the most part, most of my former students continue in paths of legal and judicial virtue, which brings a smile of pride to my ageing face. I hope it remains that way. It is my fervent hope that they remember some of the lessons we went through, particularly in dealing with Legal Ethics. Thulani remembered not to forget those.

Thulani appeared before me on numerous occasions in court. I must confess that I am hard on those that I taught, perhaps more than to others. This is especially so in cases that touch upon the core subjects I would have taught my former students. Thulani acquitted himself with distinction in that he always gave his best. 

A good lawyer is not necessarily the one who wins all the cases he or she takes up, but one who gives his heart, mind, soul and being – with fidelity to stainless jurisprudence – paying attention to all the critical aspects of the case – one who spares no effort in assisting the court in performing its function of adjudication.

The last case in which he appeared before me was when I sat as an Acting Judge of the Supreme Court in Jan Sithole and Others v The Prime Minister Case No. 50 of 2008. (delivered on 21 May 2010). Thulani represented the appellants. I will not, for obvious reasons, dwell on this case. Not long thereafter, Thulani was very vocal after my illegal removal from the High Court Bench in 2011. As fate would have it, my nemesis in that debacle would later be his as well.

Away from the Bench, from 2012, I worked with the International Commission of Jurists, (ICJ). That constituted a detour from my judicial career that I will forever be grateful for. This is so because it opened my eyes very wide to the subject and serious ramifications of human rights in the life and well-being of individuals from all walks of life in any state. We worked with Thulani at the Offices of the ICJ where he was a Consultant.

I recall vividly him and I driving to Mozambique to prepare a conference for the South African Chief Justices’ Forum. We drove in his vehicle, with him behind the wheel. I am not sure whether or not we violated the traffic laws of Maputo, as we were quickly pulled aside within the City by an uncompromising police officer on steroids. 

Thulani went to broker peace with the unrelenting police officer, whose understanding and command of the English language were highly suspect. He accused us of having made a ‘mistake’, which Thulani, in his forensic element, capitalised on, arguing that if it was a mistake, then there is no intention and therefore no crime. His serious arguments, which may have swayed the mind of a criminal court, were unavailing to the obdurate police officer. We had little choice but to visit our pockets and render to Caesar what belonged to him. We thereafter went to our hotel having had a brush with the law.

There were a number of other Missions we carried out with Thulani for the ICJ. 

The last I want to write about was the Congress of the ICJ, which was held in Tunis in 2019. We travelled together with him and on reaching Tunis, we had expected the weather to be very hot but that was not the case. He was scantily dressed, anticipating that the weather would be favourable.

I then offered him a black BMW jacket of mine that I had bought in Maseru, Lesotho. I loved it very much because it was very flexible and quite accommodating of both formal and informal occasions. On return from Tunis, when he had to render to Caesar what belonged to him, Thulani asked if I would be kind enough to give the jacket to him. Perhaps it might bring him good omens and he may walk in my footsteps as well and reach the heights I had. I was dumbfounded.

I found myself in the horns of a dilemma. Here is a jacket that I loved very much and had loaned it only for a season and here is a person dear to me asking for it with a sense of genuineness – in his words, to keep a piece of me with him. I succumbed to Thulani’s pleas and I gave that jacket to him. His frame was much smaller than mine and it was ill-fitting on him but I let go of it. 

For him to look up to me so much, placed a very heavy burden on my life, knowing that I do not live for myself but there are others who look up to me for guidance, example and inspiration and most of the time without any solicitation. Thulani won this round and I truly let go.

The next episode was his incarceration at the hands of Chief Justice Ramodibedi, together with Mr Bheki Makhubu. I was distressed by the injustice that was meted out to them and seeing them in leg irons as hard-core criminals, broke my heart but not his indefatigable spirit. Upon his release from jail, we had an impromptu late lunch at Ramblers Restaurant in Mbabane with a few friends, including Attorney Happy Mkhabela, where we celebrated his release and I was worried if he could drive home safely. He is an old hand and so he did.

Despite being away from home, Thulani and I have been in contact – not every day but once in a while. I sent him a message last week over a certain book I would hopefully obtain for him. Little did I know that that would be the last conversation we would have in this land of the living.

That Thulani would be assassinated at his prime and in such a dastardly, ruthless and cowardly manner is unthinkable and unforgivable. For one so gentle and peace-loving to die a death so brutal and devoid of any compunction is an indictment and speaks volumes about the alarming levels of violence that our country has reached in recent times. This should stop.

In all the speeches that I have listened to and whenever he spoke, he was a man of peace. He believed in negotiation and would have possibly expected anyone who wanted to take his life to negotiate and give him a fair hearing before the execution. That right to a fair hearing, he was callously denied by his assassins. He died a brutal death for a crime he does not know and was never afforded an opportunity to state his side of the story or even undertake a different course, if that was called for before his life could be exterminated. I am numb because of this.

In a congratulatory message he sent to me on 22 April 2022, after the African Commission on Peoples and Human Rights found that my fundamental rights enshrined in the African Charter had been violated in my removal as a Judge of the High Court Swaziland, he stated the following:

“Evening Judge: It’s a wonderful outcome although we have waited so long for it. When we shall have departed to the other world, let it be said we did our duty to God and the people of Swaziland. (Emphasis added). We are so happy you have been vindicated after so much injustice and unwarranted persecution. Nhlane.”

It is plain from what is quoted above, that Thulani knew and understood that our lives do not end here. The work that we do – good or evil, will have to be accounted for in the other world. Now that he is there – in that celestial jurisdiction, I can say without fear of contradiction that he will submit, and there is ample evidence that he has done his duty to God and the people of his beloved motherland, Swaziland. He emptied himself and all he had for a people that he loved dearly. He was acutely aware that in his life and in all his dealings, he had an unwavering duty to God and to the people of Swaziland.

To Make Tanele Maseko and the children, I understand that no words would be enough to erase the pain and anguish that you justifiably feel. That you were robbed of his life in this brutal fashion in your very presence is unfathomable and heart- rending. It is a trauma of the first order.

Please accept, for what it is worth, my sincere condolences for the loss and emptiness you all feel. At this time, it may be necessary, in order to fill the inevitable void, to summon and remember all the happy memories of Thulani and all the good that he did, not only for you but for many Swazis and humanity at large. He is gone too soon but has left indelible marks in the landscape of the land of his forebears. His works bear a tower of testimony to that.

As I draw to a close, allow me to acknowledge that Thulani cared for others he did not know and was unrelated to. His fight for human rights is indisputably universal and transcends his kith and kin. He was never indifferent to the plight of the person next door or afar off. In this regard, it would be opportune to quote the words that fell from the lips of Mr. Elie Wiesel, delivered at the White House on 12 April 1999, during the presidency of President Bill Clinton. His speech was entitled ‘The Perils of Indifference’.

The speaker stated as follows:

“In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman. Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred. Anger can at times be creative. One writes a great poem, a symphony. One does something special for the sake of humanity because one is angry at the injustice than one witnesses. But indifference is never creative. Even hatred at times may elicit a response. You fight it. You denounce it. You disarm it. Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end. And therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor – never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees – not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. And in denying them their humanity, we betray our own. Indifference, then, is not only a sin, it is a punishment. And this is one of the most important lessons of this outgoing century’s wide-ranging experiment in good and evil.”

Thulani refused to succumb to the perils of indifference in his lifetime, when it could have been easy and convenient. He made a difference in so many people’s lives, mine included.

Let us honour his legacy, his passion, and his calling by being disciples and refusing to be indifferent.

*****

Thulani Maseko

REST IN PEACE NGCAMANE, KHUBONYE WANDLOVU!!! – Kamau Ngugi, Chairperson East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network and ED Defenders Coalition, Kenya

Sorrow and anger cannot define what I feel following assassination of Comrade Thulani Maseko but I am encouraged that even with taking away of the body, the spirit of Thulani, The Spirit of Justice The Spirit of Love The Spirit of Comradeship lingers on, dwells among us human rights defenders of the world.

May the family of Thulani find courage and Strength to endure the loss. Long Live the Spirit of Thulani Long Live!

*****

A formidable freedom fighter –  Lawyers for Human Rights, South Africa 

“Hamba Kahle, comrade Thulani Maseko. Lawyers for Human Rights in South Africa extends its deepest condolences to the Maseko family and all of Thulani’s loved ones. We mourn his tragic loss with the human rights community and the people of Southern Africa. 

Thulani was a compassionate and deeply principled human, a formidable freedom fighter, and a brave leader who fought tirelessly to defend the human rights of people from Swaziland. He paid the ultimate price – that of his life, defending basic human rights and respect for the human dignity of all human beings. May his soul rest in peace.”

*****

Thapelo Ndlovu – Botswana 

Thulani

Those bullets

Were not bullets

But seeds

Seeds that fell on wetted hearts

Those bullets Thulani

Will sprout into new seedlings

Seedlings of new hope,

Of new resolve.

 

Those bullets Thulani

Are not bullets

That blood

Is a flood

Sweeping out bad spirits

And drowning fake royalty

That abuses innocent loyalty

That blood Thulani

Will moisten the poison into manure

That blood is fertile

The blood

Splattered on their faces

Blinding them instantly

They can’t see, they won’t see

Deafening them out rightly

They can’t hear, they won’t hear

The looming revolution

Your demise has tattooed our hearts

For your remembrance

Inscribed indelible graffiti on their faces

Killers! Murderous!

Cowards!

As we cry

I hear you say

‘Thulani! Thulani’

My people Thulani

Let your tears not be of despair

But ointment to your sprains

Feedlot for your brains

Thulani, don’t cry

 

But sing my people

Laugh

And recite poetry

Dance into the night

For another day is on sight

Emancipation is nigh

And expectancy is high

Of a new born New Swaziland

*****

The more you kill defenders, the more new ones are born – Mcqueen Zenzo Zaza, Lawyer from Zambia 

No ruler however great will ever manage to wipe out human rights defenders from the face of the earth. The more you kill defenders, the more new ones are born even with greater enthusiasm than ever. We are now more strengthened than before. 

Go well my brother. 

Your work will not go with you but others will take up the mantle with a more defined focus fueled by your blood. We will miss you.

*****

Your vision for the people of #Swaziland was for good and only good –  Tito Elia Magoti, Human Rights Defender

Comrade Thulani Maseko. I knew about you before I met you physically. Your works spoke louder about you, within and beyond #Swaziland. A fearless yet brilliant lawyer, a brave and daring activist. In you we drew inspiration as human rights lawyers and defenders. 

I was privileged to share a stage with you twice, courtesy of Southern Defenders – an outfit you co-found. You gave me an impression of a calm, committed and visionary human rights leader. Your vision for the people of #Swaziland was for good and only good. I am writing in desperation, anger and grief owing to your brutal assassination. 

Fly, my friend; Goodbye, my comrade. We shall keep the struggle up in honour of your works. Rest in power, Thulani. #JusticeForThulani 

*****

‘No TK, it’s my home’ – Tiseke Kasambala

It was the last event of the Southern Defenders Summit on November 29, 2022. Scores of human rights defenders from our region were in attendance. We were in the room to witness the presentation of the 2022 Southern Defenders Award to Abahlali baseMjondolo, a movement of shack dwellers campaigning for housing rights and improved living conditions for communities in and around Durban, South Africa. 

The room was silent as we watched the harrowing story of how leaders of the movement were targeted for violent attacks and assassinations by unknown actors because of their fight for people’s dignity. In 2022 alone, gunmen assassinated three leaders of the movement. Police had not arrested or held anyone to account for the killings.

When she received the award, the young leader of the movement declared that despite the terror unleashed upon her organization, the movement would continue their struggle. There was such determination in her voice.

As she spoke, I thought about another quietly determined activist, Thulani Maseko with whom I had a brief conversation the day before the award ceremony. Thulani, a prominent human rights lawyer, was also at the Summit. A highly respected and outspoken critic of the Swazi monarchy, I met him several years ago during my time as a researcher as he fought for democratic reforms in Swaziland (now Eswatini). At one point he was imprisoned for over a year for calling for judicial reforms in the country.

Thulani was not just focused on rights and democracy in Eswatini. He also played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (Southern Defenders). He cared deeply about his country, and the continent. 

Despite the high regard many had for him, Thulani was a humble, soft spoken and low-profile person. On the day of our conversation, he arrived in a casual baggy shirt and trousers and quietly joined me at my table. We chatted about family and then the conversation turned to the deteriorating security situation in Eswatini and the increasing threats and attacks against activists. 

As chairperson of the Swaziland Multi-Stakeholder Forum, a coalition that was calling for the monarchy to hold a national dialogue on political and economic reforms, Thulani, and others had come under increasing scrutiny from the Eswatini authorities. There were almost weekly reports of threats, and violent attacks, including arson and attempts on activists’ lives. 

I asked him whether it was time for a little rest and recuperation across the border in South Africa, and he smiled and said, “No TK, it’s my home.”

I thought of those words as Abahlali baseMjondolo received their award (three of their leaders gunned down in cold blood). It’s my home! I have been thinking about those words since I heard the news that less than two months after he said those words to me, Thulani Maseko was no more. Gunned down by unknown attackers as he sat watching TV with his family on a regular Saturday evening. “It’s my home!”

Thulani fought for a life of dignity for every Swati. A life free from poverty, free from repression — one lived within a democratic dispensation. He fought because it was home, it was a country, region, and continent! A global struggle.

He gave his life for the cause. It will not be in vain!!!!

Hamba Kahle!

*****

In Memoriam Sonnet – Timothy Pagonachi Simbega Mtambo, Malawian activist and Minister

Sad winds blow with fierceness from the guilty South.

The seed dispersal cartridge for the region is taken out of its mouth.

In Thulani a true Pan-African propagated like a frequency modulation.

Rudoff, we shall cling to your agendum until final completion.

We fully comprehend the immortality of your struggle.

That altituted you at a peril of a human rights angle.

Hearts so heavy of emptiness glow like chromate lead.

We shall irrigate the passion until it blossoms like a mustard seed.

Africa shall rise to stardom just within the manner you dreamed.

You are gone but still fixed in the morning mood.

The only heartwarming trend brother Maseko is your Mandela smile.

Your legacy is not away , we’re keeping the true file.

In your blood pressure believe we have conquered the stage.

You’re welcome in the amazing world of those who emerge.

Thulani Rudoff shall remain a focused and visionary lens.

We shall meet but unknowledgeable of the mathematics of when.

We do not prophesy, who has gunned you down.

Still your instincts are documented in the Heaven Town.

Rest in Eternal Power Prime Comrade, Brother! Aluta Continua!!!

*****

The embodiment of integrity and perseverance – Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights 

ZIMBABWE Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) is extremely shocked and saddened to learn of the untimely passing on of Thulani Rudolph Maseko, a brave and courageous human rights lawyer, who was brutally assassinated on 21 January 2023 in Eswatini.

We are devastated by the heartless killing of our long-time friend, who was soft-spoken with an unflappable demeanour, which belied his steely and unwavering determination.

Thulani lived a life of sacrifice and gave up a life of pleasures and was dedicated to liberating his country and southern Africa. ZLHR had the honour and privilege to have worked with Thulani on several occasions as he was one of the founding members of Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (SouthernDefenders) and also played a critical role in the establishment of Lawyers for Human Rights Swaziland. 

It breaks our hearts that for several years Thulani suffered and endured oppression at the hands of authorities in Eswatini including being imprisoned for more than 15 months. We will remember Thulani as a fearless advocate for human rights, social justice, democracy and the rule of law and for his kindness.

He was the embodiment of integrity and perseverance and he leaves an admirable legacy for many to aspire to. His death is not only a loss to his family and friends but to southern Africa. ZLHR will hold memories of our interactions with Thulani in high regard.

ZLHR calls upon the Eswatini government to allow an independent, credible investigation into the circumstances of his death and bring those responsible for assassinating him to justice. In addition to fully investigating Thulani’s murder and securing justice, Eswatini authorities must put all necessary measures in place to ensure that lawyers, pro-democracy campaigners and ordinary citizens are safe, protected and able to carry out their legitimate work.

To Thulani’s wife Tanele, his children, the Maseko family and friends, may you be comforted in knowing that Thulani made a difference to the people of Eswatini and southern Africa. 

ZLHR’s Board, membership, management and secretariat extends its deepest condolences to Thulani’s family, relatives and colleagues.

We wish you strength, grace, and peace during this difficult time.

May Thulani’s Soul Rest in Eternal Peace.

*****

You are Eswatini always forever more – Modise Maphanyane

Your name always represented Eswatini. It will remain so in my heart permanently. You are Eswatini always forever more. God be with your family. 

*****

Thulani Maseko: A Tribute to a gentleman and a giant of human rights –  Martin Okumu-Masiga, Secretary General, Africa Judges and Jurists Forum

On the night of 21st January 2023, I received a telephone call from a colleague and friend from Harare. He informed me that he had just got a call from Thulani’s wife to say that he had just been shot dead in the last 30 minutes! 

In total shock and disbelief, I argued against accepting this information and requested for verification. The colleague made another call and confirmed the unwanted news. We remained on the phone from midnight to 3:30 am (Uganda time). 

The pain was overwhelming. Not even the knowledge that it was shared with others brought any comfort. It is still incomprehensible that Thulani is not with us. 

I must underscore, from the start, the fact that Thulani was a man of family. He was devoted to his wife Make Tanele Maseko and their two children. He often spoke about them fondly. 

I treasure the memories of experiencing their hospitality on a few occasions in Mbabane. In addition, Tanele sometimes stood in for Thulani, when he was incarcerated. I wish to express my profound condolences to them. This is a life-changing experience for them and no words can make sense or bring comfort to them at this point. I hope ways and means will be found to support the education and development of his children. I am deeply sorry.

As I look back at the extraordinary life of my brother Thulani, I recall fondly his legendary humour, integrity and kindness. One element that impressed me even more, was his humility. He was humbler than you would expect for a man of his profile and this trait defined him.

A darling of the democracy movement in eSwatini, Thulani indisputably loomed large in the human rights and rule of law sector in that country and the region, which explains in significant measure, the deluge of messages from within Africa and beyond expressing revulsion at his murder. His engagement on human rights spanned a wide range of themes from advocacy for the respect of fundamental rights and freedoms, international criminal justice and the fight against impunity, improved delivery of justice, land justice, a peaceful resolution of the security and political challenges of eSwatini, among others.

As an institution builder, he was so concerned about the vibrancy of the civil society movement in eSwatini. He persuaded us at the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) to assist to support the drafting of a strategic plan for Lawyers for Human Rights (Swaziland); and build competence of human rights organizations in eSwatini to work with regional and international human rights mechanisms. We acquiesced to both requests.

I was hugely delighted when in 2012, Thulani joined us at the ICJ, where I was deputy director of the Africa Programme. He was an extraordinary colleague. I was particularly impressed by his diligence, considerable intellectual power and independence of mind. He was often resourceful, ready to share his ideas and provide constructive criticism to colleagues. He did this with so much respect, there would never be occasion for offence. On the other hand, his readiness to listen carefully to views that did not coincide with his own, was outstanding.

How would I forget the day our then Director of the Africa Programme of the International Commission Jurists (ICJ), Arnold Tsunga, introduced Thulani to our superiors in Geneva? He assured them that “Thulani is a highly competent lawyer, a man of principle who will bring honour to his office; and all the luck is ours for having him.”

Many tributes that have been penned about him recognize his unlimited devotion and dedication to the fight for improved human rights observance. He promoted human rights at significant personal risk. Among other ordeals, in 2014, he endured a sentence of 2 years in prison in a trial that was considered by human rights advocates around the world to have represented a grotesque miscarriage of justice. I was privileged to have been one of the international lawyers that conducted trial observation in that matter. Characteristic of Thulani, when we met in court, he was in good cheer, cracking jokes, completely unphased by the reality that he was in custody. What a lesson in resilience? 

No tribute of Thulani would be complete without stating that he was a man of peace; and intrinsically so. He not only advocated for dialogue as the way to address eSwatini’s human rights and political crisis, he lived a life of peace. This was evident in the manner in which he spoke and acted. He hardly raised his voice even in the most heated of arguments. It is so ironical that someone could have thought that to realize their peace they would have to remove from the scene, an icon of peace that Thulani was.

He had a profound influence upon many people who were privileged to work with him. His passion and fidelity to the search for justice and human rights even in the face of adversity was wildly infectious. Sadly, he will never know how many people he inspired including friends, colleagues and new generations of human rights defenders.

While Thulani and I last met physically in 2019, our warm friendship flourished so that we remained in touch telephonically. Our last conversation having been in December 2022, hardly did we know it would also be our final call between us.

Without a doubt, Thulani will be sorely missed but his legacy of fighting for justice, human rights and expanding democratic space, will live in the thousands of people he moved and inspired with his activism.

I count it my good fortune to have met Thulani, a man as kind, passionate and caring as he was brilliant.

With all of you, I mourn Thulani Rudolf Maseko.

*****

Justice denied by the unrepentant Tinkhundla parasitic regime – Bandile Shabangu

To say we are shattered, shocked and or broken could be an understatement. We are having all sorts of emotions: angry, saddened and full of hatred but then we are then comforted by the fact that Cde TR as he was affectionately known was never any of that. 

Comrade TR is the justice the democracy loving Swazis so wish to have but was denied by the unrepentant Tinkhundla parasitic regime. 

Cde TR, we are saddened, devastated and disturbed by such a crime. Out of all atrocities that this unrepentant regime has been synonymous with, we never thought that one day we will have to gather like this in heart, soul, mind and spirit, mourning your loss. 

We have no life to celebrate here but to ask Mswati that “Did it really have to get here?” Were you that desperate to keep your throne? Through the blood of such a peace-loving, non-partisan leader and teacher of the law like this?

*****

Bo Maseko sitsi dvudvutekani. Akukashaywa nine kuphela, sonkhe sishayiwe, siyacega, sishacekile, sife lwembita. Sitsi nje cinani njengaye Babe Maseko

The tears you are shedding on Cde TRs senseless killing won’t drop to the ground but they shall lie heavily on the shoulders of all the Tinkhundla charlatans, their gatekeepers and most of all, the commissioner of this senseless killing. 

Most of us had neither shared a conversation nor met this son of the soil but his works have always been speaking to us. Cde TR has been the father most of us have never had. 

Your blood Khubonye shall surely shake the foundations of this regime and on its own bring it down for no night has ever been long to deny us day time.

We shall meet on freedom day. Ligama lakho liyahlala njalo etimpantitjeni tetinhlitiyo tetfu ngobe live likwehlulile.

My heartfelt condolences to the mother of our nation, Make Tanele and her cubs baka Maseko, sive semaSwati, Make wakhe lowasitalela naligugu letfu leselishiye simidvwayidvwa ngelendlela and all organisations Cde TR was worming with in advancing the fight for freedom of our people. 

Sitsi, take the fight straight to heaven’s door Khubonye. Uyati simo usishiye sinjani kuleli!

*****

He took me under his arms and taught me patience and what it means to be a human rights defender – Melusi Simelane

It feels disrespectful to reduce Thulani Maseko to his unwavering support for LGBTIQ+ equality in Eswatini. Yet, I must thank him for his wisdom and patience in addressing equality for all. 

When I met Thulani and got to know him for his humanity, it was to support my efforts to register an LGBTIQ+ organisation in Eswatini in 2019. An endeavour I knew would be met with staunch opposition from conservatives and so-called liberals alike. 

It was difficult to speak on these issues, especially while the country faced economic and political problems. Thulani was gracious in his approach to my request. He knew that a young activist like me would be very emotional and rightly be a hothead about everything. Yet he took me under his arms and taught me patience and what it means to be a human rights defender. 

No one could have handled my request with humility and grace as Thulani did. He joined me in understanding gender and sexual minority issues as much as I joined him in understanding human rights as a broad social justice issue. We travelled to seminars together, learning from him. Yet he equally wanted to understand the problems explicitly faced by sexual and gender minorities across Africa. 

Today, we await our appeal at the Supreme Court for the case he led against the Eswatini government’s denial of freedom of association for the LGBTIQ+ citizens. I am left with nothing but gratitude to Thulani Maseko and the Southern Africa Litigation Centre for standing with us against all odds. 

I am thankful to Thulani for being a great source of courage and strength. I remember sitting on the benches of the University of Pretoria with a SALC lawyer brainstorming strategy. From that simplicity, the biggest fight for human rights became so marvellous. That was Thulani Maseko’s humility. 

Mrs. Maseko, thank you for lending us Thulani Maseko. I remember those calls when you responded: “Melusi, call Thulani on his other number,” or “Melusi Thulani just left for a meeting”

Those small moments made it clear to me that Thulani was a very much-loved man made available to us all with the blessing of his beloved family. 

Thank you, Ngcamane. Thank You, Shivakati. 

If truly ‘there is a price to pay for truth’, and he has mercilessly paid it, we must now pay for our admiration of him with grief. These past few days, I have had increased panic attacks. I am restless yet helpless. I am filled with anguish and anger. I live in constant fear because I do not know who is next. 

I recommit myself to the values he held so dear, the values he taught and internationally accepted as human rights, equality, dignity, freedom and justice for all. 

DM/MC

 

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