Opposition: Government: No centralized leadership King Mswati III Dead Injured A series of protests in Eswatini against the absolute monarchy and for democratisation began in late June 2021.

Political parties have been banned since 1973, under the preceding King Sobhuza II, due to a "state of emergency" that has remained to this day, and are heavily persecuted under "anti-terrorism" laws.

[14] According to Afrobarometer, trust in government institutions, including the monarchy, has significantly decreased over the past several years and citizens are seeking alternatives to authoritarian rule.

[14] The first protests took place on 20 June when rural youth in Manzini Region went through a village shouting political slogans and calling for the right to a democratically chosen prime minister.

[8] The army was officially called in on 1 July to "protect critical national infrastructure and enforce the COVID-19 regulations", according to acting Prime Minister, Themba Masuku, who also state that this didn't mean martial law was in place.

In March, the Communist Party started an anti-monarchy campaign dubbed "Turn Up the Heat" including a number of rallies which were forcibly broken up by police.

Unrest began when police officers entered the Prime Minister's estate to demand pay rises, while a royal relative, Chief Prince Mahloma of Zandondo, was murdered on 5 November.

Two days later, a pro-democracy militant group called "Swaziland International Solidarity Forces" committed a number of attacks on police outposts, trucks, food stores, and government buildings across the country.

On 21 January, human rights lawyer and leading pro-democracy activist Thulani Maseko was murdered by gunmen at his home, provoking outrage not just in Eswatini but also internationally.

Hours before the killing, King Mswati III had held a speech at the Engabezweni royal residence, declaring that the pro-democracy activists had "started the violence first" and "more trouble was coming for them".

Some protests were prevented by the mass deployment of security forces; others took place and ended in violent clashes between pro-democracy activists and police, with several people being wounded.

[37] In 2021, at the border city of Oshoek, hundreds of trucks were stranded due to allegations of protesters targeting imports and the loss of Internet connections halting entry processing.

National Commissioner of Police William Dlamini stated that the protests were "war"; although he later clarified that he still wished for calm and only wished to show that the police were dedicated to restoring order, the editor of the Times blamed this statement, the prohibition of petitions, and a call from Housing and Urban Development Minister Prince Simelane to "fight fire with fire" for inflaming the situation.

[6] On 21 October, Cyril Ramaphosa, in his capacity as chairperson of the security section of SADC, dispatched a multi-national team to meet with King Mswati III.