Swazi women have pursued different activist strategies to gain equal rights with men. Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) experienced five years of democratic government after independence in 1968. In 1964,4King Sobhuza formed the Imbokodvo National Movement (INM) in response to British demands that Eswatini become a multi-party democracy. In 1973, King Sobhuza suspended the Constitution, declared a State of Emergency, and banned all political parties. He remodeled the Swaziland National Council into a traditional system of indirect voting for members of Parliament to minimize growing schisms between royalty and commoners, rural and urban dwellers, and women and men. The banning of political parties rendered every voter an "independent".
After King Sobhuza's death in 1982, new forms of resistance to royal hegemony emerged. PUDEMO (People’s United Democratic Movement) demanded Eswatini’s democratization. Women in trade unions, including teachers, were active members. Non-governmental organizations advocating for women's rights against gender-based violence and sexual assault, and for the health care of HIV-positive women and girls, functioned with less government interference.
Swazi men have had more success in transferring identity politics into the formal political sphere. In 1996, the Sive Siyinqaba National Movement (SS) was founded by members of the royal family to support the monarchy and cultural institutions. SS positioned itself in opposition to PUDEMO and to trade unions although the movement also sought the restoration of multi-party democracy. SS has had some success in increasing members’ representation in the 2003 House of Assembly and the majority of members appointed by the king to the Senate. In 2019, SS members joined the Political Parties Assembly (PPA) with PUDEMO and other parties.
Can Swazi women create public space to form a political party? What can women learn from the SS in taking identity politics into the formal political sphere? Can women's identity politics be consolidated without violence?
