Things remain far from normal in Eswatini since the pro-democracy protests started last week, writes Tourism Update’s correspondent in the country, James Hall.

At a time when Eswatini’s tourism sector was already against the ropes, the worst political uprising seen in the country’s history, starting in June and continuing into July, came at the worst possible time.

Game parks and hotels have been largely moribund during the COVID-19 pandemic that has effectively closed the landlocked kingdom to outside visitors since March 2020. During the past year, several tourist attractions, handicraft shops, travel agencies and tourism booking companies have suspended activities or gone out of business entirely.

“Eswatini has always advertised itself as a place of peacefulness,” said Charles Ndwandwe, who used to give cultural tours before the pandemic. “The country’s promotions stressed this island of tranquillity in the chaos of Africa – the ‘real’ Africa where the Swazis enjoyed old-fashioned traditional customs as subjects of a benign king. After this week, you can cancel that.”

Calls for political reform turned violent the last week in June after government banned the delivery of petitions from activists to parliamentarians as well as all protest marches. Previously, pushback against government crackdowns was confined to small areas of Manzini, the country’s commercial hub and most populous town, and the capital Mbabane.

This time, rioting commenced in rural areas, and engulfed the entire Mbabane to Manzini urban corridor, including Matsapha, the country’s industrial estate, and the upscale tourism centre Ezwulwini, where the main hotels are clustered and where King Mswati is building a R1.5 billion (€XXX) International Convention Centre and luxury hotel.

The King Mswati III International Airport in the lowveld wilderness area was shut down as a precaution, although few flights have been permitted due to pandemic travel restrictions. The landlocked country’s main border post with South Africa at Oshoek was closed to traffic for several days, leading to fuel shortages that closed several petrol stations. Cars were targeted by stone-throwing youth, who also blocked all highways with burning barricades in an effort to stop transportation.

The situation today (July 5)

At the time of writing – one week after the uprising’s most violent day – dusk-to-dawn curfew is still in effect, half of businesses remain closed, and the communication system is not functioning normally. Eventually, curfew will be lifted, the soldiers will return to their barracks from their street patrol duties, and full Internet will be restored. However, the unprecedented disturbances that affected every corner of the country will have long-term consequences.

“Even in rural areas, you see burned-out stores. Tourists may not stay at those places, but they pass through them. In the towns, the damage is extensive. Officially, 27 people were shot by the military, and the number will go up. Africa hasn’t seen numbers like that during the past few years, outside of countries where there are wars or insurgencies. So, there’s the image problem that the tourism industry has to deal with,” said a veteran tourism business operator who preferred not to be identified because “tourism in Eswatini can be very political”.

“Because of the pandemic, I didn’t see things returning to normal here until 2022 or maybe later. There are no COVID vaccines here at all. But then the political violence happened, and we’ll be living in a state of uncertainty for some time. We can pretty much see to our clients’ safety, but we can’t guarantee a tranquil visit until things resolve themselves.”

Political progress seems unlikely. The government is unwilling to even meet with pro-democracy groups. This has created a sense of uncertainly in the tourism industry. This week’s protests that shut down the country and incinerated hundreds of commercial properties, was wholly spontaneous and unanticipated. There is no way to predict when the next disturbance will hit, which will again close the country for a week or longer and make movement unsafe.

However, the harshest blow to the fate of Eswatini’s tourism sector is the uncertain future of the Internet in the country. Early during the uprising, the Eswatini Communications Commission ordered all Internet service providers to block access to the web. Partial service was restored after five days. Social media platforms still cannot be accessed at the time of writing, one week after these were blocked. Civil organisations have taken government to court, seeking the Internet’s full restoration.

During the blackout, hotels, game parks, etc., could not make bookings or communicate with customers. Visitors in the country could not communicate online with the outside world. Government has a particular loathing of Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram and other popular social media sites that are indispensable to modern travellers, both as a way to stay in touch while travelling and to share travelling experiences. It seems unlikely that Eswatini’s social media blackout will not deter visitors. While social media may eventually be restored, the alacrity with which it was cut and the certainty that this will occur again worry the tourism industry.