“Before the exiled can return, the homeland must become a place where dreams are not exiled.” – Anonymous
When His Majesty King Mswati III recently urged emaSwati living, working and studying abroad to return home and contribute their skills to nation-building, it was far more than a routine royal address.
As I see it, behind the call for emaSwati abroad to return lies a profound challenge.
The question begs: “Can the nation turn brain drain into brain gain and transform nostalgia into nation-building?”
You could hear it in the King’s voice that this was basically personal.
It was a father calling his children home.
A leader admitting quietly, but clearly that Eswatini cannot move forward without all of us, especially those who have carried our name far beyond our borders.
However, as moving as that call was, it also forces us to face a hard truth.
Why did so many of our best and brightest leave in the first place? And more importantly, what would make them believe that coming back is not just safe, but truly worth it?
Let us be candid and confront the hard facts. Why people leave is not just about money only and it is more than that?
Sure, people talk about the overused phrase, ‘seeking greener pastures.’ However for most emaSwati who have left, it was not just about chasing a bigger paycheque, but it was about, as you guess right, ‘survival.’
Every year, our universities send out bright, eager graduates ready to teach, heal, engineer, lead. What do they find? A job market that is barely breathing. A public sector stretched thin. Private businesses that cannot grow fast enough.
Wages that do not match the cost of living, let alone the years of study and sacrifice.
Youth unemployment is not just a statistic, but a daily reality for thousands in the country.
When you have studied hard, played by the rules and still cannot find work that respects your training or your dignity, leaving out to seek greener pastures starts to feel less like betrayal and more like the only way forward. Survival!
Even more painful than the lack of jobs is the feeling that in this country, ‘who you know matters more than what you know.’
I am talking about connections. Too often, opportunities go to those with connections, not those with competence. A young accountant with top marks watches someone less qualified get hired because their uncle works for the ministry.
An engineer with fresh ideas is overlooked while someone’s cousin gets the contract. That kind of system does not just waste talent but kills hope.
When excellence feels pointless, people stop trying. They stop believing that change is possible from within.
That is when the real loss happens – not just brains, but belief.
Let us be honest, my dear reader, politics plays a telling role, too. Many of our young people do not just want better pay, they, instead, want to express themselves, to dream big.
In a country where dissent is sometimes met with harassment, intimidation, it is, therefore, no wonder that some of our people feel they can only truly express themselves freely once they have crossed the border.
They are not running away. Certainly no! They cannot run away from Eswatini, the land of their birth. They are running towards the chance to discover who they are and what they possess that can change the world and to be independent and free to openly discuss politics.
Those in the diaspora are not traitors. They are heartbroken patriots. Behind every ‘brain drain’ number is a person.
A teacher in Taiwan who still dreams of her classroom in Manzini. A doctor in the UK who checks WhatsApp for news from her village clinic.
An IT specialist in Johannesburg who sends money home every month, but has not visited in five years because, well, it hurts too much.
They have not forgotten us. Their hearts are still here, but love alone is not enough to build a life on.
So what would make them stay – or come back?
The King’s call is a start. Words need wings, real and tangible changes that show we mean it. Here’s what could partly help:
- Build an economy that needs them:We cannot keep relying only on sugar, textiles and government jobs. Let us invest in tech hubs, renewable energy, creative industries and agri-processing. Create spaces where innovation is not just welcome – it is rewarded.
- Make merit matter again: Jobs, contracts, promotions – let them go to the deserving, to the most qualified, not the best-connected.
- Transparent hiring. Clear criteria. Zero tolerance for favouritism. When people see fairness in action, trust begins to return.
- Open the door to honest dialogue: A strong monarchy does not have to mean a silent people. Let young emaSwati speak, organise and participate without fear. Democracy is not the enemy of tradition – it is the partner of progress.
- Fix our education system: Not just to produce workers, but thinkers as well. Link universities with real-world problems. Support research. Let students solve Eswatini’s challenges while they are still in school. That way, they will see their future here – not elsewhere.
- Welcome the diaspora like the asset they are: Do not just say “come home” – make it easy for them. Recognise foreign degrees. Offer startup grants. Create mentorship programmes. Even if they cannot return physically yet, let them contribute remotely – through advice, investment or teaching.
The above is about more than jobs – It is about belonging.
At its core, this is about rebuilding a promise that Eswatini values every liSwati, not for their family name or connections, but for their heart, their mind and their willingness to serve.
Patriotism grows in soil that has been tended with justice, opportunity and respect.
Now, the good news? It has been done before by a number of countries in the continent. Look at Mauritius, South Africa after apartheid and Rwanda.
All nations that lost talent, then rebuilt systems that made people ‘want’ to come back home.
They did not just call their diaspora home. They ‘earned’ their return. Imagine Eswatini being like those countries I mentioned above, where engineers here will build solar grids in rural communities, doctors launching telehealth clinics, artists sharing our stories with the world – all because they believed their gifts would be seen, used, appreciated and honoured.
That glorious future is not out of reach. It will not happen by wishful thinking. Let us not make the mistake of thinking that this is just government’s job – or the King’s. It’s our job, too. All of us.
To our leaders: show us you’re ready to change. Not with speeches, but with systems that work for everyone.
To our brothers and sisters abroad: we miss you. We need you, not just to fill jobs but to help reshape what Eswatini can be.
The real question is not, ‘Will they return?’ It is, ‘Will we be ready?’ for their return? His Majesty the King’s call was heartfelt. It needs our collective support.
Finally, we also need to consider preparing the ground for imploring our exiles to return home. Let us make sure we do not lose anyone. Let us make sure everyone is back home. Activists are the nation’s moral compass, pointing towards justice even when the journey is difficult.
When we silence them, we lose our capacity for self-correction. We become a ship without navigation, drifting towards rocks we refuse to acknowledge.
Let us be reminded of what Christ says: “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (1 John 4:19-21).
We proclaim, ‘the truth shall set you free,’ but we’ have made truth so dangerous that speaking it costs everything – family, home, business empires, safety, future. What kind of freedom is that?
We preach that God loves justice, yet we tolerate systems where the innocent flee while the corrupt thrive.
We claim to follow prophets who spoke truth to power, yet we punish those who do the same in our generation.
The King’s message, at its heart, is a plea for renewal – a reminder that the destiny of Eswatini cannot be outsourced.
Renewal requires honesty before harmony, reform before rhetoric. It demands that those in power create a nation worth returning to, where justice is not selective and where the young are seen not as threats but as partners in progress.
Patriotism cannot thrive where truth is censored, nor can pride flourish in the shadow of fear. Yet, I remain hopeful. Hopeful because the spirit of emaSwati, both at home and abroad, is unbroken.
Across continents, our people continue to achieve, to innovate and to dream, proving that the problem was never with the people, but with the systems that failed them.
If we can summon the courage to confront those failures and rebuild with integrity, then perhaps one day, emaSwati abroad will not have to be called home.
They will simply come because home will once again feel like the future. When shall sanity prevail, maSwati akitsi? The ball is in our court…
Peace! Shalom!
Alex Nxumalo – 7605 8449
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