Madam,
There are moments when a nation is left searching for words, moments when the weight of loss becomes too heavy for words to carry. The past two weeks have been such a moment for Eswatini.
We first lost Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala and, before the nation could even begin to come to terms with his passing, came another painful blow: The death of Home Affairs Minister Princess Lindiwe.
It feels like too much loss in too little time.
Two people who occupied positions of great national responsibility have suddenly left us. Two people who, in different ways, touched institutions that affect the lives of every liSwati.
Grief can make us focus on the emptiness left behind. But perhaps, in this moment of sadness, we must also look at what they left behind.
For the late Chief Justice, his legacy lives within the Judiciary he served. He became the first liSwati to permanently serve as chief justice and spent years helping to strengthen an institution upon which the rule of law depends.
Today, when we see emaSwati magistrates taking up their duty stations and serving across the country’s Judiciary, we should remember that institutions are built over time. They are strengthened by people who believe that the country deserves better and who are prepared to do the difficult work required to make that possible.
Then there is Princess Lindiwe. It is difficult to speak about her legacy without speaking about what has been happening at the Ministry of Home Affairs in recent months.
Under her leadership, the ministry entered a period of profound disruption as authorities began confronting alleged wrongdoing and weaknesses that investigations indicated could stretch back almost 20 years. People have been suspended. Some have been dismissed. Others have faced arrest, while more revelations continue to emerge.
For a ministry responsible for something as fundamental as our identity, citizenship, birth registration and the documents that establish who we are, this was never going to be an ordinary clean-up.
It was a painful operation on an institution that had accumulated problems for years.
And perhaps that is why Princess Lindiwe’s contribution deserves to be remembered beyond the title of ‘minister’. She inherited responsibility for a ministry where difficult questions needed to be asked. She presided over a period in which those questions began to be confronted.
We may never know how much more work she would have completed had she been given more time. That is perhaps the cruelest part of death. It does not only take away a person. Sometimes, it interrupts work that is still unfinished.
However, the work must not die with her. The investigations must continue. The reforms must continue. Accountability must continue. Where wrongdoing is established, the law must take its course.
This should should be about protecting the institution she was entrusted to serve. Princess Lindiwe has left us, but the responsibility she carried remains.
And perhaps this is where our mourning must eventually become a commitment.
We can lay our leaders to rest. We can hold memorial services and speak beautifully about their lives. But the most meaningful tribute is to ensure that the work they began does not collapse when they are gone. The same applies to the late chief justice.
Their offices may now be occupied by others, but their responsibilities have not disappeared.
Public office is temporary. Service is measured by what remains after the office holder is gone. As emaSwati, we should mourn them. We should remember them. But we should also ask ourselves what their passing demands of those who remain.
Let the Judiciary continue strengthening the foundations they helped build. Let Home Affairs continue the difficult clean-up and let accountability reach wherever the evidence leads. Let the institutions they served become stronger, cleaner and more responsive to the people of Eswatini. That may be the greatest tribute we can give them.
May Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala and Her Royal Highness Princess Lindiwe rest in eternal peace.
LiSwati
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