Living together in Eswatini

In rural and peri-urban areas, a Chief or Chiefdom and the relevant Inkhundla commonly provide local channels for community concerns, disputes and development issues. Tinkhundla form a local governance level, while Bucopho help coordinate community development concerns. Regional Administration and the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development may also convene meetings or address regional matters. In urban areas, the responsible Town Board, Town Council, Municipal Council or other urban local authority handles matters such as public health, waste, parking, noise, trading and nuisances. Local access, charges and time limits are not uniform across Eswatini. The Constitution protects equality, fair hearing, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, movement, administrative justice and specific rights relating to women, children and people with disabilities. These rights operate alongside limits connected with public interest and the rights of other people. The Persons with Disabilities Act 2018 prohibits discrimination in all spheres, while the Child Protection and Welfare Act 2012 and government gender and social-welfare services address additional protection needs. A public meeting or procession generally requires a police licence under the Public Order Act 1963, using the researched 1998 version. The application should normally reach the police at least 7 clear days before the event. The organiser must attend, and the police may set conditions concerning the planned course or time and may control or disperse the gathering. The constitutional protection of peaceful assembly and this licensing framework should be considered together when planning an event. Community or land disputes may be taken first to a Chief or Chiefdom and, depending on the matter, to Regional Administration. Swazi Courts apply Swazi law and custom. Ordinary courts, including Magistrates' Courts and the High Court, handle matters within their jurisdiction. The Commission on Human Rights and Public Administration Integrity, commonly called CHRAJ, accepts written complaints about rights violations, injustice, abuse of public power and unfair treatment. It may support negotiation or compromise and can refer matters to the Director of Public Prosecutions or the Attorney-General. The Royal Eswatini Police Service, or REPS, handles law-and-order concerns; call 999 in an acute emergency. Gender-based violence and sexual offences follow the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act 2018 and may involve REPS, Social Welfare and gender services. Public participation can occur through community development planning, meetings convened by Regional Administration, legislative processes in Parliament and environmental procedures. Communities and Bucopho can initiate or coordinate development projects. For environmental procedures, the Eswatini Environment Authority accepts objections or questions where the applicable process provides for them. Indiscriminate dumping is criminalised under the Litter Regulations 2011, and town-specific rules may also address public urination, noise, parking, trading permits and vacant plots. Fees and penalties depend on the relevant urban authority. No nationwide co-living rulebook or single mediation service has been identified. Shared-household disputes about privacy, safety or use of common areas may therefore require household discussion, customary mediation, a Chiefdom, an urban authority, the police or a court, depending on the problem. Tenancy and property questions fall outside this subject. Digital coexistence is governed partly by the Data Protection Act 2022 and the Computer Crime and Cybercrime Act 2022. ESCCOM, the communications regulator, can receive data-protection complaints and investigate them; a person may appeal a Commission decision to the High Court within 30 days. Cybercrime rules cover conduct such as illegal access, interception, phishing, fraud and child sexual-abuse material. Government social-media guidelines prohibit hate speech, discrimination, cyberbullying, threats, incitement, defamation and misinformation on government platforms, but those guidelines are not a general internet law.