A grieving mother told thousands of people in Eswatini how her daughter was brutally raped, injured so severely she had to use a wheelchair, and later died. But still little changed to help her or to support her other children.
Zodwa Nkambule spoke at Sibaya, a public event where anyone can share their grievances with the country’s King and political representatives, and thousands of fellow citizens. Often it’s even broadcast live on television and radio.
Nkambule says her daughter, being referred to as Cindy, was attacked in an area near Matsapha, a town in central Eswatini. She says she was raped so violently she was left unable to walk.
Village in Eswatini on 16 November 2023.
Cindy required extensive medical treatment. She was forced to wear diapers, and visit the hospital frequently. Years later, Nkambule’s daughter died.
The man accused of committing the crime was initially arrested. Rape is a criminal charge in Eswatini.
But then, he was released. He died without facing charges.
Years later, Nkambule continues to fight for justice.
cooking appliances and no electricity in her home due to her financial situation.
Stories like Nkambule’s are nearly ubiquitous in Eswatini. The word “rape” appears in the Times of Eswatini almost every week. The rates of rape incidents are above the international average – and yet are widely accepted to be underreported. Eswatini has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world, also in part driven by the prevalence of sexual violence.
In 2018, the country adopted a new law, the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act (SODV), to crack down on these crimes. The law raised the age of consent to 18, and brought all sexual offenses and domestic violence crimes under one law. But since then, progress has been slow. The failure to enforce the legislation and to effectively sensitize the population means people across the country continue to perpetrate crimes with little to no accountability.
CCIJ analyzed numerous reports of these cases to find out where in the system justice fails. Our team reviewed patterns of crime reporting in the Times of Eswatini, interviewed people campaigning for change and a woman affected directly by such crimes, reviewed three years of data collected by a non-profit advocating for women’s rights, and analyzed more than 4,600 high court cases from 1977 to the present, finding more than 330 cases relating to crimes connected with gender-based violence, of which 253 were rape charges. Read our full methodology below.
Our investigation reveals a series of gaps where victims fall through the cracks during the accountability process. There are indications of victims being too afraid to report their experiences, or being pressured into withdrawing claims. Cases can disappear from court rosters or get dismissed due to procedural errors or lack of evidence. Judges sometimes misapply the law, and cases can drag on for years, giving perpetrators more opportunities to re-offend. The patterns reveal a justice system overwhelmed by the volume of cases under the new law, with few victims achieving justice, even as there is little indication that the prevalence of these crimes is decreasing.
Eswatini’s government spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo wrote in an emailed response to questions that the government has long prioritized ending gender-based violence, including by enacting specific laws such as the SODV Act, and adopting a five-year National Strategy to end Violence, implemented in 2017 and again in 2023 after a review process. The spokesperson wrote that the strategy includes five pillars: preventing all forms of violence, supporting survivors and their families, promoting responsive legal and justice systems, promoting partnerships and coordination for violence prevention and response management, and sustaining a violence knowledge center. Nxumalo added there are other actions being implemented or reviewed, including rolling out one-stop centers, running prevention programs, creating a GBV emergency response unit, and upgrading rape cases from being handled at magistrate courts to High Courts to allow for faster conclusions. Read the full response here.
A written response from the National Commissioner of Police, sent by Simangele Motsa, said police have a specialized unit with trained officers focused on gender-based violence outreach and cases, and that police hold regular meetings and workshops for training and sensitization. The statement said the low number of cases in the court system can be linked with shortage of resources and pending evidentiary research, such as social welfare assessment reports or forensic reports only done in South Africa. As well, sometimes investigations involving children require seeking psychotherapists. Read the full response here.
CCIJ also requested a response from the country’s Chief Justice and the Director of Public Prosecutions. Neither provided a response to our questions.
“Many survivors are going without justice.”
Eswatini has a population of about 1.2 million people.
About half, more than 600,000, are women.
Research has found that more than 1 in 3 of those women will have experienced some form of sexual violence by the age of 18. Because many people don’t report such crimes, experts estimate the number could be vastly higher. There are also male victims, although research shows the predominant victims are female.
Some estimates say nearly half of girls between 13 and 24 report having experienced some form of sexual violence.
Nonhlanhla Dlamini, executive director of the Swaziland Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA), said that since the law came into effect there has been a rise in reporting, but also a rise in incidents.
–
When such a sexual offense or domestic violence crime occurs, victims have to make a choice. Will they report it? To family, to friends, to health organizations, or even to the police?
“Many survivors end up not reporting cases of GBV because of the social stigma attached to it, as well as lack of faith in the police and justice systems,” according to a report by SWAGAA.
Women may not seek help or medical treatment due to a sense of shame.
Sometimes the stigma and fear of reporting have been exacerbated by tibi tendlu, the concept of exposing family secrets, according to Vimbai Kapurura, executive director of Women Unlimited, an organization working to reduce gender-based violence in Eswatini.
“Many survivors are going without justice,” she said in a message.
–
Out of more than 250 records of rape cases that the CCIJ analyzed from high court data between 1977 and the present, 36 cases involved an offender who was the father, step-father or grandfather of the victim.
The same number of cases – about 14 percent – involved other types of family relationships, such as an uncle or cousin.
That means in nearly one third of cases, the perpetrator was directly related to the victim.
Nearly 1 in every 25 court cases involved a spouse or romantic partner.
And nearly one third of cases involved someone the victim knew who wasn’t family or a romantic partner. These included neighbors, community members, or workers.
In some cases, that acquaintance might be a boss or a coworker. One report estimated 4 out of 5 workplace sexual harassment cases go unreported in the private sector. In the NGO sector, it was even higher.
“Victims of rape and GBV may face social stigma and fear retribution, which can discourage them from reporting incidents and seeking help,” Kapurura said. This can be exacerbated when the victim is a minor.
Nearly two thirds of the cases that made it to the high court and were analyzed by the CCIJ involved a victim who was underage.
–
Even if a victim is ready to report the crime that occurred, they may also need to seek medical attention. Although it’s not required according to the new SODV law, without medical confirmation it is not always easy to hold the perpetrator to account. In two cases that reached the high court, rape charges were dismissed with references to the inability to prove that sexual penetration had occurred.
–
If a victim decides to report the crime, they can choose different avenues. Cases are most commonly reported to the SWAGAA and the police, although some come through hospitals or social workers, according to SWAGAA’s Dlamini.
Eswatini has a dual justice system: Roman-Dutch law and Swazi law and custom can exist in tandem. In some cases, victims may report through traditional justice, where they may face social pressure to withdraw their accusation.
–
In other cases, victims may go through the police and the official justice system. Here, some police are reported to take bribes, misunderstand the legislation, lose paperwork, or never open a case or lay charges.
“There were reports survivors faced intimidation, stigmatization, and violence from authorities, relatives, and perpetrators when attempting to report rape and domestic violence to police or other authorities,” according to a U.S. 2023 report on human rights in the country.
The National Commissioner of Police said the SODV act criminalizes dropping charges after receiving bribes or threats, “hence if such allegations are true, criminal charges are instituted.”
Eswatini’s government spokesperson said “the Office has not received any complaints or grievances on such.”
–
Sometimes the perpetrator is arrested but released without charges.
–
A victim may decide to withdraw their case from police – even though it’s not allowed to withdraw cases under the SODV law without appearing before a judge – and instead bring it to an inner council at the community level, under a chief. SWAGAA found that cases taken to inner councils were usually not concluded.
In many of these cases, traditional practices such as child marriage can create a power imbalance that makes it difficult for the victim to speak out against their attacker. These include inhlanti, in which a younger sister is forced to marry someone’s husband when the wife is unable to bear children, or kwendzisa, an arranged marriage which can take place at a very young age. Such marriages are prohibited by civil law, but allowed by traditional authorities.
CCIJ found four cases at the high court in which a child was reportedly raped by their spouse or in a purported romantic relationship.
“The Eswatini Children’s Protection and Welfare Act of 2012 grants any person under 18 the right to refuse any custom or traditional practice that can have negative effects on their lives,” according to Girls Not Brides.
While this law penalizes parents and guardians who collude with adult men to solemnize child marriages through kwendzisa, police usually face challenges in getting overwhelming evidence to prove a case against the perpetrators.
–
Even when a case makes it to court, there are many steps along the way in which it can be abandoned.
First, if a victim runs out of money for their legal fees or faces other financial pressures, it may lead to a case stalling.
This contributed to Nkambule’s situation, who was struggling with costs of her daughter’s medical care, food, and housing. Without funds to hire a lawyer or push for other forms of accountability, victims also lack means to get financial compensation.
Sometimes cases are withdrawn due to political pressure, especially if the accused in the case is someone with a high profile, or affluent and willing to bribe officials, according to Sibusiso Nhlabatsi, legal clinic principal at the University of Eswatini, and an admitted attorney of the High Court of Eswatini.
Courts have also been documented giving lenient sentences – leading the Chief Justice to issue an order in 2022 that all cases under SODV with aggravating circumstances, in which the sentence was likely to exceed 15 years, must be sent immediately to the high court for judgment. Those include cases involving a minor, cases in which the abuse or assault was repeated over time, or through a relationship of trust, such as by a father. In the six weeks after the Chief Justice’s directive, 34 rape cases with aggravating factors were sent to the high court, according to the Times of Eswatini. In CCIJ’s data analysis of court records, most cases that had aggravating factors and went directly to the high court received 10-, 12-, 15-, or 18-year sentences. Sentences higher than 15 years were more likely to appear after 2007.
–
Nhlabatsi said judges in the magistrate courts have limited powers, depending on their seniority. Those can contradict the required minimum sentence, which means such cases should be sent through to the high court just to receive the longer sentence required by law.
And if a magistrate judge tries to give a more severe sentence – or one that’s based on the legislated minimum – beyond the scope of their limited power, it could lead to an appeal. That means the case could be reviewed later in the high court, using up limited court resources by prolonging the process, and resulting in a dismissal.
One case, judged in 2003, had been going through appeals for three years before it was heard in the high court. In the case, a father was convicted of raping his 9-year-old daughter. When the case was finally heard, the sentence was reduced from nine years to seven.
A quote from the judgment delivered on April 24, 2003 in the criminal appeal 59/99.
–
Even when a case makes it into the high courts, whether by filing an appeal or directly for a harsher sentence or due to the aggravating circumstances, our data analysis found it is rare for the courts to strengthen the sentences issued. CCIJ reviewed high court judgments published on EswatiniLii, a public platform that says it’s the most comprehensive available database, although it cannot be guaranteed to contain every case. Out of 253 rape cases the CCIJ found online related to gender-based violence that went to the high court,
in 38 the entire case was dismissed,
in 13 the sentence got weaker,
and in 6, the rape charges were dismissed, although other charges remained.
Only 3 cases had harsher sentences after reaching the high court.
There are several reasons this can occur. When a case comes to the high court through an appeal, the accused can have high success rates at getting charges dismissed or sentences reduced, said attorney Nhlabatsi. “Magistrate courts are not courts of record,” he said, which means that there is poor documentation, and in some cases judges are ill-informed about how to apply the laws.
CCIJ identified cases that were dismissed due to procedural issues, and others due to evidentiary errors or reasonable doubt.
It is difficult to discern the immediate impact of the new SODV law that came into effect in 2018, because CCIJ could only find 18 case files from that year on, and many cases are only now entering the court system. However, CCIJ was able to note that after 2018, when the legislation came into effect, cases were given weaker sentences at a slightly higher rate, but fewer cases were dismissed completely.
–
Eswatini was meant to set up a National Sex Offenders registry as part of the establishment of the SODV law. So far, this hasn’t happened.
Government spokesperson Nxumalo said there have been delays, however efforts have been made to kick start this process, including sending a team of experts to South Africa for information on the set-up and operation of such a registry office.
Attorney Nhlabatsi said that because the magistrate courts are not courts of record, it can be difficult – if not impossible – to confirm if the accused has previously been convicted. In addition, the delays between the case coming to court and being tried can be as long as ten years, and the courts will often grant bail to the accused.
“They reoffend while awaiting trial,” he said. “They do the same offense again.”
Spokesperson Nxumalo said the government has lifted a hiring freeze, and that it “notes the challenges that persist which include limited human resources within key institutions.” He also said judicial officers and others, such as police officers, receive annual training to understand the law and address existing challenges.
–
Not every gender-based violence crime falls under the SODV act. One research report identified 145 intimate partner femicides in Eswatini between 2009 and 2022. These included stabbing, shooting and beating incidents, and often involved partners in a lower socio-economic status.
Murder – even when it’s related to gender-based violence – is tried separately as a criminal charge, one that carries with it the potential of a life sentence or the death penalty. However, Nhlabatsi said the separation of the charge means that in some cases the gender-based violence component of the crime is not adequately considered during the judge’s decision.
The Director of Public Prosecution and Chief Justice did not reply to questions regarding how gender-based violence is considered when trying murder charges.
CCIJ identified about 70 murder cases that were related in some way to sexual offenses and domestic violence. Although some of those received the maximum sentence of 30 or 35 years, many did not.
–
It’s difficult to know how many cases that enter the court system make it all the way through the system to receive a high court decision. Out of thousands of possible cases, CCIJ identified an average of 7 rape cases in the high court per year according to the public data. The highest number was in 2004 with 24 cases.
–
Colani Hlatjwako, the Africa Regional Coordinator of the One Billion Rising Campaign, told the CCIJ it’s time for Eswatini to declare gender-based violence a national crisis.
Alpheous Nxumalo, the government spokesperson, said while consultations on declaring a GBV crisis are ongoing, the government did declare poverty as a national crisis, and it includes some components of gender-based violence prevention and response. “This translates to (saying) that ending poverty is another strategy to ending gender-based violence,” he said.
In Nkambule’s case, the situation has left her nearly destitute, reliant on others for food and still without answers years later. She has sought charitable support, including some from overseas, but lacks stability and any sort of significant justice for what happened to her daughter.
“There’s no one to help me,” she said in Swati. “I’m suffering. I can’t pay rent.”
Hlatshwayo said poverty and unemployment contribute to the scale of the problem. One report found women who are dependent on their partners for food, money, or basic needs may be less likely to leave an unsafe relationship. That’s particularly the case if they are pregnant. Hlatshwayo said sensitization is crucial.
“Families no longer play their role in uniting the family and protecting it,” Nxumalo said. “Where the family is expected to mediate conflict between intimate partners, the family does not, instead taking sides, shaming and blaming the victims.”
Nxumalo said social workers have been sent across the country, placed in key institutions such as schools and health centers, and there are shelters, helplines, and resources for those who have experienced gender-based violence. He said the government is working to enhance the available places of safety due to the demand.
–
The crimes that continue to occur are horrific.
“Change will not be possible without confronting and denouncing some harmful cultural norms and practices,” said Women Unlimited’s Kapurura.
Government spokesperson Nxumalo said that although numerous sensitization campaigns are underway, barriers include resistance to mindset change and a tendency to trust social media misinformation over official sources.
Zodwa Nkambule sits in the kitchen area within her home with her bedroom behind in Mahlanya Village in Eswatini.
Still for Nkambule, and others like her, the harm is lasting.
At her one-room home in Matsahlanya, only three photos remain of her daughter Cindy. The bright red wheelchair remains a stark reminder of what she lost.
The only three photos Zodwa Nkambule has of her late daughter in Mahlanya Village, Eswatini, on Nov. 16, 2023.
Nkambule had no court case, a disabled child, and rising costs. She sought the help of politicians, non-profit organizations, and a radio host, and some help came. But still, the funds were not enough to support her, Cindy, and her other seven children.
One member of parliament encouraged Nkambule to go see the man who had raped Cindy. “Going there will hurt me a lot,” Nkambule recalls telling him. “How will this thing help me?”
She says he had hoped if they went to find the perpetrator of the crime, they could get him to face charges. But when they arrived, they learned he had been released from prison and died.
Nkambule claims that the perpetrator, knowing he would face these charges, defaulted on his medication and let himself die. CCIJ was unable to confirm this claim.
“I’m going crazy, please let’s go back,” Nkambule recalls saying at the time. “I’m now more concerned about the child.”
Zodwa Nkambule poses with a photo of her daughter as a toddler in Mahlanya Village, Eswatini, on Nov. 16, 2023.
Years later, Nkambule hopes to keep Cindy’s story alive, and seeks some form of monetary support. Without a job, she is currently relying on others to help her survive.
But still, she continues to hope that someday, there will be justice.
A boy walks on a dirt road in Mahlanya Village, Eswatini, on Nov. 16, 2023.
This investigation was produced with the support of the National Endowment for Democracy.
Methodology
Data on reporting of cases
CCIJ’s data team analyzed three years of data from SWAGAA records to see how many reports had come to the organization, and where they were most likely to be made.
Data on court judgments
CCIJ’s data team scraped more than 4,000 court records and their data from EswatiniLii, a non-profit platform sharing legal documents online. The EswatiniLii judgments collection is the most comprehensive public source of this information, although the organization says it cannot guarantee that each and every judgment produced in the courts of coverage is available. We then developed a data annotation system to identify characteristics in each case, such as the sentence issued, the age of the victim, and the outcome of the case. We used Google Pinpoint to OCR the documents, and fed the methodology and documents through ChatGPT-4 to fill out our database. We then analyzed the results and manually checked key findings. We reviewed these with a lawyer and with the AfricaLii team for accuracy.
Data on media coverage of GBV
To understand the frequency of these cases appearing in the media, the CCIJ team searched for the word “rape” on the Times of Eswatini from Jan. 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024.
CCIJ Editorial and Design Team
Reporting
Thobeka Manyathela
Mfanukhona Nkambule
Photography
Jodi Windvogel
Editorial
Carolyn Thompson
Ajibola Amzat
Norah Catlin
Data
Sotiris Sideris
Yuxi Wang
Kirsty Card
Pupul Chatterjee
Design and visuals
Nic Bothma
Jillian Dudziak
Scott Lewis
Fact-checking
Sarah Baum
Copy editing
Betsy Ring
