In paying tribute to human rights lawyer and activist Thulani Maseko, not-for-profit organisation Freedom Under Law (FUL) proposed that the Law Society of Eswatini mark his death by observing January 21 every year as a day of mourning and rededication to the Rule of Law. 

Maseko was assassinated in his home in Ka Luhleko, nearby Mhlambanyatsi.

FUL said Maseko’s murder came as no surprise.

“A ceaseless and fearless human-rights lawyer, an outspoken critic of the regime in his beloved Eswatini, Thulani had all too long suffered at the hands of a heedless regime. But he lived by the motto: My head is bloody, but unbowed ... I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. Sadly, and to the shame of those engaged in the administration of justice in his country, all too often he was a lone beacon of light,” FUL said.

It further criticised the “cynical message of condolence” by the government of Eswatini.

“His passing has not only left his family bereft of a loved one; his country has been left the poorer, its human-rights conscience brutally stifled,” added the organisation.