SA’s neighbour confirms getting R86 million from US in cash-for-criminals deal

The Kingdom of Eswatini, Africa’s last absolute monarchy, has finally confirmed that it accepted $5.1 million (R86.2 million) from the United States government as part of a controversial deal to house dangerous deportees.

The revelation, coming after initial secrecy, has amplified regional security fears, with neighbouring South Africa deeply concerned about its exposed borders.

The funds were received under a secretive agreement struck with the Donald Trump administration to accept migrants expelled under a third-country deportation programme.

Although Eswatini originally agreed to take up to 160 deportees in exchange for the $5.1 million – money supposedly intended to “build its border and migration management capacity” – the arrangement has been fiercely condemned by local critics. The largest opposition party in Eswatini, Pudemo, branded the deal as “human trafficking disguised as a deportation deal”.

Eswatini-US deal

Eswatini’s Finance Minister, Neal Rijkenberg, confirmed receipt of the $5.1 million in the country’s parliament, noting that the ministry was kept in the dark throughout the process and only later told the funds were for the US deportees. The money was funnelled into the account of Eswatini’s disaster agency, NDMA, and still requires legal regularisation, according to reports.

So far, the tiny kingdom has accepted 15 men in two batches (five in July and ten in October), though one Jamaican national has since been repatriated. The US Department of Homeland Security described some of these individuals, originating from Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Yemen, and Jamaica, as “depraved monsters”. Their convictions include severe crimes such as child rape and murder.

Inmates in the ‘Jungle’ Prison

These deportees are currently being held at the maximum-security Matsapha Correctional Centre, located outside the capital, Mbabane. The facility has long held a chilling reputation, routinely used to silence pro-democracy activists and political dissenters who oppose King Mswati III’s regime.

Conditions inside Matsapha are notoriously poor, with former inmates describing life there as “like a jungle” and operating on a “survival of the fittest” principle. Credible reports from 2023 cite arbitrary or unlawful killings and torture within the system.

Alarmingly, the US deportees are reportedly being held without charge or access to legal counsel, and were initially placed in solitary confinement. One Cuban national was reported to be on a hunger strike after being arbitrarily detained for over three months.

The US deal did fund new infrastructure, however. New blocks constructed at Matsapha offer individual bathrooms and mounted televisions, a sharp contrast to the crowded dormitories of the older blocks.

Yet, critics fear these new, tightly-controlled structures – which feature transparent walls for constant surveillance – may ultimately be used to house local political dissenters rather than just foreign criminals.

South Africa’s Security Nightmare over Eswatini-US deal

The decision by Eswatini to accept these high-risk individuals has sparked serious regional security concerns, particularly in South Africa, which entirely landlocks the kingdom except for a border with Mozambique.

The South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation has officially raised its anxieties, stating it is “deeply concerned about the profile of these individuals and the potential adverse impact on South Africa’s national security and immigration policy”.

Given the porous nature of the border, there are palpable fears that if the deportees are not properly managed, these convicted criminals could easily cross into South Africa, posing significant risks to public safety and straining the country’s existing border management systems.

As one veteran prison warden in Eswatini reportedly questioned: “If America couldn’t keep them, what can a mere Swaziland [Eswatini previous name] do?”