Somehow the stunning news that Thulani Maseko has been gunned down in cold blood comes 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.

No-one can be misled by the cynical message of condolence put out on behalf of the government of the benighted Kingdom. 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.

Accordingly Freedom Under Law, in paying tribute to this remarkable man, respectfully suggests that it would be fitting if the Law Society of Eswatini were to mark his passing by observing 21 January every year as a day of mourning his death and rededication to the Rule of Law.

To his widow and family we express our grateful condolences. They have paid a bitter price on behalf of all who try to serve the principles for which their dear one lived.

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