Mzwandile B. Masuku is a Swazi human rights lawyer and co-founder of the Swaziland Litigation Centre. He is the son of Mario Masuku, co-founder and leader of Swaziland’s largest pro-democracy political opposition group, the People’s United Democratic Movement. In 2009, he launched, with the late renowned human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko, the only law firm in the kingdom fully dedicated to providing pro-bono legal representation to ordinary Swazis facing violations of their fundamental rights or criminal prosecution by the state.
In 2022, Masuku co-founded the Swaziland Litigation Centre, an independent civil society organization that coordinates the work of public interest attorneys. Despite threats, intimidation, the attempted assassination of a member of his team in December 2022, and the January 2023 assassination of Maseko, Masuku continues to champion the rights of detained individuals to a fair trial and advocate for nonviolent democratic reform. He is also a program manager with the Foundation for Socio-Economic Justice, which promotes civic education on human and constitutional rights and democratic participation among rural populations.
