The Presidency says Eswatini government has assured that the five dangerous prisoners it received from the US will not cross into SA. 

Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the neighbouring country has taken a responsibility to keep the five men deported by America within its borders, as their presence has received a huge outrage and concerns from South Africans. 

"There have been engagements between Eswatini and SA. There have been some assurances that Eswatini has given. I will stop here and say that those engagements will continue and that SA's concerns about the whole exercise have been well documented and are well known. Eswatini has so far undertaken to ensure that none of those individuals escape their care and find themselves in SA," he said.

Four weeks ago, the department of homeland security (DHS) in the US announced the transfer of five men from Laos, Cuba, Jamaica, Vietnam, and Yemen to Eswatini after their countries of origin rejected them. Reports in early August raised alarms about an additional 150 hardened criminals being sent to the country.

Magwenya was addressing the media  at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Thursday on a number of issues.

He also addressed the relationship between former president Thabo Mbeki and President Cyril Ramaphosa, stating that their relationship remains cordial despite the Thabo Mbeki Foundation's withdrawal from the National Dialogue.

"For president Ramaphosa... the relationship with Thabo Mbeki is cordial, or rather comradely cordial as well as professional and with observations around what the former president is attempting to do. The president will not venture into that [ [withdrawal] and will leave that to others to observe the developments as they occur in the political space. However, it is sufficient to say that one has noted that President Ramaphosa is by far the most publicly criticised and attacked president by his predecessors....but the president does accept that he is not above criticism," he said.

Magwenya said the convention will bring about 1,000 delegates.

He also said SA’s negotiations with the US over new tariffs are “a very complex exercise” involving multiple countries and have no clear timelines.

“Trade negotiations, by their very nature, are complex. They’re not an event; they’re a process, and often it’s a process without timelines. Trump's administration approach was based on their understanding of trade deficits and the use of tariffs as an instrument to trigger industrial development, and because we don’t share that understanding. It's uncharted waters we are trying to navigate," Mangwenya said.

Regarding recent incidents where Operation Dudula members were seen refusing foreign nationals entry to public healthcare facilities, Magwenya reaffirmed that constitutional rights apply to all.

“No one can deny a foreign national access to a public health facility… It just cannot happen. One cannot deny there is a scarcity of resources in communities and enormous pressure on the public health system but violence against anyone will not solve anything," he said.

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