Prince Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini (15 May 1942 – 28 September 2018) was a Swazi politician who served as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

, from 1996 to 2003 and again from October 2008 to September 2018.

Career

Dlamini was a member of parliament from 1978 before becoming

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

from 1984 to 1993. He was also an executive director of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

(IMF). From 1996 to 2003, he was Prime Minister, and in 2003 he became a member of

King Mswati III Mswati III (born Makhosetive; 19 April 1968) is the king (Swazi: Ngwenyama, Ingwenyama yemaSwati) of Eswatini and head of the Swazi royal family. He was born in Manzini in the Protectorate of Swaziland to King Sobhuza II and one of his younger w ...

's advisory council."Swazi king names staunch royalist as prime minister", AFP, 16 October 2008. Elimane Fall
"Après Konaré, qui ?"
''Jeune Afrique'', 23 December 2007 . Dlamini was a candidate, backed by the Swazi government, for the position of

Chairperson of the African Union Commission The Chairperson of the African Union Commission is the head of the African Union Commission. On January 30, 2017, it was announced that Chad's Moussa Faki would become the further chairperson. History List See also *Chairperson of the African ...

in early 2008."Ex-PM Sibusiso out of AU race"
''The Swazi Observer'', 2 January 2008. The government withdrew his candidacy out of solidarity with the

Southern African Development Community The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Its goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security coopera ...

(SADC) so that SADC could present a single candidate. Following the September 2008 parliamentary election, Dlamini was reappointed as Prime Minister by Mswati III on 16 October 2008.

Jan Sithole Jan Sithole was a Swaziland trade union activist and politician. Sithole was president of the Swaziland Democratic Party (Swadepa), and was in October 2013 elected to the House of Assembly of Eswatini (the lower house of the Parliament of Swaziland ...

, the Secretary-General of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions, was critical of the appointment, saying that Dlamini worked to "suppress political organisations and advance the strong rule of the monarchy" during his earlier period as Prime Minister; he also accused Dlamini of "strong-hand tactics and lack of respect for the rule of law". Opposition leader

Mario Masuku Mario Thembeka Masuku (October 1951 – 11 January 2021) was a Swazi politician who was the leader of the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), Eswatini's banned opposition party. Early life and education He was born in the village of Ma ...

, the President of the

People's United Democratic Movement The People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO; ss, Insika Yenkhululeko Yemaswati) is the largest opposition party in Eswatini. It is a democratic socialist party. Formed in 1983 at the University of Eswatini, it is led by Mlungisi Makhanya. ...

, said that Dlamini "was not appointed on merit but on his level of allegiance to the king". Dlamini was sworn in by Chief Justice

Richard Banda Richard Banda SC is a Malawian barrister and former athlete. He is a judge who formerly served as Chief Justice of Malawi and Eswatini and as Minister of Justice in Malawi. He was president of the Commonwealth Magistrates' and Judges' Assoc ...

on 23 October 2008. He took the oath of office both in English and in

SiSwati The Swazi or siSwati language is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Eswatini and South Africa by the Swati people. The number of speakers is estimated to be in the region of 2.4 million. The language is taught in Eswatini and s ...

. In 2013, he was appointed for the third time in the ninth parliament.

Personal life

Dlamini was married three times. His first wife was Jane Gezephi Matsebula, whom he married on 26 June 1970, and who died on 14 December 2012 from kidney failure. On 15 March 2014, he married Pastor Joy Nonjabulo Gladness Maziya; however, Dlamini filed for divorce just over two years later, on 1 April 2016. In November 2017 he married Gugu Primrose Simelane, a teacher by profession. At the time Simelane was deputy head teacher at Siweni Nazarene Primary School. A few months after marrying Dlamini she was promoted to head teacher at Ngwenya Primary School.

Illness and death

In 2017, Dlamini went to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

for medical check-ups. He was admitted to an ICU in April 2018 in

Mbabane Mbabane (; ss, ÉMbábáne, ) is a city in Eswatini (previously called Swaziland), and is one of the two capitals (along with Lobamba), serving as the executive capital. With an estimated population of 94,874 (2010), it is located on the Mbaba ...

. Dlamini died at age 76 from natural causes on September 28, 2018, less than a month after stepping down as Prime Minister..

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dlamini, Barnabas Sibusiso 1942 births 2018 deaths International Monetary Fund people Prime Ministers of Eswatini Finance Ministers of Eswatini Swazi officials of the United Nations