Former energy minister Jeff Radebe, who was sent to Eswatini by President Cyril Ramaphosa as a special envoy on the escalating political violence and crisis there, said the country’s absolute monarch has indicated a willingness to talk to political opponents.

“There has to be a dialogue, that was agreed in principle,” Radebe told Business Day on Thursday, before travelling to Eswatini in a bid to facilitate a solution to a crisis that has left 28 people dead and shut down schools, telecoms and movement at intervals since June...