Swaziland, 1983 — dissident coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 8 December 1983, during the Liqoqo power struggle that followed the death of King Sobhuza II of Swaziland in August 1982. Sobhuza had designated the young Prince Makhosetive as his eventual successor and, in June 1982, empowered the Liqoqo (a traditional advisory body) to act as a Supreme Council of State able to overrule laws and appoint an Authorized Person to exercise the royal prerogative. In the resulting power vacuum, modernizers led by Queen Regent Dzeliwe and Prime Minister Prince Mabandla Dlamini clashed with traditionalists in the Liqoqo led by Prince Mfanasibili.
Mabandla was replaced by the traditionalist Prince Bhekimpi in March 1983, and on 9 August 1983 Queen Dzeliwe was dismissed and placed under house arrest, replaced after a nine-day interregnum under Authorized Person Prince Sozisa by the new Queen Regent Ntfombi. Sozisa's opponents were charged with sedition in October 1983. The 8 December 1983 coding sits in this period of continued factional maneuvering and plotting within the royal house after Dzeliwe's removal.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
57212081983
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: The Liqoqo traditionalists prevailed; Ntfombi served as regent until her son became King Mswati III in 1986.
Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
CSP
Globe and Mail
The Guardian
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →