Swaziland, 1984 — dissident coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 20 March 1984, during the continuing Liqoqo power struggle in Swaziland in the period leading toward the alleged coup attempt by Prince Sozisa Dlamini in mid-1984. Following the August 1983 removal of Queen Regent Dzeliwe and the installation of Queen Regent Ntfombi, Prince Sozisa remained the Authorized Person with enhanced powers to sign state documents, a change demanded by the Tibiyo faction, and the constitution was revised so that disagreements between the Regent and the Authorized Person would be referred to the princes and chiefs. Factional maneuvering within the royal house continued into 1984 as the traditionalist Liqoqo under Prince Mfanasibili consolidated its hold during the minority of the designated heir, Prince Makhosetive.
By the beginning of July 1984 Sozisa, though chairman of the Liqoqo, had stopped attending its meetings and lost his police and military escorts, and at the end of August 1984 the Liqoqo suspended him amid allegations that he had attempted a coup d'etat in June. The 20 March 1984 coding sits in this early-1984 phase of the succession struggle preceding Sozisa's alleged coup.
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
57203201984
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: The Liqoqo prevailed and Ntfombi's regency continued until King Mswati III's 1986 accession.
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
Irish Times
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 →