Eswatini PM Ambrose Dlamini dies of Covid-19

The prime minister of Eswatini, Africa’s last absolute monarchy, died in a South African hospital on Sunday after contracting coronavirus, the government said in a statement.

Ambrose Dlamini, 52, had been hospitalised in neighbouring South Africa in early December, two weeks after testing positive for Covid-19.

“Their Majesties have commanded that I inform the nation of the sad and untimely passing away of His Excellency the Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini,” Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku said.

The prime minister “passed on this afternoon while under medical care in a hospital in South Africa,” he added, without detailing the cause of Dlamini’s death.

Dlamini had announced in mid-November that he had tested positive for coronavirus but said that he felt well and was asymptomatic.

Dlamini, a businessman was named prime minister in October 2018.