WHILE throngs of people from across the country and beyond gathered at Ludzidzini Royal Residence for the Umhlanga 2026 main day, three unexpected faces stood out in the crowd.
That is the three third country nationals recently deported from the United States.
They were under the watch of His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) officers.
The three men were seen seated among members of the public as thousands of people gathered at the royal residence to witness the annual cultural ceremony.
The deportees appeared to follow the proceedings closely, chatting among themselves and watching the activities as they unfolded. They were dressed in casual clothing and not in prison uniforms.
HMCS officials were seated with the deportees, with some officers appearing to closely monitor them during the proceedings. Their presence at one of the kingdom’s biggest cultural events comes amid continued public interest in the third country nationals deported by the US to the country.
Human rights lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi said the deportees’ attendance at the cultural event was consistent with their status as people who were not supposed to be treated as prisoners. Nhlabatsi argued that the deportees should be allowed to move freely because they were not serving prison sentences.
“They are free to mingle around because they are free people, and the kingdom accepted them into the territory, and so they are free,” he said.
However, he questioned why the deportees were being held at a correctional facility despite not being prisoners.
“What is wrong is that they are in prison and they are not supposed to be in a detention facility,” Nhlabatsi said, adding that the fact that the deportees were being escorted by correctional services officers raised questions about responsibility should anything happen to them while under the supervision of the authorities.
“If anything happens to them, they would be held liable or accountable since they accepted them into the correctional facility,” he said. Nhlabatsi said the deportees should instead be accommodated in facilities that do not resemble prisons. He added that other countries that had accepted third country nationals deported from the US had made alternative arrangements.
He cited Rwanda and Uganda as examples, saying deportees in those countries had been placed in safe houses rather than correctional facilities.
According to Nhlabatsi, the circumstances surrounding the deportees differed, with some having previously been convicted of offences in the US but completed their sentences before being subjected to deportation proceedings.
Royal Residence during the Umhlanga main day.
“Some of them in the US had committed crimes but had served their sentences and were awaiting to go home,” he said. The lawyer’s comments come as questions continue to surround the conditions under which third country nationals deported from the US are being accommodated in the country.
The deportees joined spectators at Ludzidzini during the main day of the Umhlanga, an event that attracts thousands of participants and visitors from across the kingdom and other countries.
Their appearance at the event provided members of the public with an opportunity to see some of the deportees outside the confines of their accommodation, although they remained under the supervision of correctional services officers.
When contacted for comment on the presence and supervision of the deportees at Ludzidzini, HMCS Deputy Public Relations Officer Assistant Chief Officer Baphelele Kunene referred questions to government.
“Anything pertaining to US deportees is handled by the government spokesperson,” Kunene said.
Government has previously maintained that matters concerning the deportees are handled through the relevant structures.
At the time of publishing the report, acting Government Spokesperson Thabile Mdluli had not responded to questions sent to her.
