The Eswatini Communications Commission (ESCCOM) has been designated as the country’s national cybersecurity agency, with a mandate to regulate, coordinate and build capacity in cybersecurity.
Speaking during a cybersecurity and scam awareness training for journalists, ESCCOM Assistant Director for Cybersecurity Nokuthula Hlophe said the Computer Crime and Cybercrime Act of 2022 designated ESCCOM as the national cybersecurity agency.
She said Section 52 of the Act gave ESCCOM the mandate to regulate cybersecurity, coordinate the national cybersecurity strategy and enforce security standards.
Hlophe said the commission also worked with the ministry of ICT, law enforcement agencies and the Judiciary on cybersecurity investigations and responses.
She said ESCCOM’s incident response function involved detecting and receiving reports of cybersecurity incidents, analysing them and coordinating responses.
Hlophe said the country’s growing reliance on digital technology made cybersecurity increasingly important.
She noted that mobile broadband penetration stood at 134% in 2025, explaining that the figure exceeded 100% because some people had more than one mobile device.
“We are all now dependent on digital technology to actually go about with our everyday lives. So we need to protect,” she said.
Hlophe also highlighted the importance of protecting critical infrastructure, although she said critical information infrastructure had not yet been officially declared in the country. She used examples of cyber incidents in other countries to demonstrate how attacks on systems controlling electricity and water could affect communities.
In one example, she said an individual had remotely accessed a system controlling the pH level of water, creating the potential for harmful changes to the water supplied to a community.
She said such incidents demonstrated why critical infrastructure needed to be protected and why the country needed to build cyber resilience.
Hlophe said ESCCOM worked with infrastructure owners and service providers to ensure essential services and applications remained secure.
She added that the commission also worked with civil society and universities on cybersecurity awareness and capacity building.
ESCCOM CAN ASSIST WITH ONLINE HARASSMENT CASES
Individuals who use pseudonyms to harass others online can still potentially be traced, according to ESCCOM Assistant Director for Cybersecurity Nokuthula Hlophe.
Hlophe was responding to questions during a cybersecurity and scam awareness training for journalists, where she explained the role ESCCOM plays in responding to online harassment and cyber-related incidents.
She said ESCCOM had established relationships with social media platforms and could assist in cases where harmful content needed to be removed.
Hlophe said the commission had a point of contact with TikTok and could request the platform to take down content in appropriate cases.
She said ESCCOM was also working with Facebook, although the platform required evidence before taking action.
“So social media platforms, if you are seeing anything, please come through to us,” she said.
Hlophe stressed that ESCCOM did not have the authority to arrest perpetrators, explaining that investigations and arrests fell under law enforcement.
She said ESCCOM had previously dealt with a case involving a child who bullied another child online, adding that the perpetrator was eventually traced.
Responding to a question about perpetrators who use pseudonyms or live outside the country, Hlophe said such cases could be more complicated but were not necessarily impossible to investigate.
“It does become a bit tricky,” she said.
Hlophe explained that people using pseudonyms still relied on devices to access online platforms and that devices had unique identifying numbers that could assist with tracing.
She said cases involving people outside Eswatini could require cooperation between law enforcement agencies in different countries.
Hlophe said ESCCOM had established relationships with other jurisdictions and that INTERPOL could become involved where necessary.
She said the process would depend on cooperation and agreements between the relevant police authorities.
