Eswatini PM, Ambrose Dlamini, dies of COVID-19 in South Africa

Eswatini Prime Minister, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, has died after contracting COVID-19.

Dlamini became infected four weeks ago and was brought to a hospital in South Africa.

He had announced on November 16 that he had tested positive but that he felt well and was asymptomatic.

After being moved to South Africa, his deputy, Themba Masuku said he was “stable” and “responding well to treatment”.

The 52-year-old had been Prime Minister since November 2018.

Prior to that, he was the CEO of MTN Eswatini and worked in the banking sector for almost two decades.

Formerly known as Swaziland, the kingdom of Eswatini has reported over 6,700 coronavirus cases and 127 deaths among its population of 1.2 million people.

A South Africa-based civil society group, the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), had accused the government of giving the prime minister special treatment by moving him to a country with better healthcare.

More than 39 percent of the tiny landlocked country’s population lived below the poverty line in 2016 and 2017, according to the World Bank.