Early 2019
ESGM reserves its name
ESGM reserves its name with the Registrar of Companies, the first step to registering as a not-for-profit company.
Home / The registration case
#RegisterESGM
Our fight to register.
Since 2019 we have asked the courts for one thing: the right of LGBTI people in Eswatini to form an organisation, like everyone else.
Where things stand
Awaiting a hearing in the High Court.
The case is Simelane (N.O.) & Others v Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade & Others, Case No. 2623/23.
ESGM filed its replying affidavit on 30 July 2026, answering the Minister’s reasons for refusing registration. The matter now awaits a hearing date. Our case is supported by the Southern Africa Litigation Centre.
The case in numbers
7 years since our first application
2 refusals by the authorities
1 unanimous Supreme Court ruling in our favour
Latest update: 30 July 2026
Chronology
How the case has unfolded.
From the first application in 2019 to today.
September 2019
Registration refused
The Registrar of Companies refuses to register ESGM, arguing that its objectives are unlawful because same-sex intimacy is illegal in Eswatini.
4 July 2020
The Human Rights Commission finds discrimination
The Commission on Human Rights and Public Administration/Integrity finds that refusing to register ESGM was discriminatory. It directs the Registrar of Companies to register ESGM, and advises going to court if the Registrar does not comply.
Read more20 October 2020
The High Court hears the case
A full bench of the High Court hears ESGM’s challenge: Justice M. Dlamini (presiding), Justice M. Fakudze and Justice C. Maphanga.
October 2021
A year without a ruling
Twelve months after the hearing there is still no judgment. ESGM calls out the delay as disinterest in the human rights of LGBTI citizens.
Read more29 April 2022
The High Court upholds the refusal
A majority of the High Court refuses to set aside the Registrar’s decision. One judge dissents and would have registered ESGM as a not-for-profit company. ESGM appeals.
5 May 2023
The Supreme Court hears the appeal
Five Supreme Court justices hear ESGM’s appeal.
16 June 2023
Victory in the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court unanimously finds the Registrar’s decision unconstitutional under the right to administrative justice. It sets the decision aside and orders the Minister to reconsider the application, with a written decision within 60 days.
August to October 2023
The order is ignored
ESGM’s lawyers send letters of demand on 30 August and 15 September 2023. The Minister does not comply, and the media report that the government is defying the Supreme Court.
25 September 2024
Refused a second time
The Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade refuses registration again, saying the Constitution does not list sexual orientation or gender identity as grounds of discrimination, and that ESGM’s name and objectives offend customary law.
22 August 2025
Back to the High Court
ESGM files a new application challenging the Minister’s decision, adding customary law to the original freedom-of-association arguments.
October 2025
The #RegisterESGM petition
ESGM members launch a registration petition with All Out after a digital activism workshop.
Read more30 July 2026
Building communities, not breaking laws
ESGM and its co-applicants file their replying affidavit in Simelane (N.O.) & Others v Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade & Others, Case No. 2623/23. The matter now awaits a hearing date.
Read more
Chronology based on the Southern Africa Litigation Centre’s case page and ESGM’s own news.
Latest on the case
In pictures
#RegisterESGM
Court documents
Replying affidavit, with the confirmatory affidavit of the Swaziland Rural Women’s Assembly29 July 2026PDFAmended application to the High Court22 August 2025PDFSupreme Court judgment16 June 2023PDFHigh Court judgment29 April 2022PDFHuman Rights Commission report on the refusal to register ESGM4 July 2020PDFFounding affidavit2020PDFCase summary and fact sheet, Southern Africa Litigation CentreUpdated December 2025Web page
In the media
The courage of Swazi LGBTI activists facing repressionAmnesty International, June 2026ArticleEswatini's civic freedoms on trial in landmark LGBTI rights legal battleDaily Maverick, 22 June 2026ArticleEswatini government officially rejects LGBTI groupMambaOnline, 15 September 2019ArticleVideo: ESGM at the High CourtESGM on YouTubeVideo