MBABANE (24 September 2026): His Majesty has appointed Vulindlela Kunene Ambassador to the Republic of China (Taiwan). He replaces Ambassador Promise Msibi who is one of several long serving senior diplomats who have been recalled.
Kunene this afternoon presented copies of his Letters of Credence to Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Lin Chia-lung in Taipei.
Ambassador Kunene is a veteran diplomat with a long career in Eswatini’s civil service and international relations. He was recalled from South Africa where he was counsellor, and announced as Government Spokesman. However, he was overtaken by events and Alpheus Nxumalo took the position and he was posted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Under Secretary, Political Affairs.
A staunch Manzini Wanderers supporter, Kunene originally joined the civil service in 2009 as an Assistant Socio-Political Analyst after serving as a Private Secretary to the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Senator Mabili Dlamini.
Since then he has accumulated vast experience in multilateral diplomacy including representing Eswatini at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, working as the First Secretary for Legal Affairs at the UN, and serving terms in Pretoria, South Africa.
The Prime Minister Russel Dlamini who announced his appointment this afternoon also disclosed that the King had also appointed Anoinette Henwood-Roland as ambassador to the Swiss Confederation and concurrently as Permanent Representative to the United Nations Offices at Geneva and its specialized agencies including the World Trade Organization (WTO). She replaces Ambassador Zweli Mnisi who has recently become Commissioner for Human Rights and Public Administration.
She was previously Eswatini Counsellor at the Eswatini Embassy to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and served under Ambassador Mahlaba Mamba who was recently recalled home.
