Shiselweni Community in Mourning as Graduate and Teen Pupil Die by Suicide in One Week
The small community of Ezikhoteni in the Shiselweni region has been left in deep sorrow and disbelief following two tragic suicides—one involving a promising 29-year-old graduate and another, just days earlier, involving a teenage schoolboy.
Lindokuhle Mathunjwa, a graduate of Ngwane Teacher’s College and father of one, reportedly took his own life on Friday morning by consuming food laced with the deadly pesticide Masta900. The shocking incident has sparked urgent conversations about youth mental health, economic hardship, and silent suffering within Eswatini’s communities.
According to close family sources, Lindokuhle allegedly mixed the pesticide into an avocado he ate for breakfast. His lifeless body was discovered by his mother, who had gone to check on him after finding a handwritten suicide note.
The note, addressed to his parents, his three-year-old son, and his church—Ndumisweni KaJehova Church in Zion—revealed deep emotional and psychological distress. In it, he expressed shame about depending on his parents for basic needs and heartbreak over what he described as an unfulfilled and disappointing life.
“Mother and father, I am stupid I know, but I cannot live like this... The life that I am living is not the life I planned for myself,” the letter read in part.
Lindokuhle’s father, Pastor Aaron Mathunjwa, spoke with visible grief as he shared details of his son’s final words. He explained that Lindokuhle struggled silently with feelings of inadequacy and self-blame, despite being surrounded by love and support.
“He told us in the letter that he could no longer bear being clothed and fed by us at his age. We were only trying to help him get back on his feet, but he felt like a burden,” Pastor Mathunjwa said, holding back tears.
Lindokuhle also penned a heartfelt message to his young son, promising to watch over him in spirit and apologizing for leaving too soon. He asked that his funeral be peaceful and that church services continue without interruption in his memory.
“I wish he had just opened up. We loved him deeply and never meant to make him feel small,” his grieving father added.
A Community Hit Twice
This heartbreaking death comes on the heels of another tragedy just a week earlier, when a 15-year-old boy from the same area also died by suicide under equally distressing circumstances. The proximity of these incidents has raised alarm and led many to call for urgent mental health intervention in rural communities.
Acting Chief PICO Inspector Mazwi Ndzimandze confirmed Lindokuhle’s death and said investigations were ongoing. A full medical report is pending to determine the exact cause of death and whether the pesticide was ingested as suspected.
A Wake-Up Call on Mental Health and Youth Despair
Mental health advocates have emphasized that these back-to-back tragedies reflect a broader crisis facing many young people in Eswatini—especially graduates and school-leavers who struggle with unemployment, poverty, and the pressure to “succeed” in a society where opportunities remain limited.
“We are losing young lives not because they are weak, but because they feel trapped and unheard. We need more safe spaces, counseling programs, and national conversations around mental well-being,” said a local pastor during a prayer vigil held on Sunday evening.
As the Mathunjwa family prepares to lay their beloved son to rest, the community is left asking difficult but necessary questions: How many more young people are silently struggling? And what can be done—urgently—to prevent the next tragedy?
If you or someone you know is experiencing emotional distress, please seek help from a trusted adult, counselor, or local mental health service.