Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini

Prince Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini (15 May 1942 – 28 September 2018) was a Swazi politician who served as Prime Minister of Eswatini, from 1996 to 2003 and again from October 2008 to September 2018.

Career Dlamini was a member of parliament from 1978 before becoming Minister of Finance from 1984 to 1993. He was also an executive director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). From 1996 to 2003, he was prime minister, and in 2003 he became a member of King Mswati III's advisory council.

Dlamini was a candidate, backed by the Swazi government, for the position of Chairperson of the African Union Commission in early 2008. The government withdrew his candidacy out of solidarity with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) so that SADC could present a single candidate.

In 2013, he was appointed for the third time in the ninth parliament.

Personal life Dlamini was married three times. His first wife was Jane Gezephi Matsebula, whom he married on 26 June 1970, and who died on 14 December 2012 from kidney failure. On 15 March 2014, he married Pastor Joy Nonjabulo Gladness Maziya; however, Dlamini filed for divorce just over two years later, on 1 April 2016. In November 2017 he married Gugu Primrose Simelane, a teacher by profession. At the time Simelane was deputy head teacher at Siweni Nazarene Primary School. A few months after marrying Dlamini she was promoted to head teacher at Ngwenya Primary School.

Illness and death In 2017, Dlamini went to Taiwan and South Africa for medical check-ups. He was admitted to an ICU in April 2018 in Mbabane.

Dlamini died at age 76 from natural causes on September 28, 2018, less than a month after stepping down as prime minister.