An investigation by a group of 11 journalists, called "Swazi Secrets", uncovered suspicious transactions of millions of dollars between South African political figures and the self-proclaimed Swazi archbishop, Rebios Bheki Sigaca Lukhele, of the All Nations Christian Church in Zion.

According to a publication by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the transactions were revealed on the basis of a leak of hundreds of thousands of documents from the Eswatini Financial Intelligence Unit (EFIU).

"Between April 2017 and February 2018 - the month in which [Jacob] Zuma was forced by his party to step down as President [of the Republic of South Africa] in favor of Ramaphosa - Lukhele's account received more than 3.9 million dollars from various sources, including 3.1 million dollars in payments labeled with the names of six South African companies, according to EFIU's analysis," it reads.

These funds link the alleged archbishop and his church to Sibusisiwe Mngomezulu, the Eswatini ambassador to Belgium and the European Union and brother-in-law of the Eswatini king, Mswati III. Mngomezulu has links to South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), through the party's financial arm. He is also a business partner of the party's finance director, Bongani Mahlalela, who was also involved in these transactions.

"Lukhele's bank, First National Bank, later reported to the EFIU that some of the transactions paid into the accounts of South African companies were identified as ANC and Bongani Mahlalela," it reads, in addition to the fact that "Mahlalela appears in the description of many payments made to Lukhele, although it is not clear whether these payments are related to the Chief Financial Officer."

The leaked documents show that the flow of suspicious transactions over several years included money from the ANC. They also show several additional links between the suspicious transactions and the ANC and the party's top leaders.

"Once in Lukhele's accounts, the money was used to buy residential and commercial properties, mainly in Eswatini, and vehicles, including a bus, trucks and luxury cars, or was sent to a number of beneficiaries. Some of these beneficiaries were nothing special, such as gospel artists, but others were members of the parliament of Eswatini, the then mayor of Mbabane and former deputy premier Themba Masuku," reads the ICIJ publication.

The EFIU was unable to determine why such large sums of money were being sent to Lukhele or what role the ANC and senior figures associated with the party were playing. But it eventually suspected that Mngomezulu and his business partner, Mahlalela, were "siphoning" money from the party and hiding it in Essuatíni with Lukhele's help, or that the party was somehow complicit and Mahlalela was hiding money on behalf of the party.

"The ANC will get to the bottom of this matter and, without any hesitation, will take appropriate action if any incidences of irregularities are established. To this end, the ANC will carry out a thorough investigation to determine the veracity of the allegations," an ANC source told investigators.

Eswatini is economically interconnected and heavily dependent on South Africa, the regional economic powerhouse. Of the four commercial banks operating in Eswatini, three are South African.

One of the South African companies that paid Lukhele was 2nd Thought Communications - linked to the ANC - which transferred more than 1 million dollars to one of Lukhele's personal accounts in 2017 alone.

The bank statements also show a pattern of other regular payments in large round sums, paid into 2nd Thought's account and immediately transferred to Lukhele. At least 1.4 million dollars were sent to Lukhele in this way.

2nd Thought was registered as a private company with two owners. One of these owners, Craig Coglin, is a friend of Mngomezulu and Mahlalela.

The descriptions of several of the payments received, such as "registered trustees of the Afr" - a probable reference to Registered Trustees of the African National Congress, a little-known ANC body - suggest a link to the ANC. Read more here the original publication in its entirety.