South Africa and Swaziland are to strengthen legal ties through the singing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two countries.

Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Jeff Radebe will on Wednesday sign the MoU with his Swaziland counterpart Ndumiso Mamba.

"The MoU emanates from an agreement between South Africa and Swaziland where the establishment of a Joint Bilateral Commission for Cooperation was entered into between the two countries on 12 December 2004," said the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.

After this establishment, a need was identified to promote and develop co-operation on criminal matters, legislative drafting and advancement of human rights, including training and technical assistance.

According to the department, the two countries agreed to co-operate in the establishment of an institution in the Kingdom of Swaziland responsible for search, seizure, freezing and forfeiture of assets in criminal matters.

The two countries also agreed on the establishment of a Human Rights Commission in the Kingdom of Swaziland.

Training of officials in legislative drafting and secondment of officials to the Kingdom of Swaziland to assist in a number of areas such as the investigation and prosecution of serious criminal cases were also agreed.