Kingdom of Swaziland

[Marengo]

Welcome to the thread dedicated to the royal family of Swaziland.​

Arms of the Kingdom of Swaziland

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[Marengo]

From this wikipedia article:

Mswati III (born Makhosetive on April 19, 1968) of Swaziland is the king of Swaziland, and head of the Swazi Royal Family. In 1986, he succeeded his father, Sobhuza II, as absolute monarch; and in 2005, his role was modified only slightly as a constitutional monarch in this small south African state.

He is one of many sons of King Sobhuza II (who had 70 wives and at the time of his death left over 1000 grandchildren) and the only child of Ntombi Tfwala, also known as Inkhosikati LaTfwala, one of the King's younger wives. He was born at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital, four months before Swaziland attained independence from Britain. When he and his mother were discharged from the hospital they went to live at one of King Sobhuza's residences of Etjeni near Masundwini Palace. His birth name was Makhosetive (King of Nations).
As a young prince, Makhosetive attended Masundwini Primary School and Lozitha Palace School. He sat for the Swaziland Primary Certificate examination in December 1982 at Phondo Royal Residence and got a First Class with merit in Mathematics and English. He developed a great interest in the royal guard, becoming the first young cadet to join the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force (USDF).
When King Sobhuza II died in 1982, the Great Council of State ( the Liqoqo) selected the 14-year-old prince Makhosetive to be the next king. For the next four years two wives of the late King Sobhuza II, Queen Dzeliwe Shongwe (1982–1983) and Queen Ntombi Tfwala (1983–1986), served as regent while he continued his education in England, attending Sherborne School, before he was called back to take over.

He was introduced as Crown Prince in September 1983 and was crowned King on April 25, 1986, aged 18 years and 6 days, and thus making him the youngest reigning monarch. The king and his mother, whose title is Indlovukazi (Great She-Elephant), rule jointly.
Today he is Africa's last absolute monarch in the sense that he has the power to choose the prime minister, other top government posts and top traditional posts. Even though he makes the appointments, he still has to get special advice from the queen mother and council, for example when he chooses the prime minister. When it comes to appointing the cabinet, he gets advice from the prime minister. He inherited a rule by decree, but did restore the nation's Parliament, which had been dissolved by his father due to the chaos of the multiparty system, that was perceived as breaking the country apart at the time considering that the country had just got its independence.
The country has its own type of democracy called the Tinkhundla system and has a constitution which allows freedom of assembly and free speech for both the media and the public. The Swaziland media in conferences with other regional media houses (MISA) says it is free to report as it pleases.
In an attempt to mitigate the HIV and AIDS pandemic, the Mswati tried to intervene in the life of his subjects in a unique manner. In 2001, the King used his traditional powers to invoke a time-honoured chastity rite (umcwasho, which encouraged all Swazi maidens to abstain from sexual relations for five years. This rite (re-introduced after suggestion from NGOs), banned sexual relations for Swazis under 18 years of age from 9 September 2001 and 19 August 2005 , but in 2005, he violated this decree when he married a 17-year-old girl, who became his 13th wife. As per custom, he was fined a cow by members of her regiment, which he duly paid.

Read the entire article here.

 

[Marengo]

From royalblog.nl:

Swazi King outlaws planned Social Forum

http://gpdhome.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/10/14/swaziland.gif Swaziland's absolute monarchy banned independent civil rights groups from meeting later this week, saying Tuesday that the gathering could be destabilizing.

The Southern Africa Social Forum was scheduled to take place Thursday, the same day King Mswati III was expected to appoint a new prime minister following parliamentary elections held last month that were denounced as a parody of democracy.

Read the entire article here.

 

[Al_bina]

My personal favourite is this article Swaziland protests over spending.

The march was staged to demonstrate against a shopping trip taken by nine of King Mswati III's 13 wives last week, after they chartered a plane to go to Europe and the Middle East.

The reason for the most important shopping trip:

A source is quoted by The Daily Telegraph as saying: "The queens have to look radiant and that is why they have to go and buy quality for the big day [marking the 40th anniversary of independence from Britain and the 40th birthday of King Mswati]. They were being spoiled."

Mswati III's answer:

"I have never heard of women marching. All I know is that a woman has to seek permission from her husband to register her disagreement with whatever was happening in society but not for her to march. That is un-Swazi."

 

[Next Star]

The king is critized by the public for spending so much money and his country is one of the poorest in the world as well as highly infected with HIV/AIDS.And his eldest daughter dislikes him being married to muliptle woman at the same time.I read
of the history of this country men in Swaziland are known for having more than one wife.

 

[sirhon11234]

YouTube - Queens of Swaziland

 

[Marengo]

From royalblog.nl:

Mswati appoints PM who is against reforms

http://gpdhome.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/10/16/swaziland.gif Swaziland's king has appointed a new prime minister who shares the absolute monarch's distrust of democracy campaigners. King Mswati III announced Sibusiso Dlamini as his prime minister at a rally attended by around 10,000 Swazis on Thursday.

Read the entire article here.

 

[carlota]

here's a picture of Queen Inkhosikati LaMbikiza of Swaziland at the african first ladies meeting in los angeles

 

[sgl]

A Swazi journalist has recently had his column removed from the Times of Swaziland newspaper due to his criticism of the government:

http://www.theroyalforums.com/5680-pressure-from-loyalists-to-drop-newspaper-column/

 

[wedmonds]

I have a question...I recently went online and read that King Mswati III of Swaziland made the Forbes Richest Royals List. He was last in line, but he was on the list with a whopping $200 M. USD wealth. The Swazi Royal Family is known to have somewhere around 200-500 royals in the family. That all bear the title Prince/Princess and HRH. How does he keep that entire family in palaces and BMW's the way that he does with just two hundred million. You would think that the money would run out if you were taking care of all of those people...

So my question to you all is how do you think he does it. One of his daughters goes to school here in the U.S. and she drives a Bently. How in the heck is he able to pay all of this. Taking care of hundreds of people?

I have known people here in the US to win the lottery with fifty million and run through that in two years. Spending their money the same way he spends his. So how in the world does he do what he does?...Just a thought...

 

[wedmonds]

So who is his main wife, as in who does he bring along for state functions?
And how many children does he have?

I think that his main wife is HRH Inkhsoikati Queen LaMbikiza of Swaziland. Princess Sikhanyiso's mother. Although technically she is the third wife. But she is the first one that he actually got to choose for himself. I also heard rumor that she is one of his favorites. They've had their ups and downs. But, all is well with them. They have been married for years.

 

[sgl]

King Mswati is currently on a visit to Zimbabwe:

http://www.theroyalforums.com/7555-king-mswati-iii-of-swaziland-visits-zimbabwe/

 

[sgl]

King Mswati was scheduled to visit the former residence of King Lobengula during his visit to Zimbabwe; however, the visit was cancelled due to embarrassment by Zimbabwean officials over the deterioration of the residence:
http://www.theroyalforums.com/8655-...e-causes-visit-by-swazi-king-to-be-cancelled/

A rather strange story: Michael Jackson promised King Mswati III that he would build a Disney-style theme park in Swaziland.
http://www.theroyalforums.com/9044-...-iii-a-disney-style-theme-park-for-swaziland/

The president of Libya Mummar Gadaffi presented King Mswati III with a gift of 6 camels:
http://www.theroyalforums.com/9198-libyan-president-honors-king-of-swaziland-with-camels/
There have never been camels in Swaziland before.

 

[wedmonds]

In Pictures: World's Richest Royals - Forbes.com

Here is a new Forbes list for 2009. King Mswati's wealth has went down one hundred million this year.

 

[Kasumi]

Ted Machobane Reilly, the Big Game Parks proprietor, is displaying to the world a Royal Warrant purportedly signed by His Majesty the King, giving him powers to shoot to kill poachers.
An article in Times of Swazilend

 

[Kasumi]

The King of Swaziland Mswati III yesterday toured the Siteki water supply system, which is still under construction.
The King first toured the water treatment plant located close to the Simunye Sugar Mill.
He then toured the booster pump station, which is also located at Simunye, the Lonhlupheko reservoir and pump station followed by the Lukhula and Good Shepherd reservoirs.
All five installations comprise the Siteki Water Supply system, which is expected, upon completion to end for good, the water blues at this small eastern border town.
The project is being carried out by the Swaziland Water Services Corporation and is expected to be completed by next April.
The intention is to have clean potable water supplied to the Siteki town and surrounding areas that include Mpaka, Malindza, Mpolonjeni, Mhlumeni and right up to Lomahasha.
All these areas have a history of being drought-stricken.
The Swazi Observer and one more article

 

[JAJtheConqueress]

Can someone tell me the religion of King Mswati III? I've been asking a lot but a lot of people gave me the answer to the religion of Swaziland people not the King's itself.

Most of the people of Swaziland are Protestants but I doubt the King is one because the religion does not allow bigamy yet alone polygamy of 14 wives!

 

[Kasumi]

Princess Sikhanyiso’s solo debut project will be released in September

The princess, who has previously worked with US rapper Redman, South African artist Mdu and local artist C-4, is currently recording a track with South African hip-hop artist Zuluboy.
Full article - The Swazi Observer

 

[Kasumi]

Can someone tell me the religion of King Mswati III?

King Mswati III meets pastors - The Swazi Observer
The story of a prince
BBC News profile of the King
Homepage of the government of Swaziland
I hope these links will help you to find the answer.

 

[Kasumi]

King of Swaziland at the King Oyo's party

KING Mswati of Swaziland is among the 100 cultural leaders expected to attend the 18th birthday and coronation celebrations of the king of Toro, Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, this weekend. - The New Vision Uganda

 

[Kasumi]

On April 19th King Mswati III celebrates his 42nd birthday.
Article - Weekend Observer
Hidden dimentions of a birthday - The Swazi observer

 

[Kasumi]

HIS Majesty King Mswati III has thanked Korean missionaries and citizens for contributing to the education of Swazi people.
This follows the proposed university which Korean missionaries under the African Continent Mission have promised to build in Swaziland. The King was speaking at Lozitha Palace April 16th 2010 where Korean ambassador to Swaziland Han-Soo Kim presented his letters of credence to the King. - The Swazi Observer

 

[Kasumi]

Over 300 people yesterday braved the chilly evening weather to welcome His Majesty King Mswati III from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

 

[Kasumi]

The king has desire to knowledge economy

His Majesty King Mswati III says Swaziland has a desire to be part of the knowledge economy.
He said to achieve this it was essential for the country to establish partnerships with friendly organisations that had travelled this route. - Swazi Observer

 

[Kasumi]

Twelfth wife of king 'caught in sting with her lover'

12th wife of the King of Swaziland, a former 'Miss Teen' beauty contestant, has been placed under house arrest after she was allegedly caught with her lover, the country's justice minister.Queen Inkosikati LaDube (Mswati Nothando Dube), 22, and married minister Ndumiso Mamba were reportedly discovered by police in what is thought to have been a "sting" operation at the Royal Villas hotel in a town near Mbabane, the kingdom's capital.
With the 42-year-old King Mswati III away on a state visit to Taiwan, she has reportedly been placed under surveillance at her mother-in-law's home while Mr Mamba is in jail on the king's orders.
Ms Dube first caught the king's eye when she was 16 at the annual Reed Dance, when tens of thousands of topless Swazi virgins pay homage to the monarch.
Inkhosikati LaDube, as she became known, bore him a daughter within a year and a son soon afterwards.
If the charges were proved, Mr Mamba would get the death sentence and Ms Dube would be banished. - Independent

Report angers Swazi Queen - TimesLive.co.za

 

[Kasumi]

Swazi prince threatens journalists who ‘write bad things'

During a 21 July public forum called the Smart Partnership National Dialogue in the central commercial city of Manzini, Prince Mahlaba, brother of Swaziland's absolute ruler King Mswati III, was quoted by local media as saying: 'I want to warn the media to bury things that have the potential of undermining the country rather than publish all and everything even when such reports are harmful to the country's international image.
Journalists who continue to write bad things about the country will die.' - Commetee to protect journalists

 

[Kasumi]

More on 'royal affair' in Swaziland - Morung Express and Daily Telegraph articles

Swaziland’s justice minister, Ndumiso Mamba, in a desperate effort to escape arrested after being caught having sex with King Mswati's wife, tried to hide in the base of a bed. - Full article + picture

 

[Kasumi]

Swazi king a baffled soul - ZambiaPost

 

[David V]

The article asks about the limits in promoting and defending Swazi traditions.

In Swaziland's case (like Lesotho) it is an achievement that it attained and preserved its independence as a small kingdom that's surrounded by big neighbours- and in Swaziland's case that was Apartheid South Africa and a newly-independent Communist-ruled Mozambique. King Sobhuza II had to find a balance. The end of the Cold War and Apartheid should have made things easier for his successor Mswati III and one would hope a more open climate, but he continues his rule as a personal fiefdom (with the world's highest HIV/AIDS rates).

Now Lesotho is quite a contrast- the monarchy is purely ceremonial, and the country took a long time to find peace and stability. But Lesotho's royals couldn't be more different because they seem far more low-key in comparison.

Yes, it is an achievement that African monarchies both sovereign (Lesotho and Swaziland) and non-sovereign (everywhere else) have survived colonialism and the post-colonial turmoil. And that makes them an institution of stability and continuity with African traditions. But what Mswati III is doing, is sending out contradictory messages- that he wants to preserve Swaziland's traditions while also leading a lavish life that, some might say, is quite un-traditional.

 

[Kasumi]

King's brother claims: HIV threat "exaggerated"

While the Swazi nation was still recovering from the royal sex scandal involving the king’s twelfth wife and the minister of Justice Chief Logcogco (also known as Prince Mangaliso), the chairman of the advisory body to the king, is embroiled in a custody battle with a lady young enough to be his granddaughter. - allAfrica.com

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