Scared Swazi Children

King Mswati III

February 28, 2005 : Swaziland 's King Mswati III has chosen a 17-year-old girl to be his 13th wife at a traditional ceremony. His last bride - a teenage beauty queen who dropped out of school to become a princess - was chosen four months ago. Born in 1968, King Mswati III was crowned in 1986 at the age of 18, replacing his long-serving father King Sobhuza II, who died at the age of 82. King Mswati III, on the throne since 1986, is upholding the tradition of his father, King Sobhuza II, who reigned for almost 61 years and is believed to have had more than 60 wives. King Mswati's latest fiancee has traveled to South Africa to undergo an HIV test, a princess told the BBC. AIDS is taking a heavy toll with more than 40% of the population believed infected with HIV. Life expectancy has plummeted as a result. Many Swazis live in chronic poverty and food shortages are widespread. The mountainous kingdom of Swaziland is one of the world's last remaining absolute monarchies in the world with the following profile:

• Population: 1.1 million (UN, 2005)
• Capital: Mbabane
• Area: 17,364 sq km (6,704 sq miles)
• Major languages: Swazi, English (both official)
• Major religions: Christianity, indigenous beliefs
• Life expectancy: 32 years (men), 33 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 Lilangeni = 100 cents
• Main exports: Sugar, wood pulp, minerals
• GNI per capita: US $1,350 (World Bank, 2005)
• Internet domain: .sz
• International dialing code: +268

Related Readings:

Babs Ajayi (Thursday, September 1, 2005) MSWATI: THE SHAMELESS KING WITH AN ASSEMBLY LINE FOR VIRGINS

It has become an annual show of shame, a disgraceful carnival that parades young girls and virgins for an obsessed monarch to have his pick. King Mswati of Swaziland recently plucked a new bride "from among thousands of dancing girls dressed in little more than beads and traditional skirts" reported the highly reputable Toronto Star in its August 30, 2005 edition. Over fifty thousand bare-breasted virgins are said to have "vied to become King Mswati III's 13th wife in an event … which critics say ill benefits a nation with the world's highest HIV/AIDS rate". Here is the king with an assembly line that churns out maidens, a special breed of virgins. All hail the king, long live chief erotica. Is it not obvious that the irresponsible king is the major sponsor and champion of AIDS and HIV? The sponsor and patron of the killer disease that is gradually and steadily depleting his nation's population, King Mswati prefers to keep his country well behind the times, held bound by the lust and sexual orgy of a monarch who is adding no value in the right directions, a monarch sold to the benefits and lust of the flesh.

(More: http://nigeriaworld.com/feature/publication/babsajayi/090105.html

Thomas Shongwe (2005) CULTURE-SWAZILAND: Mswati Takes Eleventh Bride, Criticised for Breaking

MBABANE, Aug 29 (IPS) - When the revered leader of a country crippled by an AIDS crisis breaks his own rules intended to curb the HIV infection rate, the policy is doomed to failure, critics of King Mswati's decision to take an eleventh bride said this week. More: http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=19882

The King and the Virgin
By Karen MacGregor | Nov 01 '02

The facts of the case read like a feudal fable. Amorous King Mswati III, the 34-year-old ruler of Swaziland, takes a shine to one of the bare-breasted virgins dancing for him in the reed ceremony held annually in this small southern African nation. He courts her--briefly--by cell phone, then spirits her away into royal seclusion to prepare to become his 10th bride.

But here the tale takes a more modern twist. Lindiwe Dlamini, the mother of the chosen, Zena Mahlangu, 18, doesn't want her daughter to be added to the king's harem. She wants her to finish her final year of high school and become an industrial psychologist instead. So, in a country where the king is above the law, Dlamini has launched the first-ever court challenge against Africa's last absolute monarch. More: http://www.keepmedia.com/pubs/Newsweek/2002/11/01/313258?extID=10038&data=king_mswati