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| King Mswati III |
King Mswati III of Swaziland was
in the news recently. Polygamous to the core, he wanted a 22 year old girl as
his 14th wife. He got smitten by her when she was just 15 and kept
making advances. Made of sterner
stuff, she had no intentions of joining the millionaire
king’s harem of 13 wives (with their individual palaces and luxury cars)
several concubines. She, therefore, fled to Britain and currently living in
Birmingham has sought asylum in the country. The 45 year old king lost a wife,
his sixth, last year who escaped from his harem citing years of emotional and
physical abuse.
King Mswati III has made quite a
bit of progress since the summer of 1989 when I happened to be there in
Swaziland on a mission of the Universal Postal Union. He was a strapping young
man of 21 then and already had as many as four wives and was reputed to have
had a clutch of concubines. An absolute ruler of a small principality that is
surrounded by South Africa on three sides and Mozambique on the fourth, it used
to be a country then of around 700,000 who were mostly Swazis and Bantus who
had migrated from Central Africa a few centuries ago. Their traditions are
mixed – both Swazi and Zulu – as they had earlier been part of Zululand.
Though less than 200 kilomertres
both from east to west and north to south the country exhibits varied physical
features. In the west is the Highveld where elevations can be as much as 6000
ft. To the east, the heights gradually yield to slopes, the Middleveld, with
rolling grasslands and then on to the nearly flat savannas of the Lowveld less
than 1000 ft. in elevation. The climate changes with elevation from temperate
in Highveld to generally hot in the rest of the country. Winters from April to
September are cool, more so up in the Highveld.
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| Self and Dr. Ahmed at the game park |
I was there in April and May in
Mbabane, the capital, located on the Highveld and it was pleasantly cool. A
beautiful little town of about 100,000, Mbabane is almost like one of our hill
stations with proliferating tourist resorts and hotels of the famed Sun International
chain. A large number of South Africans, especially of staunch anti-apartheid.
Indian origin, were seen
flocking to the place to make merry and enjoy the eye-catching landscape in the
cool bracing weather. Apartheid was still in force in South Africa and movement
of coloured and black people in its urban areas was restricted. Perhaps, hence
the influx of Indians! I couldn’t make it to Johannesburg though it was very
close to Mbabane since my passport was not even endorsed for South Africa. We
were such
From just outside Mbabane one
gets a fantastic view of the beautiful Ezulvini Valley – Valley of the Heavens.
One gets to see a picture-postcard country right down to the horizon. It is in
this Valley that the Royal kraal
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| Add cA Swazi hut at the Game Park |
Manzini in the Lowveld is the
second town of the country and is also the point of entry and exit. It is the
commercial, agricultural and industrial centre and hence is known as “The Hub”.
Like Mbabane, it offers good shopping. Arcades and shopping plazas were seen
loaded with stuff imported from all over the world.
In Manzini, too, hotels are
plentiful as also eateries. In the shopping plaza at Mbabane fish-and-chips on
offer was as good if not better than what you get in UK. Downed with South
African wine, I found it divine. Unlike our cities, sanitation and cleanliness
in the country – even in the Lowveld towns – is of a high order.
A game park is located virtually
next to the town. Only 20-odd kilometres away from Mbabane, I visited it
several times in the very pleasant company of one Dr. Ahmed, a person of Indian
origin belonging to Uganda whose family was displaced during Idi Amin’s rule.
Settled in Leicester in England, he had come as a
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| In the Park |
We hit it off very well and were kind of inseparables during our off-hours.
Because of the small dimensions
of the park it cannot host the big cats as also elephants. But it had a fair
number of other games like impalas, kudus, zebras, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles
and an assortment of exotic birds. One evening Dr. Ahmed and I were up against
a massive hippo blocking our way while returning from the park after dark.
Frequently dangerous, we had to wait for some long minutes to enable it to
decide to move away. The park offers beautiful views of the grasslands and is
ideal for day-long excursions. There is an open-air restaurant right in the
middle where one can lunch on (culled) impala meat curry and rice. With
delectable South African red wine from the neighbouring store it makes a
marvellously satisfying lunch
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The king’s 21st
birthday celebrations came along around the time I was there in Mbabane.
Festivities were in the air and local bands were seen marching through the
principal streets. A lavish day-long party was held in which all of us foreigners
were invited. The main function was organised in the Swazi stadium a few
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| Swazi dancers at the King's birthday bash |
Today King Mswati III happens to
be the last absolute monarch in the African continent and yet his people – 60%
of whom reportedly live below poverty line – love him. His principality has a
constitution but no political parties; the King hates them, perhaps rightly so.
Whatever it is, he rules over a beautiful country that is doing none too badly.
Legend has it that King Solomon
marched through these parts in his quest for gold. Such a quest today may prove
disappointing. But, one would get, if not gold, a delightful break in this
beautiful and, in many respects, modern little country. What if its King has 13
wives?
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Photo of the King is from the Internet. Rest were all taken by self
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