SWAZI PRINCE AND THE US$40,000 WATCH

News that a Swazi Prince was robbed in a hotel room has exposed something of the lifestyle of King Mswati III’s family.

 

Prince Majaha, aged 23, was with his father in Gaborone, Botswana, when he went on a drinking spree.

The Voice newspaper in Botswana reported he took a woman, which the newspaper describes as ‘a street vendor’, and a man to his hotel room to continue drinking. When he woke up next morning, the newspaper reported, they had stolen US$5,000 in cash and items, including an iPhone 5 valued at US$500 and a Rodger Dubuis watch, worth US$40,000.

If the valuations reported by the Voice are correct, the watch on its own is worth the equivalent of nearly 55 years income for more than seven in ten of his father’s subjects, who earn less than US$2 per day.

The newspaper did not report why the prince was carrying US$5,000 in cash; the dollar is not the currency of Botswana.

King Mswati rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Political parties are not allowed to contest elections and freedoms of association and speech are severely curtailed in the kingdom.

In July 2015, it was reported that the budget for King Mswati and his family had been increased by 25 percent and now made up five percent of the overall national budget for Swaziland.

Prince Majaha once made international news when it was reported that King Mswati, aged 45, was to marry a 19-year-old, one-time beauty pageant contestant Sindiswa Dlamini. It was reported that the bride had once dated the King’s son, Prince Majaha. 

See also

SWAZI KING’S BUDGET RISES BY 25 PERCENT

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/07/swazi-kings-budget-rises-by-25pc.html