I thought the following story was a hoax until I saw it published in both of Swaziland’s daily newspapers.
Swaziland cellphone company MTN is giving customers the chance to send an SMS text message to King Mswati III to wish him well on his 40th birthday and the nation well on its 40th anniversary of independence from Britain.
The cost of each message will be E50 (about 7 US dollars). To put that cost in context, seven out of ten Swazis earn less than E50 in a week.
The Swazi Observer reports today (10 September 2008) that the idea is the brainchild of the 40/40 National Celebrations Committee,which organised lavish celebrations this past weekend. Estimates of the cost of the festivities vary, but they have been placed as high as 10 million US dollars (E70 million).
The Observer quotes the chairman of the committee Luke Mswane saying no one is forced to send a message.
“This is just a voluntary exercise aimed at hyping the 40/40 celebrations. Proceeds from the SMS fees will benefit charity organisations to be selected by His Majesty,” he said.
According to the Times of Swaziland
The Times asked Mswane who he thought would be able to send an E50 SMS message ‘when poverty in the kingdom is rife and commodity prices shooting up’.
Mswane replied, ‘One can look at this as an offertory, like in church. To part with E50 for messaging should come from the heart of that person.’
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