KING MSWATI, AN ILLEGAL RULER

First we had the nonsense that King Mswati III was chosen by God to lead Swaziland.

Now we have a load of bull about his ancestors being angry because he illegally took the throne when his father King Sobhuza II died.

King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, is also said to have a brother who has been hidden away in Taiwan to make it possible for King Mswati to take the throne.

It’s all because a black ceremonial bull escaped during the recent traditional Incwala ceremony. It injured seven of King Mswati’s ‘warriors’ with its horns.

Now, Lucky Lukhele, a spokesperson for the Swaziland Solidarity Network, wants us to believe the bull’s escape was an omen from ancestors.

Lukhele told reporters, ‘ancestors are angry with the kingdom for hiding the fact that Mswati was not supposed to be king in the first place, because he has a brother from his mother's side who has been hidden away.

‘To be a king in our culture you need to be the only child on your mother's side, but Mswati has a sibling who has been hidden away in Taiwan for over 40 years.’

Lukhele said the majority of Swazis were unaware of the brother's existence.

‘If this brother comes back, it will be the end of the Swazi kingdom, and so the ancestors are probably tired of all the deceiving going around,’ he said.

The king was meant to sit on top of the bull during a ritual in early January 2010, after which the warriors were supposed to kill it with their bare hands.

The Incwala ceremony is held every year to strengthen the king’s rule and to mark the beginning of the first fruits.

This isn’t the first time King Mswati has had problems with wild animals. Before his coronation, in 1986, he was required to undergo a series of initiation rites, including slaughtering a lion armed only with a spear and shield. Since no lions lived in Swaziland, however, the hapless beast was flown in from a South African game reserve.

Another snag was that the king had never learned to hunt.

The imported beast was therefore tranquilised for the conquering king’s safety.

The stooges who surround him, laughing at his jokes and condoning his excesses, have been shielding him from the real world ever since.