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Wednesday 20 May 2015

SWAZI KING SNUBS HIS OWN UNIVERSITY

Swaziland’s King Mswati III has once again shown his contempt for his own kingdom and the university he heads by sending his own children to be educated abroad.

The King, who is presently on tour of Taiwan, the home of the companies that control most of the textile sweatshops in Swaziland, stopped off at the Shih Chien University in Taipei to visit one of his sons, Prince Buhlebenkhosi, who is studying for a BSc in International Business Management.

The King, who rules Swaziland as an absolute monarch, is Chancellor of the University of Swaziland (UNISWA), which has a large business faculty, but clearly he has no confidence in the standards of education at the institution. What is good enough for his subjects is not good enough for his own children.

UNISWA has been complaining for many years of underfunding and some courses are likely to close.

In April 2015 it was reported that the university was ‘bankrupt’ and could not pay the Swaziland Revenue Authority (SRA) an E60 million (US$6 million) Pay-As-You-Earn income tax debt.

Buhlebenkhosi is not the only one of the King’s children to have studied at university abroad. The king is estimated to have 25 children (so far) but we cannot be certain, because like the number of wives he has, this is information that the Swazi people are not allowed to know.

His eldest daughter, and first child, Princess Sikhanyiso graduated from Sydney University, Australia, in 2012 with a Masters in Digital Communication. She completed a bachelor degree at Biola University, in Los Angeles, California, in the United States. She also took acting classes while in the US.

Prince Bandzile Dlamini studied international relations at Zayed University, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 

Meanwhile, ‘the King’s Office Correspondent’, writing in the Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, reported on Wednesday (20 May 2015), ‘Prince Buhlebenkhosi’s humble and courteous nature has earned him glowing accolades from his university’s administrators.’

The newspaper added, ‘The university’s President Michael Chen, said he had no doubt that Prince Buhlebenkhosi would be an asset to Swaziland.’

He added, ‘“It would not surprise me to see him sit as one of the top company executives in the near future.”’

See also

PRINCESS ON TV: BLUSHES ALL ROUND

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