Organisers of the football
tournament arranged to honour Swaziland’s autocratic monarch King Mswati III
expect 20,000 spectators to attend from outside the kingdom.
They expect a further 10,000
of the King’s subjects from Swaziland to attend.
Tickets costing a minimum E250 (US$25)
are presently on sale, even though more than seven in ten of the King’s 1.3
million subjects have incomes of less than US$2 per day. It would take most
Swazi people more than a month to earn the price of a ticket.
The tournament called the
King’s Super Cup is to be held on 18 July 2015. Two of South Africa’s top
football sides, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates have agreed to play
in the one-day competition.
This is the first time
the tournament has run and organisers say the competition is to honour the King.
In Swaziland King Mswati
rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Political parties are
banned from taking part in elections and pro-democracy campaigners are arrested
under the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
A campaign is running to
attempt to persuade the two South African clubs not to take part in the
tournament because it would be seen as supporting the King who
has been criticised globally for the poor human rights in his kingdom.
Campaigners say if the clubs
took part in the tournament it would be a ‘mockery to the many activists that
have died at the hands of the government and those who are presently
languishing in jail for having dared to talk against the atrocities obtaining
in Swaziland’.
The People’s United
Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), in a
statement said, ‘Almost 70 percent of Swazi citizens live under the poverty
line of less than a dollar a day, while Mswati III’s preoccupation is buying
private jets, luxury
cars and touring the world with his throng of wives at the expense of the
Swazi people.’
The tournament’s Public
Relations Officer, Dumsani ‘DU’ Sibandze was reported by the Swazi Observer saying 10,000 tickets
would be made available to local soccer fans while the rest would be sold to
South Africa and neighbouring countries.
The tournament will take
place at the Somhlolo National Stadium, which the newspaper reported would
accommodate 30,000 spectators on the day.
It was previously reported
that E5.8 million (US$580,000) had been taken from various government
ministries to fund the tournament.
See also
CALL
TO BOYCOTT KING’S SOCCER CUP
SWAZI
KING’S CUP TICKET PRICES SKY HIGH
CAMPAIGN
TO STOP KING’S CUP SPREADS
PUBLIC
FUNDS TO SUPPORT KING’S CUP
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