Swaziland’s King Mswati
III stands to personally make up to US$65 million if a reported gold mine deal
in his kingdom is successful.
The Observer on Saturday, a newspaper in effect owned by the King, reported
that a gold mine on Lufafa Mountains, near Pigg’s Peak in the Hhohho region, was
estimated to contain 251,000 ounces of gold, said to be worth more than E4
billion (US$263 million).
The newspaper said a
company called Lufafa Mine Pty Ltd would run the mining operations.
In Swaziland the law is
that King Mswati, who rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, owns
25 percent of all mining companies in his kingdom. On that basis his share is
worth US$65 million. In theory the King holds this ‘in trust for the Swazi
nation,’ but in reality he uses the money to support his lavish lifestyle. He
has 13 palaces, a private jet, a Rolls Royce car and fleets of BMW and
Mercedes-Benz cars.
Meanwhile, seven in ten
of his 1.3 million subjects live in abject poverty with incomes of less than
US$2 per day.
Lufafa Mine Pty Ltd, the
company that will run the mining operations, comprises SDZ Holdings LCC, the
Swaziland Government and the King.
King Mswati has been
mired in controversy over his dealings with foreign investors. In 2011 the Ngwenya Iron Ore Mine was opened but was forced to close in 2014. King
Mswati held 25 percent of the operating company Southern Africa Resources Ltd
(SARL) ‘in trust’ for the Swazi nation.
In April 2012, the King
took US$10 million from the company as an advanced dividend against future
income. Within weeks, the King
spent US$9.5 million on a McDonnel Douglas McDonnell Douglas DC-9-87 private jet.
The company was forced to cease trading in August
2014 amid much acrimony. A compensation
claim for at least US$141 million has been prepared by SARL against the Kingdom of
Swaziland at the International
Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
See also
HOW
SWAZI KING DESTROYED IRON MINE
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/02/how-swazi-king-destroyed-iron-mine.html
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