Poor people in Swaziland
get their water from a pond surrounded by human filth because clean water has
been diverted to be used solely by one of King Mswati III’s 13 palaces.
It is happening at
Mazamazama in the Shiselweni region, the Swaziland
News reported on Monday (23 April 2018).
The pond is only a few
metres away from the royal palace. The online newspaper reported, ‘The water crisis within the area exists
despite the availability of a bore that cannot be utilized by the residents as
it was strictly reserved to provide water to the King’s Palace.’
King Mswati rules Swaziland
as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. He has 13 palaces and he and his
family live lavishly. Last week he took delivery of a private A340 Airbus jet that
with upgrades reportedly
cost about US$30 million. At his 50th
birthday party on 19 April 2018 he wore a suit weighing 6 kg that was beaded
with diamonds. His cake had 52 layers. Meanwhile seven in ten of his 1.1
million subjects have incomes less than the equivalent of US$2 per day.
Lucky Mkhwanazi, described
by the newspaper as the ‘Constituency representative’, was quoted saying, ‘The
new borehole cannot be used to provide clean water to the residents as it is
strictly reserved for the Palace.’
One resident told the
newspaper, ‘Now we are sharing water with animals and during the rainy season
human waste is washed towards the ponds. During the winter season, the water
source went dry such that it takes nearly three hours to fill a 20 litre
container.’
The newspaper quoted Shiselweni
Regional Administrator Themba Masuku saying, ‘I would like to assure the
residents that the King remains a visionary leader who wants his people to have
access to clean water. As a result we have established water schemes even in
other areas within the Shiselweni region. We therefore appeal for cooperation
from the residents as we work towards developing their areas.’
See also
POLICE BEAT CROWD HUNGRY FOR FOOD
SWAZI
KING WEARS SUIT OF DIAMONDS
https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/swazi-king-wears-suit-of-diamonds.html
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