TROUBLE AND STRIFE FOR SWAZI KING

Swaziland’s King Mswati III is confronting a revolt as three of his 13 queens have abandoned the palace since he took the throne in 1986.

And more of his queens are trying to break out of the palace, according to a report in Independent Newspapers, South Africa.

A royal source says some of the queens are frustrated as the king has allowed many months to pass without “visiting” them. They accuse him of seeking his pleasures outside the palace instead.

This comes after revelations about the recent unceremonious departure from the palace of LaDube, the king’s estranged 12th wife, after she had been accused of having a relationship with former minister of justice and constitutional affairs Ndumiso Mamba. To make matters worse, Mamba was the king’s business confidant and friend.

After the affair came to the king’s attention, he denied LaDube conjugal rights, according to insiders. They say he was trying to make palace life intolerable for her so that she would leave.

She is officially no longer part of the royal family and has been dumped at her maternal grandmother’s home in Hhohho.

She has been separated from her children, the youngest being two years. She has no food and the house she was dumped in has no bedding.

LaDube was the third of Mswati’s wives to leave the palace.

She followed LaMagwaza and LaHwala, who both now live in South Africa.

LaMagwaza was accused of having a steamy sexual relationship with a South African toy boy. Sources claimed that she was sex starved, as the king would not visit her.

At the height of the sex scandal, she was granted permission to visit her family home at Mbekelweni in central Swaziland and never returned. She is reported to be living a prosperous life after marrying an SA tycoon with whom she has a child.

LaHwala was also neglected by the king who would deny her conjugal rights for six months at a time.

Her uncle and guardian, Simon Noge, made a special request to the king for her to visit South Africa. She never returned. She is reportedly struggling, but one source said the palace was planning build her a house in South Africa since she has royal children.

To read the full Independent report, click here.

See also

‘TIMES SIDES WITH TV AGAINST QUEEN’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/11/times-sides-with-tv-against-queen.html

KING’S WIFE THROWN OUT OF PALACE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/11/kings-wife-thrown-out-of-palace.html

NO FOOD OR BEDDING FOR KING’S WIFE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/11/no-food-or-bedding-for-kings-wife.html

S AFRICAN LOAN NOT AGREED (YET)

South Africa has not agreed to give Swaziland a R1.2 billion loan, despite reports circulating on the Internet that it has.

But, that doesn’t mean that it won’t agree sometime in the future.

Reports circulated yesterday (27 June 2011) after the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) issued a statement condemning the loan. This was swiftly followed by a statement from the Swaziland Democracy Campaign taking the same line.

Such is the way that the Internet works, the SSN statement became ‘the truth’, even though there was no evidence that the loan had been granted.

Today, the Independent on-Line newspapers in South Africa report that the ‘loan could not be confirmed with South African officials but last week the government confirmed it had received a request for a loan and was considering it’, which sounds like the Independent is hedging its bets a bit.

The Sowetan newspaper was also unable to get confirmation of the loan from the South African Government.

So what is going on? We do know for sure that the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) has met to discuss Swaziland’s economic crisis. Last week, the African Development bank refused to grant Swaziland a loan (thought to be for US$100 million), because, contrary to statements put out by the Swaziland Government, it didn’t have the support of the International Monetary Fund.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes there is a flurry of activity involving those who want to see South Africa give Swaziland a loan and those who don’t.

Elements within the South African Government are briefing that they would like to give the loan to Swaziland. Their reasoning is that they don’t want to see Swaziland going the same way as Zimbabwe. For them, the stability of Swaziland’s economy and that of the Southern Africa region more generally is of prime importance.

Yesterday, it became known that Swaziland’s foreign reserves are dwindling month on month and there is only enough left to cover about 10 weeks’ worth of imports and other foreign expenses.

There are also fears that if Swaziland’s economy collapses, the Swazi currency – the lilangeni – would have to de-link from the South African Rand, causing it to become virtually worthless overnight.

While this is going on opposition groups in Swaziland are trying to seize the agenda by circulating reports of a ‘done deal’ on the loan and stressing how South Africa has ‘betrayed’ the Swazi people.

This could play well with trade unions in South Africa and certain elements of the African National Congress (South Africa’s ruling party).

Whatever South Africa decides to do about the loan, it unlikely that politicians can make a decision in secret, parliament would have to discuss it first.

The same goes for any decision the SACU might make. The constituent nations would want to discuss the plan in their own parliaments. And there is no guarantee that a SACU-backed rescue plan would meet universal approval. Lesotho, a nation with grave economic problems of its own, could reasonably ask why it is expected to contribute to a bail out of Swaziland, especially when it is widely acknowledged that successive Swazi governments had squandered money from SACU in past years.

So, it’s not over yet. But as media in Swaziland are reporting today, the Swazi government will not be able to pay public servants’ salaries next month, so time is of the essence.

SEX SCANDAL MINISTER REARRESTED

Ndumiso Mamba, the Swazi justice minister fired when he was caught in bed with one of King Mswati III’s queens, has been rearrested by authorities to prevent him fleeing the country with his considerable assets, according to Swazi opposition activists.

But Swaziland police deny Mamba was ever arrested in the first place.

Independent Newspapers in South Africa reports today (15 August 2010) that Mamba had transferred all his money from his Swaziland bank account to the account of a Ukraine-based company he owns.

The news group quotes Lucky Lukhele, of the South African chapter of the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), saying, ‘By the looks of things he is preparing to skip the country.’

Mamba was arrested on 27 July in his room in the Royal Villas hotel near the royal palace in Ezulwini with King Mswati’s 12th wife, the 22-year-old Nothando Dube, (also known as Inkhosikati LaDube).

He was soon released - after a beating from the police, Swazi sources said.

But Lukhele said he had heard Mamba had later been rearrested. Other Swazi sources said he had signing rights on behalf of King Mswati in joint business ventures, so the authorities were not going to let him flee the country.

LaDube was not the first of Mswati’s queens to stray from the royal bed, the news group says. In 2004 a young Soweto man, Lizo Shabangu, told a South Africa newspaper he had had an affair with Mswati's wife, Delisa Magwaza (LaMagwaza). She fled to Cape Town when the news broke and is now said to live in London.

The same year another of his wives, Putsoana Hwala (LaHwala), also fled the royal palace to South Africa amid reports of infidelity.

Because the royal authorities shroud any hint of royal misbehaviour in secrecy, ordinary Swazis do not know for sure what will happen to either Mamba or LaDube.

Some believe Mswati will not banish his unfaithful wife, as he is concerned about who will care for their children. This problem came to the fore when the other two queens fled the palace.

Asked to comment on the report, specifically that Mamba had been rearrested, Swazi government spokesperson Macanjana Motsa said ‘there's nothing of that sort’.

Asked specifically about reports Mamba had been arrested on 27 July in the hotel room, leading to his resignation, Swazi police spokesperson Wendy Hleta said, ‘We have no reports of the arrest of Mr Mamba.’

She added, ‘We have never arrested him. We can’t comment on what he is doing now.’

‘INDEPENDENT’ ON ACTIVIST KILLING

This is how the Independent group of newspapers in South Africa reported on the death in a Swazi jail of Swaziland democracy activist Sipho Jele.

SOURCE

6 May 2010

Man allegedly killed in Swazi jail

A Swaziland political party leader on Thursday accused police of killing one of its members while in custody after being arrested for wearing a party T-shirt.

Sipho Jele, a timber industry worker, died in prison in the Swazi capital Mbabane this week after being arrested for wearing a T-shirt of the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) at a May Day rally at the weekend said Mario Masuku, the party's president.

Police said Jele had hanged himself, an explanation Masuku rejected as "absolute nonsense".

"He was brought to the high court Monday, but on Tuesday morning we learnt that he hanged himself. We do not believe that," Masuku told reporters.

Swaziland's commissioner of correctional services was not available for comment.

Political organisations have been banned by law in the small southern African kingdom since 1973.

The government of King Mswati III is known for cracking down on political activists and pro-democracy campaigners.

National police spokesman superintendent Vusi Masuku said Jele was arrested under the Suppression of Terrorism Act, a law that Amnesty International has condemned as violating Swazis' freedom of expression, association and assembly.

"If a person is seen wearing something or being a member of that particular terrorist group which was banned by the laws of the country, he should be arrested," Masuku said.

PUDEMO's president denied his party is a terrorist organisation, saying: "This is merely a way of suppressing diverging voices." - Sapa-AFP

Published on the Web by IOL on 2010-05-06 16:59:40