Swaziland Newsletter No. 897 – 3 October 2025

 

Swaziland Newsletter No. 897 – 3 October 2025

News from and about Swaziland, compiled by Global Aktion, Denmark (www.globalaktion.dk) in collaboration with Swazi Media Commentary (www.swazimedia.blogspot.com), and sent to all with an interest in Swaziland - free of charge. The newsletter and past editions are also available online on the Swazi Media Commentary blogsite.

 

UNAIDS shutdown could disrupt HIV response - NERCHA

By Khulile Thwala, Times of eSwatini, 29 September 2025

SOURCE 

MBABANE: The National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS (NERCHA) is concerned that shutting down UNAIDS by 2026, as proposed, could destabilise the HIV response.

In a UN80 progress report published on September 18, the United Nations (UN) agency, focusing on the HIV/AIDS pandemic, disclosed that it could close by the end of next year as the UN restructures in the face of a funding crisis. The document states that UNAIDS will “sunset” by the end of 2026, part of a set of proposals from the UN to member States, which they will have to decide on. It adds that UNAIDS’ expertise should be shifted into the wider UN system in the following year.

NERCHA says through its multifaceted technical, strategic and advocacy support, alongside its coordinating role within the United Nations system, UNAIDS remains an indispensable partner to NERCHA and the nation at large in the collective pursuit of HIV epidemic control in Eswatini.

“AIDS is not over and the global response is facing its greatest disruption since the early days of the epidemic. We are concerned that sunsetting UNAIDS by 2026, as proposed in the UN80 progress report, would further destabilise the HIV response,” said Manager - Information and Knowledge Centre Sibusiso Ngubane.

He further mentioned that UNAIDS plays a critical leadership and coordination role in the global HIV response, driving progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

Ngubane further detailed that UNAIDS’ engagement encompasses strategic, technical and advocacy assistance, which collectively strengthen the national response to HIV across various critical domains since its establishment in Eswatini in 1996.

To read more of this report, click here

https://www.times.co.sz/news/readmore.php?bhsadjgfoh=UNAIDS+shutdown+could+disrupt+HIV+response+-+NERCHA&yiphi=1187&bvhdgsj=News

 

The U.S. Government remains a steadfast partner in strengthening eSwatini’s public health systems

US Embassy, eSwatini, Facebook post, 30 September 2025

SOURCE

The U.S. Government remains a steadfast partner in strengthening Eswatini’s public health systems. Yesterday, Chargé d’Affaires Marc Weinstock officially handed over 14 vehicles previously used by PEPFAR implementing partners to the Ministry of Health. These vehicles will support ongoing research, clinical services, and oversight as PEPFAR phases out support in certain areas.

The vehicles will benefit critical health programs including the National Cancer Control Program, National TB Control Program, Health Promotion Program, and the Eswatini National AIDS Program—boosting efforts in cervical cancer, TB, and HIV prevention, care, and treatment.

CDA Weinstock reaffirmed the U.S. Government’s commitment to continued collaboration under the new U.S. Global Health Strategy, released last week at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

 

Female workers in Asian-owned shops allege sexual abuse in Siteki

By Wonderboy Dlamini, eSwatini Observer, 29 September 2025

SOURCE 

An undisclosed number of women employed in Asian-owned shops have reported cases of sexual abuse to the ministries of commerce and labour.

According to ministry officials, the women allege they were subjected to sexual abuse in exchange for jobs, promotions, and salary increases. They further claimed to have faced other forms of physical abuse.

This was revealed during a meeting with Asian employers from Siteki last Wednesday evening.

Lubombo Licensing Officer Siboniso Magagula said the meeting was called in response to the rising number of complaints reported to both the commerce and labour ministries in Siteki.

Magagula said he had personally received many calls from women who chose to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of their cases.

The anonymous callers alleged they were pressured into sexual relationships by their employers and supervisors of Asian origin. In exchange, they were promised permanent jobs and better salaries, promises that were never fulfilled.

Some women further reported being falsely accused of theft and then coerced into sexual acts with their employers to clear their names.

Magagula noted that many victims were too shy or embarrassed to report their cases to the police.

To read more of this report, click here

https://eswatiniobserver.com/female-workers-in-asian-owned-shops-allege-sexual-abuse-in-siteki/

 

Swaziland Unemployed People’s Movement (SUPMO) members stage silent protests across the country amid scarcity of jobs

By Nontsetselelo Nkambule, Swaziland News, 1 October, 2025

SOURCE 

MBABANE: The Swaziland Unemployed Peoples’ Movement (SUPMO) staged silent protests across various parts of the country on Wednesday, drawing attention to the escalating unemployment crisis, widespread inequalities, and persistent poverty in the tiny undemocratic Kingdom of eSwatini.

The peaceful protests were visible along major roads in areas including Fairview, kaKhoza and Gilgal, where participants held placards bearing messages that highlighted their demands and grievances.

Eswatini is facing escalating levels of poverty and unemployment, about 70% of the population lives below the poverty line.

SUPMO members called for urgent Government action to address the unemployment crisis, demanding the creation of jobs and the provision of land grants to all unemployed citizens. 

But among the key demands was a living grant of one thousand five hundred Rands(R1,500.00) for unemployed individuals, aimed at alleviating financial hardship and providing basic standard of living. 

Swaziland Unemployed People’s Movement (SUPMO) members stage silent protests across the country amid scarcity of jobs in the tiny undemocratic Kingdom

Swaziland monarch’s call for UN recognition of Taiwan is ‘not sovereign diplomacy, but imperial control’: Communist Party

By Pavan Kulkarni, Peoples Dispatch, 29 September 2025

SOURCE 

Swaziland is the only African country to recognize Taiwan, which helps perpetuate the continent’s last absolute monarchy, enriching the royal family and arming its repression, while grabbing Swazi land and exploiting its cheap labor.

Condemning King Mswati III for advocating Taiwan’s secession from China in his address to the UN General Assembly last week, the Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) said that his call for UN recognition of Taiwan is “not sovereign diplomacy, but imperial control.”

The last absolute monarch in Africa, Mswati reigns over Swaziland, which is the last African country to recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty. It is one of eleven worldwide, mostly Caribbean and some small Pacific islands, which recognize the island nation.

However, the US itself officially endorses the one-China policy, which is the UN’s position. Mswati’s foreign policy against this international consensus “does not represent the aspirations of the working people of Swaziland”, where political parties are banned. It only “reflects the monarch’s role as a client of imperialist forces,” added the CPS’s statement on September 27.

Taiwanese aid to Swaziland “never reaches the working class and poor, but is diverted to sustain the lavish lifestyles of the royal elite” of the country, over a third of whose population survives on less than a dollar a day.

One example is the “donation of two Bell UH-1H decommissioned in Taiwan in 2020,” recalls CPS head of publicity, Sandile Xaba. “Though formally in custody of the army, a royal prince has been seen… flying it to visit his girlfriend”, sharing images and videos online.

Such a conspicuous display is in line with the royal tradition of Mswati, who flaunts his palaces, a fleet of Rolls-Royce cars, and private jets before a population struggling to eke out a living. Anti-monarchist sentiments have long been brewing in the population.

Pro-democracy protests, mostly limited to urban, working-class areas in the past decades, had spread across the rural swathes, manifesting in country-wide mass demonstrations in mid-2021. When attacks on these peaceful marches by security forces provoked an uprising, Mswati, with his properties under attack, fled his kingdom, returning only after his army violently crushed the insurrection, killing dozens and wounding hundreds.

“It is widely known that Taiwan supplies arms and also provides training for the army,” Xaba, who is also an activist in the Swaziland Solidarity Network, told Peoples Dispatch. “During the 2021 uprising, helicopters, weapons, and ammunition supplied by Taiwan were used by the Swaziland army to kill protesters.”

To read more of this report, click here

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/09/29/swaziland-monarchs-call-for-un-recognition-of-taiwan-is-not-sovereign-diplomacy-but-imperial-control-communist-party/

 

SWAZI MEDIA COMMENTARY

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Swaziland sees increase in sexual violence against children as schools closed by coronavirus

The closure of schools in Swaziland (eSwatini) because of the coronavirus pandemic has led to an increase in sexual and gender based violence against children, a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report suggests.

Schools across the kingdom were closed in March 2020 as part of a partial lockdown of businesses and organisations because of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Some schools have since reopened.

The disruption affected 909 primary and secondary schools, approximately 339,000 learners and 15,945 teachers in Swaziland. Also affected were 12 government-aided tertiary institutions that fall under the broad jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) with a total of 13,959 students and 748 lecturers, the report stated.

It added, ‘School dropout rates might rise, school closures have higher social and economic costs for communities, particularly to vulnerable boys and girls. The girl child faces higher vulnerabilities than boys, and school closures increase the risk of hunger for orphaned children.’

It added, ‘The impact is particularly severe for the most vulnerable and marginalized boys and girls and their families. Some of them are exposed to gender based violence, especially sexual violence.’

According to official Swazi police figures, during the period of lockdown between 27 March and 19 April, 299 sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) cases were reported of which 53 were rape and 213 domestic violence cases. The age group 12 to 17 years has been more vulnerable to sexual violence. In April alone, 30 out of 47 reported rape cases were from this group. Some of them were exposed to gender based violence, especially sexual violence.

Some pupils from poorer backgrounds might not be able to return to education when the coronavirus crisis ended, UNDP reported, because they had fewer educational opportunities beyond school. ‘Their non-return, therefore, could deprive them of opportunities for growth and development, end their hopes of escaping poverty for themselves and their families, plunge them deeper into the inequality chasm and reduce overall human capital in the economy. As a result, there most likely will be a rise in the school dropout rates due to teenage pregnancies and child marriage.’

The report said that experience elsewhere in the past showed an increase in teenage pregnancies attributed largely to the closure of schools.

Classes have been moved from classrooms to online. The introduction of this distance education, using information and communications technology (ICT) such as computers and the Internet, had its problems for pupils, teachers and parents, the UNDP reported.

‘Learning from home and using ICT for the first time is challenging and requires discipline and motivation that is more suited to older learners. Anecdotal evidence shows that teachers experience confusion and stress when schools close, especially unexpectedly and for unknown durations. They are often unsure of their obligations and how to maintain connections with students to continue to support the learning process.

‘Not being trained in the use of ICT, they find it messy and frustrating to make an easy transition to the distance learning platforms even in the best of circumstances. In many contexts, school closures lead to separation for teachers. They experience social isolation because schools are hubs of social activity and human interaction. Thus, when schools close, especially suddenly, many children and youths miss out on social contact, which is essential to learning and development. This also affects their teachers, too, experience has shown.’

Poorer children suffer when schools move classes online. ‘Many households find it hard enough to pay the school fees to keep their children in school not to talk of buying a computer or smartphone or some other equipment required for e-Learning. Students who are fortunate enough to scale the hurdle of acquiring computer facilities for e-Learning may be said to have escaped a trap, a poverty-induced trap. But they still have other traps to escape, the report stated. ‘Online learning is also not accessible to all children equally. Children from poor households and those living with disabilities could easily be left behind.’

It added there were dangers exposing children to the Internet, including the possibility of sexual exploitation, trafficking, grooming and potential cyberbullying with possible destructive consequences.

 

See also

Swaziland teachers say Govt. plan to reopen schools from coronavirus lockdown unsafe

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/06/swaziland-teachers-say-govt-plan-to.html

Swaziland schools reopen from coronavirus lockdown amid fears virus not peaked

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/07/swaziland-schools-reopen-from.html

Swaziland police force schoolchildren back to classes after boycott supporting suspended teachers

Police were called when pupils at Mhubhe High School in Swaziland / eSwatini boycotted classes in support of two of their teachers who had been suspended from duty.
 

The pupils at the school in Ngulwini gathered around the school yard, singing and chanting for about four hours. The Times of Swaziland reported on Friday (24 May 2019), they were ‘demanding that the suspended teachers at the school be brought back to resume their duties’.

The two suspended teachers are Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) President Mbongwa Dlamini and John Hoffman, who is also a union activist.

SNAT has accused the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) of an attack on the union for suspending Dlamini who is accused of absenteeism from school.

SNAT said in a statement, , 'Chief amongst these charges is becoming a union leader and participating in legitimate trade union activities.’

There have been disturbances at the school in recent weeks after pupils demonstrated against some teachers who they said were sexually abusing them. Police fired rubber bullets and teargas at the pupils.

Six pupils were later charged with theft and destruction of property. They were denied bail and remanded in custody. An online petition organised by Swaziland Human Rights Network UK called for their release on bail. The pupils were later released on bail. 

Teachers boycotted classes for two days because they felt insulted to be accused of sexual misconduct. They returned to work on the instruction of MoET.

See also

Swaziland police fire rubber bullets at schoolchildren protesting sexual abuse by teacher

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/05/swaziland-police-fire-rubber-bullets-at.html

Swaziland teachers claim victimisation as govt hits union president with disciplinary charges

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/02/swaziland-teachers-claim-victimisation_5.html

 

Swaziland police shoot, wound teacher during protest over pay, tensions high on eve of national election

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/08/swaziland-police-shoot-and-wound.html

Swaziland police fire rubber bullets at schoolchildren protesting sexual abuse by teacher

Police fired rubber bullets and teargas at pupils at a school in Swaziland /eSwatini when they protested about sexual abuse on them by a teacher.

It happened at Mhubhe High School at Ngculwini, 15 km from the main commercial city of Manzini, the Times of Swaziland reported on Thursday (9 May 2019).

The newspaper said, ‘The pupils were protesting against one of their teachers, who occupies a senior position in the school, whom they accused of sexually abusing female pupils in the learning institution.’

The Times reported pupils damaged property at the school. The Times called it ‘Total mayhem!’ and added, ‘Rubber bullets and teargas canisters flew in the air.’

The Swazi Observer reported the school’s administration block was vandalised and set on fire. 

The school has been closed indefinitely.

The pupils were protesting against child sexual abuse, which is widespread in Swaziland. Swazi culture condones sex abuse of children, especially young girls. Child rapists often blame women for their action.

The State of the Swaziland Population report revealed that women who ‘sexually starve’ their husbands were blamed for the growing sexual abuse of children.

Men who were interviewed during the making of the report said they ‘salivate’ over children wearing skimpy clothes because their wives refused them sexual intercourse.

According to the Swaziland Action Group against Abuse (SWAGAA), one in three girls and women between ages 13 and 24 had been a victim of sexual violence. Although rape is legally defined as a crime, many men regarded it as a minor offense. 

‘The number of reported cases was likely far lower than the actual number of cases, as many cases were dealt with at the family level. A sense of shame and helplessness often inhibited women from reporting such crimes, particularly when incest was involved,’ SWAGAA reported.

In Swaziland rape is against the law but Swazi Law and Custom allows a husband to rape his wife. This is stated in the 317-page document The Indigenous Law and Custom of the Kingdom of Swaziland. 

See also

Swazi child rape is not unusual

http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/swazi-child-rape-is-not-unusual.html
 

‘Investigate prince for child sex’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/investigate-prince-for-child-sex.html 

‘Dad rapes daughter to test virginity’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/05/dad-rapes-daughter-to-test-virginity.html

‘DAD RAPES DAUGHTER TO TEST VIRGINITY’

A father in Swaziland raped his 16-year-old daughter to test that she was still a virgin, a court has been told.

It is a stark illustration of the way women and girls are treated in the kingdom where traditional law allows husbands to rape their wives and condones men having sex with children.

The Times of Swaziland reported on Monday (21 May 2018) that the 46-year-old man from the Lubombo region in the east of the kingdom made a statement to a judicial officer at Siteki Magistrates Court. He said he had argued with his daughter because he thought she had been sleeping with boys. He asked if she was still a virgin and she told him she was.

The newspaper reported, ‘However, the man confessed that he did not believe his daughter, hence he suggested that he should test her virginity. He unashamedly told the judicial officer that he allegedly forcefully had sexual intercourse with his daughter as a way of “testing” her virginity.’

He was charged with aggravated rape and an unrelated drug offence and remanded by Lubombo Magistrates Court until 1 June 2018.

The case came to light as Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) reported that parents were the main perpetrators of violence in the home. It said that of 332 cases reported in March and April 2018, 43 percent involved mothers or fathers. It added, females continued to be more vulnerable and exposed to abuse.

Women and girls are vulnerable in Swazi culture. In 2013, a 317-page document called The Indigenous Law and Custom of the Kingdom of Swaziland (2013) was presented to King Mswati III who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. It said that under Swazi Law and Custom a husband can legally rape his wife or his lover. Under Chapter 7, which addresses offences (emacala) in Swaziland, rape is said to be committed only if the woman forced is not the man’s wife or lover.

In 2015, a report from a US organisation ABCNewspoint stated that Swaziland had the fourth highest rate of rape in the world. It said there were 77.5 registered cases of rape among 100,000 people.

Four in six married women interviewed in the street in Mbabane by the Swazi News in October 2017 said their husbands had the right to rape them. Some wives said their husbands deserved sex whenever they wanted.

Rape and sexual abuse of children is common in Swaziland. In 2013, Unicef reported that one in three girls in Swaziland were sexually abused, usually by a family member and often by their own fathers - 75 percent of the perpetrators of sexual violence were known to the victim.

Many men in Swaziland believed was all right to rape children if their own wives were not giving them enough sex. In 2009, men who were interviewed during the making of the State of the Swaziland Population report said they ‘“salivate” over children wearing skimpy dress codes because they are sexually starved in their homes.’

See also

PRINCESS'S ‘SOLUTION’ TO MARITAL RAPE

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/princesss-solution-to-marital-rape.html

PASTORS TOLD ‘YOU ARE SEX MOLESTERS’

Some church leaders in Swaziland abuse their female congregants, a workshop in the kingdom was told.

They take advantage of young girls and women and devise ways of making them ‘fall for them’. They also commit adultery.

A police officer also told pastors they behaved like ‘monsters’ and beat up their wives.

Pastor Joseph Mazibela Dlamini told a dialogue facilitated by the Shiselweni Crime Prevention unit and Nhlangano AIDS Training and Counselling Centre (NATICC) at Bethesda Church that some pastors, ‘were doing wayward things in the name of being leaders’. 

The Swazi Observer reported on Wednesday (11 April 2018), he said, ‘There are some of us who take advantage of the situation of our church members and abuse them.’

The newspaper said, ‘Dlamini said there were church leaders who after noticing a needy member, would come forward and pretend to save that member when in actual fact, they had hidden agendas.’

It quoted him saying, ‘We abuse our members in particular the females. There are some of us who are failed by our flesh and when we notice a needy female, we pretend to be there for her when we know very well that we expect that woman to offer herself to us. 

‘There are situations where young girls in our churches look desperate and then a pastor would think of a plan to make her fall for him. They approach these women and buy them clothing and all that. We commit adultery with our members taking advantage of the situation they are facing.’

Another speaker, Pastor Jabulani Sikhondze, said church leaders were custodians of the gospel and should live a clean life. The Observer reported, ‘He said it was worrying that these days that church leaders were implicated in scandals with others even ending up in courts.’

At the same meeting Inspector Fanyana Dlamini, who is in charge of the Domestic Violence and Child Protection in the Shiselweni region, told the pastors, ‘Some of you are monsters. There are those of you who are wife bashers in our midst.’

The Swazi Observer reported on Tuesday (10 April 2018) she said ‘Some of you take to the pulpit knowing very well that they do not live the life they preach to the congregants. We have dealt with several cases of church leaders who abuse their wives in different forms. We have attended to cases touching on church leaders who are of double standards. Some of you are also molesters with the victims being members of the church.’

Fanyana Dlamini also told the meeting that the the Shiselweni Domestic Violence and Child Protection department had attended to 1,025 cases of abuse in just a year. These included sexual, emotional and financial abuse. 

Dlamini said, ‘Some of those implicated were church leaders. As a department, we often attend to cases where the pastor is the culprit.’

See also 

PASTOR AND THE PRYING SWAZI PRESS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2008/02/pastor-and-prying-swazi-press.html

 

SWAZI MORALISTS ATTACK WIDOW

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2008/02/swazi-moralists-attack-widow.html

BOSSES DEMAND SEX FROM WORKERS

Male bosses in Swaziland demand sexual favours from their domestic workers, a new report reveals.

Many women quit their jobs rather than give themselves up for sex.

The information comes from Women and Law in Southern Africa - Swaziland (WLSA) where these cases were reported.

The Swazi Observer reported on Thursday (14 September 2017), 43 cases of exploitation against domestic workers had been reported to WLSA in the past three months. 

The reported cases include sexual abuse, not being released on off-days, working extremely hard with no specific time to knock off and being called names.

The Observer reported, ‘Late last month, a domestic worker, Gugu Hlatjwako endured five hours of torture allegedly by her employer who is said to have used a live electric cable while interrogating her for alleged theft.’

Sexual abuse of women by employers is not uncommon in Swaziland.

In July 2016 it was reported that women temporary employees at Swaziland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) had allegedly been forced to have sex with their bosses to keep their jobs. 

The women were engaged in the Swaziland Population and Housing Census and the Swaziland Household Income and Expenditure Surveys, according to a report in the Observer on Saturday newspaper (2 July 2016). It said senior employees who were employed on a permanent basis demanded sexual favours from the temporary workers if they wanted to keep their jobs.

An unnamed source told the newspaper, ‘The CSO bosses are taking advantage of the female staff. They have wives yet they use their power to have sex with the defenceless young girls so they can keep their jobs.’

Physical and sexual abuse has been prevalent in Swaziland’s textile industry for years. In July 2014 a survey of the Swaziland textile industry undertaken by the Trades Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) revealed workers were subjected to harsh and sometimes abusive conditions, many of the kingdom’s labour laws were routinely violated by employers, and union activists were targeted by employers for punishment. 

More than 90 percent of workers surveyed reported being punished by management for making errors, not meeting quotas or missing shifts. More than 70 percent of survey respondents reported witnessing verbal and physical abuse in their workplace by supervisors.

Commenting on the survey, the American labour federation AFL-CIO said, ‘Some workers reported that supervisors slap or hit workers with impunity. In one example, a worker knocked to the ground by a line manager was suspended during an investigation of the incident while the line manager continued in her job.

‘Women reported instances of sexual harassment, as well. Several workers said they or other contract (temporary) workers were offered a permanent job in exchange for sex.’

University students are also not immune from sexual abuse. In November 2012 it was reported at a Colloquium on Sexual Harassment in Higher Learning Institutions held at the University of Swaziland that some male lecturers demanded sex in return for good grades.

See also

SWAZI TEXTILE WORKERS EXPLOITED

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/swazi-textile-workers-exploited.html

PARENTS TRADE OWN GIRLS FOR SEX

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/parents-trade-own-girls-for-sex.html

 

SOLDIERS SEX OF FOOD WITH GIRLS, 14

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/soldiers-sex-for-food-with-girls-14.html

PARENTS TRADE OWN GIRLS FOR SEX

Parents in Swaziland are letting men have sex with their girl children to determine whether they want to marry them, local police reported.

A police spokesman said parents were exploiting the children ‘by using them as sex tools for quick marriages’, the Swazi Observer newspaper reported (26 June 2017).

The newspaper reported Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Assistant Superintendent Phindile Vilakati saying that some children were abducted and raped. It reported, ‘Vilakati said in many of the abduction cases, police have discovered that parents of the female minors were also involved by allowing the practice to take place right under their noises.’

Vilakati said the number of abduction cases where the parents were involved in exploiting their own children was increasing.

The newspaper reported Vilakati saying, ‘This worries us because it then means that the girl child is not safe anywhere she goes, yet a home is where a child is supposed to be safe. Unfortunately, some parents are so eager to receive dowry that they allow their children to be exploited by adults who first have sex with the child and then determine if whether or not they will marry that particular child.’

See also

SWAZI CHILD RAPE IS NOT UNUSUAL

http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/swazi-child-rape-is-not-unusual.html