SWAZI DANCE - MORE FOREIGN PRESS

Depending upon which media outlet you choose to believe (if you believe any of them) anything up to 130,000 ‘maidens’ danced for Swaziland’s King Mswati III at the Reed Dance this year.

The Swazi Observer reported 130,000 girls took part, but international news sources put the figure much lower.

Playing with numbers is not a new thing when it comes to the Reed Dance. There is always a tendency on the part of the Swazi media to overestimate the numbers taking part. I can’t be sure whether this is because journalists in Swaziland can’t count (and let’s be honest there’s plenty of evidence from the things they write and broadcast that many are challenged in this department) or they just want to exaggerate the numbers to make the event (and by extension the King) seem more popular than it really is.

This year’s event received much attention in the media outside of Swaziland, mainly because international news agencies were there to report it. The agencies send their reports to news organisations across the world. That means that a single report could appear in countless newspapers, websites and broadcasting outlets across the world.

It also means that the way these agencies report the event and what they highlight (and what they choose to miss out) determines what most people in the world get to learn about the Reed Dance and Swaziland more generally.

Yesterday, I posted the report sent out by the international news agency Reuters.

Here is a report sent by another news agency Agence France-Press (AFP).

Unlike the Reuter report, AFP downplayed the ‘bare breasted’ dancing, but nonetheless emphasised that the dancers were ‘maidens’. Considering the highly sexualised nature of the Reed Dance it is perhaps disconcerting to learn that girls as ‘young as six years of age’ took part.

Record turnout as virgins dance for Swaziland's king

1 September 2008

LUDZIDZINI, Swaziland (AFP) — Tens of thousands of virgin maidens danced Monday for Swaziland's King Mswati III in a traditional reed dance at Ludzidzini palace outside the capital Mbabane.

The final day of the annual dance attracted a record 70,000 girls, some of them as young as six years of age.

The girls -- dressed in colourful Swazi regalia -- came from all corners of the mountain kingdom in a display of pride in their culture and virtue.

The ceremony has a more serious mission -- to draw attention to AIDS and encourage abstinence among young women, in a small southern African nation ravaged by AIDS and poverty.

Swaziland has one of the highest AIDS prevalence rates in the world, with almost 40 percent of adults affected, according to UN data.

"As a young Swazi woman, it is very important for me to here. I have been attending the dance since I was 14 years of age," university student Landile Hlongwa, 24, told AFP.

King Mswati has 13 wifes, and he could pick another from among the dancers.

"Being chosen by the king would be a bonus for me. I would like occupy one of the royal palaces one day," Hlongwa said shyly.

In 2005 the monarch triggered an outcry when he selected a 17-year-old to be his 13th wife just days after he ended an official ban on sex for girls younger than 18.

The bare-breasted maidens -- led by the king's own daughters -- sang and chanted traditional songs before thousands of spectators and tourists who gathered at a sports field outside the palace.

Groups of girls, some clad in sarongs bearing the face of Africa's last absolute monarch, took turns in dancing to traditional rhythms while some of the queens and other royals joined in.

"This year's record attendance is an indication that our children have more understanding of what our culture is about," said event co-ordinator Irene Ngwane.

This year's ceremony precedes a controversial "40-40" celebration to mark the impoverished kingdom's 40 years of independence from Britain as well as the king's birthday.

That much-anticipated event has touched off unprecedented demonstrations against international shopping trips by the royal family and the purchase of luxury cars at a time when most Swazis live in poverty.

The lavish celebration takes place Saturday.

See also

SWAZILAND REED DANCE FIRST REPORT

CALL FOR DEMOCRACY IN SWAZILAND

Open Letter on the present situation in Swaziland Press Release: Africa Contact

Africa Contact: Open Letter on the present situation in Swaziland

African Union (AU)

Southern African Development Community (SADC)

Commonwealth of Nations

European Union

Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF)

International press and media

August 31, 2008

Internationally, the royal disregard for fundamental democratic rights has been ignored. The election of King Mswati as the Chairperson of the SADC [Southern Africa Development Community] Organ on politics, defence and security, which is responsible for the defence of democracy in the region, is absolutely unacceptable. Royal governance has been no less than a catastrophe for its people.

The Swazi regime is spending an extreme level of resources on the coming 40/40 celebrations, the royal birthday and so-called independence day. Royal independence has created a state of oppression and inequality that is unacceptable, a state of hunger and a mortality of the people that is deeply tragic.

Women have marched to government offices in Mbabane, angered by the abuse and corruption of the royal regime. Again and again, the Swaziland rulers have harassed the democratic movement, trade unions leaders and representatives of the democratic movement.

There is no other way than to demand:

+ Lifting of the royal ban on multiparty politics and the right to participate in public institutions. A ban created by royal proclamation to the nation in 1973 and continuing in the constitution introduced in 2005.

+ The right to return of all political fugitives. There are many who remain in exile for fear of persecution by the state.

+ A representative national convention creating a democratic constitution which will be a true representation of the people of Swaziland, of their needs and their future.

+ An end to the corruption and greed of a royal family and a ruling minority that is a deep threat to the future of Swazi society.

There is no other way. Africa Contact (Denmark) has for years supported the democratic movement in Swaziland. Also with the hope that it could achieve its goal through peaceful means, but such a hope seems deeply threatened now in a time of permanent crisis.

Link http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0809/S00034.htm

SWAZILAND REED DANCE FIRST REPORT

Tomorrow (Tuesday 2 September 2008) Swaziland’s newspapers will be full of reports and photographs of the Reed Dance which took place today (Monday).

I can’t predict the future but it is a fair guess to say that they will be gushing in their praise for the ‘maidens’ who gathered to dance for King Mswati III. Readers will be told that this ‘traditional’ ceremony (that dates all the way back to 1999) cements the nation and shows how much people love their king.

In advance of those articles, here’s a report that the respected news agency Reuters sent out across the world about the Reed Dance. I think it’s a shame that it left to the end, the news that one of the King’s wives drew up in a BMW car and ‘Policemen told people to look the other way.’

Astute readers will note that the whole event is framed by the image of ‘bare breasted virgins’ dancing. The general tone of the Reuters’ report is not supportive of the King and it puts the ceremony in a wider context of Swaziland’s poverty and the monarch’s wealth.

Bare-breasted virgins compete for Swaziland king

Mon Sep 1, 2008 10:32pm IST

LUDZIDZINI ROYAL VILLAGE, Swaziland (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of bare-breasted virgins competed for Swaziland King Mswati III's eye on Monday in a traditional Reed Dance.

Walking through the dense crowds in a leopard skin loin cloth, Sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarch was expected to choose his 14th wife.

Critics say Mswati, who has courted controversy for his lavish lifestyle while two thirds of his subjects live in poverty, sets a bad example by encouraging polygamy and teenage sex in a country where about 40 percent of adults live with HIV.

Some of the women did not seem to mind, hoping to escape from the southern African nation's hardships for the easy life.

"I came here to dance. I wish the king would have chosen me because it's nice at the king's place. The wives live a nice life," said Tenene Dlamini, 16, in a traditional brown skirt.

"Everything is done for them. They don't work. They earn."

The Reed Dance has been a big date on the Swaziland cultural calendar since Mswati began the ceremony in 1999.

But he may not be as relaxed this year among the throngs of young half-naked women.

Political groups seeking democratic reforms have become more active in a country where the opposition has been effectively banned since 1973 by royal decree.

They are critical of plans to hold next weekend's celebrations of the king's 40th birthday in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of Swaziland's independence from Britain.

Still, some of Swaziland's women came to the Ludzidzini Royal Village to show their admiration for the monarch.

"I respect the king and I respect my culture," said Nontobeko Sdidlamini, 16, carrying a shield made of animal skin and wearing an orange bracelet which read "Sex Can Wait".

Some said they would not want to be part of a polygamous arrangement with the king and were taking part in the ceremony to prove their virginity. Others fear they lost out.

"My sister is the king's tenth wife. I don't think he can choose me because he has already chosen my sister," said Zandisile Ntentesa, a 21-year-old prison employee.

The king, flanked by bodyguards with pistols and sticks, may face pressure from emboldened critics. But he can take comfort from the wealth which wins him tributes and songs at the reed ceremony.

Last month, Forbes magazine listed him as the 15th-richest monarch in the world. He was the only African on the list.

During the reed festivities, one of the king's wives drove up in a fancy BMW. Policemen told people to look the other way.

(Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Link http://in.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idINL148259220080901?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

SWAZILAND HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

In Swaziland, the more things change the more they stay the same.

With the national election presently taking place in Swaziland, progressives are complaining about the lack of democracy in the kingdom. King Mswati III is an autonomous monarch and the Swazi parliament has no real power. Political parties are banned and the King chooses who he wants as Prime Minister, even if that person has not been elected to parliament.

There is a misunderstanding in some quarters in Swaziland and in the international community that in the past things used to be different. Next week (6 September 2008) Swaziland marks the 40th anniversary of its independence from Great Britain, so now might be a good time to remind ourselves of the controversy that surrounded the 1968 independence and what happened next.

Elections had been held in April 1967 and the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) won 20 percent of the votes, but no seats in parliament. This was because of the way constituencies were drawn up and the fact that the candidate with the highest vote in each constituency won the seat in parliament.

The Imbkodvo National Movement, a party set up by King Sobhuza II, won all seats to parliament.

Even though the NNLC clearly had a large amount of support in the kingdom, it was not allowed to be part of the discussions Swaziland had in 1968 with Great Britain in London over the terms of independence.

The Times of Swaziland reported at the time (23 February 1968) that NNLC leader Dr Ambrose Zwane and supporters went to London uninvited and lay down on the cold steps of Marlborough House, venue of the independence conference, as a protest.

They were eventually carried away by policemen.

Zwane told reporters, ‘I am furious that only chiefs and white settlers have been invited to the conference.’

He added, ‘There are two South Africans in the delegation to London. They are the Trojan Horse in Swaziland and it is only a matter of time before Swaziland becomes another Bantustan.’

The international media were not much interested in the independence talks, not even in the fact that Swaziland was Britain’s last colony in Africa to be granted independence.

The NNCL protest did however make the news. The Guardian newspaper, (published in Manchester and London, UK) reported (19 February 1968) that the NNLC leaders claim ‘that the [1967] election was unfair and are demanding that there should be a fresh general election before the territory becomes independent’.

The Guardian went on, ‘Their claim is that during the election campaign there was intimidation of the opposition party by the King’s supporters and that the constituencies had been gerrymandering so as to split the forces of the NNLC.’

Although, the powerful elite in Swaziland tried to ignore the NNLC, the international community did not.

On the eve of the independence celebrations, the London-based Financial Times newspaper reported (5 September 1968) that the NNLC could not be ignored. Referring to the 1967 election, the newspaper reported, ‘[NNLC] votes came mainly from the tiny, but growing, white-collar urban working class.

‘Moreover, with hindsight it is now apparent that the vote was not so much for the NNLC but against the Establishment, so that even if Dr Zwane [the NNLC leader] disappears from the scene, the forces which had been channelled through his party will remain.’

A constitution was agreed between Britain and Swaziland which provided for a parliament and political parties, but executive authority would be vested in the hereditary King who would appoint the prime minister and, on the latter's advice, the cabinet.

But that wasn’t enough for King Sobhuza II.

According to Contemporary Review, published in Oxford, UK, (December 1996), ‘In 1973, King Sobhuza staged a coup when he scrapped the constitution in reaction to a perceived threat posed by increased support for the opposition in parliament. (The King’s party, the Imbkodvo National Movement, lost three of the 50 seats in the House of Assembly in 1972 - its first loss since independence - to the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress.) The King's attempt to deport one of the opposition MPs was successfully legally challenged and the King went on to declare a state of emergency: he suspended the constitution, dissolved parliament and set up a national army.

‘Five years later, parliament was reinstated and indirect elections on a non-party basis were held, underpinned by the Tinkhundla (traditional chieftaincy councils) which preserved the royal control of executive and legislative processes. The functions of the Libandla, the bicameral legislature (comprising the House of Assembly and the Senate), were limited to debating government proposals and to advising the King. Eventually, the monarch's control became absolute, increasingly conservative and personal. This was subsequently enshrined in the 1978 Constitution, which introduced the new system of government where the King appointed ten deputies to the 40-member House of Assembly while the remainder were elected indirectly through the Tinkhundla, comprising chiefs appointed by the King. Equally, the King appointed the majority of senators, whilst the House deputies nominated ten of their number to the “upper house”’.

The 1973 Royal Proclamation has not been revoked, even though Swaziland has had a new constitution since 2005.

See also

HISTORY