Africa’s last absolute monarch, King Mswati III, has married another teenage bride who has become his 12th wife, a newspaper report said on Sunday, less than a month after secretly taking another young woman.
This time round the king secretly married Nothando Dube (18) on Saturday, the Times of Swaziland reported.
”It is true that she is now [called] Inkhosikati La Dube and was officially married to the king on Saturday morning,” Jim Gama, governor of Ludzidzini, told the paper.
Dube joined the royal family about a year ago when she was still in school, but had to drop-out because she is not allowed to mix with commoners. The newspaper said this had also been the case with Noliqwa Ntentesa, whom the king married in May.
Mswati (37) has drawn criticism for his lavish lifestyle as ruler of the Southern African kingdom, which has one of the world’s highest HIV/Aids infection rates and where more than 65% of the 1,2-million inhabitants live on less than one dollar a day.
The king, who ascended to the throne at the age of 18, in April organised a million-dollar-plus bash for his 37th birthday.
The celebrations followed the highly-publicised purchase of expensive cars including the half a million dollar Daimler-Chrysler Maybach 62 and a new fleet of Mercedes for him, his wives and two teenage fiancées. ‒ Sapa-AFP