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/ 28 February 2006
The head of Swaziland’s oldest political party has pledged to officially register his organisation, testing whether Swaziland’s new Constitution has really marked the end of decades of a royal decree prohibiting political opposition. At a meeting of the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress president Obed Dlamini offered veiled criticism of King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
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/ 7 February 2006
Petrol bombings of government targets in Swaziland continue unabated despite the arrest of 16 members of banned political organisations in connection with the attacks. At the weekend, two flats belonging to police officers at a police housing development in the capital, Mbabane, were fire bombed.
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/ 18 January 2006
The treason case of 16 opposition activists who allegedly fire-bombed government offices in Swaziland was postponed on Tuesday because the accused were not taken to court to attend the hearing. The 16 members of the banned opposition People’s United Democratic Movement were expected to apply for bail but their lawyers asked for a postponement because the group was left behind bars during the court hearing.
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/ 15 January 2006
Treason charges against a group of opposition activists for allegedly bombing state offices in Africa’s last absolute monarchy are sending rumblings through the peaceful hills of Swaziland. For King Mswati III, known as the ”ngwenyama” (lion) of the nation, this is probably the biggest political headache since he ascended the throne two decades ago to continue his father’s rule by decree.
Swazi police have arrested a 14th opposition activist for treason related to a spate of petrol-bomb attacks against courthouses and police officers late last year, officials said on Friday. Bonginkose Dlamini, the secretary general of the opposition People’s United Democratic Movement, was arrested on Thursday evening.
How is a small country to compete in a global marketplace where size is rewarded? Case in point is the tiny Southern African country of Swaziland, nestled between geographic giants South Africa and Mozambique. Its neighbouring countries also have booming economies, while Swaziland is mired in its 10th year of declining economic growth.
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/ 20 December 2005
Nine democracy activists were remanded in custody in Swaziland on Tuesday after brief court appearances in connection with a spate of petrol bombings in Africa’s last absolute monarchy. A police spokesperson said the nine — all members of the banned People’s United Democratic Movement — were rounded up over the weekend.
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/ 1 December 2005
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Events marking World Aids Day were cancelled by royal decree on Thursday in Africa’s last absolute monarchy because they clashed with a traditional ceremony scheduled for the same day. The announcement shocked activists in a country where more than 38% of the one-million population are infected with HIV, the virus that causes Aids.
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/ 29 October 2005
A police officer was critically injured in one of three petrol bombings in Swaziland on Friday, the latest in a series of arson attacks that Africa’s last absolute monarchy blames on banned political groups. There have been at least six explosions targeting police, government officials and court houses since last month.
Police in Africa’s last absolute kingdom of Swaziland vowed on Monday to find those responsible for two firebomb attacks branded as terrorism and linked to a banned opposition party. A courthouse in Mbabane and the home of a government spokesperson was firebombed in two separate attacks on Friday.
A drinking and dancing celebration by the king’s daughter shocked a Swazi traditionalist enough for him to deliver a spanking to the teenage princess, and cast a pall over Swaziland’s annual royal bride-choosing rites. Royal officials had tried to keep word of Princess Sikhanyiso’s party quiet, but acknowledged it late on Monday.
Tens of thousands of unmarried Swazi girls performed a final dance on Monday culminating a week-long celebration of chastity as Swazi authorities moved to defend the centuries-old ”reed dance” from international ridicule. Every year, tens of thousands of girls from across the country gather to participate in the dance.
On Monday, thousands of Swazi girls removed tasselled scarves symbolising their chastity, abandoning an ancient rite revived to combat the modern scourge of Aids. King Mswati III, Africa’s last absolute monarch, in 2001 reinstated for five years the umchwasho rite, banning sexual relations for girls younger than 18.
Swaziland’s absolute monarch King Mswati III has ordered an end to a five-year no-sex rite for teenage girls, who had to pledge chastity and wear woollen ”do not touch me” tassels in a bid to halt the spread of Aids. Swaziland’s maidens will forsake their tassels on August 22, ahead of the annual reed-dance ceremony.
”People who don’t know me see this stylishly dressed young woman driving a nice car, and they think, ”Isn’t she lucky? She has a rich man as a lover to give her things”’, says Angela Shabalala as she manoeuvres her blue BMW sedan on to a highway leading to the Swazi capital, Mbabane. In fact, the 27-year-old bank employee used her own salary to buy the car, as well as her dresses and chic hairstyle.
While Swaziland’s soaring HIV prevalence and the spending habits of King Mswati III are issues that often land the country in the headlines, problems also loom on another front: about a quarter of Swazis are currently dependent on international food aid. Just more than 100 000 tonnes of the staple food, maize, will have to be imported in the coming months
A new advertising campaign aimed at curtailing teenage HIV rates by promoting abstinence is using a combination of traditional and modern values in its appeal to Swazi youth. The SiSwati phrase "<i>Ngoba likusasa nelami</i> [because tomorrow is mine]" has been chosen as the theme of the initiative, which got under way with full-page advertisements in Swaziland’s two national newspapers.
King Mswati III, Africa’s last absolute monarch, refused to sign the country’s new Constitution and ordered Parliament on Tuesday to hold a joint session to reconsider sections on religion and taxing his family. The draft Constitution, adopted by Parliament last month, is the product of eight years of consultations.
King Mswati III of Swaziland has sent a new Constitution back to Parliament for further debate after raising objections. Mswati, (37) who ascended to the throne at the age of 18, has been criticised for his lavish lifestyle and refusal to open up the kingdom to democratic reforms.
Aids has accelerated the death rate in Swaziland, causing home-based hospice care to expand into an entire support system for affected families. According to the health ministry, the country has the world’s highest HIV prevalence rate, with 42,6% of its adult population infected. Fifteen years ago, hospice patients were primarily cancer victims; now a substantial number are HIV-positive.
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.
A media scare in Swaziland about an imminent cut-off of the country’s electricity by foreign suppliers has highlighted its near-total dependence on external power sources and jump-started contingency plans to expand domestic power production. Debate about power supplies has also been sparked by concerns as to how the growing needs of companies will be met.
Creating more business opportunities to counter rising unemployment is expected to take centre stage at an upcoming jobs summit in Swaziland. The summit, scheduled to take place in July, follows a pledge by King Mswati III to initiate a R1-billion public-private fund to bankroll the development of small- and medium-scale enterprises.
Africa’s last absolute monarch, King Mswati III, has married a young woman who has become his 11th wife, a newspaper report said on Sunday. The 37-year-old monarch secretly married Noliqwa Ntentesa last Thursday, The Times of Swaziland reported.
Twelve-year-old Mfanfikile looked forward to going back to school after nearly a year-and-a-half of absence following the death of his mother. He wanted to look his best, and had found an old beige jacket in a wardrobe. Although several sizes too large, Mfanfikile thought it an improvement on the threadbare shorts and T-shirts he usually wore.
When is a cow considerably more than the sum of its parts? When the animal happens to live in one of a good many developing countries, probably — not least Swaziland. In this small Southern African state, cattle are, paradoxically, both slaughtered to mark cultural events and kept alive at all costs by owners who have grown attached to them.
About 500 people representing church groups in Swaziland, Africa’s last absolute monarchy, staged a protest on Thursday against a new draft Constitution that they said gives King Mswati III too much power. The protesters, led by Catholic and Anglican bishops, marched to the offices of the prime minister in the capital, Mbabane.
For a country struggling with a stubborn unemployment rate of more than 40%, the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seems a welcome solution to joblessness. So, it comes as no surprise that Swaziland’s Minister of Enterprise and Employment, Lutfo Dlamini, is an enthusiastic proponent of these businesses.
The Royal Swazi Sun golf club, having grown into its several changes over the past year, promises an appetising challenge for the field gathered for this week’s 2005 Capital Alliance Royal Swazi Sun Open. Course superintendent Gaerun Wilkinson made several changes in preparation for last year’s tournament to increase the course yardage to 5 983m.
The custom of paying a bride price — referred to in Swaziland as lobola — is a longstanding tradition in this Southern African country, which is also home to Africa’s last absolute monarchy. But changing times and social trends are bringing the custom into question — among men as well as women.
Ninety percent blind in both eyes, Babe Simelane, who estimates he is 72-years old, could make out only the roughest outline of his son’s face when he died from an Aids-related illness last year, leaving two young sons. Without government assistance or a pension scheme to support him, Simelane relies on the kindness of neighbours. Although 69% of Swazis live on less than $1 a day, he envies those who can obtain even a fraction of that amount.
Relief agencies have warned that the humanitarian crisis in Swaziland, brought on by drought and aggravated by Aids, is worsening. A high-powered delegation of representatives from the government, United Nations agencies and NGOs visited drought-stricken eastern and southern Swaziland last week.