Afica's Last Absolute Monarch of Swaziland
Born Makhosetive (meaning King of Nations) Dlamini in 1968, His Majesty, Ngwenyama (King) MSWATI III of Swaziland is one of the most interesting monarchs on earth. The son of King Sobhuza II who ruled longer than any other king in the world, King Mswati III is one of the last absolute monarchs on the planet with incredible powers and authority over the nation. However, according to the culture of Swaziland, he may not choose his own heir. He schooled in England.
The King of Swaziland with a traditional costume. He is 44 years old.
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One
of his 14 queens. Each queen has her own palace and luxury cars and
they enjoy regular shopping sprees to Europe, Arabia and other fantastic
places across the globe. In May 2012, Angela LaGila Dlamini became the
third wife to run away citing domestic and emotional abuse from the
King. Some sources claim they left after charges of infidelity were laid
against them. One of them is now married to a younger South African
lover. In November 2011, he kicked out 23-year-old former Miss
Swaziland, Nothando Dube, who was then his 12th wife for having an
adulterous relationship with a member of his own government, his justice
minister and childhood friend. Dube married the King when she was 16
and had three kids for the King before she was told to vacate the
palace. She was allegedly caught in bed with Ndumiso Mamba, the justice
minister while the King was away in Taiwan. She disguised out of the
palace as a soldier while going to see the justice minister.
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Here, he is shown with the Zulu King, King Goodwill Zwelithini (left in leopard skin).
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In royal military uniform.
Although the King has a private jet, strings of palaces (each wife actually has her own palace, with her own posh car, usually a BMW, amazing isn’t it?), collection of exotic cars (especially BMWs and even a Maybach limousine that cost him 250,000 Pounds Sterling!), his country is one of the very poorest on earth. HIV/AIDS has ravaged the nation and it has the lowest life expectancy in the world, at just 31.88 years! HIV/AIDS infection in Swaziland is the highest in the world with 50% of those in their 20s infected with the virus! The World Health Organization says that in 2002, 64% of all the deaths in the country were due to HIV/AIDS, and in 2004, almost 40% of its pregnant women were infected with HIV. Also, there is drought, unemployment and hunger all over this beautiful African kingdom.
Pix
shows his first and eldest daughter, Sikhanyiso Dlamini, aged 24 years,
she was trained in the United Kingdom and the United States of America
where she studied Drama at the Biola University in California. She is
known for going against the rules laid down by Swazi
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With one of his 14 queens, he plans to break the record of his father who had 70 wives and over 200 children.
Forget
the boyish looks, King Mswat III of Swaziland is one of the richest
royals in the world. Forbes estimates his wealth at $200 million and
does not include the $10 billion left in trust for the Swazi nation by
his father.
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Thousands of Topless Virgin Swazi women dance to celebrate Womanhood and chastity
LUDZIDZINI ROYAL VILLAGE, Swaziland - AFRICA
- (Reuters ) Thousands of young Swazi women paraded in front of their
king, Mswati III, to celebrate chastity and unity, dismissing criticism
of the lavish ceremony in one of Africa's poorest countries for its last
absolute monarch.
Bare-breasted Swazi women and girls as
young as five gathered on Sunday and Monday to the king and queen
mother, also known as the Great She-Elephant. The topless women dressed
in beaded mini-skirts and clutching machetes and mobile phones, danced
and sang tributes in a traditional Umhlanga Reed Dance meant to
celebrate womanhood and virginity.
Maidens flocked in from across the
country. Some attends the ceremony every year until they marry - cut
reeds from river beds, which they then presented to the queen mother in a
mile-long singing and foot-stamping procession.
King Mswati III (center)
King Mswati III, who has at least a
dozen wives and a personal fortune estimated at $200 million, faced
unprecedented protests last year when his appointed administration ran
out of money after a 2009 recession in neighbouring South Africa.
In July, South Africa's Mail and
Guardian newspaper reported that three of Mswati's wives joined a
66-strong royal entourage heading to Las Vegas on a shopping spree.
During the festival, tens of thousands of Swazi girls (also called ‘national flowers’) from different villages across the nation attend, and they can number from 20,000 and up to 100,000 in number -out of all of them, the King will select just one to become the new Queen. The King has been doing so since 1999 and the festival lasts for weeks.Bare-breasted Swazi women and girls as young as five gathered on Sunday and Monday to the king and queen mother, also known as the Great She-Elephant. The topless women dressed in beaded mini-skirts and clutching machetes and mobile phones, danced and sang tributes in a traditional Umhlanga Reed Dance meant to celebrate womanhood and virginity.
Maidens flocked in from across the country. Some attends the ceremony every year until they marry - cut reeds from river beds, which they then presented to the queen mother in a mile-long singing and foot-stamping procession.
18-year-old Gcebine Dlamini said that she is proud to be Swazi and to be a virgin. "We are here to show unity with the king and with each other.", she added.
King Mswati III, who has at least a dozen wives and a personal fortune estimated at $200 million, faced unprecedented protests last year when his appointed administration ran out of money after a 2009 recession in neighbouring South Africa.
In July, South Africa's Mail and Guardian newspaper reported that three of Mswati's wives joined a 66-strong royal entourage heading to Las Vegas on a shopping spree.
In the past, the king has used the ceremony to choose a new wife, and some girls still hoped to catch the king's eye.
"If chosen, I would be able to live a better life than what I have, have a lot of money, live a queen's life and travel overseas," said Fakazile Dlamini, 14, who arrived on a lorry from her village 60 km away to attend the ceremony.
New royal wives have often received a BMW and their own palace, fueling criticism in a country where more than two-thirds of its 1.4 million people live in abject poverty.
During the "UMHLANGA (reed dance) FESTIVAL" Tens of thousands of virgin, bare breasted maidens danced for Swaziland's King Mswati III in a traditional dance at Ludzidzini palace outside the capital Mbabane. Most of these young bare breasted maidens hopes to get the attention of the King and becomes his new bride. At last count the King has at least 13wives. According to Swazi tradition, the King is always ment to have a bride in waiting. He can only marry her when she is pregnant. His own late father, King Sobhuza 11 who led the country to Independence from Great Britain had at least 70 wives.
Regardless of whether we agree or not about the young maidens, polygamy and an absolute monarchy, it is hard not to appreciate what Swaziland has to offer tourist as a country. The Mountainous sights, the friendly people and food. But unfortunately The Reed Dance Festival and polygamy in the face of the high rates of HIV/AIDS, and the Kings rather lavish lifestyle is serious cause for concern. In the small country where there is huge poverty, the King spends $millions to celebrate his 40th birthday. He also spends millions on super luxury vehicles and has some of the best cars on his collections. He also lavish his wives with gifts of cars amongst other things. It is the dream of most young girls to be the wife of King Mswati, this means they will move into the palace and their every needs attended to. The issue of polygamy doesn't bother them, who could blame them when the average inhabitant lives on less than $1 a day?