The King of Swaziland is so extremely rich while his people are so extremely poor. 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. He is an only child and rules the nation with his mother, the Queen Mother, who is also called the Indlovukazi meaning the Great She-Elephant which makes her a Joint Head of State with her son. In Swaziland, the Queen Mother is the spiritual head of state.
In all sincerity, the King is got swag. Maybe because he got educated abroad. He
has 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.
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.
But, there is one thing about the Swazi King that draws millions of tourists to
his tiny country. It is called the Umhlanga or the Reed Dance. At Ezulwini, also
called the Valley of Heaven and the base of the Swazi Royal House, thousands of
naked or topless ladies virgins parade themselves and dance before His Majesty,
the King of Swaziland. Out of these, he picks a new virgin every year and adds
to his collection of wives -he has 14 already. Well, don’t shout yet, his father
had 70 wives. The virgins parade themselves undressed because tradition says
that is a sign of purity and only unmarried and childless ladies are allowed to
participate in the annual Reed Dance. Apart from allowing the King to chose a
new wife, one other purpose of the Reed Dance is to preserve the chastity of
young Swazi girls (they need it) and is said to be used to fight HIV/AIDS as it
promotes abstinence.
The mother of Queen Zena Mahlangu one of the king's wife, had protested bitterly
and even dragged the Queen to court when royal aides kidnapped her daughter to
become the king’s wife at the age of 18 when she was still in high school. She
had disappeared from the school only to reappear at the Royal Village where she
was being groomed to become the next wife. Zena seemed cool with it as she
refused to leave the royal palace despite her mother’s desperate calls. The
judges told her mother the case was beyond them.
Today, Zena is the king’s 10th
wife and enjoys regular travels all over the world in private jets with exotic
shopping sprees in the choicest places in Europe and Asia. 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. Currently, he has 14 wives and 23 children. The first two wives of the
Swazi King are chosen for him by the national council and the culture also state
that the King can only marry his fiancées after they have become pregnant to
show that they are fertile and can produce an heir to the throne.
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), collection of exotic cars
(especially BMWs and even a Maybach limousine that cost him GB£250,000), 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.
this is the house his people lives in
His first and eldest daughter, Sikhanyiso Dlamini, aged 24 years, 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 customs and traditions. With no mincing words, King Mswati
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. He is so extremely rich with so desperately poor
citizens.
Culled from iyaniwura
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