Mswati III of Swaziland

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Royal Standard of Mswati III.

Mswati III (born Makhosetive Dlamini; Manzini, April 19, 1968) is the current King of Swaziland. He succeeded his father Sobhuza II to the throne in 1986.

Youth

He was the 108th son of King Sobhuza II and the tenth son of Ntombi Thwala, known as Inkhosikati LaTfwala, one of the king's youngest wives. He was born at Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital, four months before Swaziland achieved independence from Great Britain. He lived his childhood in the Royal Residence of Etjeni, near the Masundwini Palace. His birth name, Makhosetive, means King of Nations.

The young prince attended the “Heidelbeg College” and the Lozitha Palace School. He developed a keen interest in the Royal Guard as the first homegrown youth cadet playing basketball for the Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (USDF). He took his military training very seriously and, when he was not studying, he spent his spare time training with soldiers at the Masundwini military barracks, near the Etjeni Royal Residence.

Regency

When his father died of pneumonia in 1982, the Royal Council chose the 14-year-old prince, Makhosetive, as the future king. During the following four years, until his majority, two women from his family served as regents: Queen Dzeliwe Shongwe, in the period 1982-1983, and Queen Ntombi Thwala, between 1983 and 1986, while he finished his training at the English school Sherborne School.

Reign

He was crowned prince in September 1983 and king on April 25, 1986 (at the age of 18 years and 6 days, the youngest king Eswatini ever had). The king and his mother, whose title is Ndlovukazi or Great Elephant , rule together.

He is currently the last absolutist king of Africa. He rules by decree and is strongly opposed to the democratization of his country, although he restored the national Parliament that his father had dissolved.

Mswati's government has been criticized for ignoring the nation's growing problems while he lives in luxury, sacrificing his nation's health to his personal comfort. This includes the purchase of a fleet of limousines, a luxury jet (which cost a quarter of the national budget), and the construction and renovation of palaces to house his many wives. In addition, in the past he has restricted civil liberties and freedom of expression.

Near evangelical churches, bans divorce and miniskirts.

Eswatini is mainly rural and is one of the poorest countries in the world (63% of its population lives below the poverty line). An economic circle of 15,000 entrepreneurs takes most of the country's wealth. This circle includes South African investors who came to Eswatini to find labor three times cheaper, and a group of white businessmen who inherited from British colonists.

However, the cultivation of sugarcane, the country's main resource, enslaves a part of the population: forced evictions of rural communities to develop plantations, child labor, work weeks of up to 60 hours, etc. The International Trade Union Confederation denounces "harsh and unhealthy working conditions, miserable wages and violent repression of any attempt to unionise." On international issues, it is especially close to South Africa, Taiwan and the European Union.

In 2021, the kingdom is rocked by a wave of strikes by officials, who accuse the monarch of emptying the country's coffers at the expense of the population. In 2021, pro-democracy demonstrations led the government to impose a curfew. Mswati III fled the country at the end of June, as the revolt continued.

Handcuffs

Mswati III currently has 14 wives. The wives are chosen by himself, and any virgin woman can aspire to be the king's wife. In August 2005, 50,000 women filed past Mswati III to try to be elected. His wives are:

Inkhosikati LaMatsebula: First ritual wife, has a master's degree.
Inkhosikati LaMotsa: Second ritual wife.
Inkhosikati LaNganganza.
Inkhosikati LaMbikiza: Born on June 16, 1969 as Simbonelo Mngomezulu, daughter of Percy Mngomezulu. He graduated from UNISA University, South Africa. The Mbikiza married in 1986 and is the Director of the Royal Swaziland AIDS Fighting Initiative (RICA). The Initiative is involved in the process of recording South African and South African songs and international artists, then proceeding to sell them and dedicating funds to aid programs affected by AIDS.
Putsoana Hwala: Born in 1974, he was known as Inkhosikati LaHwala until he left the king.
Delisa Magwaza: Also born in 1974, he abandoned the king as previously called Inkhosikati LaMagwaza.
Inkhosikati LaMasango: Born in 1981, married in August 2000.
Inkhosikati LaGija: It belongs to the clan of the Dlamini, its name is Angel Dlamini. He was married in May 2002.
Inkhosikati LaMagongo: Born with the name of Notsetselo Magongo, niece of Chief Mlobokazana Fakudze, Chief of Mgazini. Marriage contract in June 2002.
Inkhosikati LaMahlangu: Born in 1984 as Zena Soraya Mahlangu. On October 9, 2002, at 18, he disappeared from the school where he studied. Her mother, Lindiwe Dlamini, said that her daughter had been abducted by two men, Qethuka Sgombeni Dlamini and Tulujani Sikhondze, and told the police. He was told that his daughter was at the Royal Palace of Ludzidzini, where he had been assigned to "Real Services". She claimed that her daughter returned to her custody and the case came to the Tribunals, but the State Attorney General Phesheya Dlamini intervened, and announced that Mahlangu had promised King Mswati in November, and that she was at the Royal Palace. There's no contact between mother and daughter again. She has officially become her girlfriend at a traditional marriage ceremony held in May 2004.
Inkhosikati LaNtentesa: Born in 1981 as Noliqhwa Ayanda Ntentesa, it was promised in November 2002 and married at a traditional ceremony at the Royal Residence of Ludzidzini on 26 May 2005.
Inkhosikati LaDube: Born as Nothando Dube. He was a finalist of the "Miss Teenage Swaziland" contest at the age of 16. He was chosen as a wife at the Reed Dance ceremony held on 30 August 2004, when he was a ninth grade student at the Mater Dorolosa High School. Marriage contract on 11 June 2005.
Inkhosikati LaNkambule: Born as Phindile Nkambule. Elected in September 2005 at age 17.
Inkhosikati LaFogiyane: Born as Sindiswa Dlamini. Marriage contract on 30 August 2014.

Titles and treatments

April 19, 1968 – April 25, 1986: His Royal Highness Prince Makhosetive Dlamini of Swaziland.
April 25, 1986 – present: His Majesty King Mswati III of Swaziland.