'Ascot meets Africa' at Mswati bash
Tuesday April 19, 2005 16:36 - (SA)
By Abhik Kumar Chanda
MANZINI, Swaziland - King Mswati III of Swaziland feted his 37th birthday today with a million-dollar-plus bash amid criticism that his extravagance was bleeding the poverty-stricken and AIDS-afflicted nation dry.
The freespending ruler, at the helm of the southern African kingdom since the age of 18, told a crowd of at least 20,000 people packing a stadium in the commercial hub of Manzini that his country had been blessed since the year of his birth and its independence from Britain.
"God has been watching over us since we became independent 37 years ago which is the time I was born," the king said, speaking in a rich baritone.
Describing his birthday as an "important national event", Mswati - dressed in a red and gold tunic and mustard trousers - claimed that his subjects overwhelmingly wanted to "uphold the monarchy and for the king to continue to lead the nation in every respect".
The ceremony at the stadium was marked by colour and pageantry and was to be followed up at the Engabezweni palace, one of the numerous royal residences dotting the tiny mountain kingdom, with a more private party for VIP guests.
The line-up at the stadium included energetic dances by warriors and barebreasted young girls, a 21-gun salute, several hymns and a military band which played an hour-long eclectic medley teaming up "Happy Birthday to You" and the 1970s charttopper "Congratulations" with traditional English ballads such as "Greensleeves" and the more martial "Colonel Bogey's March".
But many Swazis shunned the ceremony.
"This guy is spending more and more money while people are dying of hunger," said taxi driver Jubal Dlamini.
Pro-democracy activist Lucky Nhleko said the festivities always involved the "fattened corrupt calves who surround the king" and lamented that the extravagance was "used to justify as upholding tradition and uniting the Swazi nation".
Mswati is no stranger to controversy mainly over the lavish lifestyle that he, his 11 wives and two teenage fiancees lead.
These latest celebrations will cost 1.7 million dollars, according to figures presented to parliament during the budget session.
In December, he bought a 500,000-dollar Daimler Chrysler flagship Maybach 62 as his debt-ridden country battles crippling poverty.
More than 65% of Swaziland's 1.2 million inhabitants live on less than one dollar a day and some 200,000 people depend on food hand-outs to survive in the kingdom.
In contrast, the festivities were a riot of colour with many male guests sporting traditional leather shields, wooden clubs, lion or leopardskin loincloths, beads and talismans while women wore bright wraparound sarongs and beaded tassels.
The king's half-brother and some members of the royal entourage turned up in top hats and tails, prompting a bemused Western guest in the VIP gallery to proclaim: "Wow, this is Ascot meets Africa".
Although Mswati entered the stadium in an open four-wheel drive, one of his latest toys - a seemingly unending Merecedes stretch limousine emblazoned on both sides with a gold lion - followed to transport the ruler back to the palace. Mswati's official title is Ingwenyama, or the Lion.
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