Transcript Oral Presentation

Kingdom of Swaziland
By Kervin Lloyd, Emily Lee
& Kenton Chance
Kingdom of Swaziland
History
&
People
By Kervin Lloyd
History of Swaziland
• inhabited by various different groups of
people for a very long time
• human remains dating back 100,000 years
belonging to the oldest homo-sapiens
have been discovered in eastern
Swaziland
• San (Bushman ) inhabitance evident from
cave paintings among some of the first
inhabitants of the region
• The Swazis have their origins in East
Africa around the great lakes
• In the late 15th century as part of the
general southward expansion of the Nguni
people, the Swazis crossed the Limpopo
river to settle in southern Tongaland (now
part of Mozambique).
• Under their Chief Dlamini I - they remained
there for 200 years, then moved; now
ruled by Chief Dlamini III, into the fertile
Pongola valley (now part of South Africa).
• Economic pressure and land shortages
soon caused skirmishes and battles with
the neighbouring Ndwandwe clan
• This ultimately resulted in further migration
of Swazis into what is now central
Swaziland
• There, Swazis by way of absorption and
conquest of Soho and baPedi peoples
built a large Kingdom, covering an area
three times the size of modern Swaziland.
• 1906 to 1968: governed by a resident
commissioner who ruled according to decrees
issued by the British High Commissioner for South
Africa
• 1921: British established Swaziland's first
legislative body - a European Advisory Council
(EAC) of elected white representatives to advise
the British High Commissioner on non-Swazi
affairs.
• In 1921, after more than 20 years of rule by Queen
Regent Labotsibeni, her son Sobhuza II came of
age and ruled as Ngenyama (lion), head of
Swaziland
• Under British rule, the colonial government held
election in mid-1964 for the first legislative council in
which the Swazis would participate
• King Sobhuza II and his Inner Council, formed the
Imbokodvo National Movement (INM) party and in
this election the INM won all 24 elective seats
• Swaziland became independent on September 6,
1968.
• Swaziland's post-independence elections were held
in May 1972 and INM won 75% of the vote
Recent History
• King Sobhuza II died in August 1982, and Queen
Regent Dzeliwe assumed the duties of the head
of state
• 984: an internal dispute led to the replacement of
the PM and eventual replacement of Dzeliwe by
a new queen, Regent Ntombi, whose only child Prince Makhosetive – became heir to the throne
• In 1986, when the prince comes of age, he is
enthroned as Mswati III
The People
• The Swazi people comprise a single tribe made
up of several clans - not unlike the Scots
• They settled in the area during the mid-18th
century when they were called the Nkosi Dlamini
and eventually became known as the Swazis
• The Swazis are a proud but peace-loving people
with happy personalities and a keen sense of
humour; called “Latins of Africa”
The People
• The Swazi people comprise a single tribe made
up of several clans - not unlike the Scots
• They settled in the area during the mid-18th
century when they were called the Nkosi Dlamini
and eventually became known as the Swazis
• The Swazis are a proud but peace-loving people
with happy personalities and a keen sense of
humour; called “Latins of Africa”
Independence
• Swaziland became a
self-governing state in
1967 when Sobhuza II
was recognized
internationally as a king
and the country
acquired its own flag
The Monarchy
• One of only three in Africa
(Morocco and Lesotho also have Kings)
• Africa’s sole remaining absolute monarchy
• Is a dual kingdom - with the King or (lion)
ruling in conjunction with the Queen
Mother or Ndiovukazi (she-elephant)
Sources
• Swaziland High Commission (Ottowa)
Webpage
• Infoplease
Economy of Swaziland
By Emily Lee
Overview
• Full name: The Kingdom of Swaziland
• Population: 1.1 million (UN, 2007)
• Capital: Mbabane
• Area: 17,364 sq km (6,704 sq miles)
• Major languages: Swazi, English
(both official)
• Major religions: Christianity,
indigenous beliefs
• Monetary unit: 1 Lilangeni = 100
cents
Source: BBC country profile
Facts
• GDP: $2.936 billion (2007 est.)
• GDP real growth rate: 2.3%
• Per capita GDP: $4,700 (2007 est.)
• Unemployment rate: 40% (2006 est.)
• Population below poverty line: 69%(2006)
• Inflation rate: 8.1% (2007 est.)
• Agriculture products : sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus,
pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep
• Industries: coal, wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textiles and
apparel
source: CIA The World Factbook
Circumstances
• Lower middle income country - estimated that 69% of the
population lives in poverty.
• About 70% live in rural areas periodically ravaged by
drought, resulting in food crises that threaten hundreds
of thousands with hunger.
• Unemployment rate: 40% - due to economy's inability
to create new jobs at the same rate that new job seekers
enter the market.
• Swaziland needs to increase the number and size of
small and medium enterprises.
source: CIA The World Factbook, U.S. Department of State
Territory
• Nearly 60% of Swazi territory is held by the Crown.
• The balance is privately owned, much of it by foreigners.
• For Swazis living on rural homesteads, the principal
occupation is either subsistence farming or livestock
herding.
• Culturally, cattle are important symbols of wealth and
status.
• Cattle are being used increasingly for milk, meat, and
profit.
source: CIA The World Factbook, U.S. Department of State
Agriculture and Industries
• Leading export earner: the sugar industry, based
solely on irrigated cane
• Another export earner: soft drink concentrate (a U.S.
investment), wood pulp and lumber from cultivated pine
forests.
• Agricultural exports: Pineapple and citrus fruit
• Coal and diamonds mining for export and for domestic
consumption.
source: CIA The World Factbook, U.S. Department of State
Facts
• Exports: $1.926 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
- commodities: soft drink concentrates, sugar,
wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and
canned fruit
- partners: South Africa 59.7%, EU 8.8%, US
8.8%, Mozambique 6.2% (2006)
• Imports: $1.914 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
- commodities: motor vehicles, machinery, transport
equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products
chemicals
- partners: South Africa 95.6%, EU 0.9%, Japan 0.9%
(2006)
source: CIA The World Factbook
Railroads
• East to west : the Goba line
- export bulk goods from Swaziland through the Port of
Maputo in Mozambique.
mainly uses for exports of sugar, citrus, and forest
products, with future usage of the port expected to
increase.
• North-south rail link: completed in 1986
- a connection between the Eastern Transvaal rail
network and the South African ports of Richard's Bay
and Durban.
source: CIA The World Factbook, U.S. Department of State
Industrial Firms
• A number of industrial firms have located at the industrial
estate at Matsapha near Manzini.
• Processed agricultural and forestry products, garments,
textiles, and a variety of light manufactured products.
• The Swaziland Industrial Development Company (SIDC)
and the Swaziland Investment Promotion Authority
(SIPA) have assisted in bringing many of these
industries to the country.
• Government programs encourage Swazi entrepreneurs
to run small and medium-sized firms.
source: CIA The World Factbook, U.S. Department of State
Foreign Relations
• The Southern African Customs Union (SACU): Swaziland,
Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia, and the Republic of South Africa;
Import duties apply uniformly
• The Common Monetary Area (CMA) : repatriation and
unrestricted funds are permitted.
• The United Nations, the African Union
• Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA),
and Southern African Development Community (SADC).
• Diplomatic missions in Brussels, Copenhagen, Kuala
Lumpur, London, Maputo, Nairobi, Pretoria, Taipei, the United
Nations, and Washington.
source: CIA The World Factbook, U.S. Department of State
Other
• From the mid-1980s, foreign investment in the
manufacturing sector boosted economic growth rates
significantly. Beginning in mid-1985, the depreciated
value of the currency increased the competitiveness of
Swazi exports and moderated the growth of imports,
generating trade surpluses. During the 1990s, the
country often ran small trade deficits. South Africa and
the European Union are major customers for Swazi
exports.
• Swaziland issues its own currency, the lilangeni (plural:
emalangeni).
source: CIA The World Factbook, U.S. Department of State
Culture of Swaziland
Reed Dance (The Umhlanga)
• A traditional dance where
twenty to thirty thousand
of Swaziland’s maidens
congregate and dance for
the public. -wikipedia
• Maidens cut reeds and
present them to the King
and the queen mother
and then dance.
• This ceremony takes
place in late August or
early September.
Source: Swaziland Tourism Authority (http://www.welcometoswaziland.com/)
Origin
• This tradition was to encourage young women to abstain
from sexual activities and preserve their virginity until
they were matured enough to get married.
• In order to prepare the girls for marriage. During their
stay at the camps before the actual dance they are given
certain tasks to perform in groups.
• Since there is a lot of groupwork involved, good
communication skills are developed that help in solving a
lot of problems in marriages.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umhlanga
The Dance
• It is a dance which attracts young maidens from every
area of the Kingdom and provides the occasion for them
to honor and pay homage to the Queen Mother
(iNdlovukazi).
• Most of the participants are teenagers, some of whom
are younger. They gather reeds from selected areas and
the day of the Umhlanga begins with bathing and
grooming prior to appearing before the King and Queen
Mother.
Source: Swaziland Tourism Authority (http://www.welcometoswaziland.com/)
The Dance
• Costume: short
beaded skirts with
anklets, bracelets
and jewelry and
colorful sashes.
• The royal
princesses wear
red feathers in
their hair and lead
the maidens to
perform before
Their Majesties.
source: Swaziland Tourism Authority (http://www.welcometoswaziland.com/)
Reed Dance Festival 2007
Source: http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=vKpzfS2kP1k
Reed Dance Festival 2008
Source: http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=sbj8lmWE5xY
News on Swazi Culture
•
•
“Mbabane - Swazi maidens
started arriving on Monday at the
country's spiritual capital,
Ludzidzini, ahead of this week's
annual reed dance, where barebreasted virgins danced before
Africa's last absolute monarch.”
“On Saturday and Sunday, the
young women would parade
before the queen mother and the
king during a ceremony at which
the monarch, who already had 13
wives, might pick a new bride.”
- news 24, AFP 28/08/2007
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Ne
ws/0,,2-11-1447_2172423,00.html
•
Swaziland's King Mswati III on
Thursday sent more than 50 000
young women into the fields to
cut reeds for an annual ritual next
week at which he may choose his
14th bride.
•
"Since you know that the country
is faced with these major
activities, I urge you to behave
yourselves and make sure that
you display respect so that
tourists would return to the
country," the Queen mother,
Ntombi Twala, told the girls.
- Mail & Guardian Online, AFP
28/08/2008
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-08-28swazi-maidens-prepare-for-reed-dance
source: Swaziland Tourism Authority (http://www.welcometoswaziland.com/)
Succession In Swazi Kingship
•
Swaziland Tourism Authority : The successor to the throne is chosen in
relation to the status of his mother. The Queen Mother will be chosen by the
Royal Council after the King's death.
•
“Nobody knows how the Queen Mother is chosen exactly. … (The) king
must be only son, the only child and no siblings” - Nomfundo Nkosi Dlamini,
a niece of King Mswati lll
•
The Royal family line, the Dlamini's, never intermarry; the King is always a
Dlamini, the Queen Mother is never a Dlamini.
•
The Queen Mother may have only one son, as a king is not to be followed
by blood brothers.
Source: Swaziland Tourism Authority (http://www.welcometoswaziland.com/)
Succession In Swazi Kingship
•
•
•
•
•
The King is "Nkosi Dlamini" and is expected to unify his position by
choosing wives from all sectors of the community.
(Nkosi means ‘king’ and Dlamini is the surname of the royal family.)
The balance of power lies between the King and the Queen
Mother; the "Ngwenyama" represents the hardness as expressed in
thunder, the Queen Mother or "Ndlovukazi" (The Elephant) the softness
as in water.
He must be single and if still a minor, the Queen Mother to the late king
automatically assumes responsibility of Regent until the prince is
crowned "Ngwenyama". The present Queen Mother, Queen Ntombi
ruled as Queen Regent until King Mswati lll was crowned in April 1986.
Source: Swaziland Tourism Authority (http://www.welcometoswaziland.com/)
Politics in the
Kingdom of Swaziland
By Kenton X. Chance
Government in Swaziland
•
Monarchy
•
Chief of State: HM King Mswati
III (Since April 25, 1986)
•
Constitution signed by the King in
July 2005, went into effect on 8
February 2006
•
Head of Government: Prime
Minister Absolom Themba
DLAMINI (since Nov. 14, 2003)
•
Cabinet recommended by the
prime minister and confirmed by
the monarch
King Mswati III of Swaziland addresses the
62nd United Nations General Assembly at
the U.N. headquarters in New York
September 26, 2007.
from Reuters Pictures by REUTERS
Judicial System and Elections
• Legal system based on South
African Roman-Dutch law in
statutory courts and Swazi
traditional law and custom in
traditional courts; accepts
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
with reservations
• The monarch is hereditary;
prime minister appointed by
the monarch from among the
elected members of the House
of Assembly
- Source: CIA World Factbook
• Bicameral Parliament or
Libandla consists of the
Senate (30 seats; 10 members
appointed by the House of
Assembly and 20 appointed by
the monarch; to serve five-year
terms) and the House of
Assembly (65 seats; 10
members appointed by the
monarch and 55 elected by
popular vote; to serve five-year
terms)
• High Court; Supreme Court;
judges for both courts are
appointed by the monarch
Political Parties
• The status of political parties,
previously banned, is unclear
under the new (2006)
Constitution and currently
being debated
• Member of several regional
and international
organizations, including IMF,
WTO, UN, UNESCO, WHO,
ILO
- Source: CIA World Factbook
RIGHT: Swaziland troops fire tear gas at a small group of
trade union and anti-government protesters, during a
rally in the town of Manzini, Swaziland, Wednesday, Sep.
3, 2008.
AP Photo by Schalk van Zuydam
Political Parties (2)
Below & Right: Swazis demonstrate in 2007 to support
calls for a multi-party system during a two-day mass
stay away held respectively in Mbabane and Manzini.
As riot police and plain-clothed officers kept a close eye
on a mass march in the capital Mbabane, union leaders
warned such shows of strength would be repeated if
King Mswati III and his government did not meet their
demands
14 months ago
from Getty Images by AFP/Getty Images
Varying Views on Politics
•
“The people of this country still
want to retain the monarch type of
system. At the same time, they
want democracy. So now you
have culture and democracy, two
different things…
•
“Nations are like babies. They
don't just stand up and walk. But
now it is clear to everybody, we
can’t take this any longer. By
tomorrow, we can mobilize
thousands; people can get to the
streets. We have that power; we
have that capacity to do that. We
are not the only ones who are
angry here. There are a lot of
angry comrades outside…
•
“Recently, a government
spokesman was bombed and a
national court was bombed. So
who knows what is going to fall. …
Right now, do (the comrades)
have the will to kill, the will to
liberate themselves? Are they
convinced that the only way to do
it is through violent actions? …
We can creep at night with our
knives and kill them… A knife is
only about 20 rand. Today we can
do it. It is only about time and
proper organizing.”
-
Mphandhlana Shongue, Political
Activist
-
Source: “Without the King”
Views on Politics (2)
•
“I keep in touch with people and
sometimes I will call the people to
come. We have a big gathering
where we discuss issues –
political, economical, social, health
issues and all the other issues
which are there which needs to be
discussed. With that, because the
nation feels that whatever
decisions I am making I make a
decision that they are a part of it.
So, to them, it is important that
they can see that we relate to
each other very well.”
-
HM King Mswati III
-
Source: “Without the King”
•
“The Swazi politics [sic] have been
crowded with traditions. They
have been telling the world that
here in Swaziland we have got a
home-brewed democracy which
does not need the influences
made of other democracies which
means it’s defined according to
the Swazi context as they see it.
According to our understanding,
democracy is a word which is
universal, which is having one
interpretation, the governments of
the people, by the people.” –
Unidentified man.
•
Source: “Without the King”
Views on Politics (3)
•
“Our mission is simple, yet solid
and fundamental: dialogue and
peaceful negotiations are the key
to the establishment and
sustainability and of peace,
security, stability and prosperity
which happen to be the anchor
pillars for sustainable economic
development and trade integration
for our region. …
•
"We are telling a world full of
prejudices that we are a happy
nation in spite of the challenges
that face us," he said.
- HM King Mswati III
Address to Mark Swaziland’s 40th Anniversary
of Independence
Getty Images by AFP/Getty Images
Views on Politics (4)
•
“The way that the country is run, we are
totally against it. We want a multi-party
democracy. We asked for the constitution
but I was now made without us.
•
“We pay very high taxes in this country
but we get nothing back. It goes to the
king. The members of parliament are just
rubber stamps. There’s nothing they can
do for the country. It is just a cheer waste
of money. They are there getting large
sums of money and there is nothing they
can talk because the king is the absolute
monarch. He decides, he does
everything for this country. Now we say
that he should be a constitutional
monarch.”
- Ntombu Nkosi, President Ngwane National Liberatory
Congress or (NNLC)
•
Source: “Without the King”
Abigail Nhleko, 82, stares as her
grandchildren, daughter-in-law and her
grand-grandchildren sit around in a shack
in the rural village without electricity or
running water of Siweni, east of Swaziland.
Getty Images by AFP/Getty Images
Views on Politics (5)
•
“A constitution that does not
belong to the people is going to be
used and that very constitution is
like an idol, forcing the people to
worship under oppression. The
Bible says that we should no fear
people who can only destroy our
bodies. Even if their guns can be
pointed at us we wont fear as they
can only destroy our flesh and not
out spirit. So says the Bible, not
me. If you remain silent the stones
will talk.” - Rev Hanson – Head of
Swaziland Council of Church
Source: “Without the King”
•
“(The King) is a good man. He
believes in his country. He loves
everybody. We are all like the
royal family.“ - Unidentified Swazi
(from BBC)
•
"Others in authority abuse their
power, not the king.” - Ncoyi
Mkhonta (from: International
Herald Tribune)