They have Coca Cola. They have great palaces. They have a rapping princess. They have a great tradition that they reclaimed once they gained independence from Great Britain.
The king has been visited by Nelson Mandela, Prince Charles and Michael Jackson — great honors for a landlocked country about the size of New Jersey, located in Southern Africa.
A largely Christian nation (40 percent Zionist — a combination between Christianity and native beliefs — and 20 percent Catholic according to the CIA Factbook), Swaziland is also plagued by deep poverty and HIV/AIDS. The estimated life expectancy is 31.7 for men and 32 for women. It has the world's highest HIV/AIDS rate in the world, resulting in high infant mortality rates and low life expectancy.
The world's last absolute monarch, King Mswati III, is the king of the title of Michael Skolnik's grainy but thought-provoking 2007 documentary, Without the King. There are no princes in this film although we know that his eldest daughter, Sikhanyiso, has a brother.
We are introduced to Mswati III on his coronation day. He is 18, handsome and shy. The year is 1986. He was the second of 67 sons; his father had 70 wives at the time of his death in 1982. Mswati III was educated in England at the Sherborne School. From 1983 until his coronation, two of his late father's wives served as regent.
In comparison to his late father, he has a modest number of wives: 13. His first two have sons but none of them, according to tradition, can become king.
Sikhanyiso is the eldest daughter of his third wife who married Mswati when she was 16. She is a college student in California and although we see her in the movie, we do not see her elder half-brothers or her brother. It is unlikely that she would replace Mswati III as some reviewers have projected.
She is seen as a rebel princess, a title that she also mentions in the documentary. Tradition requires that a special counsel choose a wife and the crown prince. How will she be able to serve her country under another half-sibling's rule? We don't know. Footage of Sikhanyiso, her mother and Mswati III are intercut with scenes of poverty, and angry protesters who say they will prevail against tear gas and bullets.
Article comments
1 - razedowski
Have you seen the Swazi nationalists/Geert wilders film..that was shown on VPRO..netherlands..Apparently the film makers are Swazi's from the Berlinale Talent campus..just goes to prove punks like schlonik can only get away with bull shit and lies..for so long..before the true talents tell it like it is..
That said..anyone having doubts about going to south Africa for the 2010..remember swaziland is practically in SA..but seems a bit cooler..more peaceful..than sa.