African Arguments

Top Menu

  • About Us
    • Our philosophy
  • Write for us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS feed
  • Donate
  • Fellowship

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Country
    • Central
      • Cameroon
      • Central African Republic
      • Chad
      • Congo-Brazzaville
      • Congo-Kinshasa
      • Equatorial Guinea
      • Gabon
    • East
      • Burundi
      • Comoros
      • Dijbouti
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Rwanda
      • Seychelles
      • Somalia
      • Somaliland
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Red Sea
    • North
      • Algeria
      • Egypt
      • Libya
      • Morocco
      • Tunisia
      • Western Sahara
    • Southern
      • Angola
      • Botswana
      • eSwatini
      • Lesotho
      • Madagascar
      • Malawi
      • Mauritius
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • West
      • Benin
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • The Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger
      • Nigeria
      • São Tomé and Príncipe
      • Senegal
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • Climate
  • Politics
    • Elections Map
  • Economy
  • Society
  • Culture
  • Specials
    • From the fellows
    • Radical Activism in Africa
    • On Food Security & COVID19
    • Think African [Podcast]
    • #EndSARS
    • Into Africa [Podcast]
    • Covid-19
    • Travelling While African
    • From the wit-hole countries…
    • Living in Translation
    • Africa Science Focus [Podcast]
    • Red Sea
    • Beautiful Game
  • Debating Ideas
  • About Us
    • Our philosophy
  • Write for us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS feed
  • Donate
  • Fellowship

logo

African Arguments

  • Home
  • Country
    • Central
      • Cameroon
      • Central African Republic
      • Chad
      • Congo-Brazzaville
      • Congo-Kinshasa
      • Equatorial Guinea
      • Gabon
    • East
      • Burundi
      • Comoros
      • Dijbouti
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Rwanda
      • Seychelles
      • Somalia
      • Somaliland
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Red Sea
    • North
      • Algeria
      • Egypt
      • Libya
      • Morocco
      • Tunisia
      • Western Sahara
    • Southern
      • Angola
      • Botswana
      • eSwatini
      • Lesotho
      • Madagascar
      • Malawi
      • Mauritius
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • West
      • Benin
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • The Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger
      • Nigeria
      • São Tomé and Príncipe
      • Senegal
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • Climate
  • Politics
    • Elections Map
  • Economy
  • Society
  • Culture
  • Specials
    • From the fellows
    • Radical Activism in Africa
    • On Food Security & COVID19
    • Think African [Podcast]
    • #EndSARS
    • Into Africa [Podcast]
    • Covid-19
    • Travelling While African
    • From the wit-hole countries…
    • Living in Translation
    • Africa Science Focus [Podcast]
    • Red Sea
    • Beautiful Game
  • Debating Ideas
Politics
Home›African Arguments›Politics›Swaziland in Crisis?

Swaziland in Crisis?

By Magnus Taylor
July 25, 2011
3719
0

There is a sense that the little nation of Swaziland is in crisis yet again, but this time it is one that won’t go away. There are three elements: political; economic and wellbeing.

The Swazis have lived in present day Swaziland since the 18th century, giving the nation a sense of identity and continuity. It was a British Protectorate.  King Sobhuza, crowned in 1921, reigned over Swaziland up to his death in 1982, leading the nation to independence in 1968. Following the first post-independence election in 1973, the King dissolved parliament, repealed the constitution and declared himself absolute ruler. His son Mswati III was crowned in 1986.  He is an absolute monarch who sealed his power in the “˜Constitution’ of 2006.  Opposition political parties are banned; political freedoms curtailed. This is at odds with the trends in the region. The pressure for political reform seems to go unheeded, however the economy and welfare of the nation is under such pressure there may well be change.

The economic crisis is due to falling revenue and low growth. Receipts from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) which comprises Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland, historically constituted more than 60% of the nation’s revenue. SACU revenue, from regional import and excise duties, is divided between member states. This has been decreasing due to lower tariffs (a global trend), the recession, and fewer imports. The fall in revenue has lead to government being near bankruptcy – this was seen in a request for a R1.2 billion loan from South Africa in late June 2011.

Lower growth is due to a lack of investment and static agricultural output. Swaziland’s uncertain political scene makes it unattractive for foreign investors. The Swazi currency is pegged to the South African rand which is has been very strong for some years, and the Swazi financial crisis has lead to discussions about delinking the currencies.

Most of the Swazi population (about 75%) live in rural areas and depend on subsistence farming. Land is owned by the “˜nation’ and allocated by the chiefs, meaning there is little incentive to invest, leading to low agricultural productivity.

Probably the greatest threat to Swaziland’s wellbeing and hence economic growth and societal integrity is the HIV epidemic.  Swaziland has the highest HIV prevalence rate (26%) and also the lowest life expectancy (32 years) in the world.  World Health Organisation data estimates about 2% of the Swazi population dies from AIDS every year. In 2009 Prime Minister Themba Dlamini declared a humanitarian crisis due to the combined effect of drought, land degradation, increased poverty, and HIV/AIDS[i].

Public discontent with King Mswati’s absolute rule and the country’s economic decline in the country was first evident in 2010, when several hundred people took part in pro-democracy marches in Mbabane. This intensified in early 2011, with protest action being initiated through a Facebook campaign in March 2011.  Activists, many inspired by the recent uprisings in the Middle East, marched against a planned public sector pay freeze.  These protests were much larger than previously.  The leader of the banned opposition People’s United Democratic Movement (Pudemo), Mario Masuku, is quoted as saying that “Swaziland cannot remain an island of dictatorship in the sea of democracy… Royalty has squandered the economy… We want a government by the people,”[ii]. The protesters handed over a petition to Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini, demanding that he and the cabinet resign.

In April 2011, further protest to mark the 38th anniversary of the banning of political parties was planned by students, unions and political parties in Mbabane, Manzini and Nhlangano.  This action was declared illegal, and the government threatened to take action against protesters.  Security was tightened, cars at the Swaziland/South Africa border were searched, and activists were arrested and detained.  Journalists covering the protest action were harassed and their equipment confiscated. Protests have continued throughout May and June, culminating in a march on 22 June to demand an end to Mswati’s reign.

The country faces a ticking clock and it is unclear that it will summon the leadership needed to get out of the multilayered crises.


[i] Swaziland: A culture that encourages HIV/AIDS”. Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN). 15 April 2009. http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/49e6ef2dc.html.

[ii] BBC World News http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12790037

 

By Professor Alan Whiteside Director of HEARD and Jacquie Hadingham Research Associate at HEARD

Previous Article

A letter from Ghana: Nana Rawlings and ...

Next Article

Enforcing the Dodd-Frank Act Would Promote Transparency ...

Magnus Taylor

Magnus Taylor is a Horn of Africa Analyst at International Crisis Group, the independent conflict-prevention organisation.

Leave a reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • somali diaspora covid-19
    Covid-19Somalia

    Why is the Somali diaspora so badly hit by COVID-19?

  • Outgoing President Edgar Lungu with president-elect Hichilema days after the election in Zambia.
    PoliticsZambia

    Three lessons for Africa from Zambia’s landslide opposition victory

  • Politics

    Prospects for Peace in Sudan: December 2007

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter


  • 81.7K+
    Followers

Find us on Facebook

Interactive Elections Map

Keep up to date with all the African elections.

Recent Posts

  • We’ve already breached most of the Earth’s limits. How can we get back?
  • Africa’s topsy-turvy food paradox
  • Zambia: The president’s five-point plan to stay in power at all costs
  • The two defining challenges facing South Africa
  • ‘Don’t Agonize, Organize!’ Remembering Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem’s Advocacy on Sudan

Editor’s Picks

Editor's PicksSociety

“Our African colleagues”: On the limits of diversity in development

Institutional racism is about power. It cannot be changed by simply hiring people of colour or putting them on the cover of annual reports. When I hear talk of diversity, ...
  • If you believe you are a citizen of the world…

    By James Wan
    November 6, 2019
  • Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi performing in 2018. Credit: Mário Pires.

    Rest in Power: Oliver Mtukudzi, music legend and pan-African trailblazer

    By Rumbidzai Dube
    January 25, 2019
  • How I fell in, out, and back in love with the leso

    By Idza Luhumyo
    October 14, 2019
  • diamond-mine-open-pit-botswana-156807675-scaled.jpg

    Why is Botswana rethinking its deal with De Beers?

    By Marisa Lourenço
    April 25, 2023

Brought to you by


Creative Commons

Creative Commons Licence
Articles on African Arguments are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
  • Cookies
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
© Copyright African Arguments 2020
By continuing to browse this site, you agree to our use of cookies.