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Eswatini is the last absolute monarchy in Africa. King Mswati III. determined there for 37 years. He lives a life of luxury while more than half of the population lives below the poverty line. But the criticism of Mswati is getting louder. Especially now that general elections are coming up.
29-year-old Gcebile Kunene has lunch at a restaurant in the small town of Buhleni, just off one of Eswatini’s many royal residences. She has often been to the royal residence next door: “I go to every cultural event. I love my culture!”
Legend:
He has ruled everything in the small state of Eswatini since 1986: King Mswati III, here on a state visit to Zimbabwe.
Keystone/EPA/AARON UFUMELI
The people of Eswatini agree on that. King Mswati III. is the guarantor and embodiment of the Eswatinian culture, which is very important to the population. The bare-breasted young women who dance in their thousands in front of the king at the annual reed dance ceremony are probably the only image that is known to a broader public from Eswatini. But when it comes to culture, the young woman’s joy in the king ends here at the lunch table: “Culture is the only thing that’s going well in Eswatini. If we speak out politically, we fear being killed or going to jail, »says the young woman.
disregard for human rights
This fear is justified. The well-known opposition activist and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko was shot dead on his sofa at the beginning of the year. The brutal killing came just after King Mswati warned activists calling for political reforms “not to complain if they are killed by mercenaries”.
Legend:
Gcebile Kunene cannot find work in Eswatini.
SRF/Anna Lemmenmeier
The king cannot deal with the demands for more political openness. Two years ago he was confronted with the most violent pro-democracy protests of his reign and had them brutally crushed. A political activist who wanted to remain anonymous for security reasons was also there at the time. We meet the law student on the campus of her university in Manzini, the largest city in the country.
Eleven women and luxury cars
The displeasure with King Mswati does not only come from the suppression of human rights in Eswatini, explains the 26-year-old: “Our parents only work to finance the king’s luxurious life. A life of luxury while we starve.”
While the student had to suspend her studies for two years because her family could not pay the tuition fees, King Mswati III. with his current eleven wives a life in the lap of luxury. Their Rolls-Royce can often be seen cruising the streets of the tiny kingdom. At the same time, more than half of the 1.2 million inhabitants live in poverty. Nowhere else in the world is the HIV rate higher, and the health and education systems are failing. The absolute monarch determines everything, but does not care about anything.
Legend:
This is where the king lives: entrance to Mswati’s residence in Buhleni.
SRF/Anna Lemmenmeier
That’s why he has to go, according to the student: “I want Mswati to be overthrown. Our country wouldn’t be like this if he weren’t in power.” But King Mswati III. has made it clear that he is not ready for dialogue. And so, in the upcoming elections, the people of Eswatini have only the option of having a say in what little they can or of taking to the streets again, as they did two years ago.