King Sobhuza II ascended to the throne on 20 December 1921. He led his people during the Colonial era and showed unwavering support for the British during the course of the Second World War: post-war projects created by the Commonwealth Development Corporation included the establishment of the Mhlume Sugar Estates which were meant to help Swati veterans integrate back into civilian life. When the war ended, negotiations with Britain for self-rule were initiated and finally culminated in the granting of Independence on 6 September 1968. Sobhuza II was crowned King and Ngwenyama of an Independent Eswatini through instruments handed over by George Thompson, who represented the British Queen at a colourful ceremony in the Somhlolo National Stadium.
The kingdom inherited a Constitution that Emaswati deemed unsuited to their traditional criteria. Westminster had acceded in part to certain constitutional changes suggested by King Sobhuza II, but these modifications never found full acceptance and the Constitution was consequently suspended. This freed the kingdom to pursue and refine the system of a National and Inner Council in consultation with local chiefs. The son of King Sobhuza II – the future King Mswati III – was born on 19 April 1968 as Prince Makhosetive. The Lion of Eswatini ruled until his death in 1982, making him the longest-reigning monarch in the country’s history, and was on 25 April 1986 succeeded by his son and current monarch, His Majesty King Mswati III.
The latter on 26 July 2005 ratified a new Constitution that is the supreme law of the land and which provides for three, mutually independent arms of government – the Executive, a bicameral Legislature and the Judiciary. The kingdom’s Tinkhundla (Constituencies)–based electoral system is democratic and participatory: it emphasises devolution of power from central government to Tinkhundla areas, and individual merit as a basis for election or appointment to public office. On 19 April 2018 – the King’s 50th birthday in the country’s Independence Golden Jubilee year – His Majesty rewrote the history books and world atlas by telling a large ‘50/50 Celebration’ gathering in Manzini that the country’s name was no longer Swaziland, but Eswatini.
DEEP-ROOTED CULTURE
The monarchy and people of this, the smallest country in the Southern Hemisphere, proudly embrace and preserve ancient, unique traditions that find expression across every aspect of life, from day-to-day domestic activities to gatherings where tens of thousands celebrate and further engrain the nation’s cultural heritage. Visitors are thanks to Emaswati’s hallmark friendliness welcomed into homes and royal arenas alike, even to witness parts of the most esoteric ceremony.
Incwala
This is Eswatini’s most important cultural event: a ceremony that has endured for hundreds of years, it is one of the last remaining examples of what was common practice in many African countries. Although often translated as ‘First Fruits Festival’, essentially it is about cleansing, renewal and celebrating kingship. Incwala takes place around the last week of December/first week of January, the dates deriving from ancestral astrology. Visitors with a genuine interest in Swati culture may attend Incwala, subject to stringent conditions: most recommended is Day Four, when the feasting and dancing reach a climax and thousands of people, including warriors in full battle-regalia, throng the parade grounds. Taking photos is by special permit only – but never of the King’s private sanctuary – and the songs, dances and rituals that take place inside the Royal Kraal may not be recorded or written down, as they remain a matter of utmost secrecy. Respect for total privacy is required on special days, men should not wear hats or headgear that is not traditional, women should wear skirts or sarongs, and shoes should not be worn in the dance arena.
Sequence of the Big Incwala:
• Day One – Under the full moon, unmarried male youths accompanied by Emabutfo (male regiments) set off from Engabezweni Royal Residence and march 50 km to cut branches of the sacred shrub, lusekwane.
• Day Two – They place their lusekwane branches in the national cattle byre. The elders weave these branches in between poles of the Inhlambelo (the King’s private sanctuary).
• Day Three – In the morning, young boys cut branches of the black imbondvo (red bush-willow), which are added to the Inhlambelo. In the afternoon, the lusekwane youths catch and overpower a bull and take it to the sanctuary.
• Day Four – The key players perform in a spectacular pageant inside the cattle byre; His Majesty and the regiments appear in full war-dress and dance to a number of songs. He then throws the Luselwa (sacred gourd), which is caught on a black shield by one of the lusekwane boys.
• Day Five – His Majesty sits in seclusion in the Great Hut while bemanti (disciplinarians) roam the royal capital during daytime, enforcing the rules of this Day of Abstinence.
• Day Six – The regiments march to a forest and return with firewood. The elders prepare in the centre of the cattle byre a bonfire on which certain objects are burned to signify the end of the old year, while the key players sing and dance around it. The King remains in seclusion until the next full moon, when the lusekwane branches are removed and burned.
Umhlanga
The epic-scale Umhlanga (Reed Dance) Celebration – watched each year by a multitude of spectators and beamed to a global television audience – takes place on the seventh day of what is a deeply significant cultural practice. Recent years have witnessed an exponential increase in terms of grandeur, participation and attendance: based on local media coverage, over 100 000 maidens now dance before His Majesty King Mswati III, Her Majesty the Queen Mother, members of the royal family and special guests, while the Eswatini Tourism Authority reports in excess of 45 000 visitor-arrivals in the country during the extravaganza’s main four days, inclusive.
The celebration is in essence a weeklong opportunity for Swati maidens to pay homage to and work for the continued wellbeing, comfort and happiness of Her Majesty the Queen Mother, or Indlovukasi (She-Elephant): the reeds they cut replace those of the previous year that encircle her dwelling at the main royal residence as a symbolic means of protection against the elements. Only childless, unmarried girls and young women aged between eight and 22 take part, and this tradition focuses on encouraging them to abstain from intimate relations until they are considered old enough for marriage.
Commencement of the reed-cutting is determined by a combination of the plants’ maturity at winter’s end and the lunar cycle, thus usually in late August or early September, but never in accordance with the Western calendar. Before the girls set out, HM the Queen Mother is because of her prowess in traditional dancing and royal protocol automatically elected their leader: she then names one of the princesses to be her representative ‘in the field’.
Sequence of Umhlanga:
• Day one sees the girls gather at their respective chiefdoms to receive advice from community elders and be provided with up to four male protectors for the duration of the event. Trucks ferry these parties to Ludzidzini Royal Residence where the girls arrive in groups of 200 or more and are allocated accommodation, either in the huts of relatives who live in the royal villages or in classrooms of the four nearby schools.
• On day two the girls walk to Ngabezweni, a palace at which they are met by His Majesty King Mswati III who blesses them in preparation for the journey and task which they are about to undertake. After being divided into two, age-determined groups – eight to 13 and 14 to 22 – the maidens make their way to two separate, pre-selected destinations: they arrive after nightfall and sleep in government-provided tents near the reed-beds.
• Day three is spent cutting the reeds and tying them into bundles, each consisting of an even number, as odd numbers are thought to bring misfortune on the royal family.
• On the morning of day four, the groups return to Ngabezweni before delivering their bounty to the Queen Mother in the afternoon. Later, they are required to walk to the royal residence by night to symbolise ‘having travelled far’.
• Day five is given over to relaxing, going into town for a shopping spree and finalising hairstyles and costumes for the dance.
• Day six sees the maidens ferried by government vehicles to the royal residence for placing of the reeds, then making their way on foot to the main arena in snake-formation, dancing in their groups that each sings a different song, all simultaneously.
• The seventh day is when the main event takes place: the maidens are in their best traditional attire, spectators have gathered in their thousands and the world’s cameras are rolling. Princesses lead the line of groups into the grounds and present them to Their Majesties, with HM King Mswati III customarily delivering a speech to his subjects on topics such as morality and unity. Guest speakers are frequently featured in the programme. Thereafter, song-and-dance is the order of the day and night.
Buganu
The Buganu (marula-fruit liquor) Festival is a time of good cheer and goodwill that the nation believes could appeal to ever more tourists, especially adventurous, party-loving travellers seeking to escape the Northern Hemisphere winter. Held in late February, Buganu centres around a pair of spectator-packed ceremonies – usually a fortnight apart – held in the arenas of two royal residences, at Buhleni in the Hhohho region’s northwest, and at Hlane in the Lubombo region’s northeast, respectively. Akin to the Umhlanga but involving adults from Lutsango (women’s regiments), their tribute – in this case home-brewed marula liquor – is also formally offered to HM the Queen Mother. Her acceptance and Their Majesties’ blessing thereof gives the green light for a nationwide party to begin.
According to the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, the Buganu Festival has been showing a significant year-on-year increase in the number of visitors who come from abroad to watch and participate. This impacts positively on not only the atmosphere created by thousands of Emaswati from all parts of the country, but also delivers a major boost to the economy: accommodation facilities in and around both venues are frequently fully booked for the two-week duration, and vendors who come in their droves to set up stands selling traditional attire, ethnic artefacts, indigenous food and so on, are reporting ever better-than-usual business.
At Buhleni Royal Residence, His Majesty King Mswati III told Lutsango members and the audience that the arena was now too small to cater for the ever-growing numbers of both, and needed to be enlarged. At Hlane a fortnight later he declared that the Buganu Festival clearly had the potential to attract even greater numbers of foreign tourists: expanding on sentiments expressed in the local media that, with dedicated and single-pointed marketing, Eswastini could stage a visitor-magnet akin to Germany’s Oktoberfest and the other great harvest-related celebrations in Europe and the UK, the King suggested that a delegation of locals be sent to these massively successful festivals to observe and then apply what they learnt to elevating Buganu to ‘spectacular’ status.
Fruit on the Eswatini lowveld’s estimated one million marula trees – which the nation believes are more revered than those occurring elsewhere in Southern and Central Africa – begins to ripen and fall during early February. In accordance with age-old tradition it is gathered by women and children and stored until fully ripe and of a creamy-yellow colour. The fruits are then crushed and de-pitted by the womenfolk before being placed in sugar-water to ferment: no artificial colouring, flavouring or preservatives are employed. The quite potent Buganu that results is sometimes translated as marula beer or wine.
Once the festival’s starting date has been divined and decreed, truckloads of brew, most in 25-litre containers, are collected from throughout the lowveld’s rural areas and taken to Buhleni Royal Residence for Lutsango to present to the Queen Mother on the Friday afternoon. The ceremony proper gets under way on Saturday afternoon and sees Her Majesty and the female regiments engage in traditional dancing until after dark, at which point the King and the male regiments join in. These festivities continue throughout the night, and on Sunday the regiments disperse and the surplus buganu is distributed. The entire process is then repeated – on either the following weekend or the one thereafter – at Hlane Royal Residence in the northern reaches of the Lubombo region.
Emaswati regard the festival as a means to get in touch with their culture. A senior Lutsango member was famously quoted as saying that because Umhlanga is for maidens and Incwala focuses on men, without the Buganu gathering, Swati women could lose their culture bit by bit and the songs for Lutsango would be forgotten. She said that harvest contributions made to events graced by Their Majesties – a devotional practice since the time of the nation’s forefathers – serve to teach the coming generations. The consensus among foreign visitors has consistently supported the view that the Buganu Festival is a unique, undiluted, un-commercialised event that provides an exciting experience of authentic, centuries-old African tradition.
COMPACT LANDSCAPES
Eswatini is the smallest country in the southern hemisphere, covering just more than 17 000 sq km and with a limited area of 193 km from north to south and 145 km from east to west. Bordered by provinces of South Africa on the north, west and south, and Mozambique on the east, the tiny kingdom wherein altitudes range between 120 and almost 2 000 metres above sea level presents a mosaic of vistas and climates. With the exception of beach and desert – which occur in the neighbouring countries – the kingdom’s geography is a microcosm of Africa’s widely varied and scenic terrain. Many significant geological, archaeological and anthropological finds have been and continue to be made.
Eswatini’s four distinct geographical regions are each hallmarked by unique landforms, vegetation and weather patterns.
• Highveld: This westernmost, mountainous and forested belt with an average altitude of 1 300m is divided by many rivers, valleys and gorges.
• Middleveld: The adjacent, undulating region is dominated by lush, fertile valleys within which, thanks the warmer and drier climate that prevails, most of Eswatini’s agricultural activities take place.
• Lowveld: Expansive and characterised by typical, dense African bush abundant in indigenous wildlife and flora, this area facilitates intensive cattle farming along with the cultivation of two prime export crops.
• Lubombo: An escarpment that traverses the eastern length of the lowveld with an average altitude of 600m, this small, mixed-farming area separates the kingdom from Mozambique’s coastal plain. Eswatini’s three main rivers have created deep gorges here en route to the Indian Ocean.
Administrative districts consist of Manzini, Hhohho, Shiselweni and Lubombo, while local government operations include the city councils of Mbabane and Manzini, and the town councils of Ezulwini, Piggs Peak, Nhlangano and Siteki. A number of diplomatic missions are resident in Eswatini, along with consular offices.
Seat of Government
Mbabane was at the turn of the 20th century established as the British colonial administration’s headquarters on account of the mild, temperate climate afforded by its 1 200m altitude. Set amid the scenic highveld’s Dlangeni Hills, panoramic views extend far eastward across the Ezulwini Valley.
The city is today the base of almost all government ministries and departments, as well as the majority of diplomatic representatives. Media houses produce the local newspapers here and it is the seat of domestic television and radio. A high standard of office space is offered, while industrial zones are located just beyond the city centre.
Shopping facilities are excellent, highlighted by a large plaza and two shopping malls with modern retail outlets, fashionable boutiques, commercial banks and supermarkets. Mbabane is close to renowned hotels and international resort complexes that offer every leisure facility expected by the sophisticated traveller. Its original residential areas boast impressive, long-established homes, while housing trends in the rapidly growing new suburbs vary from apartment- and townhouse-enclaves to large, single residences. A pleasant city set in picture-postcard surrounds, Mbabane offers a full spectrum of educational, social and sporting facilities.
Hub of Commerce
Manzini, the largest city in the most densely populated region, is ideally situated in the middleveld about 40 km from Mbabane. Because of this central location it witnessed the pioneering economic activities of Eswatini and remains the most convenient trading area serving all four regions.
Manzini was originally called Bremersdorp after the local businessman who opened a small trading store here in 1885. It served as Eswatini’s first capital and has grown from small town to small city. This hub of trade and distribution functions as the country’s principal commercial and industrial centre, with all national transport networks converging here.
Formal sector commercial activities are concentrated in the Central Business District which features a well-developed infrastructure efficiently meeting all growing commercial and industrial demands. Services include transport access, financial, retail and wholesale outlets, tourism and leisure facilities. Reasonably priced residential, business and industrial sites are available. With the Mzimnene River flowing through the city, Manzini is attractive not only as a residential area but also as a tourist magnet. Healthcare facilities of the highest order are close at hand, as are premier seats of higher education along with teacher training colleges and industrial/business training centres.
Hive of Industry
Matsapha is the largest and most active zone of this type in the kingdom, strategically positioned just 10 km from Manzini and 32 km from Mbabane. The vast majority of manufacturers – excluding the sugar and timber industries – are based here. A popular choice with both international and local investors, Matsapha has enjoyed substantial upgrading and expansion of its primary infrastructure, with water and electricity supply, telephone and emergency services substantially improved during recent years. The Matsapha Town Board is a fully-fledged administrative entity in its own right. A container depot is linked by rail to an appealing choice of factory space and business premises for lease, while financial institutions supplement an ever-widening network of support services. Additional land is available for development, plus the ongoing construction of factory shells is geared to attract new manufacturing industries.
Bastion of Culture
Lobamba is the nation’s spiritual and cultural centre – the site of its impressive, imposing Houses of Parliament where visitors are welcome to attend debates, and the Royal Lozitha Palace: the latter’s newly constructed Grand Hall was in August 2016 used to host the two main events of the 36th Summit of the SADC Heads of State and Government. The nearby National Archives and Museum is filled with informative, eye-catching displays: the most recent addition is ‘500 Years of Digitised Oral Swati Clan Histories’. Somholo National Stadium, meanwhile, hosts international soccer matches, music concerts, the annual Independence Day Celebrations and an extensive roster of cultural events.
Ezulwini translates from SiSwati as the Valley of Heaven and is hallmarked by its congregation of international-class hotels, resorts, lodges and casinos. An international convention centre and adjacent luxury hotel are currently under construction. Large shopping centres afford convenient access to numerous retail outlets, taverns and restaurants, along with banking and real estate facilities. Authentic handicrafts for sale are displayed at a large open-air market with ample parking. Flanked by pristine nature reserves, the valley has spawned a bespoke residential area and attained township status. More shopping malls, office parks and mixed-use developments are either being built or in their planning stages.
Country Charm
In true African tradition – and imbuing them with an equally trademarked sense of timelessness – the kingdom’s informal, friendly outlying towns grew originally around trading stores. Their evolution has been determined by population numbers, diversity of local economic activities, linkages to the hinterland and the levels of available services and facilities. Physical infrastructure improvements have led not only to improved inter-centre communications, but also to magnificent scenic-drives for visitors who are always welcomed by their hosts.
Nhlangano is the agricultural centre for southern Eswatini and administrative headquarters of the Shiselweni District. Its name translates as ‘meeting place’ and commemorates the historic encounter between King Sobhuza II and King George VI of Great Britain. Attractions include a tourist-favourite casino with conference facilities and modern shopping centre. An ample labour force is available for the small industrial estate and established roads link the centre with Mbabane, Manzini and Mahamba, which is near the railhead at Piet Retief in South Africa. Scenery is spectacular with an abundance of flora and fauna, particularly around Mahamba and Msongweni Gorge.
Ngwenya lies west of Mbabane and is the busiest border post. To promote decentralisation and encourage industry to locate here, a large-scale factory park was constructed as part of government’s visionary Millennium Programme. A nearby glass-making factory is the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere, specialising in the hand-blowing of recycled glass. Sidwashini near Mbabane contains light manufacturing and service industries, with a large industrial site close to the city centre. The Malaysia-headquartered Limkokwing University of Creative Technology opened its local campus here in 2011.
Malkerns is a small town set in the heart of fertile, well-established farming country hallmarked by sugarcane fields and vast plantations of pineapple. The latter are owned by the Rhodes Food Group and processed at its subsidiary plant. In the valley lies the eclectic House on Fire, which is an indoors/outdoors venue where the world-renowned MTN Bushfire festival of music and the arts is held each year. Towards the district’s southwest, Mankayane is the focal point of Eswatini’s mohair industry.
In the sugarcane-producing southern lowveld, Big Bend is situated on the tarred road to Lavumisa border post and named after a giant sweep in the Great Usutu River en route to the Indian Ocean. Simunye, the third largest population centre, is a vibrant sugar producing area and growth point. It features an attractive commercial complex with shops set around interlinking garden malls, as well as social, educational and training centres. Both here and at Mhlume, processed sugar is marketed worldwide, while Tshaneni is also a major agricultural centre.
The small and picturesque escarpment town of Siteki serves as administrative headquarters for the easternmost Lubombo district. Historic Pigg’s Peak in the far north was once a famous gold-mining centre, and is currently in the process of returning to its former glory thanks to the introduction of new mining technology. This ‘alpine’ area of north-west Eswatini is also sought after for its breathtaking views, and a luxury hotel-casino complex attracts numbers of foreign visitors.
Accessibility
• King Mswati III International Airport in the northeast is 45 km from Manzini and 80 km from Mbabane
• Any of numerous border posts, open daily; tarred roads link to main centres of South Africa and Mozambique
• Maputo in Mozambique is the nearest harbour
Car rental/minibus/taxi; shuttle buses operate between the airport and Mbabane, Manzini and Ezulwini.
