eSwatini says fake polygamy story 'insult' to king and country

Yahoo – AFP, May 14, 2019

King Mswati III has 14 wives and more than 25 children (AFP Photo/
GIANLUIGI GUERCIA)

Mbabane (eSwatini) (AFP) - The government of eSwatini on Tuesday angrily denied viral online reports that King Mswati III, Africa's last absolute monarch who has 14 wives, had ordered men to have at least two marriages or face jail.

The story, carried by the Zambian Observer and picked up by several other online publications, said that Swazi men would have to marry several wives starting from June.

As well as 14 wives, King Mswati has more than 25 children and a reputation for lavish spending while 63 percent of his 1.3 million subjects in the kingdom formerly known as Swaziland live in poverty.

The story, first published on Monday, said the government would sponsor marriage ceremonies and offer houses to men who entered into polygamous marriages.

Three of King Mswati III's wives look at their husband as he delivers a speech 

calling on men to get circumcised (AFP Photo/Jinty Jackson)

It said the king "has declared in... Swaziland that men will from June 2019 be required to marry at least two or more wives or be jailed if they fail to do so".

Government spokesman Percy Simelane called the story "malicious" and "poisonous".

"His Majesty has not made any pronouncement to that effect as it has never been an issue raised," by the people, Simelane said.

He said the story was "not only an insult to the monarchy and the culture of eSwatini but a disgrace to journalism".

The government has demanded that the newspaper retract its story.

Impoverished eSwatini, Africa's last absolute monarchy

Yahoo – AFP, September 19, 2018

Mswati has been in power for 32 years, making him one of the longest-serving
rulers in Africa (AFP Photo/TIMOTHY A. CLARY)

Mbabane (eSwatini) (AFP) - The tiny country of eSwatini, until recently known as Swaziland, is ruled by a playboy king with many wives and supreme control over a nation struggling with poverty and HIV.

Ahead of parliamentary elections on Friday, here is some essential background about the landlocked kingdom wedged between South Africa and Mozambique.

King in control

King Mswati III was crowned in 1986 when he was only 18, four years after the death of his elderly father, Sobhuza II.

Now aged 50, he has been in power for 32 years, making him one of the longest-serving rulers in Africa.

With unrestricted political power over his 1.3 million people and ruling by decree, he is the only absolute monarch on the continent and one of the few remaining in the world.

His surprise declaration in April that the kingdom would return to its pre-colonial name, eSwatini, was criticised as an example of his authoritarianism.

Mswati has 14 wives -- his father is said to have had at least 70 -- and the right to choose a new one at the annual Reed Dance, when thousands of bare-breasted virgins dance for him.

Political parties banned

After independence from Britain in 1968, Sobhuza II abandoned a British-style system and in 1973 restored a traditional form of government that gives the royal family supreme power.

It effectively bans political parties, which are barred from parliamentary elections held every five years.

Candidates for the 69-member parliament stand as individuals; the king directly appoints 10, as well as the prime minister, senior cabinet members and the judiciary.

Mswati has been in power for 32 years, making him one of the longest-serving 

rulers in Africa (AFP Photo/TIMOTHY A. CLARY)

The government stifles dissent and demonstrations, including by pro-democracy trade unions.

A much-criticised 2008 Suppression of Terrorism Act has been used to arrest and charge democracy and opposition activists.

Widespread poverty

Around 63 percent of Swazis live in poverty and a quarter of children under five show signs of malnutrition, according to UN agencies.

About 26 percent of the labour force is unemployed and 77 percent of Swazis rely on subsistence farming, with severe drought leaving many in need of aid.

The country has little developed industry, with sugar production being among the most important, and is heavily dependent on South Africa, which provides 85 percent of its imports and receives 60 percent of exports, the World Bank says.

Its key textile sector lost thousands of jobs after the United States removed the kingdom from a lucrative trade pact in 2014 due to concerns over workers' rights.

It was admitted back into the African Growth and Opportunity Act in December 2017.

World's highest HIV rate

Around 27 percent of adults aged 15 to 49 were living with HIV last year, according to UN figures, the highest prevalence of the AIDS-causing virus in the world.

However the number of new HIV infections has halved since 2010 and AIDS-related deaths are down 28 percent, according to UNAIDS.

This is after campaigns to boost access to virus-suppressing drugs and male circumcision.

Around 3,500 people died from the disease last year, from a peak of in 7,900 in 2005, while 44,000 children were AIDS orphans.

Freedoms flouted

The government has almost total control of the media and the only independent newspaper, the Times of Swaziland, is routinely intimidated into retracting articles that are critical of the authorities.

Homosexuality is outlawed, miniskirts were banned in 2012 and in 2017 the government ordered that only Christianity could be taught at primary and secondary schools.

The Economist Intelligence Unit 2017's democracy index ranks Swaziland 144 out of 167 countries, placing it firmly in the "authoritarian" category.

President Of Indonesia : We Need To Cooperate To Advance The Nation

Jakarta Globe, aacc2015.id, Apr 24, 2015

AACC2015, Bandung – The President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo invited all representatives of the Asian and African countries to start economic cooperation in order to increase the quality of life of their people.

“The Spirit of Bandung is to advance people’s welfare. Therefore, we must cooperate,” said President Joko Widodo at the height of the commeration of the 60th Anniversary of the Asian African Conference (AAC), in Bandung, on Friday (24/4).

According to the President, the Spirit of Bandung that was agreed by the founders should be a unifier that opens every economic cooperation potential. This should be a good momentum to produce various economic agreements in order to improve people’s welfare.

Still fresh in our memory is the struggle for independence by our predecessors. At that time, all Asian and African countries experienced the impact of colonialism. The Asian African Conference fosters a spirit of togetherness that was initiated by the Spirit of Bandung, to fight colonialism.

Previously, five countries were still dreaming of gaining independence from colonialism, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, and Indonesia. Their dream to gain independence inspired the birth of the Spirit of Bandung, the President added.

Through the AAC Commemoration, Joko Widodo invites all people of the represented countries to inflame the Spirit of Bandung in Asian and African in order to fight for peace, end poverty, and provide better welfare. (Photo: Host, Translator: Mia)

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"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013. They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader. Remember where you heard it... in a strange, esoteric meeting with a guy in a chair pretending to channel. [Kryon being factious... Kryon humor] Then when you hear it, you'll know better, won't you? "Maybe there was something really there," you'll say. "Maybe it was real," you'll say. Perhaps you can skip all the drama of the years to come and consider that now? [Kryon humor again]

These leaders are going to fall over. You'll have a slow developing leadership coming to you all over the earth where there is a new energy of caring about the public. "That's just too much to ask for in politics, Kryon." Watch for it. That's just the beginning of this last phase. So many things are coming. The next one is related to this, for a country in survival with sickness cannot sustain a leadership of high consciousness. There is just too much opportunity for power and greed. But when a continent is healed, everything changes. .."

".. Many years ago, the prevailing thought was that nobody should consider China as a viable player on the economic stage. They were backward, filled with a system that would never be westernized, and had no wish to become joined with the rest of the world's economic systems. Look what has happened in only 30 years. Now, look at Africa differently …”

"The End of History"- Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - (Text-Version)

" .... Africa

Let me tell you where else it's happening that you are unaware - that which is the beginning of the unity of the African states. Soon the continent will have what they never had before, and when that continent is healed and there is no AIDS and no major disease, they're going to want what you have. They're going to want houses and schools and an economy that works without corruption. They will be done with small-minded leaders who kill their populations for power in what has been called for generations "The History of Africa." Soon it will be the end of history in Africa, and a new continent will emerge.

Be aware that the strength may not come from the expected areas, for new leadership is brewing. There is so much land there and the population is so ready there, it will be one of the strongest economies on the planet within two generations plus 20 years. And it's going to happen because of a unifying idea put together by a few. These are the potentials of the planet, and the end of history as you know it.

In approximately 70 years, there will be a black man who leads this African continent into affluence and peace. He won't be a president, but rather a planner and a revolutionary economic thinker. He, and a strong woman with him, will implement the plan continent-wide. They will unite. This is the potential and this is the plan. Africa will arise out the ashes of centuries of disease and despair and create a viable economic force with workers who can create good products for the day. You think China is economically strong? China must do what it does, hobbled by the secrecy and bias of the old ways of its own history. As large as it is, it will have to eventually compete with Africa, a land of free thinkers and fast change. China will have a major competitor, one that doesn't have any cultural barriers to the advancement of the free Human spirit.. ...."

Swaziland: Police in mini-skirt arrest threat

BBC News, 24 December 2012

The police warning does not apply to women in traditional clothes

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Women in Swaziland risk arrest if they wear mini-skirts or tops which expose part of their stomach, a police spokeswoman has said.

Wendy Hleta said police would enforce an 1889 law which bans "immoral" dressing if they receive a complaint.

She also said women in the deeply conservative kingdom make it easier for rapists by wearing mini-skirts.

Last month, police reportedly blocked women in mini-skirts marching against rape in the second city, Manzini.

However, the colonial-era law does not apply to traditional costumes worn by women during ceremonies like the annual reed dance, where the monarch may choose a new wife.

In 2000, the government introduced a law requiring school girls aged 10 years old and above to wear knee-length skirts to curb promiscuity as part of attempts to halt the spread of Aids.

The country has a population of more than 1.2 million and one of the highest HIV/Aids rates in the world.

'Undressing people with their eyes'

Ms Hleta said the 1889 law had not been enforced recently, but police wanted to alert women about its existence after receiving complaints from some men in Manzini about women wearing mini-skirts.

Anyone arrested and guilty of "immorality" under the Crimes Act of 1889 could receive a fine of up to $10 (£6) or a jail-term of up to six months if they failed to pay the fine, she said.

Women should be careful about wearing revealing clothes, the police spokeswoman said.

"We do not encourage that women should be harmed, but at the same time people should note acceptable conduct of behaviour," Ms Hleta is quoted by the privately owned Times of Swaziland newspaper as saying.

"The act of the rapist is made easy because it would be easy to remove the half-cloth worn by the women," she said.

Women who wear "skimpy clothes" also draw unnecessary attention to themselves, Ms Hleta said.

"I have read from the social networks that men and even other women have a tendency of 'undressing people with their eyes'. That becomes easier when the clothes are hugging or are more revealing," Ms Hleta is quoted as saying.

However, the law excluded exposure of the body due to breast feeding and wearing cultural regalia, she said.

Swaziland is a patriarchal society, ruled by sub-Saharan Africa's only absolute monarch, King Mswati III.

He has 13 wives and is often accused of leading a flamboyant lifestyle.

But in a move that was widely welcomed by rights groups, Swaziland's Ellinah Wamukoya was last month consecrated as the first woman bishop in Africa by the Anglican church.

Bahrainis protest Saudi Gulf union proposal

Deutsche Welle, 18 May 2012

Opposition activists in Bahrain have rallied to protest a proposed union with neighboring Saudi Arabia. Some protesters view the plan as an attempt by Riyadh to end the uprising in the Gulf island nation.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Bahrain on Friday, denouncing proposals for closer military and political cooperation with neighboring Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

The mainly Shiite demonstrators blocked one of the island nation's major highways outside the capital, Manama, in a rally that stretched for nearly five kilometers (three miles). The demonstrators chanted slogans such as "No, no unity" and "Bahrain is not for sale."

On Monday, the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council met for a summit meeting in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, to disclose closer union between the organization's six member states. The council is comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The meeting postponed any decisions on closer political integration for later in the year. Some critics believe the proposal is a push by Saudi Arabia's Sunni monarchy to consolidate its regional power against its main rival, Shiite Iran.

Regional power politics

Bahrain, a small island state in the Persian Gulf, plays an important strategic role in the region: it is home to the US Navy's fifth fleet. Once a province of Iran, a Sunni monarchy currently rules over the majority Shiite population.

In February 2011, mainly Shiite activists - inspired by the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt - rose up against the Al Khalifa monarchy, calling for greater political participation. At least 50 people have died in the unrest so far. The monarchy blames the unrest on Iran.

Saudi Arabia, which has a large Shiite population in its eastern, oil-producing regions, deployed troops last year to help shore up the Al Khalifa family. Some opposition activists suspect that Riyadh wants to use the GCC proposal to secure control over Bahrain and deny Tehran influence in the region.

Protests against a Saudi-Bahraini union also took place in Iran on Friday, with the cleric Kazem Sediqi delivering a sermon broadcast live on state radio.

"This is an ill-fated plot that is taking place with the American and Zionist (Israeli) green light but they should know that the people of Bahrain and the region, Muslims around the world and in Iran will never tolerate it," Sediqi said.

"Instead of surrendering to its own people, it (the Bahraini government) is surrendering its identity, with total abjectness, to another country," Sediqi said.

slk/jm (AP, Reuters)

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Bahrain's King Hamad al-Khalifa and Swaziland's King

Mswati III are both expected.

The Queen's lunch for monarchs attracts controversy

BBC News, 18 May 2012

The Diamond Jubilee 

• Royal party takes barge journey
• 'Banksy' boy worker image on shop
• Queen's own diamonds to go on show
• Queen Church role backed in poll

Bahrain's King Hamad al-Khalifa
 and Swaziland's King Mswati III are
both expected

The King of Bahrain and Swaziland's King Mswati III are among controversial monarchs expected at a Windsor Castle lunch being hosted by the Queen later.

Critics accuse Bahrain of human rights abuses and say King Mswati lives in luxury while his people starve.

Campaigner Peter Tatchell criticised The Queen for inviting "royal tyrants to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee".

The Foreign Office said it was having "a full and frank discussion on a range of issues" with Bahrain's government.

Buckingham Palace said it will not comment on the lunch.

It will be followed by an evening banquet, hosted by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. Not all the monarchs will be at both events.

Mr Tatchell said the invitations were "a shocking misjudgement" that showed the Queen was "out of touch with the humanitarian values of most British people".

"Inviting blood-stained despots brings shame to our monarchy and tarnishes the Diamond Jubilee celebrations," he said.

"It is a kick in the teeth to pro-democracy campaigners and political prisoners in these totalitarian royal regimes."

Bahrain officials said King Hamad al-Khalifa - whose country is in a state of civil unrest following crackdowns on protests last year - was expected to attend.

Last month, Bahrain Grand Prix organisers were urged to cancel the race amid public unrest in the country and accusations of human rights abuses.

And in April 2011, Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa pulled out of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's wedding amid controversy over human rights.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "On human rights we support the reforms already under way in Bahrain and we want to help promote that reform.

"We have consistently encouraged the Bahraini government to take further urgent steps to implement in full the recommendations of the Independent Commission of Inquiry as his majesty the King has committed to doing.

"This includes bringing to account those individuals responsible for human rights abuses."

On Thursday, former Foreign Office Minister Denis MacShane criticised Bahrain for doing "such terrible things to its own people since the Arab awakening a year ago".

He said Arab nations "must let their citizens vote in free elections and let them speak without fear of arrest, torture or death".

"For too long we have turned a blind eye to the repression carried out under the rule of royals in Arabia - the Foreign Office should protect the British Queen rather than expose her to having to dine with a despot."

On Wednesday, meanwhile, a group of UK-based Swazis protested outside the Savoy hotel, in London, where King Mswati - who is widely accused of profligate spending - is thought to be staying.

The Swazliand Vigil group said it had written to the Queen to ask her to influence the king. 

Spain's Queen Sofia has pulled
 out because of a dispute over Gibraltar

King Mswati is rated by Forbes magazine as the world's 15th richest monarch with a personal fortune of $100m (£62m) - while many of his 1.2 million subjects live in poverty.

Saudi and Kuwaiti royals are also attending the banquet.

Amnesty international has recently highlighted repression in Saudi Arabia, as the authorities there crack down on protesters and reformists.

And Human Rights Watch has criticised Kuwait for the suspension of a daily newspaper and the conviction of its editor for incitement.

Meanwhile, Queen Sofia of Spain will not be attending because of a dispute over fishing rights off Gibraltar, a UK territory that Spain also claims.

The Spanish government statement said it was "hardly appropriate" for the 73-year-old to attend the lunch.

Her husband, King Juan Carlos, had already declined an invitation because he is recovering from a broken hip.

BBC diplomatic correspondent, Bridget Kendall, says that two problems always hung over this Diamond Jubilee lunch list - the possibility of protests at the inclusion of the despots and non democrats among the invited crowned heads of states, and the risk of diplomatic spats intervening.

Gibraltar has been the cause of a no-show by Spain before at a royal occasion. Spanish royalty stayed away from Prince Charles' wedding to Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1981 because the honeymoon was to include a stop in Gibraltar, our correspondent added.

Other members of the British royal family, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, the Earl and Countess of Wessex and the Duke of York and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie will also be at the lunch.

Guest list

The full guest list for the monarchs' lunch is:

HM The King of Bahrain; HRH Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa (Bahrain); HM The King of The Belgians; HM The Queen of The Belgians; HM The Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei; HM Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha (Brunei); HM King Simeon II of the Bulgarians; HM Queen Margarita of the Bulgarians; HM Queen Margrethe II of Denmark; HRH The Prince Consort (Denmark); HM King Constantine of the Hellenes; HM Queen Anne-Marie of the Hellenes; HM The Emperor of Japan; HM The Empress of Japan; HM The King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; HM Queen of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; HH Sheikh Nasser Mohamed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait.

HM King Letsie III of Lesotho; HM Queen Masenate Mohato Seeiso of Lesotho; HSH Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein; HRH The Grand Duke of Luxembourg; HRH The Grand Duchess of Luxembourg; HM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia; HM Seri Paduka Baginda Raja Permaisuri of Malaysia; HSH The Prince of Monaco; HSH The Princess of Monaco; HRH Princess Lalla Meryem of Morocco; HM The Queen of the Netherlands; HM The King of Norway; HM The Queen of Norway; HH The Emir of The State of Qatar; HH Sheika Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned (Qatar).

HM King Michael I of Romania; HM Queen Anne of Romania; HRH Prince Mohammed Bin Nawaf Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia; HM King Mswati III of Swaziland; Inkhosikati LaMbikiza (Swaziland); HM The King of Sweden; HM The Queen of Sweden; HRH The Crown Prince of Thailand; HRH Princess Srirasm of Thailand; HM The King of Tonga; HM The Queen of Tonga; HH The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi; HRH The Crown Prince of Yugoslavia; HRH The Crown Princess of Yugoslavia.

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Swaziland protest silenced

Deutsche Welle, 19 April 2012

The tiny kingdom of Swaziland has been marking the 44th birthday of King Mswati III, Africa's last absolute monarch. The authorities responded to pro-democracy protests with detentions and road blocks.

Musa Hlophe from the Swazi Coalition of Concerned Civic Organizations was among those wanting to mark King Mswati's birthday with political protest, but he told DW from the capital Mbabane on Thursday that the government had "succeeded in repressing this particular operation."

"Even if the streets were closed to us, we wanted to celebrate this day and demand that our right to assembly and protest be restored," he added.

Pro-democracy groups had slated the king's birthday as a day of protest following earlier demonstrations last week. Swaziland's impoverished citizens were ordered to celebrate the day by giving contributions such as cows.

One of the world's richest monarchs

The king's opponents were indignant. "With Swazis being so ruthlessly taxed, the one man who does not pay taxes in the country, and yet happens to be the richest, is adamant that he should take the little money the country has and use it on a birthday party for himself, his wives and his children," the April 12 Swazi Uprising Movement said in a statement.

Will these children grow up in a more
democratic Swaziland?

The movement takes its name from the date on which political parties were banned in Swaziland 39 years ago.

"This is pure evil. Why does he not go to Kuwait and ask his friends there to throw him a party funded with petro-dollars?" the statement added.

Mswati is rated by Forbes magazine as being among the world's 15 richest monarchs with a personal fortune of more than $100 million (76 million euros). He has 13 wives, each with their own palace. But 60 percent of his subjects live on less than 2 dollars a day in one of the world's poorest countries.

Most of the national income comes from Swazis working in neighboring South Africa or via customs charges on items entering Swaziland. The country also has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world. One in four carries the virus.

Rights abuses are increasingly attracting international attention. A statement released by the US embassy in the capital Mbabane one day before the monarch's birthday criticized Swazi security forces for preventing peaceful gatherings and the government for banning a trade union.

With political parties having been outlawed, unions play a leading role in pushing for reform.

Striving for a return to a multiparty system

Mduduzi Gina, first deputy general secretary of the Trades Union Congress of Swaziland, told DW that political parties should be made legal again in Swaziland.

"We want the next elections to be held under a multiparty system," he said.

Last week the government declared illegal any protests highlighting the abolition of political parties and put large numbers of police and soldiers on the streets. Seven activists were detained while on their way to a pro-democracy church service in the city of Manzini.

Musa Hlophe believes change will happen one day. "Pressure will come upon the king, because the power is in the king's hands, in one institution. If he becomes convinced that change does include him as part of the future, that we will not drive him to the sea...we believe that persuasion rather confrontation will be the resolution."

The alternative to peaceful change, he added, "was too ghastly to contemplate."

Author: Mark Caldwell (AFP, dpa)

Editor: Susan Houlton

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Photograph: Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images

.

Swaziland's vibrant tourist industry masks a hunger for democracy

The tiny nation plays on its status as the only absolute monarchy in Africa – but citizens demand democracy as well as tradition

guardian.co.uk, David Smith in Mbabane, Wednesday 11 April 2012 

King Mswati III dances in front of young virgins at a traditional reed dance
ceremony. About 80,000 women attend the yearly event, where they might
 be added to the ranks of the king's 13 wives. Photograph: Per-Anders
Pettersson/Getty Images

Culture and tradition are big selling points for Swaziland. Tourists looking for "the real Africa" are encouraged to see the big five wild animals on safari, visit villages or witness the annual Umhlanga (reed dance), in which more than 20,000 bare-breasted young maidens hope to catch the eye of the king, should he wish to add to his present tally of 13 wives.

"A tiny country with a big heart and warm, friendly people aptly describes Swaziland – a country that is the only absolute monarchy in Africa and which embraces and upholds its own unique and ancient traditions," says the national tourism authority. "These are carefully guarded and faithfully celebrated and are just one aspect of the kingdom that makes it a very special place to visit."

What few admirers of the mountains, forests and valleys hear are the voices of discontent: those who call King Mswati III a despot and dictator; the allegations of extrajudicial killings and torture; the civil society activists who live in fear of tapped phones and snooped emails; the journalists and judges who toe the line of state control; the suffering of a people, 63% of whom live in poverty and 26% of whom are HIV-positive; the protests planned for Thursday, the 39th anniversary of absolute rule; and the whispers of revolt that could emulate the Arab spring by toppling the king.

These voices portray a darker side of "unique and ancient traditions" and how they can be used and abused for political ends. They call Mswati an African Nero fiddling while his country burns, an arrogant playboy relishing banquets, fast cars and private jets while many of his million subjects go hungry.

They blame rituals in which old men take child brides and celebrate promiscuity for helping spread Aids. They say the "old ways" do not justify fascist tendencies and the evisceration of human rights.

"Dictator is a fair word," said a spokesman for the lobby group the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations, who did not wish to be named for fear of recriminations. "This is not a totalitarian regime. This is an authoritarian regime. It doesn't have an ideological purity like North Korea or like what used to be in Cuba.

"The king is interested in more money, more power, more women. The regime has normalised abnormality."

Swaziland gained independence from Britain in 1968 under Mswati's father, King Sobhuza II, whose nominal reign of almost 83 years was a world record; he had 70 wives and 218 children. On 12 April 1973, he repealed the constitution and banned political parties, making himself absolute ruler. One right the king does not enjoy is the choice of his successor from his plethora of children.

After Sobhuza died in 1982, Mswati was steered into power by his canny mother, and he performed the ceremonial ritual of slaying a lion to inherit the throne.

In the years since, he has become ever more anachronistic on a democratising,economically vibrant continent.

One of the wealthiest kings in the world, with a fortune estimated at $100m (£63m), he reigns over a country that was once an oasis of peace surrounded by anti-apartheid protests and civil war in South Africa and Mozambique – but now is the sole country in the region that does not at least pay lip service to multi-party voting.

Elections are held but the king appoints the prime minister, cabinet and a portion of parliament, supported by powerful local chiefs in a system known as tinkhundla.

"We hear nothing and understand nothing about Magna Carta in Swaziland," said one legal expert. "The judges of the high court once said: 'Democracy, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.'"

Insulting the king is legally defined as an act of terrorism. Among those who have felt the regime's wrath is Maxwell Dlamini, 22, a pro-democracy activist and president of the Swaziland National Union of Students. In April last year he was stopped near the South African border, pushed into a police van and quizzed over his role in a planned "uprising".

"In the interrogation room they assaulted me with fists and open hands and kicked me," he said last week.

"It was the time of the Arab spring so there were a lot of worries in the region. They said I had brought weapons and explosives from South Africa to bring about an armed insurrection. They made me strip and lie on a bench and wound rope around me. A police officer almost suffocated me with a plastic bag."

After an ordeal lasting five hours, Dlamini said he was taken to a faraway police station where he was held in darkness with no food or water. At 11pm he was taken to an interrogation room and tortured again in a similar manner. He added: "I still have the after-effects. I'm traumatised, I hallucinate. I can't stay in my room on my own."

Dlamini was charged with possessing explosives and spent 10 months in jail. "It was hell. Sometimes I was kept in isolation for a week. There were insects: you just have a rash on the first day, but they eat you. There were 68 people in a small cell with two toilets and no running water. The food is very poor."

Dlamini had been sentenced to 32 months but was released on 50,000 lilangeni (£4,000) bail – a national record. He has vowed to continue the struggle.

"I want the people of Swaziland to live in a democratic dispensation and my children to enjoy fundamental human rights," he said. "If death, arrest, torture is necessary for the accomplishment of this just cause, then let it be."

Frustration with the king's autocratic rule, and the prospect of economic ruin, triggered unprecedented public demonstrations on 12 April last year.

The state responded with a brutal show of force involving riot police, teargas and mass arrests. Another protest is planned for the anniversary on Thursday.

Most campaigners are not necessarily demanding a republic. "We are not wanting to wipe away the monarchy," said Wandile Dludlu, national co-ordinator of the Swaziland United Democratic Front.

"There are many European countries that still have them today. But when they consistently resist change, history shows that they have tended to be wiped away. Here, if the monarchy proves an impediment to democracy, it will have to face the wrath of the masses. If the king stands in the way of progress, we'll push him out."

Dludlu described the king as a "gallivanter" who recently added a Rolls-Royce and Mercedes to his car collection and enjoys a hedonistic whirl of cocktail parties, "orgies" and shopping trips to Dubai.

"It is daylight robbery, using taxpayers' money. The king is extravagant. He doesn't live in this world. He's setting a problematic trend, encouraging everyone to be more excessive right beside naked, abject poverty. Swazis are being strangled by a mafia."

Others tell of a sinister culture of state surveillance, including plainclothes operatives. Thulani Maseko, a member of Lawyers for Human Rights, said: "We all feel that whatever you say to someone on the other side of the phone is being recorded. So you do feel a sense of insecurity from time to time."

Not everyone is a dissident, however. Three in four Swazis live in rural areas, where loyalty to the king runs deep. Children are told stories of his magical powers such as the ability to induce rain, turn himself into a cat or make himself invisible to his enemies.

In the national language, the words for chief, king and god are similar. To criticise the king can be seen as an abomination. "The king is the mouth that tells no lie," one saying holds.

The king and queen mother have shored up their popularity by distributing free food and blankets to villagers, who typically blame politicians for their troubles instead. Local chiefs, who have the power to confiscate land, also help to preserve the status quo.

Mbabane, the administrative capital, has a population of about 100,000 and is the country's largest city.

A half hour drive away, at a clinic in the village of Gilgal, Ncamsile Mkhwanazi, 36, said: "The king is a very good leader. I wish I was one of his wives."

Martha Sibande, 72, who runs a medical practice, said: "I don't trust democracy in Africa. We had an influx of Mozambicans here: they ate all the goods and said they were fighting for democracy. This country has been ruled by kings for over 400 years. You can't come and tell me democracy is right.

"If Swazis say they want democracy, they must show us, where is Gaddafi? Look at Iraq as well, the leader slaughtered. If they want democracy, they must leave the country. In Swaziland, if you plough the field, you get food. If you work hard, then you live well. You don't kill."

Political activists say such views are largely attributable to propaganda from TV and radio, which remain tightly state-controlled. The government recently announced a crackdown on Facebook and Twitter and the country's two daily newspapers fare little better. In January, the chief editor of the state-owned Swazi Observer was fired after publishing interviews with banned pro-democracy groups; he fled to South Africa saying he feared for his life.

Last month, the Swazi Observer published a routine report taken from the international newswires concerning the king's friend, President Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea. A week later it was forced to print a prominent apology for appearing to "undermine the person and integrity" of Obiang.

But Bheki Mahubu, editor of the independent monthly magazine the Nation, who was jailed in 1999 for criminal defamation, believes the media should be bolder. "I think we're living through that period of 'Let them eat cake' except that we haven't reacted to it," he said.

"There's a lot of bullying that goes on in Swaziland. If we journalists were to speak out for ourselves more strongly and say 'this is unacceptable', they would probably change.

"There is a lot of acceding to government demands when it's not necessary. Any bully becomes accustomed to getting away with it. Swaziland is like an abused woman who says, 'I started it, he's a loving guy.'"

The Swazi royal family is celebrated as a fixed point in a changing world, a bulwark of African heritage against the march of modernity and globalisation.

But opponents argue that "culture" and "tradition" are used as a convenient figleaf and indulged by the international community, which has been slower to condemn Mswati than other autocrats such as Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe.

Musi Masuku, Swazi programme manager of the Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa, said: "I want Swaziland to be seen as a blot in the region, which is a sea of democracy: every country around us is trying to hold on to the democratic ideal.

"Sometimes we see Zimbabwe as much better than us because at least political parties are the norm, at least Mugabe has to renew his mandate with the people.

"The belief is everyone is treating this government with kid gloves because they like the exotic story and every year they see the girls dancing and the king wearing animal skin robes. They seem to want to preserve the traditional culture. I am traditional. But I want democracy as well: they can exist side by side."

The Swazi government, however, says the country is already a democracy. "Very much so", insists Percy Simelane, its press secretary.

"To say Swaziland is democratic is an understatement. People don't understand our elections. Me and you at grassroots level can vote for someone who goes straight to parliament, as opposed to a situation where the electorate votes for a political party who imposes candidates on them. I'm still to come across a situation where the king dictates to his people. In Swaziland nobody has a concentration of power.

"The people report to the government, the government reports to the king, the king reports to the people. It's a cycle and everybody participates. I have no reason to say this is a dictatorship."

Simelane also rejected criticism of the king's luxury lifestyle in one of the world's most unequal societies.

"I've never seen a poor king anywhere in the world. All kings and heads of state are above their subjects.

"In September 2007 I was London and walked from Buckingham Palace to the Guard House and I came across beggars. Poverty has no nationality – there are gaps all over the world. It's not unique to Swaziland."

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King Mswati III is facing growing protests over his undemocratic regime.
Photograph: Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images