The billionaire king who, with help, bleeds his nation

WERE it not for the brazen antics of King Mswati III, it would be easy to forget Swaziland, the tiny nation of 1.2 million people squatting on South Africa’s doorstep. Not for nothing did the Americans boot Mswati’s country out of the trade agreement Agoa (the African Growth and Opportunity Act) last week, citing its lack of democracy and use of force to quash dissent.

But South Africa seems more than happy to look the other way when Mswati buys himself another jet and calls for HIV-positive people to be sterilised and branded. Forbes put Mswati’s fortune at more than R2-billion a few years ago— a figure he unconvincingly denied.

But even give or take a few R100-million, it’s very clear that in a country where 43% of the citizens are living in “chronic poverty”, according to the World Health Organisation, the scales are heavily tipped in favour of Africa’s last absolute monarch.

The press typically fawns over Mswati. And the obsequious articles aren’t written solely by newspapers owned by the king, such as the Swaziland Observer group. Although many of the citizens don’t approve of how he spends money (his household budget this year exceeds R600million), some would be loath to jettison the monarchy entirely.

But, when it comes to the chronic rights abuses, Mswati’s relatively easy ride from his neighbours is shameful. To some extent, this is the story of the African Union, which has chosen not interfering over accountability, which is further proof of the organisation’s moral truancy, as if that were needed.

But as this newspaper reports today, South African companies as well as the ruling party do have tremendous influence in Swaziland. Were companies like MTN not willing to shunt millions to Mswati — who is the 10% “esteemed shareholder” of the cellular network’s Swazi operation — it might be a different story.

The ANC’s front company, Chancellor House, is also a shareholder in a Swazi company, alongside the state-owned investment fund Tibiyo.

The DNA helix runs deeper too: President Jacob Zuma is already tied to the Mswati family: last year, Khulubuse Zuma married Mswati’s niece and paid lobola of R400 000 in cows to the family.

It is true that the South Africans have a lot to lose by foregoing the immense profits that are apparently being clocked up in some industries in the small landlocked nation.

But then, making a stand has never been easy. The suits in Sandton might not want to dwell on it, but Swaziland today is a country of statesponsored assassinations, arbitrary arrests and starvation. The issue of how to alter Swaziland’s trajectory isn’t an easy one, largely because arguing with a despot is never an easy task, even for the brave.