Swaziland

We left the hotel at 8:00 a.m., on our way to Swaziland. We had a brief church service on the bus. We crossed the boarder into Swaziland at Galil at 8:30 a.m. where we had our passports stamped. King Mushwati the 3^rd is the king of Swaziland. Along the way, we saw a lot of sugar cane, which produces much of the income for the country and the ruling king. We stopped for a short break at a gas station where a lot of children came out to the bus. Some of our fellow travelers gave them Canada balloons, pencils and pens and they were so excited. At the gas station, we had to pay 2 rand for toilet paper! It was cloudy today, but warm. As we were driving along, quite often there were cows all over the highway so we had to slow down often. There was also garbage everywhere! We stopped at a candle factory where there were also crafts and I got 2 wooden elephants. Had one of the best muffins I have ever had from the little diner there. We also stopped at another craft market where we bought a giraffe for 160 rand and a wooden bowl for 100 rand. The giraffe was quickly christened ‘Geraldine’ by yours truly – hope we don’t have trouble getting her home! We also stopped at the Swazi Glass Factory, located on the outskirts of Mbabane, the capital of Swaziland which has a population of approx. 80 thousand. Swaziland gained its independence from England in 1968, and had its own constitution until 1972 then it came under the rule of King Sabhuza until his death in 1986 at which time his son took over. We had lunch at their diner (ham and cheese sandwich). Today was a traveling day and we got to Orion Pigg’s Peak Hotel on good time. Bruce and some others had a swim and I spent 100 rand (($13.00) at the casino there and won 200 rand! We had Room 416 and it was very nice – we only stayed here one night. We had a very nice dinner. To bed early as we have an early start tomorrow on our way to Kruger.

Swaziland derives its name from a later King, Mswati I. However, Ngwane is an alternative name for Swaziland and Dlamini remains the surname of the royal family, while the name Nkosi means King. The historical evolution of the autonomy of the Swaziland Nation was dictated by British rule of southern Africa in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. In 1881, the British Government signed a convention recognizing Swazi independence. However, controversial land and mineral rights concessions were made under the authority of the Foreign Jurisdiction Act of 1890 in terms of which the administration of Swaziland was also placed under that of the then South African Republic (Transvaal). At the commencement of the Anglo Boer war, Britain placed Swaziland under its direct jurisdiction as a Protectorate and repeated representations especially relating to land issues by the King and his Councillors which affected the political process, were rebuffed. Nevertheless, the Swaziland independence constitution was promulgated by Britain in November 1963 in terms of which a legislative Council and an Executive Council were established. This development was opposed by the Swazi National Council as it was not in accord with wishes and aspirations of the Swazi Nation. Despite such opposition, elections took place and the first Legislative Council of Swaziland was constituted on September 9, 1964. Changes to the original constitution proposed by the Legislative Council were accepted by Britain and a new Constitution providing for a House of Assembly and Senate, was drawn up. Elections under this Constitution were held in 1967.

The Swazi people descent from the southern Bantu who migrated from central Africa in the 15^th and 16^th centuries together with the Xhosas and the Zulus, which belong to the Nguni subgroup. The swazi ancestors, the Nkosi Dlamini, broke away from the mainstream of Nguni migrants led by Chief Ngwane, and settled in the region of the Pongolo river absorbing the Nguni and Sotho clans in the area. By 1750, they had settled in the Hluti region in the south of the Kingdom, under King Ngwane III of the Nkosi Dlamini clan.