SWAZI ROYAL SEX SCANDAL: TAKE 2

You can’t keep a good sex scandal down - and the one involving the Swaziland Royal Family is no exception.

Two months ago (August 2010) King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, sacked his Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Ndumiso Mamba when he was caught having an affair with the king’s 12^th wife Nothando Dube (also known as Inkosikati LaDube).

News of the scandal, which cost Mamba his job, spread like wildfire across the world, but was suppressed in the Swaziland media.

News and comment on the affair went on for about two weeks and then died (in news value terms) a natural death.

And then suddenly ..... the whole affair hit the headlines and the Internet all over again this week. There was no ‘update’ on the story, nothing about what fate became Mamba or whether Dube was locked away in a palace somewhere.

It was just the story and pictures of Mamba hiding inside a bed and caught red handed which we had all seen on 8 August 2010.

I guess what happened was that a journalist at a news organisation somewhere didn’t realise the story was old and sent it out as if it had just happened. Because the Internet feeds on itself it was picked up by others and went round the globe a couple of times again.

So, everyone else has had two bites of this particular cherry, but the Swazi people still are not allowed to know that its ruling elite are far from perfect.

One of the media organisations to report this week on the affair was France 24 / The Observers. It did a rather good summary in both French and English of the affair and interviewed some fellow who writes Swazi Media Commentary (he blushed modestly).

To read the English version, click here.

NEW MINISTER NOT KING’S LOVE RIVAL

Media statement from the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) regarding the kingdom’s illegally-appointed Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini and jokes he made about the new Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister, David Matse. The former minister Ndumiso Mamba was forced to resign after he was discovered having an affair with Inkosikati LaDube, the 12^th wife of King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

14^th September, 2010

Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini, Swaziland’s Premier comic doesn’t seem to be slowing down on his scornful jibes aimed mostly at the regime’s perceived enemies. Fresh from suggesting that police mete out foot-whipping to South African political activists, the Premier on Monday afternoon sent a parting shot to the former minister of Justice and Constitution affairs by labelling him a philander, likhwahla.

The Prime Minister said this at the swearing-in ceremony of the new minister of Justice, Mr David Matse, at the cabinet offices in Mbabane. His fellow cabinet members gullibly laughed at the joke oblivious to the fact that their head of state was also being lampooned in the process. His exact words were “Kube ulikhwahla uhlala wedvwa you probably would not be here”, which means, “You would not be here if you were a philandering bachelor.” The statement means that the king’s appointment was based on his personal belief that the new minister would not give him competition in his harem, which in itself suggests insecurity in the monarch who has the dubious title of being the undisputed champion womanizer in the country.

The most ironic twist to this tale is the fact that the Prime minister himself was once the subject of a law suit when a man, Lawrence Mduli, accused him of having an adulterous relationship with his wife, the current Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Swaziland, Mrs Sibongile Mdluli .

The Cabinet jester’s contact details were tracked and people are encouraged to remind him to keep his lame jibes to his interactions with his grand children. He can be reached on this phone number: +268 7602 1942

Issued Swaziland Solidarity Network [SSN] South Africa Chapter

KING USES MILITARY FOR OWN FEUD

King Mswati III of Swaziland is using state security forces to satisfy his own personal vendetta.

There can be no other conclusion following the revelation that the king, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, used the state military to spy on one of his wives he suspected of having an affair.

As everyone, except people living in Swaziland without access to international media knows, Nothando Dube, (also known as Inkhosikati LaDube), the 12^th wife of the king and Ndumiso Mamba, Swaziland’s Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister were caught last week in an adulterous relationship.

It emerged yesterday (8August 2010) that King Mswati had ordered ‘Swaziland’s military agents’ to monitor the activities of the couple ‘for several months’. They were finally busted at a hotel last week and Mamba was thrown in jail and LaDube put under house arrest. Mamba was jailed on the instructions of King Mswati, although he had not committed a crime. Photographs taken as Mamba was being arrested seem to show that police officers were present as well as security forces.

The City Press newspaper of South Africa reported that King Mswati, who was on a state trip to Taiwan at the time of the arrest, had called Swaziland’s army commander and told him that if Mamba fled the kingdom the military chief would also have to flee.

But why did the security services go after the couple? Adultery is not a crime in Swaziland, although some of the king’s keener supporters who believe that Mswati is sent from God would probably be happy for the kingdom to become a theocracy.

Nor, in King Mswati’s wildest dreams, could he really believe that Mamba and LaDube were a ‘terrorist’ threat, although goodness knows he brands anyone who doesn’t like him or disagrees with him, terrorists (so by that definition maybe LaDube is a ‘terrorist’).

No, the sad truth is that the King wanted to get back at his wife and her lover. He believes the state forces are his to do with as he likes. And, what is perhaps worse, the security forces seem to agree. We now have a situation where not only will King Mswati unleash the full force of the state against dissidents, but also against anyone who upsets him personally.

He truly is a tyrant.

SWAZI KING ‘DESERVES A THRASHING’

Here’s more evidence that the Swaziland Royal Family sex scandal has turned the spotlight on King Mswati III, his personal life, and conditions in the kingdom he rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

The latest criticism comes from Zambia and the UKZambians magazine.

The magazine reports, ‘Cruel as this might sound, however, this incident has sparked much derision and an angry debate in Zambia about the moral dilemma of “fidelity” in the Swazi royal court. Most people talked to have little sympathy for King Mswati III. They believe he deserves a “thrashing” by way of sleeping with his wives - to teach him a lesson that polygamy is bad.’

The magazine talked to a selection of Zambians about the adulterous affair between the king’s 12^th wife, Nothando Dube (also known as Inkhosikati LaDube) and Swaziland Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister, Ndumiso Mamba.

This is part of what they had to say.

Kantala, a Lusaka florist said the Swazi king deserved to be put in his place, ‘Personally I have no sympathy for that guy. I think for someone to have twelve wives – that’s extremely selfish. How can you satisfy all of them sexually and emotionally? I suspect that this woman was not being properly looked after by the king because he has too much on his plate. She was starved and for a woman to go that far – to risk her reputation as a mother of three children and all that she has, it means there was something very wrong in their relationship. King Mswati did not take proper care of her.’

Tisa, a twenty-three year old hair dresser agrees, ‘Perhaps this woman felt neglected and decided to have an affair with someone whom she truly wanted. I think men should also start asking themselves this question: why can’t women in polygamous relationships also have boyfriends? It’s time that women also took charge of relationships. Always when we hear of adultery, it’s the men. But in this case it’s reassuring that a woman decided to cheat on her husband to punish him. We know that King Mswati takes any girl he chooses so am happy that some man slept with his wife. It’ll teach him a lesson.’

An HIV-AIDS advocate, who sought anonymity, said, ‘You know, what has happened is a warning to the royal family. Mswati could also catch HIV/AIDS because his sexual relationships with his many wives are not always faithful. In fact he himself is not monogamous. Knowing African traditional leaders and their appetite for sex, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the Swazi king had fifty wives including concubines. But that’s very risky because with every relationship the risk of contracting STDs becomes greater..

Click here to read the full article.

SWAZI SEX SCANDAL PIX PUBLISHED

A photograph of Swaziland Justice Minister Ndumiso Mamba at the moment he was discovered in a sex scandal with one of King Mswati III’s wives has been published in a South African newspaper today (8 August 2010).

The picture was one of two photographs that have been circulating on the Internet over the past couple of days.

According to City Press, the pictures show Mamba’s arrest at Royal Villas, a hotel at Ezulwini, just outside Mbabane, where he is said to have had regular adulterous meetings with Nothando Dube (also known as Inkhosikati LaDube), King Mswati’s 12th wife.

The newspaper reports that when police pounced, ‘in a desperate effort not to be found out Mamba cut into the base of the bed and slid in – but police ordered him out and Mamba, dressed in a brown suit, was soon taken ­into custody’.

City Press reports that Swaziland’s military agents had been on the trail of the adulterous pair for several months.

The newspaper, which broke the story of the sex scandal last week, says that Mamba did not resign from his cabinet post and from the Swaziland Senate as was reported earlier this week, he was forced to quit. ‘Mamba was this week handed a written letter of resignation and told to sign it, sources reveal. The spin will then be that he resigned, whereas in fact he was fired,’ the newspaper reports.

The City Press adds, ‘Mamba resigned less than two years after Mswati appointed him to both positions [Senator and Cabinet Minister]. He has created a dilemma for Mswati because they were close friends who grew up together, and he signs the royal family’s business and investment deals.

‘Some of the king’s investments and companies are believed to be in Mamba’s name.

‘“He knows too much, so Mswati has to find a way of dealing with this,” a source said on Friday. “If he flees into exile with the royal secrets, that would be a major problem for Mswati.”’

A source told City Press on Friday that Mswati (42) had called the country’s army commander from Taiwan, where he was on a 10-day state visit when the sex scandal broke, and told him that if Mamba fled the country the military chief would also have to flee.

‘He also ordered that the sex scandal be kept secret and that if it was leaked there would be trouble.

‘Mamba was kept at Big Bend Prison under heavy guard until Sunday. Mswati flew back into the country on Wednesday.

‘LaDube (22) was detained at the queen mother’s royal residence at Ludzidzini, Mbabane.

‘The king flew home in the eye of this royal sex storm and immediately gathered his most trusted lieutenants around him.

‘He ordered that an investigation be carried out to identify City Press’s sources, through a printout of phone calls made to Swaziland.

‘Lucky Lukhele, Swaziland Solidarity Network’s (SSN’s) spokesperson for the organisation’s South African chapter, said: “Mswati is deeply embarrassed by the sex scandal and is livid that it reached the South African media.”

‘He added; “This sex scandal has nothing to do with the state, but because Mswati is above the law he will use his personal crisis to drag Swaziland further into the human rights dump site.

‘“The saddest part is that Swaziland’s media are banned from even saying a word about this political crisis.”’