Africa A to Z: Continental and Country Profiles: Third Edition

Swaziland

COUNTRY PROFILES A-Z Africa Institute of South Africa | Africa A-Z: Continental and Country Profiles 373 Swaziland Orientation Swaziland is the second smallest country in the African continent (only The Gambia is smaller). It is landlocked, being enclosed by South Africa (on the north, west and south) and by Mozambique (on the east). Swaziland lies between South Africa’s Drakensberg range and the Lebombo Mountains that demarcate the Mozambique border. Rainfall is highest on the Drakensberg escarpment, decreasing towards the lowveld fringing the Lebombo Mountains. Mbabane, the national capital (pop about 80 000), is located on the Drakensberg slopes, near the South African border to the west. The largest town is Manzini (pop about 100 000), some 40 km to the east of Mbabane, more or less in the middle of the country. People The indigenous people of Swaziland, the Swazi, are a sub-group of the Nguni Bantuspeaking peoples living in the eastern parts of South Africa. There are many Swazi in the far south of Mozambique and in South Africa’s Mpumalanga and Kwazulu-Natal provinces as well. Siswati is the official language besides English. About 80% of the people are Christians, the majority belonging to the African Independent Churches. Although the towns are relatively small, the rate of urbanisation is high and at present about a third of the total population resides in towns and urban settlements. Economy The Swazi are experiencing a shortage of arable land as only 60% of the land area is in their hands; this is communal land, used for subsistence farming based on maize planting and cattle herding. The remainder is freehold land of which large areas are under irrigation that is used for cash crop cultivation or commercial agriculture. Producing mainly for export, commercial farming is the backbone of the economy. The main agricultural export is sugar produced on irrigated sugar-cane fields in the eastern lowveld area. Other important crops are cotton, maize, citrus fruits, pineapples and vegetables. Vast man-made forests have been developed on the Drakensberg slopes from which wood and woodpulp are produced for export. Manufacturing largely involves the processing of agricultural produce. Many concerns produce consumer goods for the South African market. Coca-Cola concentrate has lately become the main export. The centre of the manufacturing sector is at Matsapa near Manzini. The mining sector is limited but the country has abundant coal deposits in the Mpaka area; the mining of iron ore and asbestos has ceased in recent years. COUNTRY PROFILES A-Z 374 Africa A-Z: Continental and Country Profiles | Africa Institute of South Africa Swaziland has a fairly developed tourist infrastructure with several popular resorts, most of them located in the scenic Ezulweni Valley between Mbabane and Manzini. History The Embo-Nguni once lived in southern Mozambique where they were ruled by kings descending from the Dlamini clan. By about the middle of the 18th century a Dlamini king, Ngwane III, led his people across the Lebombo Mountains into what is now Swaziland. The newcomers eventually became known as the amaSwati or Swazi and eventually absorbed the non-Swazi groups living among them. Under Mswati II, a warrior king reigning in the middle decades of the 19th century, Swazi territory expanded but much of it was lost under Mswati’s successors who sold land to white farmers and traders entering their domain in the latter part of the 19th century. Eventually, the Swazi retained only about 40% of their land. In the 1890s the governments of Portugal, Britain and the South African Republic (Transvaal) determined the borders of their territories in the region, including the borders of the Swazi kingdom. In 1895 Swaziland passed under the administrative control of the Transvaal until the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 brought this arrangement to an end and Swaziland became a British protectorate. At the time Swazi King Ngwane V died and as the successor to the throne was still an infant, Queen Mother Labotsebeni ruled as regent. The crown prince ascended to the throne in 1921 as King Sobhuza II. To regain alienated Swazi land became one of Sobhuza’s major objectives; he eventually succeeded in regaining about 60% of the total land area for Swazi occupation. Swaziland COUNTRY PROFILES A-Z Africa Institute of South Africa | Africa A-Z: Continental and Country Profiles 375 When, in the 1960s, Swaziland was being prepared for independence (along with...