In the past critiques which I have written concerning life in Swaziland, I have refrained from discussing the most publicized topic of interest, that of political crisis. There have been many reasons for my relative silence on this subject, but primarily it is because I wanted to investigate the situation on-the-ground rather than blindly believe what international scholars and media report. In all actuality, the problem is fairly complex, and I do not presume to have discovered the truth. But I do think that I have an adequate enough understanding of what is going on in order to share a few thoughts with you.

As many people know, Swaziland is ruled by a king (Mswati III) who holds absolute power. He is not subject to the law of the land. He is one of the richest men in the world in a country where approximately 70% of the population live on less than 1USD per day. He is a dictator, but he is not a bloody one like neighboring Robert Mugabe. Mswati doesn’t need to overtly oppress his people because Swazis have never organized well enough to challenge his sacred status (part of the reason for this is because all political parties are banned). Most Swazis actually believe they are living in a democracy since elections take place every so often to appoint members of parliament. (I won’t go into the boring details as to why these elections are meaningless, but trust me when I say they result in no reforms or systemic changes). Furthermore, those running for office might possibly be more corrupt than the king himself.

There is an extremely frightening cultural belief among many of the politicians who campaign for seats in parliament. It is called muti, a demonic practice whereby local thugs are hired to murder and mutilate innocent victims (usually women and elderly) for the sake of whichever politician is doing the bidding. Body parts are collected and ancestral spirits are captured in an attempt to spiritually sway the election process in favor of one candidate. During the season of national elections, such as the present time, hundreds of people go missing and never return home again. One such person was my best friend’s sister-in-law who was killed near my house only a few weeks ago. She was the wife of a pastor. (Tragedies like this cause me to question our collective sanity. Evil is so pervasive. It punches you in the face and sometimes I have difficulty knowing whether to punch back or simply turn the other cheek. Well, maybe turning the other cheek is a form of fighting back. You don’t give the enemy the satisfaction of having an enemy. You show him unconditional love. You show him Christ.)

I have heard many influential Swazis state that their country is worse off than Zimbabwe because at least Zimbabweans are actively trying to reform their government, whereas Swazis fail to even recognize the political crisis erupting in their midst. I’m not sure if I agree with this statement, but what I do know is that if the status quo doesn’t change soon in Swaziland, the problems which I referred to above will increasingly get worse and worse. But all hope is not lost. I know of many activist organizations and leaders who are putting their reputations and lives on the line to speak out against the current regime. Many of them are priests from the Anglican Church, with which I have been proud to associate myself. This is appropriate, too, because if any lasting change does come about, it is bound to be from God above, and by relation from His church.

It is winter now in Swaziland and very cold for African standards. Let us hope that the winds are changing and that once summer arrives, the powerful will be brought low and a spirit of truth will spread across this suffering nation.

P.S. Information about what is going on in Swaziland is hard to come by, but there are two excellent blogs from a British professor who has been teaching here the past few years. They can be found at these addresses: http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/ and http://swazielections.blogspot.com/. Another source of good information is a recent documentary about King Mswati titled Without the King. Because it criticizes the monarchy, owning a copy is illegal in Swaziland and can be construed as an act of sedition.