Swaziland: Inkhululeko at Last

“In traditional Swazi society,” Swaziland’s King Sobhuza II once observed, “a latecomer often gets the best cut of meat.” As Britain’s last colonial claim on the African continent except for breakaway Rhodesia, Sobhuza’s tiny (pop. 390,000), verdant land has waited patiently for its cut of independence. Last week a smiling King Sobhuza, surrounded by some 100 of his wives and dressed in a ceremonial headdress of lourie-bird feathers, a girdle of lion and leopard skins and a cloak made of oxtails, had his patience rewarded. British Commonwealth Secretary George Thompson handed Sobhuza the formal instruments of self-government, and Swaziland became the 28th independent member of the British Commonwealth.

Shrewd, articulate and widely read, the 69-year-old king notably enhanced his country’s chances for a choice inkhululeko (independence) during the long wait. Swaziland has tripled its exports (to $58 million) in the past four years by completing a new, 140-mile railroad and by attracting such faraway customers as Japan, a major buyer of the kingdom’s abundant iron ore. Beneath Swaziland’s lush valleys and mountains are also gold, coal and asbestos. Cattle herds dot the sloping grassland, and citrus orchards and sugarcane fields flourish. Not the least of Swaziland’s assets is the stabilizing unity of the Swazi tribe, to which all the new country’s citizens belong except for some 10,000 white residents.

Bright as Swaziland’s material prospects are, the kingdom is, in a way, only exchanging the rule of Britain for the suzerainty of South Africa. Swaziland is surrounded on three sides by its giant white neighbor and is effectively dominated by it. South Africans already own or manage most of Swaziland’s business and industry and hold much of the 44% of the country’s land owned by foreigners. Swaziland uses the South African rand as a medium of exchange. South African customs inspectors control the flow of its commerce. Air travelers to Swaziland must even pass through the Johannesburg airport passport controls. Despite their dislike of South Africa’s harsh apartheid racial policy, the newly independent Swazis are in no position to resist big brother’s embrace.