Yearbook 2004
Swaziland. After several years of drought, a quarter of the population needed food assistance. However, that did not prevent King Mswati from asking the government at the beginning of the year to build eleven palaces, one for each of his buildings. According to the Minister of Economic Planning, the project was included in the budget. At the end of the year, the king also bought a luxury car for half a million US dollars.
In February, the government announced national disaster conditions due to the drought and devastating HIV epidemic with nearly 40% of the population infected. Prime Minister Themba Dlamini appealed for international assistance in Swaziland’s humanitarian crisis.
The total population in Eswatini is 1,160,175 people in 2020. The Speaker of Parliament declared in March that the King had forced him to leave his post. According to the President, the reason was that Parliament previously said no to the king’s request to buy at a taxpayer’s expense a private plan for the equivalent of over SEK 300 million.
SWAZILAND. – Territory of southern Africa belonging to Great Britain, of the extension of sq. Km. 17,300, located between the Transvaal, which borders it to N., O. and S., the province of Save in Portuguese East Africa and Natal (Zululand) which border it to E. Swaziland is located on the same escarpment of the Transvaal plateau, partly submontane region, with an average height of 1200 m., partly hilly (600 m.), partly low and slightly undulating (300 m.), and limited to E. by the marginal chain of the Ubombo Mountains. The territory is crossed by the Umgovuma and the Usutu, right tributaries of the Maputo, which flows into the bottom of the Delagoa bay, like Umbelosi, while the Umkomaas or Komati, which crosses the northern part, is instead a tributary of the Crocodile River. The soil, generally deriving from the disintegration of granite rocks, it is fertile; but the lower eastern part is very malarial. Citrus fruits, tropical fruits, tobacco, cotton, maize are grown; the woods produce good woods. Copious herds of oxen graze in the hilly area, the natives also have sheep and goats; moreover, the herds of Transvaal and Orange come in large numbers (up to 300,000 head) to overwinter in the fatty pastures of Swaziland. There are tin mines near Mbabane and gold mines; deposits of anthracite are also known in the sandstones of the eastern area. In 1926 the tin production amounted to £. 52,947, that of gold at Lst. 6342. The country has no railways:
Swaziland does not belong to the South African Union: it depends on the Colonial Office, i.e. directly on the government of the metropolis: it is run by the High Commissioner for South Africa and administered by a resident commissioner, based in Mbabane, a town with 249 residents Europeans, located in the elevated region, in a picturesque location and good climatic conditions. Here the advisory council meets, which deals exclusively with European affairs, while the Swazi leaders have exclusive jurisdiction in civil matters for the natives. Other centers are: Bremersdorp, the ancient capital, Hlatikulu, Pigg’s Peak in the gold region, etc. In various localities there are missions and primary schools for indigenous people, for mestizos and for Europeans; Mbabane also has a secondary school for the latter. The indigenous population (110. 739 residents in 1921) is made up of the Swazi, a branch of the great Bantu stock; the Europeans in 1921 were 2205, the Asians 7.