Mswati sold cattle to buy cars
2005-03-06 20:26
Mbabane - Swaziland's monarch traded in livestock to pay for two luxury German cars which he bought recently, and did not dip into state coffers for the purchases, a local newspaper said Sunday.
The Times of Swaziland said the king raised more than four million emalangeni ($680 000) through the sale of some 700 cattle.
"The king never at any given time used money from taxpayers to finance the purchase of the cars as reported by the international media," a top civil servant in the king's office, Roy Fanourakis, told the paper.
Africa's last absolute monarch last month bought a new Mercedes limousine, the latest in a string of luxury purchases for himself and his 10 wives in the southern African country.
Mswati, who has ruled Swaziland by decree since he ascended to the throne in 1986 at the age of 18, in November bought himself a $500 000 luxury Maybach 62 sedan from Daimler Chrysler.
Both cars reportedly cost close to 10 million emalangeni.
"He has used no money from (the) treasury. He has his own businesses like a dairy farm, sugar cane farms and many cattle," Fanourakis told the paper.
"We sold cattle to the tune of around four million emalangeni and we used those funds to purchase the cars," he said.
Fanourakis said the rest of the amount was possibly made up from other businesses owned by the 36-year-old king.
The Times reported last month that the king purchased 10 new BMW's for his wives at a total cost of five million emalangeni.
Both the king's purchases come with the latest technological gadgets including televisions, DVD players, surround sound systems and sterling champagne flutes.
More than 65% of Swaziland's 1.2 million inhabitants live on less than one dollar a day and some 200 000 people depend on food hand-outs to survive in the kingdom, which is wedged between South Africa and Mozambique.