Swazi queens revolt
2004-07-04 08:38
Johannesburg - Palace revolt by Swazi queens allegedly over concerns about contracting Aids has resulted in two of them fleeing Swaziland, with more believed to follow suit.
Queen Putsoana Hwale left Swaziland on June 24 with a coterie of bodyguards and was on Saturday in Protea Glen, Soweto.
It is believed that King Mswati ordered her to leave the palace.
According to royal sources, Queen Delisa Magwaza, popularly known as La Magwaza, had left the palace two weeks before and is now in London.
La Magwaza was last year embroiled in a highly publicised affair with a Soweto man, Lizo Shabangu, who spilled the beans when she told him she was ending the affair.
Shabangu at the time said La Magwaza had told him she was starved for attention and love as Mswati often didn't visit her for months on end. This caused tension in her relationship with the king.
It is understood that the root of the problem is the continuous annual inflow of young girls being added to Mswati's list of wives.
Some of the young girls are believed to have had boyfriends before marrying the king.
The queens felt this exposed them to the dangers of contracting diseases such as HIV/Aids.
The king recently married Zena Mahlangu, 19, his 11th wife.
This caused anger among the other wives because she had had a highly publicised affair before being picked to be yet another queen.
Mswati has also taken Nomonde Fihla, 18, who now lives in one of the palaces, as a queen in waiting. She is a former Miss Swaziland.
The king's alleged extra-marital affairs have caused great unhappiness among his wives. Sources in Swaziland said Mswati visited Hwale after La Magwaza's departure, and found that her bags were packed and she was getting ready to leave.
He apparently ordered three elders and 10 bodyguards (six of whom are women) to accompany her to Soweto.
A close relative led a City Press team to La Hwale's father's house in Protea Glen where a tri-nation meeting was in progress between Hwale's relatives from Lesotho, where her parents live, the Swazi contingent and her South African relatives.
Several cars with Swaziland government number plates were parked outside with guards posted around the area.
A relative of Hwale's, from Alexandra, told City Press that the family had been mediating with the Swazi royal house for the past five months over Hwale's dissatisfaction.
He said Hwale's appearance in Soweto had been a surprise to the family.
Mswati, 36, has decreed that girls should not engage in pre-marital sex, and girls in Swaziland wear a ribbon to indicate their "purity".
He has, however, not strictly adhered to his own principles.
Mswati is believed to have recently forced Marwick Khumalo, a speaker in parliament, to resign due to his alleged affair with one of the older queens.