Mswati III: Africa's last absolutist monarch, who sold 1,750 cattle for luxury cars
Throughout the interior of Africa, Mswati III is the only king who still holds real power, so he has become the most complacent and wayward king on the continent.
The early Eswatini was a British protectorate that was named the Kingdom of Eswatini after gaining independence in September 1968, with Mswati's father, Sobza II, in power.
In order to strengthen his control over the country, Sobuza II repealed the Constitution and dissolved the parliament in 1973, concentrating all power in his own hands, which also represented the transformation of the country's political system into an absolute monarchy.
But Sobuza II was so obsessed with beauty that during his 61-year reign he married 79 wives who bore him nearly 200 sons and daughters. Mswati was his 67th son.
Mswati was sent abroad to study military knowledge since he was a child. At the age of 15, Mswati was chosen as heir apparent and crown prince by virtue of his mother's power, and in 1968 Mswati was officially crowned to the throne at the age of 18.
However, the young king did not bring greater benefits to the development of the country, but blindly used his power to satisfy his selfish desires.
After ascending the throne, Mswati III did not contribute to the development of the country as his father did, but he inherited his father's feminine personality, and he has married 15 wives so far.
The Reed Festival is one of the traditional festivals of the Eswatini. Every August, tens of thousands of Eswatini girls in colorful dresses come to the square naked and holding reeds to dance, and the reed festival is an adult day for them, teaching girls to observe chastity.
However, Mswati III changed the Reed Festival to his own concubine day. On the last day of the Reed Festival, he would come to the venue himself and choose the most beautiful of the tens of thousands of maidens as his concubine.
One year at the Reed Festival, Mswati took a fancy to a young girl, and at the age of 12, she was still admitted to the harem by Mswati. Mswati did not have too much affection for his princesses, he just kept choosing concubines to satisfy his freshness, and these women could only spend their lives in despair and loneliness after entering the palace.
In this case, many princesses chose to bravely pursue their own happiness, which also caused frequent scandals in the royal family. In 2010, the girl who was elected to the palace at the age of 12 made a bold breakthrough. She fell in love with the minister of justice in the palace at the time, and the two fell in love.
During Mswati's visit abroad, the two met but were caught by the police, the girl was at risk of exile and the minister of justice was sentenced to death.
Even if the two men know that they will face such a tragic end, they still choose to face their feelings for themselves truthfully, they are rebels against absolute monarchism and challengers in their personal lives.
But that's not the only scandal in the royal family. There are still two princesses who have gone away to pursue themselves because they hate the king, and they would rather leave their homeland than live with such an absurd king.
They were all maidens who aspired to marry into the royal family, and only after being rejected by the king did they truly realize the ugly face of the king, but at the same time there were still a large number of young girls waiting to stand out through the reed festival and marry into the royal family, and they could no longer bear the poor life of the commoners.
Most of the people in Eswatini live in poverty, their houses are still made of thatched mud, and their clothes are very simple cloth.
According to statistics, the unemployment rate of young people in Eswatini is as high as 42%, which means that one in two young people is unemployed, which is a heavy blow to the country that already lacks young adults, but the king obviously does not care about this aspect and still immerses himself in his luxurious life.
Mswati squandered a lot of money and built his happy life on the depths of the people's waters. Eswatini has been plagued by AIDS for many years, according to statistics, the prevalence of AIDS in 2016 has reached 27%, which also means that on average, one in three people has AIDS, which is enough to make everyone panic.
Eswatini women suffer more from the disease, with 42 per cent living with HIV and their children beginning to carry the virus when they give birth. The fact that the toddler has been accompanied by the virus since birth has made everyone feel sad, but the emperor who is high above still maintains an indifferent attitude.
In order to stop the spread of AIDS, Mswati ordered a ban on sexual activity among the people for five years, but the autocracy did not last long, because the king first broke the vows.
Mswati, still clinging to the habit of choosing concubines every year, left behind his own system, and he was ashamed to say that he had paid a fine, but the fine was only a cow, and the fine was not worth mentioning to him.
Every year, Mswati spends a lot of money on all kinds of luxuries, from houses to cars, and not only that, but he also gives these luxuries as gifts to his princesses.
When 80% of the people in society could not eat enough to eat three meals a day, he was squandering in the palace, and the outside world and the inner courtyard of the palace had obviously formed two worlds, and the people complained but Mswati still turned a deaf ear.
In order to buy a luxury car, he did not hesitate to sell 1750 cattle, most of the income of the whole country came from the cattle, but he could sell the rations of the people without thinking, you know, these 1750 cattle are enough for the people of the country to eat for three days.
But Mswati still chose to ignore the anger of the people, and he even ordered that people be banned from photographing the luxury cars he bought. After a long period of resentment, a riot that shook the world finally erupted, and Mswati finally felt fear and cringe in the roar of the people, and he fled to South Africa with a dozen princesses, abandoning the chaotic country.
Mswati always used the title of king to satisfy his own selfish desires, although he sat on the throne but his heart only had his own wealth and power, and the people were like cattle he had sold, which could be discarded at will, and he did not fulfill his duty as king.
Since he can easily be attracted to materialism, it means that he has no potential to be a king, and eventually he can only fall to the point of fleeing his hometown.
