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INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MBABANE 000058 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/09/2020 
TAGS: PINR PGOV SOCI WZ
SUBJECT: WITCHCRAFT AND MORE: A PORTRAIT OF INFLUENCES ON 
KING MSWATI III 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Earl M. Irving 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
 ¶1. (C/NF) SUMMARY: Swazi activist, former king's advisor and 
sugar company chief executive officer (CEO) Mandla Hlatshwayo 
(protect) described traditional leaders, superstition, and 
members of the royal family, especially his mother and wives, 
as the major influences on King Mswati III, while ministers 
remain his "servants."  King Mswati III believes in muti 
(traditional medicine used to cast spells or curses), and 
attempts to use muti to attack the king are taken seriously. 
Although Queen Mother Ntombi is considered by many observers 
to be a powerful figure within the royal family, Hlatshwayo 
indicated that her authority has been undermined by her 
"associations with men," including current Foreign Minister 
Lutfo Dlamini.  According to Hlatshwayo, Prime Minister 
Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini is the king's "loyal hangman," a 
relationship that dates to the prime minister's alleged 
attempted suicide in 1990 or 1991.  A sugar businessman who 
managed companies partially owned by the king, Hlatshwayo 
stated that Mswati III uses the investment company "African 
Alliance" to move his money around internationally, and 
indicated that CEO Stephen Gidinza is quite influential and 
involved in all of the king's international transactions. 
Hlatshwayo indicated that the king has become more decisive 
during his years in office, especially where his interests 
are at issue, and he views ministers and officials who tell 
him he cannot do something as cowards.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (C/NF) In a frank discussion with pol/econoff on January 
26 in Johannesburg, Swazi activist and former king's advisor 
and sugar company CEO Mandla Hlatshwayo (protect) detailed 
his impressions of the major influences on King Mswati III. 
Hlatshwayo's first interactions with the current king began 
in the 1980s, when served as the president of the University 
of Swaziland's student organization and helped organize 
opposition to a power grab by members of the royal family 
attempting to unseat the former regent, one of the surviving 
wives of the late King Sobhuza II, also called a queen 
mother.  Hlatshwayo was a founding member of the People's 
United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), and has served the king 
on various advisory boards over the years, including the 
first constitutional committee.  He acted as president of the 
Swaziland Sugar Association, president of the Federation of 
Swaziland Employers and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 
and as an executive within sugar companies of which the king 
has partial ownership.  During his tenure as president of the 
Chamber of Commerce, Hlatshwayo made waves when he criticized 
the king's intent to purchase, which was later halted, an 
executive jet.  He has a B.A. law degree from the University 
of Swaziland, is married to Rose Maziya and has three 
children. 
 
Major Influences 
---------------- 
 
¶3. (C/NF) According to Hlatshwayo, traditional leaders, 
superstition, and members of the royal family, especially his 
mother and wives, are the major influences on King Mswati 
III, while ministers remain his "servants."  Hlatshwayo 
suspects the king's wives' opinions matter to the king, 
especially his third wife, LaMbikisa, who has an advanced 
degree and is the only wife to whom the king proposed. 
 
Superstition and Muti 
--------------------- 
 
¶4. (C/NF) Hlatshwayo emphasized that superstition is very 
important in the king's and royal families' lives; King 
Mswati III believes in muti (traditional medicine used to 
cast spells or curses), and attempts to use muti to attack 
the king are taken seriously.  In 1989 Prince Mfana Sibili 
was accused of high treason when he allegedly used muti to 
try to take away the king's powers.  When a foreign judge, 
brought in to hear the case, dismissed it after hearing the 
charges, a traditional court was installed to convict the 
prince. 
 
¶5. (C/NF) The Swazi activist stressed that "muti people" hold 
great sway within the royal family, and that the king must 
eat and drink whatever they give him during traditional 
ceremonies, particularly when in seclusion.  If they are 
unhappy with the direction the king is taking the country, 
then the king has cause to worry. 
 
Queen Mother's Influence Lessened by Affairs 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C/NF) Traditionally seen as a balancing force to the 
king, a queen mother can use emotional association to 
influence and stabilize the king, according to Hlatshwayo. 
 
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Although Queen Mother Ntombi is considered by many observers 
to be a powerful figure within the royal family, Hlatshwayo 
indicated that her authority has been undermined by her 
"associations with men."  Hlatshwayo told pol/econoff that 
when the King Sobhuza II impregnated the queen mother, then a 
lady-in-waiting for one of his wives, she was cast out of the 
royal family.  Hlatshwayo remarked that her affairs with men, 
including with the married Foreign Minister Lutfo Dlamini, 
were a relic of the time when she was used to a different 
lifestyle outside of the royal family.  Ntombi's intimate 
relationship with Lutfo Dlamini is a widely held belief, also 
relayed to the embassy by former European Commission Head 
Delegate to Swaziland Peter Beck Christianson. 
 
Financial Influence 
------------------- 
 
¶7. (C/NF) Hlatshwayo stated that the king uses the investment 
company "African Alliance" to move his money around 
internationally, and indicated that CEO Stephen Gidinza is 
quite influential and involved in all of the king's 
international transactions. 
 
Prime Minister Dlamini ) Loyal "Hangman" 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C/NF) Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini is the 
king's loyal "hangman," an assertion that suggests that the 
king places absolute trust in Barnabas.  Instead of looking 
to influence the king, the Prime Minister acts as the king's 
steadfast servant, a relationship that dates back to a 
suicide attempt by Barnabas in 1990 or 1991.  According to 
Hlatshwayo and Swazi Coalition for Concerned Civic 
Organizations Coordinator Musa Hlophe, in an unsuccessful 
attempt kept secret from the public, Barnabas tried to commit 
suicide after his involvement in a corruption scandal during 
his tenure as Minister of Finance became known.  As part of 
making amends to the king, Barnabas reportedly prostrated 
himself before the king, giving himself over as the king's 
servant. 
 
Swazi National Committee 
------------------------ 
 
¶9. (C/NF) Often portrayed as the "neck" that moves the "head" 
of government, the exact role of the Swazi National Committee 
(SNC) in government policy is often the object of speculation 
within Swaziland.  Hlatshwayo dismissed the idea that the 
body, selected by the king to advise him, holds sway over 
King Mswati III, stating "it's not easy to defy the king." 
 
Forming a New Cabinet 
--------------------- 
 
¶10. (C/NF) When asked about his impressions on how the king 
selects a new government, Hlatshwayo intimated that the king 
must balance requests from his brothers and sisters with his 
own desires.  In the end, the king needs to ensure that the 
interests of the royal constituency are sufficiently 
represented. 
 
Decision-Making Style 
--------------------- 
 
¶11. (C/NF) Hlatshwayo observed that the king has become more 
decisive during his years in office, especially where his 
interests are at issue.  Unlike in his early years, the king 
now identifies and pushes specific projects, and will look to 
replace ministers or employees who are unable to provide 
progress on those projects.  According to the Swazi activist, 
the king views ministers and officials who tell him he cannot 
do something, or who say a project cannot be done, as 
cowards.  Hlatshwayo averred that the king does listen to 
viewpoints presented to him, and worries about the views of 
international community. 
 
Lack of Wisdom 
-------------- 
 
¶12. (C/NF) Continuing his description of the monarch's 
decision making style, Hlatshwayo affirmed that Mswati III is 
not a reader, and will not review documents left for him.  He 
called the king "not intellectually well-developed," and 
contrasted the current sovereign's scant educational 
background with Sobhuza II, who was educated at Lovedale 
College in South Africa alongside future leaders of South 
Africa's African National Congress (ANC).  Essentially a 
bastard outsider to the royal family, King Mswati III was 
plucked from relative obscurity when members of the royal 
family could not come to an agreement on a successor to King 
Sobhuza II.  After Mswati III was selected to be the next 
 
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king, a posthumous marriage of Sobhuza II to Ntombi was 
quickly arranged, according to our interlocutor. 
 
The Hand on the Thermostat 
------------------------- 
 
¶12. (C/NF) Calling the king "imbalanced," Hlatshwayo 
recounted an example he observed while serving as an advisor, 
when King Mswati III used his power over the heater to 
emphasize exactly who was in charge.  The king, Mandla said, 
invited about forty officials and advisors to a basement in 
one of his palaces, where they all sat on the floor to attend 
to him.  King Mswati III turned up the heater, which warmed 
the floor first, until the temperature in the room reached 
about 40 degrees Celsius, and told inconsequential stories to 
those gathered while they sweated, merely to show them he was 
in power. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶13. (C/NF) Hlatshwayo is a member of a prominent Swazi family 
and has a close association with Freedom House.  We have 
heard that the royal family looks for a bride for the king 
from his clan to cement ties with it.  Hlatshwayo lives in 
self-imposed exile in South Africa; he claims he fears for 
his life.  He states that he angered several members of 
Swaziland,s ruling circles, including the Prime Minister and 
king, with his blunt public criticism of their leadership,s 
shortcomings.  In 2008, while in London negotiating a sugar 
contract for Swaziland, rumors surfaced that he had been 
funding PUDEMO, and civil society contacts believe a contract 
had been placed on him.  Because Hlatshwayo has worked in 
close proximity with the king and observed some of the 
incidents he reports firsthand, we are inclined to believe 
him, even though we are unable to confirm them independently. 
 What we can say with confidence is that shamanism pervades 
Swazi culture, and even the king, who is above the law and 
constitution of Swaziland and ostensibly a Christian, is not 
exempted from its grip.  End Comment. 
IRVING