Wayzata World Factbook 1995/World Factbook - 1995 Edition - Wayzata Technology (1995).iso/mac/text/Build/orig BACKGR/BNOT0100.TXT

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National Trade Data Bank
ITEM ID     : ST BNOTES SWAZILAN
DATE        : Oct 28, 1994

AGENCY      : U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
PROGRAM     : BACKGROUND NOTES
TITLE       : Background Notes - SWAZILAND

Source key      : ST
Program key     : ST BNOTES
Update sched.   : Occasionally
Data type       : TEXT
End year        : 1993
Date of record  : 19941018
Keywords 3      :
Keywords 3      : | SWAZILAND

BACKGROUND NOTES:  SWAZILAND
PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE

APRIL 1993
Official Name:  Kingdom of Swaziland

PROFILE

People
Nationality:  Noun and adjective--Swazi(s).
Population (1992 est.):  860,000.  Annual growth rate (1991
est.):  3.4%.  Ethnic groups:  The great majority is Swazi, the
remainder Zulu and non-African.
Religions:  Christian and indigenous beliefs.  Languages:
English and SiSwati (both official).
Education: Years compulsory--none.  Attendance--99% primary
school; 44% secondary school.  Literacy--64%.
Health:  Infant mortality rate--98/1,000.  Life expectancy--53
yrs. males; 60 yrs. females.
Work force (12% of population):  Agriculture and forestry--30%.
Financial and social services--26%.  Mining and
manufacturing--18%.  Transport and communications--8%.
Construction--7%.

Geography
Area:  17,363 sq. km. (6,704 sq. mi.); slightly smaller than New Jersey.
Cities:  Capital--Mbabane (pop. 55,000 est.).  Principal
commercial city--Manzini (pop. 66,000 est.).
Terrain:  Mountainous, plateau.
Climate:  Near-temperate, subtropical, semi-arid.

Government
Type:  Monarchy.  Independence:  September 6, 1968.
Constitution:  No written constitution in effect.

Branches:  Executive--Monarch (chief of state), prime minister
(head of government), cabinet.  Legislative--parliament
consisting of House of Assembly (50 members) and Senate (20
members).  Judicial--Court of Appeals, high court, subordinate
and traditional courts.

Administrative subdivisions:  4 regions, 4 municipal governments,
and 40 Tinkhundla (traditional administrative units).

Political parties:  None permitted by law.  Suffrage:  Universal.

Flag:  Five horizontal stripes--blue, yellow, crimson, yellow,
blue--with shield, two spears, and staff centered on wide crimson
band.

Economy
GDP (1990 est.):  $704 million.  Real growth rate (1991):  7%.
Per capita income (1990):  $900.

Natural resources:  Asbestos, coal, diamonds, timber,
hydroelectric power, clay.

Agriculture (20% of GDP):  Products--sugar cane,  corn, citrus
fruit, livestock, wood, pineapple, cotton, tobacco.  Cultivated
land--16% (crops plus commercial forests).

Manufacturing (18% of GNP):  Types--sugar refining, light
manufactured goods, woodpulp, textiles, ginned cotton, processed
foods, beverages, consumer goods.

Trade (1991 est.):  Exports--$575 million:  sugar, soft drink
concentrate, woodpulp, wood products, manufactures, canned fruit,
asbestos, citrus, vegetables, meat and meat products.  Major
markets--South Africa, Canada, EEC, US.  Imports (1991
est.)--$637 million:  motor vehicles, heavy machinery, fuel and
lubricants, foodstuffs, clothing.  Major suppliers--South Africa,
UK, Japan, Germany.

Official exchange rate: 1 lilangeni (pl. emalangeni)= 1 South
African rand; 3.1 emalangeni=US$1 (1992 average).


PEOPLE
Traditionally, Swazis have been subsistence farmers and herders;
a number are now working in the growing formal economy and in
government.  Some work in mines in South Africa.

Christianity in Swaziland is sometimes mixed with traditional
beliefs and practices.  Most Swazis ascribe a special spiritual
role to the monarch.

The country's official languages are SiSwati (an Nguni language
related to Zulu) and English.  Government and commercial business
is conducted mainly in English.


HISTORY
According to tradition, the people of the present Swazi nation
migrated south before the 16th century to what is now Mozambique.
Following a series of conflicts with people living in the area of
modern Maputo, the Swazis settled in northern Zululand in about
1750.

Unable to match the growing Zulu strength, the Swazis moved
gradually northward in the early 1800s and established themselves
in the area of modern Swaziland.  They consolidated their hold
under several able leaders.  The most important was Mswati II,
from whom the Swazis derive their name.  Under his leadership in
the 1840s, the Swazis expanded their territory to the northwest
and stabilized the southern frontier with the Zulus.

Swazi contact with the British came early in Mswati's reign, when
he asked British authorities in South Africa for assistance
against Zulu raids into Swaziland.  During Mswati's reign, the
first whites settled in the country.

Following Mswati's death, the Swazis reached agreements with
British and South African authorities over a range of issues,
including independence, claims on resources by Europeans,
administrative authority, and security.  The Swazi interests were
administered from 1894 to 1903 by South Africans.  In 1903, the
British assumed control.

In 1921, Swaziland established its first legislative body--an
advisory council of elected white representatives mandated to
advise the British High Commissioner on non-Swazi affairs.  In
1944, the high commissioner conceded that the council had
official status and recognized the paramount chief, or king, as
the native authority for the territory to issue legally
enforceable orders to the Swazis.

In 1921, after more than 20 years of rule by Queen Regent
Labotsibeni, Sobhuza II became Ngwenyama (the lion) or head of
the Swazi nation.

In the early years of colonial rule, the British expected that
Swaziland would eventually be incorporated into South Africa.
After World War II, however, South Africa's intensification of
racial discrimination induced the United Kingdom to prepare
Swaziland for independence.

Political activity intensified in the early 1960s.  Several
political parties formed, and jostled for independence and
economic development.  The largely urban parties had few ties to
the rural areas, where the majority of Swazis lived.  The
traditional Swazi leaders, including King Sobhuza and his
council, formed the Imbokodvo National Movement (INM), a
political group that capitalized on its close identification with
the traditional Swazi way of life.  Responding to pressures for
political reform, the colonial government scheduled an election
in mid-1964 for the first legislative council in which the Swazis
would participate.  In the election, the INM and four other
parties, most having more radical platforms, competed in the
election.  The INM won all 24 elective seats.

Having solidified its political base, the INM incorporated many
demands of the more radical parties, especially that of immediate
independence.  In 1966, the UK Government agreed to discuss a new
constitution.  A constitutional committee agreed on a
constitutional monarchy for Swaziland, with self-government to
follow parliamentary elections in 1967.  Swaziland became
independent on September 6, 1968.

Swaziland's first post-independence elections were held in May
1972.  The INM received about 75% of the vote.  The Ngwane
National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) received slightly more than
20% of the vote and 3 seats in Parliament.

In response to the NNLC votes, King Sobhuza repealed the 1968
constitution on April 12, 1973, and dissolved parliament. He
assumed all powers of government and prohibited all political
parties and trade unions from operating.  He justified his
actions as having removed alien and divisive political practices
incompatible with the Swazi way of life.  In January 1979, a new
parliament was convened, chosen partly through indirect elections
and partly through direct appointment by the king.

King Sobhuza died in August 1982, and Queen Regent Dzeliwe
assumed the duties of Head of State.  In 1983, an internal
dispute led to the replacement of the prime minister and the
eventual replacement of Dzeliwe by a new Queen Regent Ntombi.
Ntombi's son, Prince Makhosetive, was named heir to the Swazi
throne.  Real power at this time was concentrated in the Liqoqo,
a traditional advisory body which claimed to give binding advice
to the Queen Regent.  In October 1985, Queen Regent Ntombi
demonstrated her power by dismissing the leading figures of the
Liqoqo.  Prince Makhosetive returned from school in England to
ascend the throne and help end the continuing internal disputes.

He was enthroned as Mswati III in April 1986.  Shortly afterward,
he abolished the Liqoqo.  In November 1987, a new parliament was
elected and a new cabinet appointed.  The present Prime Minister,
appointed in 1989, is Obed Dlamini, a former trade unionist.

In 1988 and 1989, an underground political party, the People's
United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) emerged and clandestinely
criticized the King and the government, calling for democratic
reforms.  In response to this political threat and to growing
popular calls for greater accountablity in government, the King
and the Prime Minister , in 1990, initiated an ongoing national
debate on the constitutional and political future of Swaziland.

This debate produced a number of political reforms, approved by
the King, including direct and secret election of legislative
representatives.  These reforms, an incremental advance for
democracy in Swaziland, were incorporated into preparations for
national elections scheduled for June/July 1993.


GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
According to Swazi law and custom, the monarch holds supreme
executive, legislative, and judicial power.  In general practice,
the monarch's power is delegated through a dualistic system:
modern, statutory bodies, like the cabinet, and less formal,
traditional governmental structures.  At present, parliament
consists of a 50-member House of Assembly (40 chosen through
indirect election and 10 appointed by the King) and a 20-member
Senate (10 elected by the House of Assembly and 10 appointed by
the King).  Legislation passed by the parliament must be approved
by the King.  Executive authority is exercised by a royally
appointed prime minister (head of government) and cabinet.

For local administration, Swaziland is divided into four regions,
the administrators of which are appointed by the King.  Manzini,
Mbabane, and two other towns have municipal governments.
Parallel to this statutory government structure is a traditional
system consisting of the King and his traditional advisers,
traditional courts, and 40 Tinkhundla (subregional districts in
which the traditional chiefs are grouped).

In 1992, the King appointed a committee to represent a
cross-section of Swazi political opinion, including comments from
the public at large.  The committee recommended (and the King
approved) a number of significant reforms of the electoral
process (to include direct election of parliament in mid-1993),
the Tinkhundla system, and the national government.  Several
measures remain in force, however, that could stifle further
political liberalization.  Chief among them are the arbitrary
detention powers of the government and the ban on political
parties.

Principal Government Officials
Head of State--King Mswati III
Prime Minister--Obed M. Dlamini
Foreign Affairs--George Mamba
Ambassador to the United States--Absalom Vusani Mamba
Ambassador to the United Nations--Dr. Timothy Dlamini

Swaziland maintains an embassy in the US at Suite 441, Van Ness
Center, 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
(202-362-6683).  Swaziland's UN Mission is at 866 UN Plaza, New
York, NY 10017 (212 371-8910).


ECONOMY
Swaziland ranks among the more prosperous countries in Africa.
Most of the high-level economic activity is in the hands of
non-Africans, but ethnic Swazis are becoming more active small
entrepreneurs and are moving into middle-management positions.
Although about 70% of Swazis live in rural areas, nearly every
homestead has a wage earner.  Despite several years of strong
economic growth, however, the economy has been unable to create
jobs at the same pace that new job seekers enter the market. This
is due in large measure to the country's high 3.4% population
growth rate, which also strains the country's natural heritage
and its ability to provide adequate social services, such as
health care and education.

About 57% of Swazi territory is held by the Crown in trust for
the Swazi nation.  The balance is privately owned, much of it by
foreigners.  The question of land use and ownership remains a
sensitive one.

For Swazis living on rural homesteads, the principal occupation
is subsistence farming (principally maize) and livestock herding.
Cash crops such as cotton are also grown. Culturally, cattle are
important symbols of wealth and status, but they are being used
increasingly for milk, meat, and profit.

Swaziland enjoys well-developed road links with South Africa.  It
also has railroads running east to west and north to south.  The
older east-west link, called the Goba Line, makes it possible to
export bulk goods from Swaziland through the port of Maputo in
Mozambique.  Until recently, most of Swaziland's exports were
shipped through this port.  Conflict in Mozambique over the past
few years has diverted many Swazi exports to ports in South
Africa.  A north-south rail link, completed in 1986, provides a
connection between the eastern Transvaal rail network and the
South African ports of Richard's Bay and Durban.

The sugar industry, based solely on irrigated cane, is
Swaziland's leading export earner and private-sector employer.
Soft-drink concentrate (a US investment) is the country's second
largest export earner, followed by woodpulp and lumber from
cultivated pine forests.  Pineapple, citrus fruit, and cotton are
other important agricultural exports.

Swaziland currently mines asbestos, coal, and diamonds, almost
all for export.  There is also a quarry industry for domestic
construction.  Mining typically contributes just under 3% to
Swaziland's GDP each year.

Recently, a number of industrial firms have located at the
industrial estate at Matsapha, near Manzini.  In addition to
processed agricultural and forestry products, the fast-growing
industrial sector at Matsapha also produces garments, textiles,
and a surprising variety of light manufactures.  The Swaziland
Industrial Development Corporation (SIDC) has assisted in
bringing many of these industries to the country.  Government
programs encourage Swazi entrepreneurs to run small and
medium-sized firms.  Tourism is also important, attracting more
than 270,000 visitors annually.

From the mid-1980s onward, foreign investment in the
manufacturing center has boosted economic growth rates
significantly.  Moreover, since mid-1985, the depressed value of
the currency has increased the competitiveness of Swazi exports
and moderated the growth of imports, generating trade surpluses.
The country has run small trade deficits for the past 3 years,
however.  South Africa and the European Community are major
customers for Swazi exports, and the US is a significant market
for Swazi sugar, with purchases of 32,500 metric tons in 1991.

Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia, and the Republic of South
Africa form the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), in which
import duties apply uniformly to member countries. Swaziland,
Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa are also joined in the Common
Monetary Area (CMA), in which the free transfer and unrestricted
use of funds are permitted.  Swaziland issued its own currency,
the lilangeni (emalangeni in the plural) in September 1974.  The
lilangeni, while not tied to the rand, at present trades at par
with it.


FOREIGN RELATIONS
Swaziland is a member of the UN and the Organization of African
Unity.  More than 40 countries have accredited ambassadors to the
Kingdom, although only 6 have resident representatives.
Swaziland maintains diplomatic missions in Brussels (EEC),
London, Denmark, Seoul, Ottawa, Maputo, Nairobi, New York (UN),
and Washington, DC.

Because of its location, Swaziland has close economic ties with
South Africa; 15-20,000 Swazis work there in mines, industries,
and farms.  Roughly 90% of Swaziland's imports either originate
in or transit through South Africa.  Although diplomatic
representatives have not been exchanged, a South African Trade
Commissioner is resident in Mbabane.


US-SWAZI RELATIONS
The United States seeks to maintain and strengthen the good
bilateral relations that have existed since the Kingdom of
Swaziland became independent in 1968.  US policy there stresses
continued economic and political development.

In the past, the US has assisted Swaziland in institutional and
human resource development, agricultural development, and the
expansion of the rural health and rural water systems. Presently,
it continues to focus on education and job-training but has
expanded into other important areas, such as private sector
development, family planning, and the development of a more
job-relevant primary school curriculum.  The US brings an average
of 22 Swazi students and professionals to the US each year, from
both the private and public sectors, primarily for master's and
doctorate degrees.  Some 70 Peace Corps volunteers work in
Swaziland, principally as secondary school science and math
teachers.

Principal US Officials
Ambassador--Stephen H. Rogers
Deputy Chief of Mission--Philip M. Jones
Director, AID Mission--Valerie Dickson-Horton
Director, Peace Corps--James Kelley

The US embassy in Swaziland is in the Central Bank Building,
Warner Street, PO Box 199, Mbabane.


Travel Notes
Customs:  US citizens do not need visas to enter Swaziland.

Climate:  Swaziland's climate is moderate, similar to that of the
middle Atlantic states but drier and with the seasons reversed.

Health:  Adequate medical care is available in Swaziland for
routine illnesses.  Serious illnesses and accidents must be
treated in South Africa or elsewhere.  Tapwater should be boiled
or filtered.  The climate is basically healthful.  Travelers
should consult most recent information.

Telecommunications:  International and local telephone and
telegraph services are available.  Mbabane is seven time zones
ahead of eastern standard time.

Transportation:  Regular air service to and from Matsapha
Airport, near Mbabane and Manzini, links Swaziland with major
international routes.  Taxis and rental cars are available at the
airport and in Mbabane.


Published by the United States Department of State -- Bureau of
Public Affairs -- Office of Public Communication -- Washington,
DC -- April 1993 -- Editor:  Anita M. Stockman

Department of State Publication 8174
Background Notes Series -- This material is in the public domain
and may be reprinted without permission; citation of this source
is appreciated.

For sale by the Superindendent of Documents, US Government
Printing Office, Washington , DC 20402.