Click photo to enlarge
White rhinos at the Simunye Nature Reserve. Photo by
Alistair McMurran.
Between Mozambique and South Africa lies a country of
elephants, rhinos - and polygamy.
Otago Daily Times sports reporter Alistair McMurran
visits the kingdom of Swaziland.
Polygamy is a practice frowned on in the West, but it still
exists in Africa.
It has been toned down a lot in Swaziland compared to what
happened in earlier centuries.
Some past kings in Africa had almost 150 wives.
It developed in the early days when there was a need to
increase the population so the nation could survive.
One of the most prolific wife-catchers was King Letsie I, the
Paramount Chief of Basutoland, who had 140 wives.
He reigned between 1870 and 1891.
The practice is still acceptable in many African states,
where the usual dowry paid for a first wife is 17 cows, with
14 for the second.
A cow is worth 3000 South African rand ($NZ561).
It is unusual for any man to have more than four wives today.
"In ancient days, people had a lot of wives so kids could do
labouring work in the fields," our Swaziland guide, Sifiso,
says.
King Ngwenyama Sobhuza II, the Paramount Chief and later King
of Swaziland from 1899 to 1982, continued the tribal practice
of keeping many wives.
According to the Swaziland National Trust Commission, King
Sobhuza II married 70 times and had 210 children between 1920
and 1970.
When he died in 1982, at the age of 83, he had more than 1000
grandchildren.
Our guide indicated that a traditional wedding lasted three
days.
On the first day the "shouting" took place, on the second day
time was spent negotiating, while the third day was spent
feasting.
We visited the sacred mountain where kings were buried in
caves and criminals executed.
There is a rock of execution at the top of a steep mountain
where murderers, and those found guilty of witchcraft by
three medicine men, were taken by soldiers and told to jump
off.
There is no capital punishment in Swaziland today.
