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Swazi king a baffled soul

REDI'S TAKE: King Mswati III is really a piece of work. From his wobbly stomach to his puffed up cheeks, he is not a sight for sore eyes. But he is one of Southern Africa's most eligible bachelors.

I know he is married but since that hasn't stopped him from acquiring more wives, he may as well be single and sought after.

According to Swazi custom, Mswati is within his rights to marry as many budding virgins as he pleases, but after 14 wives, you have to ask, what is he trying to achieve?

Instead of promoting Swazi culture, his behaviour is making a mockery and caricature of it.

As Africans, we are justifiably sensitive about ignorant foreigners who belittle our norms.

Colonialism has meant that many of our noble cultures have been eroded and spat out, but let us be honest and realistic.

Culture is dynamic and changes would have happened anyway, despite colonialism and apartheid.

It is hypocritical to claim that those who assert their African practices have not incorporated modernity and actually benefitted from it.

In this interface between African practices and modern norms, new cultures have been born.

We have kept what works and discarded what doesn't. The demands of modern life are such that a new global world has been born and to pretend we haven't benefitted from this is foolhardy.

Privately and collectively, our lives have changed. Take the opening of Parliament here in South Africa.

The whole pageantry, pomp and ceremony is so colonial, yet mainly elite black people wear their Sunday best and take part in this grand parade.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with that because partaking of it does not make one less black or African.

Our lifestyle as black people reflects the evolution that human beings everywhere go through and we should not be made to feel guilty about whatever we choose to become as a result of a myriad encounters with other cultures, norms and races.

The most fascinating and positive cultural change for me has been the modern black father.

They are very different from their predecessors.

Today's dad baby-sits, changes diapers, does homework, goes shopping with the children and is present in ways that are so refreshing and worthy of praise.

Raising children is no longer the role of mothers alone, and thank goodness for that.

King Mswati has also changed, but on his terms.

His whole journey from his childhood to his crowning reflects this dichotomy of tradition versus modernity. He left the kingdom in 1983 to continue his education in Sherborne, England.

Obviously the education in Swaziland was not good enough for him and his father King Sobhuza II felt Sherborne, with its sterling reputation for academic achievement, was fit for a future king.

His stay in Europe was not just for academic pursuits, but while there he engaged in purely Western extra-mural activities like darts, swimming and rugby.

He also developed a taste for sumptuous cuisine and luxury foreign-made cars.

The king is clearly a modern man - when it suits him.

So his insistence on picking and collecting wives like he is collecting stamps is baffling.

Don't shout "culture" and "tradition" because when it comes to other aspects of his lifestyle, he has happily discarded culture and embraced modern ways.

He is having his cake and eating it. Well, his former friend and confidante Ndumiso Mamba has decided to help him eat it.

King Mswati and his advisers must surely realise that it is not practical for any man to be a husband and father to so many and still make a success of it.

He is clearly an absent father because raising children in today's complex world requires a sustained presence and emotional intelligence.

The days when men simply left that sacred task to women are long gone.

The king and his disciples need to be practical and not see calls for change as an affront to their tradition.

It is human nature to seek succour, intimacy and validation from those who claim to love us and have pledged their lives to us.

For as long as they are human, the queens will continue to get their groove on elsewhere.

 

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