The King of Swaziland has sparked outrage after reportedly buying 20 Rolls Royce cars for his 15 wives and a customised Rolls Royce Cullinan SUV for himself.
Mswati III is the 51-year-old king of Eswatini, also known as Swaziland – and dubbed by some as the world’s most unequal country.
According to NGOs, 10 percent of the population is responsible for around half of the nation’s consumption.
According to reports, the award-winning South African journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika broke the story on social media.
In criticism of the king of the small landlocked country in southern Africa, Mzilikazi wa Afrika wrote: “Heartbreaking news: Amidst all the economic challenges [in] eSwazitini, King Mswati III yesterday decided to bless his wives with very expensive wheels.”
In a post that included images of new cars arriving on transporters, the journalist wrote: “Unconfirmed reports suggest that it was 4 trucks loaded with 20 Rolls Royce and one Rolls Royce Cullinan.”
A ministry spokesperson reportedly told the South African newspaper ‘The Citizen’ that the king had bought the vehicles for his wives.
With Swaziland going through a period of economic hardship, the incident was widely slammed.
Netizen ‘BonganiKunene’ said: “Bro, Africa is crippled by senseless leaders. The Kingdom of Eswatini has a population of about 1.4 million people. It is estimated that this fleet is worth around 12 million GBP. Do you understand how big a cash injection could’ve been for an economy that small?”
‘Shongwemenzi93’ commented: “I will never forgive emaSwati [Swazi people] for letting King Mswati take all the wealth of Eswatini to himself alone while thousands of emaSwati are drowning in poverty.”
The king, who reportedly has 15 wives and 23 children, was crowned in April 1986 when he was 18 years old.
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Story By: Lee Bullen, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
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