Sobhuza II, KBE was the Paramount Chief and later King of Swaziland for 82
years, the longest verifiable reign of any monarch in recorded history. Sobhuza
was born on 22 July 1899 at Zombodze Royal Residence, the son of Inkhosikati
Lomawa Ndwandwe and King Ngwane V. When he was only four months old, his father
died suddenly while dancing incwala. Sobhuza was chosen King soon after that
and his grandmother Labotsibeni and his uncle Prince Malunge led the Swazi
nation until his maturity in 1921. Sobhuza led Swaziland through
independence until his death in 1982. He was succeeded by Mswati III, his young
son with Inkhosikati Ntfombi Tfwala, who was crowned in 1986.
Early life and education Ingwenyama Sobhuza was born in Zombodze
on 22 July 1899. He ascended to the throne after the death of his father,
Ngwane V, as King of Swaziland on 10 December 1899, when he was only four
months old. He was educated at the Swazi National School, Zombodze, and at the
Lovedale Institution in the Eastern Cape, South Africa before assuming the
Swazi throne as paramount chief at the age of twenty-two. His grandmother,
Labotsibeni Mdluli, served as regent throughout his youth, formally
transferring power to the Ngwenyama on 22 December 1921.
Kingship Sobhuza's direct reign would endure more
than 60 years, during which he presided over Swaziland's independence from
United Kingdom in 1968, after which the British government recognised him as
King of Swaziland. Early in his reign, Sobhuza sought to address the problem of
land partition and deprivation instituted by the British authorities in
1907. He did so by first leading a delegation to London to meet with King
George V and petition him to restore the lands to the Swazi people. He again took
his case on the land issue in 1929 to the Privy Council. He was defeated by
the terms of the Foreign Jurisdictions Act, which effectively placed the
actions of British administrations in protectorates beyond the reach of the
British courts. Sobhuza's role during this colonial period was for the most
part ceremonial, but he still had major influence as a traditional head of the
Swazi nation. In 1953 he attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in
London. In the early 1960s Sobhuza played a
major role in events that led to independence for his country in 1968. He
opposed the post-colonial Westminster constitution proposed by the British
government, in which he was assigned the role of constitutional monarch. As a
consequence, acting through his advisory council, he formed the Imbokodvo
National Movement, a political party, which contested and won all seats in the
1967 pre-independence elections. He became recognized by the British as King
of Swaziland in 1967 when Swaziland was given direct rule. Independence was
achieved on 6 September 1968. Following this, Sobhuza skilfully blended appeal
to tribal custom with a capacity to manage economic and social change for
his kingdom. On 12 April 1973, the king repealed the constitution and dissolved
parliament, henceforth exercising power as an absolute ruler. In 1978 a new
constitution was promulgated which provided for an elaborate reversion to a
tribal mode of rule involving an electoral college of eighty members
chosen by forty local councils known as tinkhundla, dominated by tribal
elements. The Swazi economy prospered under Sobhuza's leadership. Swaziland is
rich in natural resources, and much of the land and mineral wealth originally
owned by non-Swazi interests was brought under indigenous control during
Sobhuza's reign. Later life
Sobhuza celebrated his Diamond Jubilee in 1981. At this time, he had
successfully restored and indeed strengthened the monarch's role as the
chief arbiter of decision-making in his kingdom. In the early 1980s King Sobhuza
attempted to acquire control over KaNgwane, a Bantustan set up by the
South African government in an attempt to reunite all Swazi people separated by
the colonial boundary. He died on 21 August 1982 at Embo State house at the
age of 83. Sobhuza's official incumbency of 82
years and 254 days is the longest precisely dated monarchical reign on
record and the world's longest documented reign of any sovereign since
antiquity. Only Pepi II Neferkare of Ancient Egypt and Taejo of the ancient
Korean kingdom of Goguryeo are claimed to have reigned longer, though these
claims are disputed. Family and succession
King Sobhuza continued the tribal practice of maintaining many consorts.
According to the Swaziland National Trust Commission, King Sobhuza II
married 70 wives, who gave him 210 children between 1920 and 1970. About
180 children survived infancy, and 97 sons and daughters were reported living
as of 2000. At his death he had more than 1000 grandchildren.
Sobhuza died in 1982, having appointed Prince Sozisa Dlamini to serve as
'Authorized Person', advising a regent. Selection of a successor was confirmed
only after King Sobhuza's death, a regent being necessary if the heir
remained under age at that time. By tradition, the regent would be one of
the queens consort who had borne the late king a son. The first regent was
Queen Dzeliwe, but after a power struggle Sozisa deposed her and she was
replaced by Queen Ntfombi. During this period Andy Warhol boosted her renown,
and that of Swaziland, by including her portrait along with those of Elizabeth
II of the Commonwealth Realms, Beatrix of the Netherlands and Margrethe II of
Denmark in his Reigning Queens series. Ntombi reigned on behalf of her young
son by King Sobhuza, Prince Makhosetive Dlamini, who was designated as Crown
Prince or Umntfwana. He was crowned King Mswati III in 1986.
One of Sobhuza's sons-in-law was Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, King of
the Zulus of South Africa, who married the Swazi king's daughter, Princess
Mantfombi, at Nongoma in June 1977. Another in-law is Zenani Mandela, the
daughter of former South African President Nelson Mandela, who belonged
to a cadet branch of the Thembu dynasty which reigns as paramount chiefs in the
Transkei. She wed Sobhuza's son, Prince Thumbumuzi Dlamini who, although an
older half-brother of Mswati and Mantfombi, did not inherit the Swazi
throne, instead launching, with his wife, an enterprise in the United
States. Honours
= National honours = Grand Master of the Royal Order of the
King Sobhuza II. = Foreign honours =
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Civil Division..
Supreme Companion of the Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo [posthumous].
See also Politics of Swaziland
List of people with the most children References
External links History of His Majesty, King Sobuza II
King Sobhuza II portrait of Sobhuza II of Swaziland by South African artist
Neville Lewis