Swaziland people starve, Rolls-Royces for royals

This 10 November 2019 South African TV video says about itself:

PUDEMO condemns purchase of 19 Rolls-Royce cars for Swazi King

The People’s United Democratic Movement or PUDEMO has strongly condemned the purchase of nineteen Rolls-Royce cars bought by the Swazi king for the exclusive use of himself, his mother and his wives. Each vehicle is worth about R10 million.

This all apparently took place during student protests that have led to the closure of tertiary institutions. The protests are due to failure by the government to pay students expenses for the past two months. Public servants have also taken to the streets demanding better salaries.

Mlungisi Makhanya, president of People’s United Democratic Movement joins us now.

Translated from Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad today, by Eril Kouwenhoven:

His country is starving, but the king is buying brand new Rolls-Royce for all his 15 wives

The African country of Eswatini, which was still called Swaziland until last year, is being torn apart by poverty, but that did not stop King Mswati III from expanding his already impressive car collection with no fewer than 19 Rolls-Royces and 120 BMWs.

According to The Times, the purchase of his majesty benefits the family, which consists of 15 wives and 23 children. The monarch – worth more than $ 200 million – has been under fire for some time because of its lavish lifestyle. He owns a fleet of luxury cars, private aircraft and he even has his own airport.

It was said to be a fleet of trucks loaded with 20 Rolls-Royces and one Rolls-Royce Cullinan. The cars are for the king’s 15 wives and one of them is for his mother. The luxury SUV Cullinan is said to have been fully adapted and will be used by the king himself. It is not yet known whether the cars were ordered directly from the BMW Group, the parent company of Rolls-Royce, or whether they were purchased through an intermediary.

The king is clearly a fan of German vehicles, since he already owns 20 (!) Mercedes-Maybach S600 Pullmans, a Maybach 62 and a BMW X6. He also expanded his private fleet by buying another private jet on his 50th birthday last year, for which he paid $ 13.2 million.

In addition to its new Rolls-Royces fleet, Mswati III has reportedly also placed an order for 120 BMWs. Several local sources report that countless blue and white BMW 540 sedans and X3 SUVs were delivered to the country that is surrounded by South Africa and Mozambique.

According to the British newspaper The Guardian,Mswati raised his household budget to 61 million dollars a few years ago – while the majority of his subjects had to make ends meet on less than one dollar a day. Mswati has ruled Swaziland since 1986, succeeding his father, King Sobhuza II, of whom he was the 67th (!) son. His will is literally law: Mswati does not use a constitution.