Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Samuel Thornton Msindazwe Sukati was a distinguished Swazi patriot. He was born June 11, 1910, at Zabeni, Swaziland, and was destined to make important contributions to the Swazi anti-colonial struggle and the founding of an independent state in the 1960s and 1970s. He was an interlocutor between the traditional and the modern worlds, a key figure in the forging of Swaziland's postcolonial monarchy, and an example of the continuity and stability that have marked that mountain kingdom. Msindazwe Sukati was born in a place and family with a close connection to the Swazi monarchy and nobility. His family had a long history of service, on the side of both his father's clan, the Sukati, and his mother's clan, the Mavuso. The Mavuso provided several outstanding queen mothers and had a proud record of military service in the precolonial Swazi state. His father, Lomadokolo Sukati – a noble with 15 wives who died in 1922 – had served successive Swazi monarchs: King Mbadzeni (1874–89), King Bhunu (1894–9), and King Sobhuza II; he was also governor of Zabeni, which was a royal village at Lobamba, the Swazi national and spiritual headquarters. His own father mentored Sobhuza II, and Msindazwe (about 11 years younger than Sobhuza) grew up in the king's corridors. Sobhuza was a frequent visitor, in a personal capacity, to the Sukati family at Zabeni. Like many youths of his background, Msindazwe ... log in or subscribe to read full text