Swaziland: Freedom is a strange concept

If you bring up Swaziland in a conversion, most people will either look puzzled or mutter something unconvincing about a peaceful kingdom bordering South Africa. This is because most of the people who have actually been to Swaziland have done so superficially, as tourists visiting the country for a couple of days. What they have seen here are the exuberant malls, good roads, and flawless tourist facilities. There is, however, a different Swaziland, a Swaziland where over two thirds of the population survive for less than a dollar a day, where over 40% are HIV-positive, and where the population at large are suppressed by a combination of “traditional” feudal structures and values, brutal police forces, and a tiny but filthy rich elite.