Africa-Press – Eswatini. Not convening a national celebration to mark His Majesty King Mswati III’s 54th birthday did not deter loyalists and the general populace from wishing the King well on his special day.
Social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp) and various fora were abuzz with heart-warming messages, videos and memes in honour of Ingwenyama for ensuring that Eswatini remains ably-led through his wisdom.
Thanking God for keeping His Majesty healthy and strong after living for more than five decades was the order of the day as special messages were flagged by the public across the different platforms.
“Thank you for leading Emaswati with wisdom and courage for a bright future. May God bless you with many more years,” shared Sandile Dlamini in a post which was also accompanied by pictures of the King in different attires.
Other Emaswati shared fond memories with the King whom they mostly described as visionary. Some members of the citizenry seemed to be a loss for words on how to thank the King for his wise leadership as they could only say ‘Bayethe Wena Waphakathi.’
“Khula Hlanga lezwe wena waBhuza, Nkulunkulu asigcinele wena,” said Bongiwe in honour of the King.
Companies were also not left out in celebrating the King.
A number of firms posted specially designed posters with special messages directed to the Monarch, which were published in the mainstream media.
These mostly included the private sector, which traditionally conveys the wishes of the heartbeat of the economy to the King.
It should be noted that for consecutive three years, the King could not be joined by the nation to celebrate his birthday which falls on April 19 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
True to the sentiments of the public which thanked God for blessing Emaswati and the entire world with a leader of His Majesty King Mswati III’s calibre, the King ordered that due to the pandemic, the national celebration of his birthday be cancelled. He instructed that all resources that were mobilised for his birthday be channelled to the fight against COVID-19.
A Resource Mobilisation Committee entrusted with the responsibility to see into it that more funds get channelled towards the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic consisted of Tibiyo TakaNgwane Managing Director (MD) Absalom Dlamini, Royal Eswatini Sugar (RES) Corporation Chief Executive Officer Nick Jackson, Eswatini Sugar Association CEO Phil Mnisi, Nedbank MD Fikile Nkosi and Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF) CEO Prince Lonkhokhela, among others.
The King’s birthday celebrations were in the past rotated yearly across all the four regions of the country.
The venues included Buhleni, Mpumalanga in Siteki, King Sobhuza II Memorial Stadiums and Mavuso Sports Centre, among others.
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