Regional championships will take place inSouth Africa’s nine provinces and will include neighbouring Swaziland from August through early October.

In Swaziland, tickets will be available at the door. In South Africa, however, the event organisers have announced that tickets will no longer be sold at the door as has been the case for past regional events. Patrons must purchase their tickets from Computicket outlets, Shoprite and Checkers countrywide.

Details for Swaziland
19 September 2010
Ezulwini – Convention Centre, Swaziland
From 9:00 am onwards
Celebrating life through music.

For more information visit oldmutualncf.mobi

Aug 10

Jul 10

Saturday 27th November 2010
7.30 pm
MUSIC LOVERS, TAKE NOTE!

The Drakensberg Boys Choir will be singing

at the Royal Swazi Convention Centre, Swaziland

at 7.30 pm on Saturday 27th November 2010. Programme will include Christmas Music,

African Rhythms and much more. Watch this space or adverts for ticket sale outlets.

In aid of Bursary Fund and SWAGAA.

The Drakensberg Boys’ Choir was officially opened on 23 January 1967, to 20 eager pupils selected by means of auditions throughout South Africa. Originally just a vision in the mind of John Tungay, the school quickly grew to just over 100, accepting boys of 9 to 15 years in Grade 4 through 9. The Choir School is ideally located in the Champagne Valley so as to make the best use of the acoustics. Through the years the Drakensberg Boys’ Choir School had to overcome many challenges such as the costs necessary to manage such a specialized school in a relatively isolated location. However, it has met with great success.

Within a few years of its establishment, the Drakensberg Boys’ Choir began touring the world, visiting countries such as the United States, Canada, all of Africa, most of Europe, Japan and Taiwan. All along the way the choir has received the utmost acclaim and loud applauds.

The School itself has remained somewhat dated in appearance. In 1995 a brand new Auditorium was constructed with a capacity for 600 individuals as well as excellent sound and lighting equipment. This has assisted the Choir School in becoming even more effective. Through the year, its Wednesday Concerts and festivals are practically booked out with both local and international tourists.

The Drakensberg Boys’ Choir School certainly enjoys great inspiration from its spectacular surroundings in the Central Drakensberg. The amazing sound of the choir boys singing can often be heard echoing across the landscape. A truly unique choir representative of South Africa’s diverse culture, they have frequently set international trends in the industry. Performances include the sounds of classical composers such as Beethoven to the more contemporary Freddy Mercury and Jazz as well as the traditional with African music and Folk songs. The Drakensberg Boys’ Choir is definitely deserving of its international reputation and you don’t want to miss their Wednesday Concert when touring the magnificent Drakensberg.

Protests last week in the capital, Maputo, turned violent, with at least 10 people killed in clashes with police. Maputo was calm over the weekend and early on Monday, though many workers and students stayed home for fear of more violence. Police reported finding a few burning tires blocking streets, but no protesters at the barricades.

It was not immediately clear whether the interruption in cell phone messaging was part of a government crackdown.

Also on Monday, state radio reported nine people have been arrested, accused of incitement for sending cell phone messages calling for protests. The radio report said six were arrested on Sunday and another three on Monday in Nampula for trying to spread the protests to that northern province. Nampula has so far seen no unrest.

No one has claimed responsibility for organising the protests sparked by rises in the government-set price of bread, water and electricity.

Authorities have said they were trying to trace who sent the first unsigned cell phone messages calling for protests in the southern African nation. Over the weekend, text messages calling for calm and portraying protests as unpatriotic began to appear – they, too, were unsigned.

Protesters on the streets have said even they do not know who is orchestrating the demonstrations, and that they believe those behind them want to remain anonymous for fear of arrest.

Political mileage

In an Associated Press interview over the weekend, Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the main opposition Renamo party, told the AP his party was not responsible for the protests. But he and other opposition leaders have tried to gain political mileage from them.

Dhlakama accused the police of using excessive force, and said the rioters’ demands were understandable. He noted that many of those who took to the streets were young.

“The children feel the pain of their fathers, who cannot afford to pay fees for schooling,” he said.

Daviz Simango, another opposition leader, also has called on the government to meet protesters’ demands. A third opposition figure, Jose Manuel Campira, on Monday called for more demonstrations – but said they should be peaceful.

The government has said it will remain firm on the higher prices. It has said keeping food prices low is difficult because so much of the country’s food has to be imported. Mozambique grows only 30% of the wheat it needs.
AFP

During the interum, it was possible for players to use Bodog Casino, which never shut down. Bodog offers poker of course, as well as all the other typical online gambling games, so if you’re looking for somewhere to play, you could always head on over there.

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In Group B, Ethiopia take on Guinea while Nigeria will hope to put a dismal World Cup behind them when then host African lightweights Madagascar in Calabar on Sunday. The Super Eagles are without the services of the injured duo Dickson Etuhu and Joseph Akpala while local-based players Ahmed Musa, Bassey Akpan, Emmanuel Anyanwu and Valentine Nwabili are included in the squad.

Mozambique, Libya, Zambia and Comoros make up Group C and Chipolopolo’s new boss, Dario Bonetti, will be looking for victory at the Konkola Stadium on Saturday. The Katongo brothers, James Chamanga, Jonas Sakuwaha and Orlando Pirates star Isaac Chansa, who has been in sensational form in South Africa, form the core of a competitive-looking lineup.

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North African rivals Morocco and Algeria are the big hitters in Group D but they are not scheduled to meet until later in qualifying. The Atlas Lions start off with a home clash against the Central African Republic in Rabat on Saturday. Caretaker coach Dominique Cuperly has named two new faces in his 23-man party, Fettah Boukhris and Youssef El Arabi while Mounir El Hamdaoui of Ajax Amsterdam and Arsenal’s Marouane Chamakh will provide the firepower up front. Algeria failed to score a goal at the World Cup so Raabah Sadaane has recalled forwards Chadli Amri and Abdelmalek Ziaya for Saturday’s tie against Tanzania at the Mustapha Tchaker Stadium. Meanwhile, Mohamed Chakouri could make his debut but Antar Yahia (suspended) and Medhi Lacen and Foued Kadir (both injured) miss out.

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Group E is arguably the Group of Death with Cameroon kicking off against Mauritius on in Port Louis on Saturday before DR Congo host Senegal in Lubumbashi on Sunday. New Indomitable Lions coach Javier Clemente is shorn of the services of both Samuel Eto’o and Stephen Mbia, nevertheless, his men are the favourites. The other tie, between the Congolese and the Lions of Teranga will be a closer affair as the Leopards can call upon Monaco striker Dieumerci Mbokani and a raft of the TP Mazembe stars who won the African Champions League last year. The West Africans, who are in a rebuilding phase, have named a squad filled with overseas-based players with Fenerbahce striker Mamadou Niang the star attraction.

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Owing to Mauritania’s withdrawal from AFCON qualifying, Group F is made up of just three teams, hence Burkina Faso’s bye this weekend. Namibia travel to the Independence Stadium in Bakau for a clash against Gambia, the group’s only match in this round.

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Defending champions Egypt, 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa along with Sierra Leone and Niger are the contenders in Group G. Bafana Bafana start their campaign against Mena in Nelspruit with new boss Pitso Mosimane taking charge of his first competitive match. Pharaohs coach Hassan Shehata has a formidable team at his disposal despite the absence of Amr Zaki, Ahmed Eid, Shikabala and Emad Meteeb. The bulk of the squad that won AFCON 2010 are included while the uncapped duo of Walid Soliman and Ahmed Abdul Zaher enter the fold for Sierra Leone’s visit to Cairo.

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Rwanda visit Ivory Coast in the pick of the Group H action. Francois Zahoui takes charge of the Elephants but he cannot call on Chelsea star Didier Drogba, who is sidelined with a groin injury. The Toure brothers and Euro-based stars Gervinho and Salomon Kalou are available for a match that the Ivorians should win with ease. In the group’s other tie Burundi visit Benin.

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In Group I, Congo travel to Sudan while World Cup quarter-finalists Ghana visit Swaziland on Sunday. The Black Stars omitted Sulley Muntari, although the bulk of their World Cup stars were included in Milovan Rajevac’s squad. Rajevac also called up two new players in Asante Kotoko’s goalkeeper Isaac Amoako and Jordan Ayew, son of Abedi Pele.

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AFCON 2010 hosts Angola resume competitive action with an away trip to Uganda’s Mandela National Stadium while Guinea-Bissau host Kenya in Group J.

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Group K, meanwhile, is made up of five teams who have been in action since July. Botswana currently top the group and they welcome Togo to Gaborone on Saturday, Malawi travel to Tunisia and Chad sit out.

Football365.co.za

In eastern Swaziland archaeologists discovered human remains dating back 110, 000 years, but the ancestors of the modern Swazi people arrived relatively recently.

During the great Bantu migrations into southern Africa, one group, the Nguni, moved down the east coast. A clan settled near what is now Maputo in Mozambique, and a dynasty was founded by the Dlamini family. In the mid-18th century increasing pressure from other Nguni clans forced King Ngwane III to lead his people south to lands by the Pongola River, in what is now southern Swaziland. Today, Swazis consider Ngwane III to have been the first king of Swaziland.

The next king, Sobhuza I, withdrew under pressure from the Zulus to the Ezulwini Valley, which today remains the centre of Swazi royalty and ritual. When King Sobhuza I died in 1839, Swaziland was twice its present size. Trouble with the Zulu continued, although the next king, Mswazi (or Mswati), managed to unify the whole kingdom. By the time he died in 1868, the Swazi nation was secure. Mswazi’s subjects called themselves people of Mswazi, or Swazis, and the name stuck.

European interference

The arrival of increasing numbers of Euro­peans from the mid-19th century brought new problems. Mswazi’s successor, Mbandzeni, inherited a kingdom rife with European carpetbaggers – hunters, traders, missionaries and farmers, many of whom leased large expanses of land.

The Pretoria Convention of 1881 guaranteed Swaziland’s ‘independence’ but also defined its borders, and Swaziland lost large chunks of territory. ‘Independence’ in fact meant that both the British and the Boers had responsibility for administering their various interests in Swaziland, and the result was chaos. The Boer administration collapsed with the 1899–1902 Anglo-Boer War, and afterwards the British took control of Swaziland as a protectorate.

During this troubled time, King Sobhuza II was only a young child, but Labotsibeni, his mother, acted ably as regent until her son took over in 1921. Labotsibeni encouraged Swazis to buy back their land, and many sought work in the Witwatersrand mines  to raise money.

Independence

In 1960 King Sobhuza II proposed the creation of a legislative council, composed of elected Europeans, and a national council formed in accordance with Swazi culture. The Mbokodvo (Grindstone) National Movement, which was formed at this time, pledged to maintain traditional Swazi culture but also to eschew racial discrimination. When the British finally agreed to elections in 1964, Mbokodvo won a majority and, at the next elections in 1967, won all the seats. Swaziland became independent on 6 September 1968.

The country’s constitution was largely the work of the British. In 1973 the king suspended it on the grounds that it did not accord with Swazi culture. He also dissolved all political parties. Four years later the parliament reconvened under a new constitution that vested all power in the king. Sobhuza II, at that time the world’s longest-reigning monarch, died in 1982. In keeping with Swazi tradition, a strictly enforced 75-day period of mourning was announced by Dzeliwe (Great She-Elephant), the most senior of his hundred wives. Only commerce essential to the life of the nation was allowed. And that didn’t include sexual intercourse, which was banned, punishable by flogging.

Choosing a successor wasn’t easy – Sobhuza had fathered more than 600 children, thereby creating hundreds of potential kings. Prince Makhosetive, born in 1968, was finally chosen and crowned King Mswati III in 1986.

The king continues to represent and maintain the traditional way of life and to assert his pre-eminence, for better and often for worse, as absolute monarch. Following his predecessor’s style, Mswati dissolved parliament in 1992 and Swaziland was again governed by a traditional tribal assembly, the Liqoqo. Since then, democratic reform has begun with the drafting – albeit restrictive – of a constitution. Despite the increasing agitation for faster change, even many reformers propose a constitutional king in a democratic system of government.

Kings/Paramount Chiefs of Swaziland (Pre-1780)

• Mkhulunkosi
• Qomizitha
• Sukuta
• Madlasomo
• Ndlovu
• Ngwekati
• Mawawa/Kuwawa
• Sidvwabasilutfuli
• Gebase
• Kunene
• Nkabingwe
• Madlabane
• Hhili
• Dulunga
• Dondobola
• Sihuba
• Mlangeni
• Msimudze
• Mbhondlo/Mbhoholo
• Tembe
• Sikhulumaloyo
• Langa Samuketi
• Nkomo
• Khabako
• Nkosi I: 1355 – 1400
• Ngwane I: 1400 – 1435
  • Dlamini I
  • Mswati I
  • Ngwane II
  • Dlamini II
  • Nkosi II
  • Mavuso I
  • Magudulela
  • Ludvonga
  • Dlamini III

Kings/Paramount Chiefs of Swaziland (1780-1968)

• Ngwane III: 17…-1780
  • Queen Ndwandwe (regent): 1780
• Ngvudgunye (Zikodze): 1780-1815
  • Queen Mndzebele (regent): 1815
• Sobhuza I (Ngwane IV): 1815-1836
  • Queen Lojiba Simelane (regent): 1836-1840
• Mswati II: 1840 – July 1868
  • Queen Tsandzile Ndwandwe (regent): July 1868 – June 1875
  • Ludvonga II (Macaleni): died before becoming king
• Mbandzeni (Dlamini IV): June 1875 – 7 October 1889
  • Queen Tibati Nkambule (regent): 7 October 1889 – 1894
• Ngwane V: February 1895 – 10 December 1899
  • Queen Labotsibeni Gwamile Mdluli (regent): 10 December 1899 – 22 December 1921
• Sobhuza II: 22 December 1921 – 2 September 1968

Kings of Swaziland (1968-Present)

• Sobhuza II: 2 September 1968 – 21 August 1982
  • Queen Dzeliwe (regent): 21 August 1982 – 9 August 1983
  • Prince Sozisa Dlamini (“Authorized Person”): 9 August 1983 – 18 August 1983
  • Queen Ntombi (regent): 18 August 1983 – 25 April 1986
• Mswati III: 25 April 1986 – Present

You will be prompted at each step in the process. Follow the instructions on your cellphone. If you have no airtime, you can still buy airtime for yourself or for someone else who is on the same network as you, by dialling *130*321#.

Passport valid for at least six months upon entry required by all.

Visas

Required by all except the following:

(a) nationals of Australia, Canada, Japan and the USA for stays of up to two months;

(b) nationals of the EU for stays of up to two months* (except nationals of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia who do require a visa);

(c) nationals of Commonwealth countries for stays of up to two months (except nationals of Antigua & Barbuda, Bangladesh, Belize, Brunei, Cameroon, Dominica, India, Kiribati, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tuvalu and Vanuatu who do require a visa);

(d) nationals of Iceland, Israel, Korea (Rep), Liechtenstein, Norway, San Marino, Turkey, Uruguay and Zimbabwe for stays of up to two months.

Note *
Nationals of Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Portugal ca also obtain a visa free of charge upon arrival and may remain in Swaziland longer than two months, at the discretion of the Immigration department. Nationals of the UK may also remain in Swaziland for an undisclosed amount of time.

Types of visa and cost

Single-entry: US$27 Multiple-entry: US$41 (three months); US$65 (six months); US$100 (nine months); US$103 (12 months).

Note
Transit passengers should consult their carrying company when making reservations for up-to-date advice on whether a visa is required.

Validity

Three to six months from date of issue for stays of up to two months each. Applications for extensions should be submitted to the Chief Immigration Officer in Swaziland.

Application to

Consulate or Consular section at Embassy or High Commission.

Application requirements

(a) Application form.
(b) Two passport-size photos.
(c) Fee.
(d) Valid passport.
(e) Proof of means of support during stay.
(f) Letter on headed paper confirming that the visitor holds return or onward tickets.
(g) For all visitors except tourists, a letter of invitation from a Swazi national or for business trips, a letter from applicant’s company giving details of the business and confirming the financial responsibility for the applicant.

Processing time

One or two days unless authorisation is required, in which case the application could take several weeks.

Temporary residence

Apply to Chief Immigration Officer if staying longer than two months in Swaziland.