13 Facts About Sobhuza II

Sobhuza II was acknowledged as King by the British in 1967, and Swaziland achieved independence in 1968.

Sobhuza II was succeeded by Mswati III, his young son with Inkhosikati Ntfombi Tfwala, who was crowned in 1986.

Ingwenyama Sobhuza II was born in Zombodze on 22 July 1899.

Sobhuza II ascended to the throne after the death of his father, Ngwane V, as King of Swaziland on 10 December 1899, when he was only four months old.

Sobhuza II was educated at the Swazi National School, Zombodze, and at the Lovedale Institution in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, before assuming the Swazi throne as King at the age of twenty-two.

Early in his reign, Sobhuza II sought to address the problem of land that had been occupied by white settlers in 1907.

Sobhuza II did so by first leading a delegation to London to meet with King George V and petition him to restore the lands to the Swazi people.

Sobhuza II again took his case on the land issue in 1929 to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Sobhuza II was defeated by the terms of the Foreign Jurisdictions Act 1890, which effectively placed the actions of British administrations in protectorates beyond the reach of the British courts.

Sobhuza II opposed the post-colonial Westminster constitution proposed by the British government, in which he was assigned the role of constitutional monarch.

Sobhuza II became recognized by the British as King of Swaziland in 1967 when Swaziland was given direct rule.

Sobhuza II died on 21 August 1982 at Embo State house at the age of 83.

Sobhuza II wed Sobhuza's son, Prince Thumbumuzi Dlamini, who, although an older half-brother of Mswati and Mantfombi, did not inherit the Swazi throne, instead launching, with his wife, an enterprise in the United States.