BY MBONGENI NDLELA
LOBAMBA – His Majesty King Mswati III has encouraged Emaswati to love and tolerate each other despite their diversity and beliefs on issues.
Speaking during the official opening of the 5th session of the 11th parliament, the King said God gave each nation its own identity.
“….And our strength and unity are entrenched in our customs and traditions, and we have a duty as Emaswati to guard and protect this heritage for the benefit of our coming generations,” he said.
He continued; “as Emaswati we were given this country by Mvelinchati to live in and he expects us to love and be tolerant of each other. Our diversity and beliefs should not create hate amongst ourselves, but rather show true patriotism to who we are as a people of this great kingdom. We need to co-exist despite our different ways of looking at the development and social landscape,”. The king stated that each and every Liswati should be guided by the principles of the holy book; “thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandments greater than these”.
In his introduction, the king stated that the participation of Emaswati and friends of the kingdom from abroad at the Incwala ceremony was highly impressive, which defied some attempts to discourage participation in a custom so dearly loved by our people.He said the big turnout from the beginning of Incwala until the last day, was highly commendable.
“We wish to thank the nation for showing their love for this very important ceremony. It gives us hope that our future generations will find this tradition very much alive. We also commend the resounding success of other Imikhosi, which we also look forward to this year, all of which continue to attract visitors from different continents of the world. This speaks to the uniqueness of our culture, and we should always remain proud of who we are”.
