Swaziland: Urban cleanup response to unplanned settlements

The bulldozers are set to move in to clear a string of informal urban settlements as the Swazi government and local authorities clamp down on unplanned housing. Forty homes have been earmarked for demolition in the Madonsa settlement, a tract of peri-urban land bordering the central commercial town of Manzini, 35 km east of the capital, Mbabane. A further 100 homes at Ludzidzini royal village, 20 km east of Mbabane, also face destruction. The Ludzidzini residents are to be evicted to make way for an extension of King Mswati's home, to accommodate his growing number of wives and their children. The king now has 13 wives.