Interpress Service, September 16, 1999. But this being Swaziland, the needs of the present must accommodate the legacy of the past. News that for the first time the king selected a bride at the reed dance has excited young women throughout the country.
Parents are tolerant.
Matsebula lives in a rural village, but most urban women echo her sentiments. But urban women have been cut off from the extended family support system that sustains their country sisters. At rural homesteads, abusive husbands or fathers who fail to support their children are corrected by their parents or brothers, who usually live nearby. In towns, abused women must flee their homes, and women seeking child support after husbands disappear are increasingly turning to the courts for relief. Multiple wives are now the privilege of older and affluent Swazis.