held in Marlborough House, London, in February 1968. The present Constitution is contained in a schedule to the Swaziland Independence Order, 1968 which was made on 26th August, 1968 and came into operation immediately before Independence on 6th September, 1968. The major difference in the Independence Constitution compared with the 1967 Constitution apart from the abolition of the office and powers of Her Majesty's Commissioner; the abolition of the power of Her Majesty to amend the Constitution; and the lifting of the restriction on the number of Cabinet Ministers; is the provision regarding the control of minerals. Under the Independence Constitution, minerals and mineral oils are vested in the Ngwenyama, who is advised by a Minerals Committee (instead of the Cabinet) appointed by him after consultation with the Swazi National Council. LAND POLICY The complex pattern of land ownership in Swaziland is largely the result of historical events which occurred before the establishment of the British Administration in 1902. Between the years 1875 and 1889 the Swazi ruler Mbandzeni granted numerous concessions to Europeans which included grants and leases of land for grazing and agricultural purposes. The concessions covered almost the whole extent of the Territory and many of the deeds contained clauses which reserved to the Ngwenyama his sovereign rights and forbade the concessionaires from interfering with the rights of the Swazi living within the area of the concessions. In terms of the Swaziland Convention of 1890, a Chief Court was established to undertake an enquiry into the validity of disputed concessions. It did, in fact, examine the initial validity of the majority of concessions and its decisions were adhered to by the British Administration. The Swaziland Administration Proclamation (No. 3 of 1904) provided for the establishment of a commission which was, inter alia, required to examine each land and grazing concession and cause their boundaries to be defined and surveyed. On the completion of the commission's work, a Special Commissioner was appointed in terms of the Swaziland Concessions Partition Proclamation (No. 28 of 1907) to set aside areas for the sole and exclusive use and occupation of the Swazi. He was empowered to expropriate one third of the area of each concession without compensation, but should more than this be required, compensation was payable. The remaining concessions were freed from any rights of use and occupation possessed by the Swazi, and the owners of concessions who held title to the ownership of the land or leases of not less than 99 years' duration, with or without rights of renewal, were granted freehold title. The reversionary rights to land and mineral concessions were vested in the Crown in terms of the Swaziland Crown Lands and Minerals Order in Council of 1908 as amended by a subsequent Order in Council in 1910. Following the partition of the Territory, further legislation was passed to secure the rights of the Swazi in the areas that had been set aside for them (Proclamation No. 39 of 1910), also to define the conditions under which the Crown could sell, lease or otherwise dispose of Crown Land (Proclamation No. 13 of 1911). At the end of 1967, some 56 per cent of the total area of the Territory, which covers 4,290,944 acres, was reserved for occupation by the Swazi. This comprised Swazi Area, land purchased by the Swazi Nation and Swazi Land Settlement areas. Swazi Area, which was set aside by the Concessions Partition Commissioner for occupation by the Swazi in 1910, is vested in the Ngwenyama as Swazi Nation Land in trust for the Swazi Nation. It is scattered throughout the Territory in blocks of varying size and covers 1,639,687 acres or 38.2 per cent of the total area of the country. The purchase of land by the Swazi Nation started initially as a reaction to the partition of the Territory. The Swazi were encouraged by the Chief Regent to go to the Transvaal in order to earn money with which to purchase land from European holders. Purchases continued to be made with monies raised locally by collections or levies until the start of the Lifa Fund in 1946. The purposes of this fund are to reduce overstocking and to purchase additional land. Under an order made by the Ngwenyama in Libandla (Council), cattle are regularly culled from the herds of those Swazi who own more than 10 head. The animals thus acquired are auctioned and a levy on the proceeds is credited to the Lifa Fund. By the end of 1964, the area of land purchased in this way amounted to some 268,000 acres. Proclamation No. 2 of 1915 made provision for securing for the benefit of the Swazi any land acquired on behalf of the Swazi Nation. Swazi Land Settlement areas, which consist of farms purchased from European owners and Crown Land set aside for the purpose by Government, were defined in 1946 and are generally contiguous with the existing Swazi areas. This land, some 316,700 acres in extent, is now vested in the Ngwenyama as Swazi Nation Land in trust for the Swazi Nation. Land owned by individual Africans, missions, Europeans, Eurafricans and others covers about 44 per cent of the total area of the Territory. Of this privatelyowned land, less than 10 per cent now consists of land concessions, held in perpetuity or on leases of more than 99 years' duration. In order to avoid the complications which have persisted because of differing forms of title, the owners of these concessions have been requested to exercise their option under the provision of Proclamation No. 28 of 1907 and convert their title to freehold. Farms which are purchased by individual Africans are registered in their own names. The area owned by individual Swazis totals 23,700 acres. Missions own 21,100 acres and the extent of farms owned by Europeans, Eurafricans and others or of land situated in proclamation townships, is 1,873,400 acres. The remaining area of the Territory comprises Government-owned land some 101,900 acres in extent and this, excluding land required for public purposes (schools, police posts, townships, etc.), is being transferred to the Ngwenyama as Swazi Nation Land in trust for the Swazi Nation. On Swazi Area a system of communal land ownership is practised. One of the most important rights exercised by the chiefs is the allocation of residential and ploughing land. The Ngwenyama is recognised as having overall control of Swazi Area but in practice he defers to local chiefs in all matters of rights of occupancy, except in areas which, by tradition, belong to the Swazi ruling house. An individual obtains rights to use and occupy land from the chief of an area. Such rights once granted are firm and can only be extinguished by the individual concerned relinquishing them or by his being arraigned before a chief for a misdemeanour, such as witchcraft or adultery, sufficiently serious to justify banishment. An appeal against such an order would lie to the Ngwenyama. As might be expected, however, from a contact of over 50 years with European systems of land tenure and an increasing scarcity of the land, the traditional system of land ownership is gradually acquiring a more clearly defined individual emphasis in many areas. Fencing is being erected, wattle plantations are being established and permanent houses are being built. The principles of the Roman-Dutch law of land ownership, which apply to land owned in freehold, embody the Roman Law conception of absolute ownership of land in contradistinction to the English law of tenure which, in theory, holds that all land is held by the Crown. Freeholders and, if their concessions do not prohibit this, concessionaires occasionally grant occupation or grazing leases, and, in a few instances, land is farmed on a crop share basis. Outside urban areas, some freehold and concession land is subject to the payment of quitrent, generally of a small amount. Townships stands are subject to a fixed quitrent of one rand per annum. GOVERNMENT Elections to fill the 24 elected seats in the House of Assembly took place on 19th and 20th April 1967; they were contested by four parties, but all the seats were won by the Imbokodvo National Movement. HEAD OF STATE His Majesty King Sobhuza, II, KBE CABINET Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs: Prince Makhosini Dlamini Minister of Finance: Leo Lovell Minister of Commerce, Industry and Mines: Simon S. Nxumalo Minister of Health: Dr A. M. Nxumalo HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY The Speaker: Ian B. Aers 6 Members appointed by the King SENATE The President: Sir John Houlton, CSI, CIE 6 Members elected by members of the House of Assembly 6 Members appointed by the King A great deal of the structure of the traditonal Swazi political system has been retained in the modern pattern of the Swazi National Administration. The Ngwenyama is a constitutional ruler who is advised by his kinsmen and chosen councillors and cannot initiate action without the approval of two formally constituted councils. The smaller of these, the Liqoqo, comprises the more important of the Ngwenyama's agnatic kin and a number of chosen advisers. It meets once a week to deal with national matters which are usually channelled to it by a standing committee of the larger council, the Libandla. The Libandla embraces every adult male in the Swazi Nation. It usually meets once a year and it is recognised as the final body from which approval for any contemplated act of legislation should be obtained. Day-to-day contact between the Government and the main council is maintained through the standing committee of the council. To this traditional ruling system has been appended the Swazi National Treasury, with a revenue in the region of R240,000 per year, and formally constituted Swazi Courts from which appeal ultimately lies to the High Court of Swaziland. From the central institutions of the Swazi National Administration, responsibility devolves upon the chiefs and their ndunas. T UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA HE United Republic of Tanzania was formed on 26th April 1964 by the union of that part of the East African mainland known as Tanganyika, which included Mafia and a number of other small off-shore islands, and Zanzibar, which included not only the island of Zanzibar itself but also the islands of Pemba and Latham. The name Tanzania was adopted on 29th October 1964. The total area of the country is 363,708 square miles. The area of the mainland (Tanganyika) is approximately 362,700 square miles, including some 20,000 square miles of inland water. It is bounded on the east by the Indian Ocean, on the north by Kenya, Lake Victoria and Uganda; on the west by Rwanda, Burundi, Lake Tanganyika (across which is the Congo); and on the south by Zambia, Malawi, Lake Malawi and Mozambique. The mainland contains the two extremes of topographical relief of the whole continent of Africa: Kilimanjaro, with a permanent ice-cap rising to 19,340 feet above sea level, and the deep trough-like depression filled by Lake Tanganyika, the world's second deepest lake. Mount Meru, 50 miles west of Kilimanjaro, rises to 14,974 feet. The Mbulu Range of mountains (highest point Mount Hanang, 11,215 feet) lies 150 miles S.W. of Mount Kilimanjaro, and the Mbeya Range (highest point Mount Rungwe, 9,713 feet) lies to the north of Lake Malawi. The Kipengere Range (highest peak 9,715 feet) and the Livingstone Mountains (9,600 feet) and other large mountains are just north of the Mbulu Range and include Loolmalasin (11,969 feet) and the still active volcano Oldonyo Lengeri. The main rivers are the Pangani or Ruvu, the Wani, the Ruvu (Kingoni), the Rufiji, the Great Ruaha, the Matandu, the Mbwemkuru, the Lukuledi and the Ruvuma, which drain the central plateau and flow into the Indian Ocean; and the Mori, Mara and Kegera, the Malagarasi, the Songwe and Ruhuhu which feed the great lakes. The climate is very varied and not typically tropical; rainfall can be anything between 14.3 inches to 123-4 inches a year. There are three climatic zones: the hot and humid coastal area; the drier central plateau with a great deal of seasonal variations of temperature; and the semi-temperate mountain areas. Zanzibar consists of Zanzibar Island, Pemba Island and Latham Island. Zanzibar Island is situated in the Indian Ocean in latitude 6° S. and longitude 39° E. It is separated (22 miles) from the mainland by the Zanzibar Channel and is the largest island off the coast of East Africa, being fifty-three miles long and twenty-four miles wide, with a total area of 640 square miles. The eastern and central parts, comprising two-thirds of the island, consist of low-lying coral country covered by bush and grass plains, largely uninhabited except for fishing settlements on the east coast. The western side of the island is fertile and densely populated, with several ridges rising to over 200 feet above sea level; the highest ridge, the Masingini Ridge, is 390 feet above sea level. In this area coconuts and to a lesser extent cloves are extensively grown. The island of Pemba lies twentyfive miles to the north-east, in latitude 5° S. and longitude 39° E. It is forty-two miles long and about fourteen miles wide, with an area of 380 square miles. The west and centre of the island consists of a flat-topped ridge about six miles wide, deeply intersected by streams. The coastline is deeply indented especially in the west and the inlets are mostly filled with mangrove swamps. Apart from the narrow belt of coral country in the east the island is fertile and densely populated, clove growing being the major industry. Pemba provides about 83 per cent of Zanzibar's cloves, the total exports of which in 1967 were valued at £4.5 million. Forty miles to the south-east of Zanzibar is Latham Island, which is no more than an outcrop of calcareous beach rock 300 yards long by 170 yards wide. It is principally notable as the breeding ground for booby, tern and green turtle. |