three PAP candidates were returned unopposed on nomination day and the other two PAP candidates obtained a majority on polling day. HEAD OF STate The President: Enche Yusof bin Ishak CABINET Prime Minister: Mr Lee Kuan Yew Minister for Science and Technology: Dr Toh Chin Chye Minister for Foreign Affairs and Labour: Mr S. Rajaratnam Minister for Culture: Mr Jek Yeun Thong PARLIAMENT Speaker: Yeoh Ghim Seng THE JUDICIARY THE HIGH COURT OF SINGAPORE Chief Justice of the High Court in Singapore: The Hon. Mr Justice Wee Chong Jin The Hon. Mr Justice Tan Ah Tah Judges: The Hon. Mr Justice T. Kulasekaram The Hon. Mr Justice Choor Singh Registrar of the High Court in Singapore: Eu Cheow Chye Svariou SWAZILAND WAZILAND takes its name from the Swazi tribe, a composite people of various clan origins who have existed as a distinct tribe only since the beginning of the nineteenth century. The country lies to the east of the Transvaal Province of the Republic of South Africa, which bounds it on the north, west and south. On the east it borders Mozambique and the South African province of Natal. Most of the country is between latitudes 26° and 27° S. and longitudes 31° and 32° E. The area is 6,704 square miles. Swaziland has four well-defined topographic regions. These extend longitudinally north and south throughout the country in roughly parallel belts. The Highveld (westernmost), Middleveld and Lowveld are of more or less equal breadth and the Lubombo is a narrower strip along the eastern border. The Highveld is a north-eastward continuation of the Natal Drakensberg. The average elevation is 3,500 to 4,500 feet, with the highest altitudes at the summits of Emlembe (6,100 feet) and Ngwenya (6,000 feet). The area is 2,000 square miles. The Middleveld is rolling tall grass country of an average altitude of 2,000 to 2,500 feet. Its area is 1,900 square miles. The Lowveld or Bushveld is a gently undulating lowland but seldom a true plain. Isolated knolls and ridges rise above the general level of 500 to 1,000 feet to more than 2,300 feet. It covers some 2,200 square miles. The Lumbombo is an impressive escarpment which rises along the whole length of the eastern Lowveld, terminating it seaward and interrupted only by the gorges of the Ingwavuma, Usutu and Mbuluzi Rivers. In their journey to the sea Swaziland's major rivers traverse all four regions The mean discharge where the rivers leave the country would be about two million gallons a minute if no water was taken from them. However, the Lowveld and Middleveld increasingly draw on their reaches of river for supplies of irrigation water. Nearly all Highveld streams are perennial. In contrast, the water courses of the Lowveld, other than the trunk rivers, are only filled after heavy rainstorms and at other times are dry channels or wadis. From the High veld, the Lomati, Komati, Mbuluzi, Usushwane (or Little Usutu), Usutu (or Great Usutu), Ngwumpisi, and Mkhondo (or Assegai), fed by countless minor streams, flow in a generally eastward direction towards the Indian Ocean. None of the rivers is navigable in the true sense of the word. The Highveld region has a humid near-temperate climate, with 40 to 90 inches mean annual rainfall, while the Middleveld and Lubombo are sub-tropical and less humid (30 to 45 inches). The Lowveld is near-tropical but drier, receiving 20 to 35 inches of rain in an average year. Most of the rain falls in the summerfrom October to March. The winter period, April to September, is comparatively dry throughout the country. The mean annual temperature on the Highveld is just over 16°C (60°F), and in the Lowveld it is about 22°C (72°F). Seasonal and daily ranges of temperature are greatest in the Lowveld and least on the Lubombo and Highveld. There is a low incidence of frost, but it can be expected for a few days in most years on much of the Highveld and Middleveld and in valley bottoms throughout the country. Population censuses take place at intervals of 10 years. The last census was held in May 1966, when a de jure population figure of 395,138 was arrived at. Nearly 90 per cent of the population is Swazi, the remainder being Africans from other countries, Europeans, and people of mixed race. The Swazi language, siSwati, is the main language spoken. English is the official language but there are statutory provisions under which siSwati can be used in Court proceedings. In 1962 it was estimated that there were 73,400 Christians in Swaziland, and about 51,600 adults holding traditional beliefs. In 1966 the birth rate was estimated to be 48 per thousand of the total population and the death rate about 22 per thousand. Government provides curative and preventive medical services, aided in the curative field by the missions, certain industrial concerns, and by private practitioners. Tuberculosis, especially pulmonary tuberculosis, is one of the main health problems and is being actively tackled by the National T.B. Control Centre, which is based in Manzini. Malnutrition is still a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children. This condition, together with gastro-enteritis, is the principal cause of death in young children. Skim milk powder, received from the United States through UNICEF, is distributed to the under-five-year-olds at maternity and child welfare centres to help reduce protein deficiency. Typhoid and para-typhoid fevers are prevalent and are likely to remain so until rural hygiene can be undertaken on a larger scale. Malaria, while still present, has been controlled and does not present a serious public health problem. The incidence of bilharzia is increasing slightly and the position will not improve until a relatively cheap and efficient mollusciscide and a cheap therapeutic agent are discovered. Immunisation against enteric fever, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, poliomyelitis, and smallpox is offered at all hospitals and health offices. The number of beds at hospitals in 1969 was: Government hospitals, 812, subsidised mission hospitals, 386; private hospitals, 93. Swaziland is divided into four districts-Manzini, Lubombo, Shiselweni and Hhohho. Figures obtained from the 1966 census give the district populations as: Manzini, 101,277; Lubombo, 81,800; Shiselweni, 95,735; and Hhohho, 95,759. These figures exclude some 20,500 people who were absent from Swaziland during the census, most of them working in South Africa. Mbabane, situated in the Highveld, is the capital of Swaziland and administrative headquarters of the Hhohho district. It has a population of 13,800. The following table shows the estimated number of wage employees, according to origin and industry, as at September 1969:— (1) All private firms regardless of number of employees are included. (2) All Government employees included, except employees of the Swazi National Administration. (3) Classification is based upon International Standard Industrial Classification List. The traditional migration of Swazi labour to South Africa has diminished over the years but is still considerable. In 1960, 43 per cent of the male and 36 per cent of the female rural working population were employed outside Swaziland. Most of the Swazi who migrate in search of employment are recruited for work in the gold mines. Such recruitment is controlled under the Employment Proclamation, 1962. At the end of 1969 there were 9 registered trade unions. Some of the unions were, however, inactive. Maize is the staple crop but cotton is the most significant dryland cash crop. In 1966/67 maize was grown on some 230,000 acres. Other important dryland crops are sorghum, tobacco and pineapples. Sugar is the most important irrigated crop. Citrus and rice are the other main crops grown under irrigation. With the exception of maize, and sorghum, all major crops are grown for export. In 1968, Swaziland had 515,000 head of cattle, 226,500 goats, 40,500 sheep, 2,200 horses, 14,100 donkeys, 349,600 poultry and 11,500 pigs. Some 55,942 cattle were slaughtered during the year and 3,457 were exported live. In 1968 there were 174,400 acres of established pine forest, 17,700 acres of eucalyptus and 23,000 acres of wattle. The exploitation of timber resources is now playing an important role in the economy of the country. Asbestos and iron ore are the country's two most important minerals and iron ore is Swaziland's main export. Asbestos is produced at the Havelock Mine, near Pigg's Peak, while the Ngwenya mine, near Mbabane, is working a rich iron ore deposit. Both the Ngwenya mine and the country's only colliery, at Mpaka, started production in 1964. Swaziland's manufacturing industries are mainly concerned with the processing of agricultural, livestock and forestry products. The Usutu Pulp Company's mill at Bunya has an annual output of some 100,000 short tons of unbleached sulphate pulp, while the sugar mills at Big Bend and Mhlume produce about 170,000 short tons of sugar each year. The Swaziland Cotona cotton ginnery processes a significant proportion of the 6,000 tons of high quality cotton grown in the country each year, and the Swaziland Meat Corporation's abattoir and cannery at Matsapa processes meat for both local and export markets. Messrs Peak Timbers and Swaziland Plantations in the north of the country are producing a variety of building timber requirements from about 80,000 acres of planted pine. The sole fruit processing factory in the country, at Malkerns, processes mainly pineapple and grapefruit. Maize grown in Swaziland is milled in Manzini by the Swaziland Milling Company, which also has a rice drying plant. Butter is produced in Manzini and there is a small milk processing plant in Mbabane. The table below lists the principal exports, with their values, for the years 1966, 1967 and 1968: |