An exiled Swaziland political organisation has condemned the purchase of a R450-million private jet by King Mswati III, labelling the transaction as theft of public funds and calling on international donors to cut any funds directed to the monarch.

The Johannesburg-based People’s United Democratic Movement (Pudemo) said on Monday that the purchase of the Bombardier Global Express demonstrated royal greediness and a lack of humanity towards the starving Swazi masses.

Pudemo’s chief representative Gabriel Mkhumane said the purchasing of the aircraft flew in the face of world donors’ relief efforts for the 144000 Swazi people dying of disease and starvation.

“This act threatens the people of Swaziland by forcing them to permanently live under the current deepening state of poverty with little hope of achieving any improvement,” he said.

Mkhumane called on international bodies, including the African Union and the United Nations, to pressurise the royal traditional government into conforming to internationally accepted democratic norms.

South African Press Association (Johannesburg), August 12, 2002