Labotsibeni (standing, centre) came to power as Regent Queen of Swaziland when King Ngwane V died in December 1899, three months into the South African War. She acted as regent on behalf of Nkhotfotjeni, fourmonth- old son and heir of the late king. Also popularly known as Gwamile, Labotsibeni was greatly respected by her people, who referred to her as the Ndlovukazi, or ‘sheelephant’. Under her leadership, Swaziland remained neutral in the South African War. In 1900, unwilling to fall under possible Boer rule, she sought British protection for her kingdom. This was granted in December 1906, when the kingdom was placed under the British High Commissioner for South Africa. She relinquished the regency in December 1921 when Nkhotfotjeni, now of age, ascended the Swazi throne as king, assuming the name Sobhuza II.
After initial disputes about his legitimacy as Sobhuza’s successor, Mswati succeeded his father. A rebellion against Mswati by his brothers followed shortly after he came to power, but he survived it. The disputes died down somewhat but simmered for the rest of Mswati’s reign. This threat was countered in a number of ways, both to consolidate Mswati’s position and to forestall future threats. A series of reforms was instituted by the Queen Mother, the king’s paternal uncle Malunge, and his eldest brother Malambule, who acted as regent until 1845 when the young king underwent circumcision.
The threat to Mswati’s position was far from over. The 1840s saw rebellion against him by two of his brothers, Fokoti and Malambule. In 1846 Mswati sought and obtained the support of a faction of the Boer community at Ohrigstad in the eastern Transvaal, led by Hendrik Potgieter, to whom he ceded an area of land as part of an ‘agreement’. He did this to strengthen his position against internal threats and Zulu aggression. Between 1856 and 1865, Mswati embarked on a campaign of expanding his territory to the southwest and northeast. By the time of Mswati’s death in 1865, the Swazi state was firmly established and its government fully in the hands of the royal family.
Mswati did not leave an acknowledged successor but there were two contenders, Mbilini and Ludvonga. The latter, though still a minor, succeeded Mswati at the end of 1865. Mbilini tried unsuccessfully to get the support of the Lydenburg Boers. A pressing problem of the 1860s was Boer pressure upon Swazi-claimed land. The white population in the eastern Transvaal was growing and they were occupying more and more land. Consequently, in 1866 the Boers and the Swazi came to a tentative agreement in which a boundary between the Transvaal and Swazi territory was recognised. The boundaries of Swaziland were formally defined and recognised only in 1880.
