Swaziland

Swaziland is almost completely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa, though its eastern border touches Mozambique. It is the smallest African country south of the Sahara, covering an area of approximately 17,000 square kilometers and with an estimated population of 1,123,913. Since the 1880s, globalization in the form of the arrival of Christian missionaries had a great influence on the development of religion in the Swazi Kingdom. Legend has it that one of the early kings of Swaziland (King Somhlolo) had a vision of a strange man with long hair who would bring two things into the country: umculu in one hand and indilinga in the other hand. Umculu is a Swazi word literally meaning something rolled up in a bundle and was interpreted to mean a book—in this context the Bible. Indilinga literally means a round, disc-like object and was interpreted to mean money. A voice directed King Somhlolo to choose the umculu above the indilinga, and so it came about that Christian missionaries were allowed to settle in Swaziland to begin their labors to convert the Swazi population into Christians.

Although there has been a breakdown in the relationship between some of the former Swazi kings and the missionaries from time to time, the missionaries have in general been successful in their endeavors to convert the majority of the Swazi population to Christianity. Nowadays, approximately 35% of Swazis are Protestant, 25% Roman Catholic, and 30% Zionists. Zionism is an African blend of Christianity and indigenous ancestral worship. The remaining 9% of the population practice other religions such as Anglicanism, Baha'ism, Methodism, Mormonism, Judaism, and Islam.

In 1996, there were attempts by Christian clergy to push for the constitutional recognition of Christianity as the state religion of Swaziland, but their attempts were foiled by the current King Mswati III who confirmed the equal status of all religions in Swaziland. In line with this viewpoint, section 20 of the 2005 Swazi constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of, among others, religion, and section 23 of the same recognizes that a “person has a right to freedom of thought, conscience or religion,” which includes

• freedom of thought and of religion,
• freedom to change one's religion or belief, and
• freedom of worship either alone or in community with others.

The constitution does allow for the limitation of one's enjoyment of his or her religion by consent, national defense, public safety, public order, public morality, public health, and to protect the rights of others. Nevertheless, to date, the exact scope and meaning of these concepts have not been interpreted, and it is foreseen that the courts would have to play an important role in doing so in the future.

The requirement that new religious groups or churches have to register as nonprofit organizations with the Swazi Ministry of Home Affairs and that this can happen only when they can demonstrate that they are organized and in possession of substantial cash reserves might also hamper future effects of globalization on religion in Swaziland.