Swazi King 'mesmerised' by Zim girls

Swazi King 'mesmerised' by Zim girls - report

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By Showbiz Reporter

SWAZILAND’S King Mswati was mesmerised by three Zimbabwean beauties, spotting them among more than 100 000 scantily-clad girls at the last week’s Reed Dance (Umhlanga), Zimbabwe’s state media reported.

The Herald said although Zimbabwean women have failed to make a mark at Moss World pageants, they have what it takes to turn royal heads.

“Out of more than 100 000 beauty queens that attended the annual reed dance festival in Swaziland, King Mswati III demanded to know the identity of three ladies he had spotted during the festival,” the paper said.

“The three happened to be Zimbabwean beauty queens - Carole Marufu, the reigning Miss Tourism Zimbabwe and her two princesses, Vongai Mushohwe and Mitchell Makaza.

Marufu said the King had not previously been told that they were from Zimbabwe.

“Since we were invited, we had to go and shake hands with him and he demanded to know where we had come from. We identified ourselves and he was so happy to meet us,” she said.

The Zimbabwe government had hoped to capitalise on the Reed Dance which normally attracts hundreds of tourists from around the world by sending its ‘cultural ambassadors’.

Following a stand-off with Western nations, Zimbabwe adopted the ‘Look East Policy’, stressing increased trade with Asian countries, particularly China.

However statistics for 2006 provided by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) show that the United Kingdom and the United States are in the top ten of tourist arrivals, with China nowhere near that bracket.

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