Minister out after 'royal affair'

06 August 2010 - 01:23 By Sapa-AFP and staff reporter
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Swazi Justice Minister Ndumiso Mamba resigned yesterday following allegations that he had a love affair with one of King Mswati's 13 wives.



"I have consulted him and he has forthwith resigned," Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini said.

A palace source alleged that Queen Nothando Dube, the king's 12th wife, would dress in a military uniform to slip out of the palace and meet Mamba in a hotel room.

Mamba is a childhood friend of Mswati.

The king was on a visit to Taiwan when the relationship between the two was allegedly discovered by military intelligence agents, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Mamba could be expelled from the kingdom and Dube confined to her parents' home. Both could also be fined a herd of cattle.

A close friend of the queen, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Times on Monday that she wanted to "dismiss the allegations as false" but would first have to speak to Mswati on his return to Swaziland on Wednesday.

The Swaziland Solidarity Network of activists pushing for democratic reform in Africa's last absolute monarchy, said yesterday that the king was trying to track the source of the leaks about the affair.

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