TECHNOLOGY-SWAZILAND: Cell Phones Transform a Traditional Kingdom

By James Hall Reprint | | Print |

James Hall

JOHANNESBURG, Dec 20 2001 (IPS) - Only three years have passed since the introduction of cellular telephones to the tiny kingdom of Swaziland where less than a million people reside in a country renown for its adherence to ancient traditions.

But the swift proliferation of handheld cell phones that have penetrated even remote villages, while remarkable, still conforms to the Swazi cultural norm of dialogue and informal news spreading.

“Swazis love to talk,” says Sipho Dube, a communications student at the University of Swaziland.

“We are our own best entertainment. There are so few shows or clubs for people to go to, but throughout our history there has been no better way for a Swazi to enjoy himself than to have a chat with a friend. No wonder everybody is on cell-phones all the time.”

Indeed, as a ride on a bus or a stroll-down a town street shows, it seems that not only is everybody talking on cell-phones, but a variety of people also own them. This is even more remarkable when the nation’s general poverty is considered.

Teenagers are as likely to have cell-phones as business executives. No middle-class mother doing a round of errands would be without one.

The chirping of a ringing cell-phone rises above the chants of the warrior regiments as they march in their traditional attire, with spears and cowhide shields, on year-end royal tribute duties.

MTN-Swaziland, the service provider that won the tender to launch a cell-phone network in the kingdom on a ten-year exclusive basis, introduced the system in 1998, to correspond with Swaziland’s 30th anniversary as an independent state and the simultaneous 30th birthday celebration of King Mswati.

From the handful of original users, mostly government officials who were photographed uncertainly handling their first handsets, over 31,000 phones are known to be in use at the end of 2001.

“By contrast, there are only 29,000 of the old fix-line phones of the Swaziland Post and Telecommunications Corporation,” says Ronnie Mkhombe, marketing manager for MTN-Swaziland.

His company is 51 percent owned by the Swazi government, with the remaining shares split between a consortium of Swazi investors and the parent company, MTN of South Africa.

Phone service was introduced in Swaziland in 1927, and the growth of telephones that took 74 years to achieve, under 30,000 subscribers was surpassed by cellular phones in two years. Today, there are likely many more cell-phones than official estimate, due to the number of stolen or otherwise unauthorised cell-phones.

“Anyone can purchase a cell-phone and have instant telephonic communication,” says Noel Meier, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN-Swaziland. “One reason cell-phones have taken off is because of pent-up demand. It can take up to two years to acquire a fixed line, ground-based phone.”

But with all this usage comes problems. In a speech earlier this year, Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini noted, “A disproportionate part of people’s disposable income is now being spent on cell-phones. Frankly, they can’t afford it, and money used this way is being taken from essentials.”

In response, Paul Edwards, CEO of MTN-Swaziland’s parent company in South Africa dismisses the concern. “We do encourage responsible cell-phone use, but it would be bad business to tell people not to talk so much.”

Edwards is looking forward to the expansion of MTN’s network into Nigeria next year. “Nigerians are real talkers,” he says.

Most Swazi cell-phone users are “pay as you go” customers. While business people can afford a monthly contract that allows unlimited calling, most Swazis purchase airtime in emalangeni 25 to emalangeni 100 increments (about 2.50 to 10 U.S. dollars).

“It really adds up, because you always need air time in case of an emergency,” says hairdresser Nomthula Dlamini, who says she is “constantly on the phone”.

Health Minister Dr. Phetsile Dlamini insists that cellular telephone use is unhealthy. In response to questions raised by the Swazi Senate, she says, “Studies have shown that because of the radiation that is generated in a handset, cell phones cause cancer”.

MTN’s Edwards counters that scientific studies have shown no link between the devices and cancer. The Times of Swaziland accused the minister of “bad science”, and challenged her to promulgate a law banning cell-phones in the interest of national health if she was sincere in her concerns.

In the month since she issued her cell-phone warning, the health minister has let the matter drop.

Meanwhile, more of the kingdom is covered by an expanding network of cellular “footprints”. Antennae are sprouting in remote areas, and the nation’s game-park system is now accessible via cell-phones.

“This is good news for tourists, who wish to make and receive calls, but the law of unintended consequences has struck,” says David Matsebula, a tour guide operator who works out of Hlane Royal Game Reserve. “The game rangers complain that poachers are now communicating with one another with their cell-phones. They monitor where the rangers are on their rounds.”

Banks have banned cell-phone usage for customers, but in a surprise industrial action this year, employees of Standard Bank Swaziland went on the financial sector’s longest strike to protest a prohibition on their cell-phone use.

A compromise settlement now allows workers to make calls during breaks in secure areas.

But the most profound indicator that the mobile communications devices have changed society can be found in places where telephones have always been needed but never before available: at the market place, at rural bus stops, and at the chiefs’ kraals that are used for community meetings.

“I am enterprising with my cell-phone,” says Cynthia Matsenjwa, a vegetable vendor at the crowded Manzini market, where one often-inoperative public pay phone must serve hundreds of people.

“I lend out my phone for a fee. I have many customers, and I make more that way than selling vegetables. They call me Mother Telephone,” she says.