‘Sharing my bed with the enemy’: Wives and violent husbands in post-colonial Swaziland

Abstract

Colonialism produced numerous changes in Swazi socio-economic configurations as society was forced to respond to political and economic policies imposed by the colonial regime. These changes did not only inform colonial developments but had a profound bearing on post-colonial developments. One of these changes was the integration of Swazi women into wage employment in response to the growth of capitalist economic enterprises. Research on this development has been neglected such that up to now, we know little about the dynamics that drove indigenous Swazi women into wage employment. This paper argues that these dynamics are located in the exigencies of colonial policy that negatively impacted on the economic performance of areas occupied by the indigenous Swazi. It is shown that as the crises of product intensified in Swazi reserves, more women were released into wage employment. It is argued that this was not a smooth process, but women's integration into wage employment was a contested issue whereby Swazi men, families, indigenous chiefs, the monarchy, and colonial administrators attempted to frustrate female participation in wage employment. However, these attempts were not successful as women continued to take up wage employment with or without the permission of their husbands, fathers, families, chiefs, and colonial administrators.

Keywords:

• Swazi custom
• domestic violence
• patriarchy
• masculinity
• traditional courts