Somhlolo Day is a public holiday in eSwatini (Swaziland) observed on September 6th. If Somhlolo Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, then the following Monday becomes a holiday. Also known as Independence Day or Sobhuza Day, this is the National Day of eSwatini and commemorates the day that Swaziland gained independence from Britain in 1968.
eSwatini is the smallest landlocked country in the Southern Hemisphere and the second smallest country in continental Africa. In the middle of the nineteenth century under the leadership of King Sobhuza I (Ngwane IV), Swaziland was twice the size it is today.
Caught between the British and the Boers, the Pretoria Convention of 1881 guaranteed Swaziland’s ‘independence’ but this freedom came at a price as the convention also defined its borders, with Swaziland losing large parts of its territory. After the Boer administration collapsed at the end of the Anglo-Boer War in 1903, the British took control of Swaziland as a protectorate.
On September 6th 1968, Swaziland was granted formal independence within the Commonwealth. This national holiday is named after King Sobhuza I (Ngwane IV), who was king between 1805 and 1839, and who was nicknamed ‘Somhlolo’ (The Wonder) and is considered the founder of Swaziland.
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Today is the birthday, in 1948, of Claydes Smith, Kool & The Gang, who had the 1981 US No.1 & UK No.7 single ‘Celebration’, 1984 UK No.2 single ‘Joanna’, plus over 15 other Top 40 hits. He died in Maplewood, New Jersey, on June 20, 2006, aged 57. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GwjfUFyY6M
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