Swazi Queen, Sibonelo Mngomezulu was always a bit of a wild child. She traded in dolls for soccer boots as a teenager when she joined a team at a time when few women were involved in the sport.
Her father had achieved what few black men of his time could in becoming a lawyer and actively encouraged his children to educate themselves and be independent.
Although born just outside the borders of the Kingdom of Swaziland, the Mngomezulus regarded themselves as Swazi with young Sibonelo sent to school in Mbabane.
Then, at the tender age of 16, Sibonelo was plucked from relative obscurity in her village of Ingwavuma to the life of a child queen to a child-king.
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Her striking beauty and strong personality is something she seems to purposely underplay “I met the king at the reed dance. He saw me at the dance when he came back from school in England. But I disappeared into the crowd.
That was August,” said Mngomezulu who is officially called Inkhosikati LaMbikiza.
When the young King Mswati III, then just 18-years-old, returned in December he had not forgotten the beautiful maiden who had caught his eye. “When he came back he reviewed the tape of the dance and sent his people to look for me,” said LaMbikiza.
She has been described by her detractors as overly ambitious, a woman who clamours for the spotlight and who has notions of her son one day becoming the ruler of the tiny, landlocked kingdom.
Her striking beauty and strong personality is something she seems to purposely underplay with her sombre dress sense and quiet, sweet voice.
Are there any regrets about getting married at the age of 16? There is undoubtedly a rebellious streak, a touch of the tomboy in the queen, evidenced by pictures of her in her youth decked out in a Moroka Swallows tracksuit with her hair cropped short.
“I grew up Swallows. I am very loyal. One guy who I remember as a kid who was a great player was Daniel ‘Vader’ Mophosho.
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