Swaziland 

Introduction

The Kingdom of Swaziland is a landlocked country in southern Africa bordered by South Africa to the north, west and south and Mozambique to the east. Its area is 17,366 sq km and its population is 1,133,066. 

Swaziland is divided into four regions, Hhohho, Manzini, Lubombo and Shiselweni. The Regional Administrator is the political head of a region. In each region there are several tinkundla that are managed by it. Each tinkundla has a development committee elected from the various chiefdoms, called bucopho, which is elected for a term of five years.  

Local government contributed three per cent to GDP in 2000. 

Summary

Local government in Swaziland is divided between rural and urban authorities. The urban authorities, municipalities, have substantially more autonomy than their rural counterpart, the tinkundla. The major responsibilities of urban councils are in the areas of housing and town planning, the environment and public sanitation. 

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