Photographs as Complementary Sources of the History of Swaziland: The Case of the Visual Images of the Makers of Swaziland's Pre-Independence Constitution

Abstract

This article posits a case for the inclusion and utilisation of photographs as vital and illustrative sources of history in certain scholarly articles. Taking cues from scholars of this school of thought, the author critically exploits the photographs of the stakeholders of Swaziland's independence constitution as important historical sources that illuminated and enriched the history of Swaziland's pre-independence constitutional processes. Although the photographs of the delegates and their dress codes were sometimes political theatre, they communicated a form of historical information that was hardly captured adequately in official documents. The inaugural session of the January 1963 Lancaster Constitutional Conference was marked by a joyous and optimistic mood from the smiles on the faces of the participants, which was captured in photographs in the Times of Swaziland newspaper and corroborated by the photo-collections of some of the delegates. Newspaper photographs also captured the grim mood and frustration on the faces of the delegates as the conference unfolded owing to fierce and irreconcilable disagreements between ‘Progressive’ and the ‘Conservative’ nationalists. The photographs of the dramatic protest of the Swaziland’s extra-parliamentary opposition who blocked the entrance into Marlborough House in the UK in May 1968, because of their exclusion from the constitutional discussions, are important photographic sources which point to the contestations that accompanied the making of Swaziland's independence constitution, which official documents are silent about.