Eswatini Springs into style
Happy siblings having fun while holding hands with their parents and running during spring day in nature. Copy space.
By Siphesihle Dlamini
When the sun rises just a little gentler, when the winds carry whispers of new beginnings instead of the chill of winter’s retreat, and when the fields of Eswatini slowly shrug off their dry coats to wear shades of green again, then you know that spring has arrived.
Spring in Eswatini is not just a season. It is a mood, a rhythm, a cultural heartbeat. It’s the promise of warmer days after the biting cold, a chance for farmers to plant with hope, and for communities to reconnect with nature’s generosity. In Eswatini, spring is the season of songs carried by birds, of flowers painting hillsides, of bees buzzing with purpose, and of people rediscovering joy outdoors.
It is also a season that calls for a subtle change in wardrobe and lifestyle. One cannot simply step into spring the same way one tiptoed through winter, no. Spring demands lightness, freshness, and colour, both in spirit and in clothing.
It is the time to exchange heavy coats for airy shirts, thick blankets for evening shawls, and grey tones for floral bursts. But beyond the wardrobe, spring also invites us to embrace activities that make us breathe deeper, laugh harder, and live slower.
Spring means different things to different liSwati. For the farmers in Mliba, it is the season of preparation, of tilling the soil, planting maize, beans, or sweet potatoes, and waiting on the skies to release their blessings.
For the student in Mbabane, it is the season of renewed energy, as school days feel brighter with flowers blooming along dusty roadsides. For the grandmother in Ngudzeni, it is the season of red beans simmering gently on the three-stone fire while the little ones play under the blossoming fruit trees.
Spring is also a spiritual metaphor. Many liSwati associate the season with rebirth and renewal. Just as the land is refreshed, so too are personal ambitions, relationships, and dreams.
After winter’s stillness, spring tells us: “Move, grow, try again.” It is not uncommon to hear people in Eswatini say things like, “Sikhatsi sekutsi siphile futsi sifune litsemba,” This is the time to live again and to seek hope.
